Floor 13, Flat no. 402
That's where I was told by Kana-san to go.
Already the building was massive enough to scare me that they added gold plating to its lift doors. When the lift came it was completely empty so without further wasting time I entered.
Why am I so scared, God?
My breaths were heavy, hands were sweating and the face and tip of my ears were red as shown by the mirror in that lift.
Ba-dump! Ba-dump…
As soon as I heard the voices of my heart crying out loud, I placed my hand over my chest to confirm that I am here with it.
I think before meeting her, I am gonna die of a heart attack.
All my life, I was never this nervous for anything. Not even when I proposed to Kaori or when I interviewed for my job or even when I was presented before the inquiry committee when they fired me from my last job.
Ding!
Before my realization, I was there at my supposed floor and So, I tightly held the file to my chest before storming off the lift.
From what Kana-san told me, this building has only 7 residential floors from floor 7 to floor 14, out of which every floor has only one three flats.
Therefore, finding the Flat no. 402 was not very difficult.
It was a standard black door which was often used in such residential buildings. Not saying it was bad, just not to my taste. To my surprise, there was no name anywhere stating the names of the owners. Only Flat no. 402 was carved with golden paint over the door.
The doorbell was beside the door yet it felt to me several miles. Embracing the courage up to my shoulders, I pressed the doorbell.
Since there was utter silence here. I could hear the doorbell sound coming from inside.
That's such a standard ringtone!
I waited for a few minutes yet no one came. So, I constantly pressed it again and again and again… but no one came.
Is she drunk right now? Now at this time? This evening!
Although there was no way to check my speculation without entering, I thought of an idea to get a glimpse of the inside. I did what a stalker would do in these situations.
I sat down on my knees, bent myself to the ground to look through the space between the door and the ground.
Ohh Man! Can't really see anything! It's too dark.
Are the lights off? Is she even home right now?
As I was wondering about these questions, I decided to try one last time but not on the doorbell but on the door.
I placed my hand on the handle and slightly pushed it and surprisingly the door opened.
I slightly opened the door and noticed the immense darkness that it held.
Looks like some demon lord's castle.
Should I go in or go back? Adachi's Calm down, Calm down. You are not Adachi, You are Akira. It's your home too. You can go.
After comforting my heart for a few seconds, I entered the flat and closed the door.
It's giving me chills. Maybe the AC is set to too high a temperature.
I was still not able to see anything properly, So I tried to find the switches on the wall when my hand suddenly clicked something in the darkness and all the ceiling lights switched on in an instant.
Huh!
I was too dumb to even react to the mess before me. The whole halfway to the drawing room everyday step is covered with dust, several premium liquor bottles are tossed here and there, chips and snack packets were littered on the ground half empty.
A person with OCD will die just from this scene alone!
Holding my nose from all these smells, I quickly went to the drawing room and switched on the lights where the situation was not any better.
Just when I thought that she was not at home.
I noticed someone sleeping on the L-shaped couch sitting at the center of this room.
Is she the one I am looking for?
I came closer to her, she was lying, her face pinning the ground while her dark crimson hair covered her face.
I guess there is no point in just standing there.
I placed the file on the table and proceeded to look around this place a bit.
Starting with this room, I noticed a pattern which was prevalent in the whole building. And this is excessive use of Black and Golden Colors. I wonder if it was a conscious choice or it was just a matter of pure coincidence.
Because at some places, this contrast in color looked beautiful and at some places it looked outright garbage like the black walls and semi-golden tiles at the entrance.
As I was a bit tired, I decided to sit on the adjacent side of the sofa where there was some space. I noticed the half-filled mineral water bottle placed in front of me at the table.
And now suddenly I felt an extreme urge to wet my throat with some water. So, I took it and opened its cap and just as I was about to drink from it something clicked my eyes.
My eyes caught a glimpse of photographs stuck on the wall behind the sofa.
Interesting…!
These photographs felt completely out of place. They were not placed in some photo frames and then hung over the wall but rather these pictures looked as if they were taken by some unprofessional photographer and later were just glued to the wall.
There were one, two, three… fourteen. A total of fourteen pictures. In all of these, there were only two people- A middle aged man and a red-haired little girl. All of these were taken at different instances but one thing was common in all of these pictures. That was the beautiful smile over their faces. Every picture looked equally lit with a brilliant smile.
God must be having a great day when he gave smiles to the humans.
Unknown to me, my face cracked with a wide smile.
Now that my curiosity was thrusted. Now it was the time to thrust my thirst. So, I took a gulp from the gup when I noticed-
The fu....