No Love

05 - Flashing Lights

"What packaging are you going for?" Brownie asks as I wheel our trolley.

I finally have a gift for my sister which I have no doubt she's going to love. We're leaving tonight and baby girl is a bit worried about whether they're going to like her or not. My family is chilled. They're nosey but chilled.

"Long as its pink," I answer. "I-It's her favorite color"

She smiles.

"She's such a girl"

"Aren't you with those lashes?"

"Hey!"

She pops my mouth. I laugh, kissing her cheek.

"You look good, babe. You know that."

When we're done filling the trolley with our necessities, we push it to the cashiers so I can pay. Then, we're leaving with our plastics. We don't have a lot of stuff anyway. She's the one who drives on our way back. She's a quick learner. When we arrive in campus since I'm dropping her off first then going to my place, she kisses my lips.

"You said six, right?" I nod. "I'll be outside at 17:55. I'm not going to tell you to be done by then because you're never late."

"Yes, ma'am."

I shift to the driver's seat then I'm pulling off. My housemate has been a bit weird in the past few weeks and to avoid him snapping at me, I've stayed out of his way. Right now, there's a trail of roses from the floor that leads to his bedroom, I think. I don't know where it disappears to. I never thought of him as romantic but also, not like I've seen him with one girl. He always has a new one and from my observation, he's more of a one-night stand person. There's soft music playing from the TV and the lights have been switched off with illumination coming from the scented candles that's all around. There's some on the floor besides the rose petals trail then on the kitchen counter, coffee table and even on the TV stand.

"You like it?"

I'm startled by the voice of a person who's caught me snooping. There's champagne in a basket, along with ice then two champagne glasses next to it on the coffee table. There must be food here too, somewhere.

"Tshidi?"

I turn and wave at him. He chuckles.

"You heard my question?"

"It's uh...beautiful. Why are you here?" I ask.

The housemate is nowhere on sight. Did I really think he'd do this? Well, I was wrong. The trail actually ends on the couch.

"You know why I'm here," he says while advancing.

I clear my throat, clenching the handles of my plastic bags.

"I don't. Who let you in? You know this guy I stay with or something?"

He chuckles, stopping right in front of me.

"I bribed him for some space. He'll be gone until you have to leave," he says then glances at his wristwatch. "We have five hours"

I gulp.

"F-five hours?"

He nods.

"Is this stuff for your sister?" he asks.

I nod. I let him take the plastics. He places them on the couch while I'm still frozen on one place. You can't avoid a person, can you? I guess I should've known from that time he asked for my numbers what he was on. I mean, I just thought he wants to be friends. Then, we started talking and hanging out when I wasn't with Brownie or Pana.