UNCANNY ENCOUNTERThere is a first time for everything but with many firsts, comes hard work that feels like torture. Moving into a new apartment was not all I expected it to be though the time I and Athina spent decorating the place was wonderful, it involved backaches and sore thumbs. What I craved more than anything in the world was to soak my body in the huge bathtub filled with bubbly warm water. A glass of white wine, cookies, and chocolates were the finer details to add.It truly did feel nice to decorate the place as I wanted without my mother scrutinizing everything and judging my choice of drapes. My sister’s unwanted inputs would have been run mad that eventually slam my head into the wall with her incessant talks like she knew better than me. Tch, kids these days.The items I bought a few days ago had just arrived like my dining table set, bed, and other heavy things. The amazing part that made things less of a hassle was the fact they helped set them up. Especially the
NEIGHBORS“Are you coming In or not?” His gruff voice came out impatiently, narrowing his eyes at Maria. She pondered waiting for the next elevator but figured it would be too petty of her, so she reluctantly entered the elevator.She adjusted the bags in her hands with a frown whilst giving him a side eye.“I don’t think it’s been up to 48 hours since we last saw each other.” Maria spoke as they stood on opposite sides of the elevator, facing the door.Maria was seeing him too often than she’d like and it terrified her that her heart would waver. One could say the heart grows fonder with imposing presence. Her youngest sibling's magic play wand would come in handy to attempt to banish him to some foreign island. Or perhaps turn him into a frog. That was a sight she’d love to see though it was just a fantasy, but it lightened her mood.Reid let out a small chuckle as he pressed her floor button. “Why wasn’t I informed that there was a time stamp for us to run into another?”She glance
A daily affirmation seemed to do the trick to motivate Maria’s lazy ass to get out of bed. Though she’d choose the bed a million times, the harsh reality was she had to work hard to make living.Maria never had the privilege of having everything handed to her and the fact that some people had things easy made her bitter at times.Her family were depending on her to support them and for that reason, she had to ignore the soft bed and get to work. She also wanted the finer things in life. Mansions, luxury, travel, and many more. She had her mind set on working twice hard cause she knew it wasn’t going to fall in her laps, even if it meant taking orders from Reid.Just the thought of him ruined her morning.She was on her way to meet the team at the new building to sort out some details before the renovation began. And as much as she would love to sleep for an hour more, she couldn’t because the success of her business expansion was the key to the luxury life she dreamt of. At 7:25 am,
FRE-ENEMIESAnxiety consumes our daily life that we lose the essence of the present moment. Maria worried about one thing or the other 24/7 unable to change things. She always had anxiety and even in her waking moment as she lay in an hospital bed. Maria felt disconnected from the world as her body refused to listened at attempt to open her eyes. She could hear the beep of a machine that was connected to her right arm, like a peg on her index finger, and a drip connected to her left arm. That nostalgic hospital scent was in the air and her mind was foggy to recall how she had ended up there. Aside from hearing and smell, she struggled to move her body and open her eyes. She was awake and aware of her surroundings but was paralyzed to the bed. It was not an uncommon phenomenon and she had slowly learned to overcome it. She panicked, terrified to an extent she thought something grave had happened to her. She could hear voices although faint and it assured she was very much alive. M
PHOBIAAthina’s beauty and wild nature was a force of reckon. It marveled Maria how she could not only tolerate her but love her wholeheartedly. They were the antithesis of one another, yet completed each other.As Athina fussed over Maria like an egg that shouldn’t have a single scratch, Maria thought of ways to get her friend out of the hospital and make her stop worrying. If she could act this way, she wondered how parents would react.Athina sat in the chair beside the bed, flicking through the channels on the flat screen TV in front of them.“Hey, I hope you didn’t tell my parents about what happened?”Reid told her that he instructed Athina not to say a word, but she had to confirm from the horse’s mouth.“Reid told me not to, and he was dead serious about it. Do you want to call them?” She turned to her and was about to grab her phone to dial their numbers.Maria shook her head. “You know how they can be.” “I sure do. You would have pulled out all your hairs by the time they s
BUDDING FEELINGSThe day had finally come. The day Maria had envisaged with little pleasure when it came to her wardrobe and the state of her home. She managed to arrange her closet to a level after much procrastination and now expecting a house guest; she had no idea where to begin searching for what to wear.This was no ordinary visitor like Athina or Clara. It was a man, a handsome one that she admired and hoped to have something beautiful with. It had been too long since she was in a relationship and she could no longer deny that her heart yearned to love someone and have someone love her twice as much.Maria had gone through different clothes in the closet and eventually turned the place upside down like a tornado had occurred. She had the numerous outfits but was indecisive. It was either too shabby, showed too much skin, or was too much. She wanted to call on Athina, but refrained from picking her phone and dialing her number.She spent the whole day with her in the hospital an
NON-EXISTENT PRIVACYThe loud chime of a phone alarm startled Maria awake. Although her body wished to remain in bed a few hours more, she felt well rested and stretched her body. She had been asleep for over seventeen hours and her whole body felt numb. After Maria had fallen asleep in the presence of Kyros, who put her in bed and later saw himself out, the next time she opened her eyes was around 2am.She was shocked wondering how she made it to her bed, then found a note beside her on the bed. In a nice calligraphy written by Kyros, the note read “You were sleeping so peacefully and didn’t have the heart go disturb you so I saw myself out. Call me when you’re awake and feeling better. XOXO.”She smiled at the message and got out of bed to have a light snack. Maria was hungry and a light snack wasn’t going to satisfy her raging belly, so she settled for Noodles. It was a quick and satisfying meal. A light snack at 2am was a bad idea if she wanted to burn the calories she was always
BLUNT TO THE CORE“This was a huge mistake.” Maria thought.She had not hated Reid more than she did at the moment, despite him barging into her house with a horde of strangers. Of all things he could do to make her miserable, he had sent her into the den of lions. Not just any lions, the ones that deemed themselves as royalty. Socialite that were money/power hungry, mostly born with silver spoons.Maria stressed on the fact that she disliked being around too many people. Especially the caliber of people Reid had said they’d be socializing with. She could not deny that the intimidation and social anxiety was the core reason Reid’s face looked delightful to smack.The desire was to make money and not have to interact with many people. The interaction part of the business was Athina’s job. When she left, it fell solely on Maria’s shoulders and she flopped like a flip-flop. Athina would have fit in like a glove as she had gotten familiar with half the people that were going to be pres