"Need help?"
"No." I say, even though I don't know what 'help' he's talking about.
I attempted to shut the door, but his hand intercepted it, halting its progress. His smirk was infuriatingly smug, as if he already knew my next move.
"You always mess up with the details I think you'll need my help like last time." He taunted, his words dripping with condescension.
"Didn't you hear me?" I stepped closer, my irritation bubbling beneath the surface. "No."
"By the way…" He looks inside my apartment, scanning around. "Is it the apartment that smells bad or you?"
"You should smell yourself first."
"I smell amazing." His self-assurance remained unshaken.
"Smelling like sweat and rotten onions isn't amazing."
"It's better than smelling like a two-month-old fish, sprayed with vomit and finished with some donkey hair."
"Looks like you're telling me the ingredients of your everyday lunch." I shot back, refusing to let him have the last word.
Before he could counter, the sound of the neighboring apartment door opening interrupted our verbal sparring. A woman stood there, clad in lingerie, her invitation clear and seductive.
"Ace baby, come in, i'm ready." She says in a seductive tone.
He looks at her than back at me.
"I forget what a beauty looks like if I keep looking at your face even for 3 minutes."
"You wasted so much time here, you could've finished by now." I retorted, a smirk playing at my lips as I slammed the door shut, cutting off any further retort.
As the sun started to peek through the curtains, I headed to my bedroom, kicking off my shoes and stripping off my clothes along the way. All I wanted was a refreshing shower. After scrubbing myself clean, I tackled some paperwork that had been nagging at me. Finally, I crawled into bed, even though it was only 4:45 in the morning.
It felt like I had just closed my eyes when I woke up again. With a heavy sigh, I dragged myself out of bed and began to get ready for work. Everything felt like a blur as I went through the motions, still feeling the lingering effects of sleep.
As I went about my morning routine, the doorbell interrupted my thoughts. Who could be visiting at this hour? Opening the door, I found the girl Ace had been with last night. She wore an oversized shirt and with what I see- nothing underneath, and it seemed like she needed something from me.
"Hey?" She smiles, seeing her expression I can tell she definitely needs something, maybe pads?
"Yes?" I say politely.
"Actually we ran out of condoms so Ace told me that maybe you might have them…?"
What? Is she actually asking me that? Did he send her one-night-stand to ask his neighbour for condoms? Who tf does that?
I look at her.
"Do you?" She asks again.
"No, I don't." I say trying to hide my frustration towards Ace.
"Oh, alright." She said, instantly her attitude changes.
Glancing past her, I saw Ace leaning against the doorframe, shirtless only sweatpants and watching me with a smirk as if he did that on purpose.
She walks towards him and trails her finger on his chest with a 'pick me' pout on her face.
"I guess no morning sex." She says pouting.
"It's ok, we can do that next time." His gaze fixed on me.
"Or we can do it ra-"
Before she could finish I give him a look mixed with disgust and frustration and shut my door.
Who the heck asks their neighbours for condoms especially this early in the morning? and how can they do 'that' this early?
I sigh and keep getting ready.
After a while I reach to my office, I am exhausted from last night and with what happened this morning.
3 hours passed when suddenly Ace called me to his office room, I grab my file and walk there. I open the door and the first thing I see is him eating fruits.
I walk to his desk and put down the file, before I could leave he stopped me.
"How many times do I have to tell you that when i'm not done looking at your paperwork don't leave."
I calmly sit down waiting for him to look at my file but he leans back on his chair eating strawberries. I don't say anything, I look down and wait for him to finish.
Is he eating slowly on purpose?
five minutes pass, ten minutes pass and he is still eating fruits, getting irritated I look up at him.
"Will you check the file today?"
He doesn't answer but keeps staring at me while munching.
"Couldn't you call me after eating?"
"What? I didn't have breakfast so i'm just eating to get energized."
"Is it my fault you haven't had your breakfast?"
"Hmm… it is." He says after thinking.
"Huh?"
"Yeah, it's your fault."
"What? I-" I stop not knowing what to say, he is frustrating me.
"If you had condoms, that would've saved me some time."
I look at him with confusion mixed with annoyance.
"I had to look around my apartment two times to find some and that wasted my time but in other ways I did have breakfast." He smirks, clearly not talking about normal people's breakfast.
"You're clearly out of your mind, who asks their neighbours for-" I stop, controlling my frustration.
"I do. Isn't it normal to help other people, I would've given you some if you needed."
I close my eyes calming my anger.
"Are you gonna check my file or not?"
"Let me finish my apple first."
He's clearly doing that on purpose.
"By the way… why don't you have condoms?"
I don't answer.
"Oh don't tell me…you're a virg-"
Annoyed by him I get up and leave.
Does he think everyone has protection in their house? is it water that everybody would have it? His thoughts start with sex and finish with sex.
I go to my desk and sit trying to relax and do my work not knowing when the day passes, almost everyone left, I still have some work left to do.
"Raya? will you stay here?" Julia asks as she's about to leave.
"Yes, I want to finish this before leaving."
"Alright, then i'll be leaving, it's gonna rain tonight so take an umbrella, bye." She hugs me and leaves.
Now i'm left alone or so I thought, I glanced over at Ace's office room, it's still lit. Maybe he also has work to do at least he takes his work seriously.
The rhythmic tapping of my fingers against the keyboard filled the room, the only sound in the otherwise silent office. But gradually, a new sound began to filter in, the soft pitter-patter of raindrops against the windowpane. Curious, I reached for my phone to check the weather forecast. As the screen flickered to life, a glaring notification caught my eye: "Battery Low."
Quickly, I grabbed my charger and moved to plug it in, eager to ensure my phone stayed powered up. But just as my fingers neared the socket, a sudden jolt of electricity shot through it. With a sharp crackle, the lights flickered and then plunged into darkness, enveloping the room in a deep shadow.