The next morning, Adhio woke up to the infernal noises in his ears; the alarm clock. Adhio sat up in bed and turned off the alarm, rubbed his sleepy eyes, checked the time, and that's how he almost lost his job.
Clumsy as ever, he quickly made his breakfast, left his bread in the frying pan, and went to change. When he returned, his bread had burned, but he ate it anyway—bread is too expensive to waste.
He rushed out of his apartment, almost tripping on the stairs as he ran. His job wasn't far from home, and he would make it on time if no one got in his way. While walking on the sidewalk, he bumped into someone and fell to the ground. Quickly getting up, he cleaned his clothes, but when he looked at the person he had bumped into, it was his darn neighbor again.
Adhio decided to put on a tough face and walk past, but as he walked, he felt someone holding his wrist—his neighbor was there, looking at him with a clear face. Adhio decided to stop and listen to what that 5'9" guy had to say.
"You again, weirdo? Nice to see you," he said.
"Actually, I have a name, my na—" Adhio was interrupted.
"What's your name again? You look like an Alex."
He laughed shamelessly.
"Oh, I'm Steve if you want to know. You're quite young, huh? How old are you? 18? 19? 21?"
"25-"
"25? Damn, you're pretty old, huh?"
Adhio fell silent as he watched his neighbor do the same. Then he decided to speak again.
"Look, I'm really in a hurry, and now I have to go—"
"In a hurry? No time? Where are you going? Work? Strip club? Gym? Whorehou—"
"Listen! No. I'm going to work, actual work. Got it?"
"Work, Alex? What do you do?"
"Computer stuff...?"
"Aaah, you're one of those sedentary guys who sit in a chair all day?"
"S-sedentary? Listen here. Do you even have a job?"
"Hmmm, no."
Adhio stared at Steve with disdain.
"And YOU call me sedentary?"
Adhio looked at Steve in silence.
"Seriously?" Adhio asked sarcastically.
"No," Steve replied in the same tone.
"So, do you at least do something?"
"I'm in college... that's something."
"College...?"
"Deaf?" Steve retorted unnecessarily.
"I dropped out of college at your age. Then I'm the 'sedentary.'"
"Too bad I'm from the countryside and started school three years later, darn." He said ironically, even though it seemed to be true.
"Seriously, I'm kind of in a hurry here, can you... let go of my wrist?"
Steve released his wrist while looking at him with the same expression as before: sarcasm and disdain with his cheeks slightly pink from Adhio's reaction.
Adhio looked at Steve in silence, staring at the red mark on his wrist made by him. Despite being irritated, Adhio decided to swallow his pride and move on. He knew confronting the neighbor wouldn't get him anywhere, at least not now, not tomorrow, not ever, maybe when he died.
So, he just muttered a dry "Thanks" and continued his hurried walk to work. This time, he decided to walk, of course, he didn't want to seem desperate to get to work, even though he was.
Throughout the day, Adhio tried to focus on his tasks and work, but the image of Steve and his annoying behavior continued to haunt his mind. He found himself losing a few minutes just thinking about how that unplanned meeting could have been different.
And he found himself several times scolded by his boss for being lost in his thoughts. But he couldn't stop thinking about that strange encounter with Steve.
Late at night, when he finally managed to leave work, Adhio was determined to avoid any encounter with the neighbor. He strategically planned his route home, avoiding places where he might bump into him. However, fate seemed to like playing tricks on him, as there was Steve, casually leaning against the wall of his apartment building. It was already night, so Adhio thought his neighbor wouldn't see him.
Adhio tried to go unnoticed, but Steve immediately saw him. With a playful smile, he approached again. "Hey, weirdo, it looks like our destinies are intertwined today."
"Unfortunately..." Adhio murmured back.
"Unfortunately?" Steve asked. "I'd say it's a fortunately." He said as he leaned closer to Adhio. "Maybe it's just destiny wanting to bring us together," he whispered softly.
"What?" Adhio asked, confused by his neighbor's whisper.
"Nothing," Steve teased, straightening up and leaning back against the wall, looking down with his carefree expression.
Adhio remained silent for a while with a confused look turned to Steve. He sighed and decided to turn around and leave, but before he could take a step, he heard his neighbor calling him.
"Hey, weirdo," he said as he walked after Adhio.
Adhio slowly turned his head to his neighbor like a horror movie and answered cautiously, "What?"
Steve sighed in a low tone as he nervously scratched the back of his neck. "I think we started off on the wrong foot, didn't we?" He said with a brief smile on his lips. "It's been bothering me for a while; I wasn't kind, and neither were you. You and I are on a strike, I realize, so, you know, it's just that..." He stopped talking for a while.
"Spit it out," Adhio said with an annoyed tone.
Steve laughed nervously and continued, "If you're free... want to go out sometime?"
Those few words stuck in Adhio's head; time seemed to have stopped as he looked into Steve's eyes with a confused look. He asked himself what the heck was wrong with this guy for asking him out so directly; but at the same time, wondered what was so interesting about him that Steve would say that.
"What?" Adhio asked with his eyes slightly widened. His voice was so low that it seemed like he was murmuring. "Go-go out?" Adhio stuttered, trying to understand if he was interpreting it correctly.
"Yeah. Go out, you know, grab a coffee, you pay the bill, we get to know each other, hold hands. No pressure, just two male neighbors hanging out," Steve said with a relaxed smile, as if it were the most common thing to say to another man.
"That sounds like a terrible idea," Adhio replied with his arms crossed. However, something told him to accept his neighbor's strange offer.
"Why a terrible idea? Don't you think it's worth going out with this handsome guy?" Steve teased.
"Are you messing with me?" Adhio asked with a suspicious look.
"Of course not, Alex—" Steve replied.
"My name is not Alex."
"Why would I mess with an opportunity like this?" Steve continued and smiled with a friendly and vaulted.
Adhio sighed right after hearing what Steve said, noticing how insistent his neighbor was, he couldn't think much and accepted his proposal;
"Erm…Okay, Steve. But just to make it obvious; My name is not Alex" He said again
"Perfect! It'll be fun, you'll see. Tomorrow afternoon, at the cafe around the corner. I'll meet you there, Alex." Steve said as he walked to his apartment next door.
Adhio felt irritated again by this nickname and shouted "My name is not Alex!" even though he knew his neighbor would keep calling him that way.