The Getting Over Project

The Sort of Unexpected Visitor

Regina woke up to the annoying ringing sound that has been haunting her sleep for hours. She thought that if she ignored the call, the person from the other line would take the hint and stop calling but no, the caller was so adamant that it pissed her off so bad. It's a Sunday morning and she has to get up from bed to pick up the phone which was a few meters away from her bed. 

With so much reluctance from her mind and body, Regina tried to get up, crawled from her bed to where her phone was, picked it up and let out a loud snort which was her sleeping brain's way of telling the caller to back off.

"What the heck Rej! I've been calling you for hours, where have you been?!" yelled the caller.

"It's Sunday for Pete's sake! Why are you calling me?" 

"Because you promised to pick me up today." The caller calmly - but with a little hint of annoyance - stated.

"Pick you up?" Regina asked in between yawns. "Wait, who am I speaking to?"

The person from the other line chuckled and cleared his throat. "When will you ever take me seriously, Rej?"

Regina's eyes widened, her soul leaving dreamland on a jet plane to rush to reality. This can't be happening. This.Is.Not.Happening!  Regina's insides tried to scream. 

"Rej, are you still there?"

"What? Me? Yes, still here. Sorry, half-asleep." 

"So?"

"So, what?"

"Are you ever gonna open the door?"

"What door?" 

"This door."

"Which one?" She stupidly asked, her heart wildly erratic for she knows which door was being referred to.

"You know which door, Rej." He impatiently answered.

Regina sighed in frustration, desperation, excitement, jubilation, and some other mixed emotions she shouldn't be feeling right at that moment. It just wasn't right to feel like a teenager again, and with this sort of unexpected visitor around, she really can't go back to her teenage self. "Fine. Give me two minutes to wash up."

She hung up the phone and went to the bathroom to wash up. Just wash up. Regina thought to herself. She shouldn't show too much effort for this guy. He was just a splattered bug on the windshield of her life. 

Is. He still is. Regina corrected herself while rinsing off the suds from her face. She couldn't possibly be affected with this guy's presence. She just can't. 

****

"Thank God, you're done!" Red exclaimed the moment Regina opened the door. 

She looked at him as if he was like an apparition. Like he wasn't supposed to be there. Because he was not supposed to be there in the first place!

"How did you find this place?" She asked nonchalantly, leaning on the doorjamb.

"Google. And Facebook, Facebook Messenger, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat...shall I go on?" He smiled and Regina's heart somersaulted. This guy just had that power over her. Despite the years that they haven't seen each other. Despite the numerous relationships she's had. Despite the fact that he was messaging her from another part of the world. And despite the many emotional indirect rejections she got from this guy she is still obsessed and infatuated with him. She's basically the very definition of Friendzoned. The word was invented because of her. But despite all that, they stayed very good friends. Well, for Red. For Regina, their souls are in some kind of agreement to never ditch each other. 

"Rej?" Red snapped his fingers in front of her, as if trying to wake her up from a trance.

"Wha--?Yeah? You were saying something?" She asked in embarrassment, because for the nth time, Red caught her daydreaming again.

"Have you had breakfast? Or do you even eat breakfast?" 

"Of course I eat you."

"What?!"

"I mean, I eat breakfast, like you." She walked away from the door and went to check if there's anything she can cook from her fridge just to hide her blushing face from him. "What do you wanna have for breakfast? I can make pancakes, sandwiches, french toast, garlic bread, coffee, tea, or me...I mean milk." 

That was stupid, Rej! What were you thinking? Is your brain on leave? Just shut up, ok? Shut.Up. Regina scolded herself for acting like a stupidly in love teenager again. But can she blame herself for being so fidgety around Red? Being in close proximity to him makes her think like a potato and he was aware of that. That's right! It's his fault and not yours. So stop scolding yourself!

"Do I still make you feel uncomfortable?" Red asked in amusement while watching her bending over her not so wide selection of food inside her fridge.

She stood up and turned to meet his gaze. He was smiling from ear to ear and she was not happy about it. "Yes, you still do. So, why did you come here?" 

"Well, I remembered you offering a place for me to stay while I'm here in town. You didn't pick me up like you promised, so I kind of assumed that you're preparing some feast for me or something, so I Googled my way here. Clever, right?" 

"No." She said in gritted teeth. How can this guy think that he is welcome in her house when he knows how erratic she gets - yes, erratic is our word of the day - when he is around. Like, yeah, they are friends, but they can only be friends from afar. 

"Red, that offer I made over a year ago was a spur of the moment kind of thing. And I was a hundred and ten percent sure you were not gonna come over and stay here with me because you know how I feel about you. And yeah, I may have said that I might pick you up, but that was because I thought you were kidding. I didn't think you'd really waste two weeks of your vacation to come here and attend our high school reunion."

"Why do you think that?"

"Because..Elise." Her voice trailed off as she mentioned their dreaded name. 

Elise was a bad memory for both of them. She was Red's first love. He was fourteen, and Elise was twelve (just like her except for the fact that Elise was an early bloomer) when they both fell in love with each other. She was his star. But Elise broke his heart. Regina remembered how she cried with Red that time. How she cried her heart out for him and spilled her biggest secret to him. She remembered how he had gone cold towards her for many months. And how she tried to have a string of shallow relationships to get over him fast. 

A harsh clearing of the throat brought Regina back to the present. It was Red, standing awkwardly in her dining room looking at her like she's a big joke. "I'm over her, Rej. That means you have to be over her, too." 

"Why should I be over her? I was never under her." She quick-wittedly answered in an attempt to lessen the tension between them.

Red chuckled. "You really are something, Rej." He walked towards her and took the box of pancakes from her. "Let me make you a decent breakfast. I'm worried you'll burn this whole apartment down with your fidgeting and clumsiness."

"I'm no klutz. I can easily make us breakfast."

"I know you can, but with me around, I highly doubt it." He pushed her towards the nearest chair. "Just sit and let me make you breakfast."

"But-"

"No buts, Rej. And as a sign of gratitude for letting me stay here with you, I'll be your kitchen helper which means, I cook all the meals and do the dishes. Ok?" 

Regina could only nod. Who can say no to someone this hotly persistent? Someone who doesn't need to argue because his presence is enough to make all women heed to all his wishes.