Knock-knock-knock
Iris was second-guessing herself, Thinking it was a bad idea and whatever she was about to do is gonna lead to disaster.
"What do you want?" a muffled sound from the other side reached her ears.
Oh my gosh, he is here.
"Hi, I am your neighb… I-Iris my name is Iris," She pointed towards her door and felt the judging look from the peephole.
Click-Click, The door swings ever so slowly revealing a beautiful specimen of a guy with a pink clip holding his lush vanilla extract hairs preventing them from covering his ocean eyes.
Green Ocean Eyes. "What do you? Need something?" Why you gotta be so rude. Why do all handsome guys think they have the right to be rude to everyone because they have pretty privileges. "Oh no, I just brought you, sweets," Iris held a cake box with printed red 4-leaf clover in front of Adrian's face.
"Umm, Thank youuu" Adrian said awkwardly but his actions were sharp. He took the box from her and invited her in. Wow, that was pretty straightforward. Iris is not exactly an overthinker but whenever she starts thinking it leads to the whole world being nuked by friendly aliens.
Iris was sure that she would get a scolding for her ungrateful ass…hole behavior and murder her with a semi-automatic but Adrian just took the bait and invited her in, What an idiot.
"Have a seat," Adrian dragged out a chair so effortlessly and at a constant speed; looked like he was a character of a game. A game that embraces handsome guys with six-pack so prominent that you can trace them with a fucking pencil and paper. "Well, dem He is definitely packing 4 if not 6 of those bad boys."
"You said something?" Adrian asked and Iris freaked out but didn't let it reflect on her face. "Oh no I didn't… These chairs are very comfortable. Like really," Iris smiled at him but how the heck can he read my mind. Does he know I was thinking about his body? Probably a fluke right? Right.
"Would you like some coffee," Adrian asked very politely.
"Coffee? Umm no its-I don't trouble you,"
"Ah, It's fine, I mean what else would you take with the cake?"
"Oh right, yeah with the cake Of course of course," Iris looked at the cake box and realized it was not for her its to have over cake.
"Yeah give me a second," Adrian took his hair clip off from the top of his head, combed his hair gracefully to the right side, and slid the Pink clip to the side. He took out a jute pouch of coffee, looked like expensive coffee.
Holy Shite! That's the Barista touch coffee machine he got there, It's like 1000 bucks. Iris thought to herself that this guy must take his coffee very seriously for having a coffee machine of that stature. I am an engineer and even I have a 50-dollar machine. It was the best 50$ ever spent by Iris.
"How was your day?" Adrian took Iris by surprise, she was way too deep in her thoughts. "Huh… It was good, not bad, didn't have much work t-today," Iris couldn't tell him that she spent 2 hours With Bridget deciding how to knock on his door and what gift to bring.
"What about your day?"
"Are you here to make small talks or… what?" Adrian turned his torso, leaned his body towards the fridge and looked straight into Iris's iris. "Noo…" Iris got utterly uncomfortable unable to conjure any word. His constant judging leer and the sound of the coffee maker made her even more anxious.
OH my God, why did I let my guard down, he is not chill at all; he hates me.
Adrian saw her struggle and ended the silence by asking, "Aren't you here for apologizing or something along that line…,"
"YeAh, yes yes I am" Iris took a deep breath. "I-am-sorry, really sorry for how I acted the day before yesterday. You didn't deserve that and after all the help you did," it was a heartfelt genuine apology. Iris knew what he had done for her, no one in his right mind will go to that extent to help out a stranger and he did. I couldn't be more grateful.
"That's all," Adrian spoke in the driest tone ever. Iris felt personally attacked, how can he say 'that's all' I just gave him an honest apology. "I mean I-I… I was actually really intoxicated and my head was hurting. Umm and I was not thinking straight, that's why I acted that way." Iris used her most apologetic voice and even puppy eyes to some extent but nothing seemed to work on this rock of a human, a rock that weathered by river flow and turned into a beautiful collectible specimen.
"Hmm," Adrian turned back to the coffee machine and started doing whatever you do with that fancy piece of hardware. Iris couldn't just take hmm for an answer, she just poured every bit of curtesy she had in her to formulate that sentence, and hmm wasn't going to cut it.
"I know I over-reacted a bit and I shouldn't have treated you that way," Iris was not able to get his attention and she started to get annoyed.
What does he think he is?
"...And I brought you these Cheesecakes, these are no ordinary cheesecakes. These are the best Strawberry Cheesecakes in the whole city". "Is that right?" Adrian walked towards the dining table and opened the box very gently.
Aargh, why does he have to do everything so damn elegantly? But Iris was happy that at least now he was showing some level of interest. "These are my favorite, Like whenever I am down or not feeling good I eat them and everything just-"
"They look really good," Adrian interrupted her but she didn't mind because she got to witness a slight upward curl of his lips. It was precious to see him smile at those beautifully decorated Cheesecakes.
"I am allergic to Strawberries," Adrian said with a smile, and Iris died inside. Adrian's smile while looking so pious just a second ago turned sinister. That exact smile, how is that possible? Iris didn't have words and now she really wanted to flea.
"I am… I am sorry I didn't know," Iris was feeling soo stupid now because of not considering the possibility that he might have an allergy.
Beep-beep-beep
"Looks like coffee is ready," Adrian went back to check on the coffee and took two cups out to pour in the coffee.
"Can I use the bathroom?" Iris's mental state was a battleground and to sign treaties and get things settled she needed some alone time.
"Yeah sure, It's just…umm we-have-the-same apartment layout."
"Yes, I will just…," how did he manage to make even bathroom direction sound this rude. Iris really needed a bathroom break now. She went straight to the bathroom and locked herself in.
"It's okay hon It's gonna be alright, It aaaaaaaaaaah" Iris let a silent scream out. "What a fucking jerk, making me feel worse and worse. Iris snorted and took a few breaths to calm herself down. She looked at her reflection in the mirror and managed her hair. Then she looked at the mirror and on further observation, she notices that there is not a single smudge, not even a little one. It was clean beyond measure, not even a single scratch.
When she looked around she realized what kind of person she was dealing with. Clean walls, dry shower even the showerhead is spotless. No dirty boxers lying around, No tissues, and Wow a whole lineup of skincare products. These are the expensive kinds, she googled a few products and was shocked by the ratings and price. This guy really knows his shit, Iris couldn't help but admire him.
"Doesn't even look like this bathroom is in use, He even has a toothpaste dispenser," Iris talked to herself and then it clicked. "He shows signs of OCD, yeah right! He has to have OCD". She googled "cleaning OCD" and yes it's a common type of OCD in which an individual engaged in vigorous cleaning and washing of anything and everything. "Maybe he is a germophobe as well, it is one factor of having OCD towards cleaning."
"Well most people got germophobia to some extent due to covid and all but he definitely has OCD."
Iris felt like she understood the cipher and was filled with confidence. Like she can counter him or something now that she knows his deepest secret. Iris took the last breath to calm herself down before going outside and even the bathroom freshener smells so pleasant. Iris unlocked the door and walked outside with her head held high. She looked to her right and caught glims of Adrian's bedroom, clean as hell like the rest of this apartment.
"You sure took your time, bad stomach?" Adrian asked.
"No no no….NOOO! what are you doing what are you doing, why are you eating it," Iris ran towards him reflexively but abruptly stopped.
"It's okay"
You kidding me. "What do you mean you it's okay, don't you have an allergy," Iris was freaking out. She thought if he dies because of strawberry cheesecakes she will be charged with attempted murder.
"I was just kidding, I like strawberries," Adrian said calmly as he took another bite of the cake.
Iris gasped, her anger escalated more quickly than a Ferrari on a quarter-mile. "Here, your coffee. Drink it before it gets… Hot," Adrian said in a 'I know what I said manner'. Iris wanted to rip his face off but she couldn't do anything but comply. She took a sip of the coffee and it was really good but her anger made it taste more bitter than it was. And she just couldn't hold it in anymore.
"What is your problem, I am just trying to apologize to you like a civil person. Why are you being like this?" Iris was really pissed off but she didn't raise her voice. "If you really wanna apologize you should apologize to my rug," Adrian said with a flat face. Iris couldn't understand and Andrian didn't give any explanation.
"You being serious right now?" Iris was very confused.
"Yeah!" it was a very firm, yeah and Iris couldn't understand his motive.
"What… Did I do something to your rug?"
"Yeah, you painted it,"
"I PAINTED It!"
"Yeah with your vomit,"
OH Fuck, this is why he is being so hostile. I vomited on his rug… Oh shit, I VOmited on his rug. He had to clean it or clean me. OH, GOD!.
"I'm sorry…I am I-I'm, did you clean it?"
"EW, NO! I got a cleaning company to do it," Adrian showed utmost disgust. It's the worst to clean someone's mess but he should have shown some decency to not spit on my face. "I will pay for the cleaning, how much was it," Iris thought she could maybe redeem herself this way.
"It was 156 dollars-after taxes,"
"WHAT! 156 dollars, what did they clean it with Mermaid tears? I could've cleaned it for free." Iris thought he was an idiot for paying this much for a rug clean service. Poor baby got robbed. "Yeah like you cleaned your laundry?" Adrian was shooting over arrows one after another since he invited her in but this one hit close to home.
"HEY! I really appreciate what you have done for me but I won't tolerate you tyrannizing me for one more second," Iris stood up and banged her hands on the table. "Then why don't you… get the fuck out," Adrian said slowly and took a sip of his coffee mid-sentence.
Iris was filled with the range not only on the way Adrain treated her but also on the futility of all her actions she went through to apologize and get on good terms with him.
Iris snatched her scarf from the chair she sat on and without a delay moved towards the door. But stopped instantaneously as she touched the doorknob. She looked back at Adrian still chilling as nothing happened and dashed back to the dining table.
"You don't deserve this" Iris took the box which still had 3 pieces of cake left and went her way. "You should take this one too," Adrian referred to the piece he was having. Iris had way too many cuss words flowing through her head,
"Keep IT."