My Phobia Man

15. Door It Is

I looked at the food package with a grudge as if it was the reason for the tasteless situation. Well, in a way it was, but still...

As I couldn't manage to burn the package with my gaze and eating it was out of the question, I decided to get rid of the bag. I grabbed it with rage and noticed it was actually pretty heavy.

"Didn't he take his portion?" I asked myself and opened the bag. Damn, there were indeed two portions. Biting my nail, I ruminated about what to do until I saw something interesting.

The delivery sheet.

I tore it off from the paper bag and checked it closely to see if I saw it right. Damn or yay, I saw it right. The address said flat number 29...

Talay's flat not mine...

So, he didn't forget about my condition, it was the delivery boy who screwed things up... damn...

I felt so regretful not to listen to Talay when he tried to explain the situation. I accused him wrongly, yet he was nice enough to give me the entire food package which he paid for.

"I have to apologise," I murmured, but how? I didn't have his number and going to his flat would be stressing. I thought about using the terrace door, but it was too intrusive.

"Door it is..." I mumbled with anxiety as I rubbed my already sweaty hands on my shorts.

Learning from my mistake, I checked the corridor through the peephole and after being sure that there was no one, I opened the door slowly. Keeping one hand on the wall to ground myself, I walked to Talay's door in a killing slowness. My breathing was already erratic, so I was giving extra effort to regulate my breaths.

Suddenly, my hand lost contact and I realised I had managed to arrive. Quickly, I knocked a few times and moved back as much as possible.

Luckily, Talay didn't take too much time to open the door. He looked at me with widened puffy eyes, and sniffed before saying "Veera, what are you doing out?"

I wondered if he cried, but it would be disrespectful to ask before I apologised. Keeping my hand on the opposite wall from Talay's door, I said "I am sorry for earlier, I should have listened to you before jumping to the conclusion."

He looked at me in awe, then smiled brightly, "it is okay, you had your reasons."

"Still..." I murmured, my gaze on the ground. It was the first time after a long while I was apologising, so I was a bit clueless how to make it proper.

"No still, you even came here. Let's forget about it," he declared and leaned down to look me in the eye, "shall we have breakfast then?"

Being glad for his easily given forgiveness, I nodded with a slight smile and returned back to my flat with Talay.

As the food was already cold, I had to heat them in the microwave. Luckily, they still tasted good.

"It is good, right?" Talay asked, giving me puppy eyes. I nodded and he put some vegetables on my plate, saying "you are skipping vegetables, I caught you."

I could neither cry nor laugh. He was acting just like my mother, but somehow I couldn't build any irritation towards his mother-hen behaviour. Maybe because he was cute like a puppy...

What the hell am I thinking?!!

Being abashed by my weird thoughts, I mostly remained silent for the remainder of the breakfast. On the other hand, Talay filled my spot and talked for two people without having any problems or pause. With that, I learned -well had to learn- lots of casual information about him.

He loved plants because they were the most harmless beings. He hated rain, but loved the sun. He loved coffee with milk. Because of his fire phobia, he preferred not to cook at home. He confessed that he never moved more than five steps towards the end of the terrace as he was afraid of heights. His family moved to a town after they came back from Japan as his treatment cost a lot. He was an only child and he started living alone as he didn't want to worry his parents anymore. He was working at the Nom Nom Diner near the intersection, and that's why he liked to live in this apartment...

Yes, he was talking a lot.

No, I don't know why I remembered everything he said.

Indeed, somehow I enjoyed listening to his babbling.

When we were done with breakfast, Talay cleaned the table while I prepared coffee. As there was some shade, we sat on the sunbeds on the terrace.

"This doesn't count," he said suddenly, and not understanding the implication, I gave him a questioning look. He raised his mug and said "this coffee is nice, but it doesn't count. I will take you out for another one."

Ah, he was still talking about that. I fought the urge to roll my eyes in the face of his stubbornness, but after accusing him falsely and making him cry, that wouldn't be nice. In the end, I said "I am happy being here, I am not missing anything outside."

"What if something happens and your family needs you?" Talay insisted.

Well, my condition wasn't that bad and I had a car, so driving back to my parents' house wasn't a problem. Still, I didn't want to explain all these to him because I hated to talk about my life, let alone my problems. In order to end the topic, I murmured, "they will manage just fine."

"How about me?" Talay blurted out with a serious expression.

"Ha?" I asked with a frown.

He looked at me dejectedly, "I live alone and you are the only one knowing about my phobias, so if something happens to me, how can you help me?"

Shock after shock...

I initially thought that he was a super friendly guy who bared his heart to everyone around him; however, he claimed the opposite. He even indirectly told me that he trusted me the most. Me! A man whom he just met, let alone it started with the wrong foot! How come he trusted me that easily?

Still, one part of me was proud of his blind trust. I felt a strange warmth spreading around my heart.

With a sudden urge, I fished out my phone from my shorts' pocket and handed it to him, "give me your number."

He looked at me confused for a millisecond before taking the phone from my hand. With utmost attention, he saved his phone number on my phone and gave himself a call. When his phone rang, he smiled happily and handed my phone back.

"I will add you to favourites, so be sure to take responsibility," he said, making me choke on my coffee.

He indeed had a very direct way of speaking.

"By the way," he said after I finished choking, "how are we gonna sleep tonight?"

Oh, well...