My Phobia Man

7. Will It Work?

"Can you put your hand where I can see?"

I turned my head to the side as if I could see him. As I realised he couldn't read my expression if he didn't see my face, I asked "what?"

"Your dreamcatcher tattoo," he sighed, "I want your tattoo to be close to me."

"I thought you stopped believing it," I said without any sarcasm.

"I did, but yours feels special. It is engraved into your skin, so it is much better than those cheap macrame."

Well, if it worked, it would work for me as I was the one carrying it, but it never did. Yet, I didn't say this out loud. He sounded so optimistic and I didn't want to ruin it for him. Slowly, I placed my hand to the cold door sill where he could see.

"I won't touch you," he whispered and carefully put his hand near mine as if he could transfer some magical energy from my tattoo to himself.

"Won't you eat?" he asked after a few minutes of silence.

Only then I remembered my hunger and the forsaken brown bag on the floor. Without retracting my tattooed hand, I reached for the bag and pulled it towards me. Though it was hard with only one hand, I managed to take out the burger out of the crinkled bag.

"Are you not hungry?" I asked softly.

"I ate at the diner already," he replied softly.

Though I wanted to ask about his job, it wasn't the right time. Therefore, I just said "you should sleep, I will be here."

"Thank you, Veera," he said with so much gratitude and I heard him shift a bit into a more comfortable position.

I silently ate the burger and when I checked him, I saw he was sleeping peacefully, his head resting against the wall. Under the dim light of the corridor, he looked so pale and his eyebags looked more blackish. For a second, I wanted to touch his dishevelled yet soft-looking blue hair, but noticing what I was thinking, I pulled my upper body back into my flat with slight panic.

He makes me have weird thoughts, I said inwardly, yet I didn't move an inch from my spot.

I don't know how long I sat there like a mannequin, but when the numbness on my limbs was unbearable, I decided to stand up for a short while. I dragged my painful legs to the table and grabbed my phone. 12.24. It was still early to know whether my useless tattoo worked for a change.

Sighing, I went to the bathroom to refresh as the night was long. On my way back, I gave it a quick thought and got my two blankets. Putting one on the floor inside the flat, I walked out to the corridor. The nuisance was still sleeping like a log, his legs crossed and one hand lying on his lap while the other was on the ground near my door sill. Carefully, I covered him with the blanket without touching him, and smiled when he hummed as if he was happy to be covered.

Then I returned back, sat on the floor and covered myself with the other blanket. Though it was May, the weather was still a bit chilly at nights, let alone we were sitting on the ground.

Although I didn't plan to sleep, apparently I did; otherwise I wouldn't jolt awake when my hand was grabbed.

With horror, I tried to save myself from the grip, but the nuisance's slender fingers were too strong. I wanted to yell at him to let me go, but looking at his face with my blurry eyes, I realised he was still sleeping although he was fidgeting restlessly.

"There is no use of panicking, calm down, it is okay, he is sleeping, calm down," I reassured myself and regulated my breathing.

When I was calmer, I called out to the nuisance, trying to wake him up, but he was too immersed into his nightmare. As there was nothing else to do, I lifted my hesitant hand and patted his small hand which was grabbing mine tightly. Maybe because he was unconscious or maybe because he was a pitiful being, whatever the reason, I didn't flinch from the second contract.

As I was confident after the contact, I kept patting his hand and arm in turns while whispering soothing words.

For a while, he kept thrashing around in his sleep, but eventually, he got calmer and his grip on my hand loosened. Heaving a relieved sigh, I slumped back on the ground, my back leaning on the door frame. Though I was tired, I was happy and maybe a bit proud of myself. Up until that moment I had never believed that I could provide any help to others, but look at the peacefully sleeping nuisance! Thanks to me! I felt the warmth spread around my cold heart and I am sure when I went back to sleep, there was a smile on my face.

.

.

When I woke up, I was alone on the floor, but the number of blankets on me doubled. Groggily, I looked around, holding my stiff neck, but there was no sign of the nuisance, except a piece of yellow post-it saying 'thank you so much^^'. I took the post-it off the wall and carried it inside my flat alongside the blankets.

As I wasn't used to sleeping on the cold floor, my body was protesting fervently, so I took a hot shower, swallowed some muscle medicine and prepared some coffee after eating some corn flakes. Though I felt better after the medicine kicked in, I was still sore. Opting for working from bed, I took my coffee mug and laptop to bed.

Well, my position was good, the coffee was delicious and the laptop was on my lap. Yet, I couldn't organise my thoughts. Being unruly to the very core, my thoughts kept shifting to the nuisance, wondering if he was doing okay at his job after sleeping on the ground all night long. No, I wasn't worrying or anything, I was just curious, he was half of my size and you know...

Whatever, back to the story...

My gaze stuck on the yellow post-it, which I pasted on the upper kitchen cabinet's lid, and wondered if he would come again that night.

Typing and taking a break to look at the post-it; typing and taking a break to look at the post-it... like that, I spent hours and the bored sun finally decided to leave for the day.

Although I was trying to convince myself that I didn't care, my eyes kept moving to the door as if I could make it knock by excessive watching.

Knock... knock...

I did it! I made it ring by excessive watching!

No, I am just kidding. The door was actually knocked and I opened it in a record time.

"Hey, I brought you food."