Matthew and me

This is a story, a story about a man named Matthew Lennon. Matthew isn't any particular person, he's just a regular guy. The guy you see crossing the streets when the lights turn green. The guy you're standing behind waiting for to finish his coffee order. The guy who annoys you when he drives slightly too slow in his car.

Chapter one - The coffee shop 

Right now Matthew Lennon is sitting at his regular spot at the local coffee shop around the corner of his workplace. A cup of black coffee that's slightly overfilled is carefully placed in front of him on the table. He got his elbows on his knees, his chin resting on his hands which are tightly clenched together. He's staring at his coffee as it makes small movements when someone passes by the table, this has been going on for fifteen minutes. Matthew can't help but feel disappointed. Because of the girl who decided she'd meet him there, but yet hasn't arrived. In addition to this, his coffee was about to get cold.

But Mattthew didn't mind, he actually preferred his coffee this way. He hated the feeling of burning himself, especially when it was something as pathetic as burning your tongue on hot coffee. 'Probably a lot of traffic' was one of the many things Matthew kept telling himself, he had kept on making excuses for her being late since fourteen past two, it was now twenty to three. 

Matthew knew the truth, which any man at his position would. But he was too proud to admit it, too proud to admit that he had been stood up.

"It's going to get cold if you don't drink it soon, '' a familiar voice said. Matthew looked up from his coffee to the woman who had been speaking. One might think that this was the girl he'd been waiting for. 

It was not.

It was a tall brunette lady who we're standing in front of Matthew with a happy grin on her face. A lady whose name is Maria. Now, this person wasn't any stranger to Matthew, it was his coworker. "Oh" he said as he looked up at her. "Hello, Maria".

"Is something wrong?" she asked politely as she sat down on the seat in front of him.

"No, no," Matthew shook his head. "Nothings wrong".

"Oh, okay" It went quiet for a while but then she continued "It's just, I've seen you sit here for the last ten minutes or so, just staring at your coffee without drinking it".

"I don't like it when it's hot" was all Matthew could answer.

Maria nodded as a response.

"Did you finish your part of the project? Because I did, but I'm not sure if I'm pleased with the results"

As Matthew listened to her talking, a ringing started in the back of his head. An annoying sound ringing rapidly. But this was no different than the sound Matthew was used too. The distant ringing was a problem of his. It started thirteen years ago, ever since then there's been a constant ringing. But by now, Matthew had gotten used to it, he could usually ignore the sound if he focused on other sounds in his surrondings. 

Matthew tried to focus on Maria as she was talking about work and an upcoming project of theirs. But the ringing was different this time, it started getting louder. It became harder for Matthew to listen as the sound got louder and louder. And as the sound got louder he started to hear his surroundings less and less until the only sound he could hear was the constant ringing in his head. 

Matthew dragged his hands up to his ears, pushing them hard against his ears in an attempt to stop the horrible sound. But it didn't work, because the sound didn't come from the outside, it came within. Maria, who had reacted to Matthew's strange behavior, noticed he didn't answer her when she called. He could see her lips moving, but he couldn't hear a thing. Matthew got scared, his eyes open wide, he thought he might have gone deaf. But yet, the ringing was still there, louder than ever. Maria waved her hand in front of his face, trying to get his attention. But Matthew was in shock, all he wanted was to stop the ringing. 

He stood up, clenching his hand on the table and stumbled to the door, grabbing everything he came across in order not to fall. His hands were now back on his ears, pressing harder. On his way out he stumbled on a couple tables and some chairs. His cup of coffee fell to the floor, spilling the coffee everywhere, shattering the coup and spreading shattered porcelain across the floor as the coup hit the ground. On his way out he caught a glimpse of the barista watching him concerned. She opened her mouth as if she was saying something, but Matthew couldn't hear. 

He rushed out of the coffeeshop, the sound got even louder, to the point where it hurt. Matthew stopped outside the shop, pressing his hands to his ears, shaking his head. He fell down on his knees on the sidewalk, people were looking at him, confused and scared. Some people rushed towards him offering aid. Maria, who had run out the store after Matthew, stood by his side with her hands on his shoulders. Matthews' head hurted, the sound still ringing, he couldn't take it anymore. He let out a scream, trying to drive out the ringing. He didn't succeed. Matthew fell even closer to the ground, laying there in defeat.

Then, the ringing stopped.