Despite that small mishap he experienced, Victor continued to enjoy a blissful shower. After a while, he reluctantly turned off the shower before stepping out with droplets clinging to his rejuvenated skin.
"Oh man," he blurted, still shivering a little, and quickly grabbed the towel that was nearby. "That was really refreshing."
After carefully wiping his hair and his entire body, Victor wraps the towel around his waist, the damp cotton clinging pleasantly to his skin.
As he relished the release of tension in his muscles and heard some satisfying pop coming from his body, he noticed something interesting.
"Huh… I didn't expect my body to be this stiff." Victor said, looking at himself and understanding that the hot water seemed to have done some wonders for his tense muscles, leaving him feeling looser and more awake, although the fatigue still lingered in his eyes.
He shuffled over to the sink, the tile floor cool beneath his bare feet. Reaching for his toothbrush, he paused, noticing the toothpaste tube was nearly empty near it.
"Ah right, I forgot. Damn it" Victor muttered, picking it up and giving it a gentle squeeze. A meagre dollop of white and green stripes emerged, barely enough for one last brush. He grimaced. "Mental note – add toothpaste to the damn shopping list."
Victor applied the meagre amount of toothpaste to the brush head and threw the toothpaste tube into the trashcan after ensuring it was empty. He brought it to his mouth and started his usual routine, meticulously brushing each quadrant of his teeth. As he focused on his brushing, his internal monologue continued.
"Maybe I should invest in an electric toothbrush," he mused, picturing those fancy models with all the bells and whistles. "But then I gotta deal with charging stations and replacement heads. Oh man, that would be a hassle."
Halfway through, he realized he was zoning out again.
"Focus, idiot," he scolded himself. "Continue brushing and stop daydreaming about the pros and cons of electric toothbrushes."
He switched to the backs of his teeth, the bristles scraping slightly against his gums. "Gotta be gentle there," he muttered, wincing slightly.
After a while, he spat the minty residue into the sink and rinsed his mouth, the minty taste momentarily refreshing his sleep-addled brain. Victor grabbed a small bottle of mouthwash, swirling the blue liquid around his mouth before spitting it out dramatically into the sink.
He finished his oral hygiene routine with a final rinse and a satisfied grunt. Leaning against the sink, he looked at his reflection again.
"Not bad," he said, examining his handiwork before becoming silent as he stared at his own face. His hair, damp and unruly, clung to his forehead, sleep lines etched around his eyes, making him look rougher than usual.
A sigh escaped him. Shaking his head, he reached for a fresh towel hanging beside the sink. This one, unlike the one used for his body, was a little smaller. He wrapped it around his head, roughly rubbing at the damp strands. The cool cotton felt comforting against his warm skin.
When he felt that he had wiped his hair dry enough, Victor tossed the damp towel onto the rack with a sigh. It landed haphazardly, snagged on a corner of another towel.
"Ugh, I'll deal with that later," he muttered, looking at it before glancing at the mirror and a thought soon raced in his mind.
"Yeah, this messy mop on top definitely needs a trim," he muttered, running a hand through his already mussed hair. The damp strands clumped together, the ends looking split and unruly. "But not today. Maybe next weekend."
As a soft chuckle escaped his mouth, Victor approached the door and marched out of the bathroom. As he shuffled across the cool floor, he welcomed the change in warmth in the air, which felt really comfortable.
Reaching his bedroom door, Victor casually grabbed the doorknob, and as he turned the door open, a sudden jarring trill pierced the air causing Victor to freeze on the spot.
"Eh?" Victor blurted, the startled sound escaping his lips as he quickly recognized the sound came from his own phone. "Who is calling me this early?"
With confusion in his mind, Victor pushed the door fully open and walked across the room. After picking up his phone, he stared at the phone screen and became pretty confused. It was an…unknown number?
"Who the hell is calling me?" He groaned, squinting his eyes against the phone screen with his brow furrowed. "And more importantly, how the hell did this bastard manage to gain my personal number?"
He hated random calls, especially ones that came on his personal number. He had a strict policy – his private number was a privilege, not a party favour especially after that horrible incident.
"Who in the world has the balls to do it…" he muttered, pinching both sides of his nose with his voice beginning to rise in frustration. He reminded everyone he knew – his friends, his family, even the pizza place down the street with almost religious zeal, that they needed to ask him first before casually handing it out.
Feeling the annoyance build up within him with each passing second, he quickly took a seat on the edge of his bed and rubbed his temple, trying to calm down his emotions.
It didn't take long before he instinctively sighed heavily and glanced at his phone screen. At that moment, he quietly debated whether he should answer the call, especially since a part of him became really curious about who could be on the other end.
"Seriously…What should I do now?" He blurted out, his voice dripping with annoyance before closing his eyes and becoming silent. At that moment, a sudden wave of realization washed over Victor with his eyes snapped wide open.
What if this wasn't some aftermath of some idiot giving away his private number? What if it came from what he despised so much - scammers?
"Great," he muttered sarcastically, running a hand through his hair. "Just what I need to start my day."
In his mind, he couldn't help recalling the most annoying scam call he got from his other number where he practically heard word-by-word that was said with an annoying thick accent voice again, "Congratulations! You've won a free cruise to the Bahamas!" followed by a long, rambling spiel about timeshares and hidden fees.
While his mind was trying to forget that displeasing experience, Victor let out a heavy sigh and ran a hand through his hair.
"Honestly, how the hell did they even get my personal number in the first place?" he questioned aloud, his voice laced with frustration.
Victor prided himself on being careful with his personal information from using call blockers for both numbers and burner phones occasionally during his work to the point of resorting to giving out fake numbers to people he didn't trust completely.
"What rotten luck…" He then muttered, feeling exasperated knowing these scammers were getting smarter by the day. Has someone he knew been hacked? Or was this some kind of random data breach?
!!!
A shiver ran down Victor's spine when a chilling thought crossed his mind. What if they knew something about him? Had they been stalking him online?
He couldn't help glancing around his room, suddenly feeling rather exposed now before he soon noticed that the call finally stopped and a simple conclusion soon came to his mind.
"Let's just ignore it," he muttered, casually tossing his phone back into the bed. Ignoring the itch of curiosity that still remained strong in him, Victor made his way to his closet, and reaching his dresser, he flung open the drawer dedicated to his underwear.
"Should I wear red today? No, let's just stick with black for today," he muttered, rummaging through the various fabric colours. Finally, he pulled out a pair of brand-new black ones that he bought a couple of days ago and slipped them on with a sigh of relief.
After closing the underwear drawer, he flung open the wardrobe, surveying the neatly folded stacks of various pants. "Hmmm….what should I wear for today?"
"I guess I should go with this one," he mumbled, reaching in and pulling out a pair of neatly folded dark grey chinos. After flinging the dark grey chinos over his shoulder, Victor then turned his gaze to the column above and stared at the neatly folded stacks of t-shirts. "Red, grey, oh hey, there is a blue one hiding in the back."
"Nah, I'll go with grey for today," he muttered, reached in, and pulled out a soft grey t-shirt. He examined his outfit choices and a slow grin spread across his face. After happily closing the wardrobe, he went back to his bed and tossed the soft grey t-shirt onto it.
As he peeled off his damp towel, his phone buzzed once again. He glanced at it with his eyes narrow. "Who is it this time?"
After removing the dark grey chinos and slipping into them, he picked up his phone and saw the screen display the same unknown number. "Ugh, you gotta be kidding me."
Without thinking much, he then hovered His finger over the decline button before stopping midair when a thought suddenly occurred in his mind. What if this call wasn't from a scammer? What if it's actually important like someone is genuinely trying to call him?
"No, what am I thinking? This my private number," he muttered, shaking his head and slamming his finger down the decline button. "You could have just contacted me through my other number and if it is really important, a lot of people that I'm close with will message and call me."
Feeling satisfied, he tucked his phone securely into his pocket and decided to focus on more important things. Whatever was on the other end decided to call again, they can wait.
After picking up the soft grey t-shirt and slipping into it, he quickly shifted his attention to the damp towel sprawled on the floor and quickly went and picked it up with the dampness clinging unpleasantly to his fingers.
"Ugh, gotta make some time to wash some of my towels," he mumbled, frowning a little after he sniffed the towel when he noticed some smell.
With a light snort, he tossed the damp towel onto the rack, its soft slap echoing in the quiet room. After one last glance around, he headed for the door, stepping out of his bedroom.
"What now?" he muttered, surveying the empty hallway. A thought flickered in his mind, a glimmer of hope amidst the mundane. A moment later, an idea sparked in his mind. "Might as well watch some TV,"
"Let's hope I can find something that I can enjoy," he shrugged, knowing how bad TV shows and nowadays. Without delay, he padded down the hall, the soft thump of his bare feet the only sound in the quiet apartment. Turning left, he entered the living room, his eyes scanning the room for the light switch. "Where the hell is that switch?"
Finally, he spotted it, a small, silver square on the wall and immediately went toward it. With a flick of his finger, the room illuminated, revealing a sleek, light grey sofa and a flat-screen TV mounted on the wall. "Alright, let's see what's on,"
After placing his phone on the coffee table, he grabbed the remote and dropped himself onto the couch, sinking into its plush cushions and flicking on the TV.
*hissss…*
The familiar hum of electronic static filled the room. After the TV was fully on, he channel-surfed for a few minutes, with the flickering images on the screen providing a mindless distraction.
"Just like I thought, nothing good is on," he grumbled, finally settling on a sports channel. He wasn't a huge sports fan, but the games that were on somehow managed to gain his attention. "Hmmm…..nice tits"
To Be Continued