Not a Fan (Wilbur Soot)

Need

The hum was the tune of one of his unreleased song he had teased on Tommy's stream the other night. 

"It can't be." Wilbur whispered underneath his breath. He had no idea if the voice was actually the familiar sound of 'not a fan' or if he had imagined it. He replayed every word she had said to him, comparing it to the pitch and tone of the one in the hallway.

"I need to step out for a minute, do you guys need anything?" Wilbur asked. He was already slipping on his shoes, desperate to confirm his suspicions before she disappeared. He needed to know. 

"Can you grab some coke from the store?" Tommy asked. 

"More of those cookies from yesterday!" Toby laughed, knowing that the angry neighbor next door had made them. Both boys were crowded around the computer, using Wilbur's equipment to set up a stream.

"Cookies, coke, got it." Wilbur mumbled, searching for his keys. He was desperate to get outside as quickly as possible before that familiar voice couldn't venture too far away. 

"Oh, and-" Toby started, instantly interrupted by the sound of Wilbur's front door slamming behind him. 

Wilbur stepped into the empty hallway, not even an echo of her hum left behind. He quickly headed for the staircase, walking down them two at a time. It was a race between him and the elevator. Wilbur made it to the lobby, breathing heavily, just as the elevator doors opened. A plump man in an ill-fitting suit gave him a concerned look before stepping around him. No one was in the elevator with him. 

"Damn." Wilbur huffed, still trying to catch his breath after his impromptu workout. He looked out to the front door, the sunshine pouring in through the large windows. The sun pulled him outside, it was as if it promised to lead him straight to her. 

He began walking aimlessly, speeding up every time he saw a shorter girl with long brunette locks. None of them were her. He couldn't even remember how many times he apologized to the number of random women he startled. 

As if his subconscious was driving him, Wilbur found himself standing in front the grocery store where he met her. He stared at the entrance for a moment, reminiscing back on his one and only encounter with 'not a fan'. Only confirmed encounter at least. The voice from Niki's phone call and in the hallway haunted him, the curiosity itching the back of his mind of whether or not that sweet American accented voice was her.

Tommy and Toby's requests returned to his mind. Maybe that was the part of his subconscious that lead him to the store, not her. His empty cupboards also came to mind. 

He walked into the store as if on autopilot, already creating a list in his head of items he needed to buy. 

Cookies, coke, bread, milk- 

"Sorry, excuse me." A hauntingly familiar voice interrupted his thoughts. He barely caught a glimpse of her dark hair before she stepped around him and walked out of the store. 

Her dark hair swaying as she walked passed in a rush. The jean jacket that small hands barely peaked out of as they pointed to a shelf of chocolate chips now carried bags of groceries. The smell of a light floral perfume wafted up when she slid around him. 

It was her. 

Here in the same grocery store as when they first met, there she was again. 

"Sir? Can I help you?" A woman spoke. It was a different voice this time, sounding much more mature, she had an accent the same as his. Wilbur blinked several times, looking down to see an employee standing in front of him. 

"Sorry." He answered hurriedly, turning around and walking back out onto the bustling street. She was in front of him moments ago and now she was gone. Was she even there in the first place? Was she just a ghost? A figure of his imagination? 

Wilbur walked, nearly at a jogging pace, down the street. 

Short, dark hair, jean jacket, grocery bags

He thought to himself on repeat, using his new clues to narrow his search. He didn't stop until he had circled the surrounding blocks several times, eventually collapsing on a bench. He looked down to his phone, he had already been gone for nearly an hour. 

He pulled his phone to his ear, looking to the sky as the last rays of sunshine were shrouded in clouds. The rain was coming. The ominous feeling of rain locking him inside comorbid with his disappointed of letting her slip through his hands yet again began setting in. 

"Wil? You on your way back yet?" Tommy answered the phone immediately. Wilbur could hear Toby talking animatedly in the background. His first thoughts went to his neighbor and her threats of filing a noise complaint. Wilbur couldn't seem to catch a break. 

"No, I uh, actually haven't made it to the store yet." Wilbur admitted, standing from the park bench and heading back in the store's direction. 

"What? Where have you been?" Tommy asked. His voice was hushed as Toby's sounded further away. Wilbur heard his apartment's front door shut through the phone. "Are you good man? You seemed all sorts of flustered when you left in a hurry earlier." Tommy finished. 

Wilbur groaned, stepping through the store's entrance once again. 

"No, honestly. I swear she's haunting me. I hear her voice everywhere. I get these glimpses of her but the second I look back, she's gone. I left because I could've sworn I heard her in the hallway. When she wasn't there, I came to the store and I think I bumped into her on my way in. All it took was the blink of an eye before she disappeared again." Wilbur admitted, pushing a cart down the isles. 

"Who? Wait, you're not still talking about that girl from the store the other day. Not a-"

"Yeah, 'not a fan' or whatever." Wilbur interrupted, no longer finding the nickname charming. It was just another reminder of how unattainable she was. 

"Figure out her name and I'll stop calling her that." Tommy joked.

"You think I haven't been trying? How do I find one girl in a whole city." Wilbur retorted, filling his cart with the items from the list he mentally made earlier. 

"You could get job at the grocery store, she seems to shop there a lot." Tommy suggested. Wilbur heard Toby's laughing through the door. He cringed, knowing that meant his neighbor probably heard it too. 

"I don't have the time for that. Honestly though, I'd be lying if I said the thought hadn't crossed my mind." Wilbur admitted, mindlessly adding random items to his cart. He paused as he looked down to see a bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips in his hand.

"If it's meant to be, it's meant to be. You'll run into her again eventually." Tommy advised, trying his best to muster an upbeat tone. Toby's voice had become clearer. Wilbur could tell Tommy was trying to rejoin the stream and didn't want to keep Tommy away any longer. 

"I'll see you when I get back, you can go back to streaming. And, hey! Please, stay quiet so my neighbor doesn't get me kicked out of my apartment." Wilbur begged, the image of the woman with copper hair and green eyes from his dream coming to mind. 

"Of course, big man." Tommy scoffed, ending the phone call.

Wilbur put his phone back in his pocket. His gaze hadn't broken from the chocolate chips that he noticed earlier. He placed them into is cart with a sigh. He checked out in silence, carrying his heavy bags out of the store. 

The rain hadn't started yet but the wind was picking up. Wilbur walked quickly down the sidewalk. It was much less crowded now that the sun had retreated behind the clouds. 

He kept his eyes on the ground, watching the sidewalk's concrete cover with small dark grey dots as the rain began to fall. 

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(1,355 words)