My Phobia Man

16. Maybe I Like Blue

"You can sleep here," I said after a long pause of silence.

"Are you sure it is okay?" Talay asked with apparent astonishment.

I just nodded as there was no other choice. After Talay got sick on the terrace, I had to discard the terrace option all together and going back to the corridor was out of the question. Therefore, I decided to let him sleep with me. He already slept beside me once and I didn't have any attacks or anything, so I guessed it was okay.

"Okay, don't worry, I won't move much and leave quietly in the morning," he promised and stood up. Giving me his empty mug, he said "I will go now, but shall we eat dinner together? My treat."

"Okay," I assented, being weak to his puppy eyes, "but it will be my treat."

He opened his mouth to argue, but I threw him a hard glare and he shut up wisely. "Then see you around six," he said and waving his hand, he walked to his side. Before going completely in, he exchanged a glance between me and the half opened skew fence, but he decided not to say anything and went inside his flat.

Did he want to get rid of the fence? I wondered. Now there was a gap where he could pass through to my side, but maybe he was still offended by the separation.

"Hey!"

Suddenly, Talay's head popped out from his terrace door and snapped me out of my wondering thoughts. "Hmm?" I asked as I stood up. Now the sun was coming until the sunbed, so I had to squint my eyes to see him from where I sat.

"I am going to the store, anything you need?" he asked with a smile.

"No, thank you," I replied, not understanding why he was so nice. Okay, now he knew about my condition, but it was easy to predict that I was doing online shopping, that I didn't need to go out.

"Okay, call me if you think of anything," he said, making a phone sign with his fingers, and took his head in again.

Although I didn't intend to do it, I found myself letting out a soft chuckle after him. Damn, he must have crept under my skin already.

Nevermind, as I had some free time alone, I grabbed my laptop and continued writing the new chapter of my story. Nowadays, my creativity was at its peak, so I never ran out of ideas on what to write next.

As if possessed, I wrote and wrote with great tenacity until I heard the knock. Instinctively, I checked the time and saw it had been two and half hours since I started writing.

The second two knocks disrupted my short self-congratulations and getting the message that it was Talay, I rushed to the door, wondering what he needed.

"Me, again," he waved at me with a smile and held a shopping bag towards me. I got the bag with a frown and saw it was two packages of coffee and a chocolate cake in a plastic box.

"You didn't need to," I said, looking back at him, "I had coffee."

He chuckled, "no, you didn't. You used the last bit in the morning for us," he said with an all-knowing manner.

My frown deepened and not wanting to admit defeat easily, I took a step back and checked my coffee jar on the kitchen counter.

Well, it was indeed empty. Hail his attentiveness!

"See?" he teased me mildly and I had to admit defeat.

"Well, thank you, I wasn't aware of using all coffee," I said and then changed the topic immediately, "and the cake is for?"

"I just love chocolate cake, so I just bought one slice for you as well," he said sweetly, then his smile got a bit tense as he added "you like sweets, right?"

Helpless, I nodded and not wanting to look unappreciated, I invited him for a coffee. Although I thought he would decline, he assented immediately and went to his flat for a minute to grab his own cake.

I swear he was a puppy. Unfortunately, a cute one...

When he came back, I prepared us coffee and we sat around the dining table with the mugs and plates in front of us.

"What kind of work do you do?" Talay asked curiously, his eyes on my laptop.

"I am a translator," I half-lied as I used to translate novels before I started to write my own.

"Really?!" he exclaimed, "wow, you don't look smart for nothing!"

"..."

"Which language do you translate from?" he asked, not minding my shocked existence.

"English to Thai and vice versa," I answered after a second and he clapped his hands.

"You should translate AREV's novels to English, he should be known by the entire world!"

I chuckled bittersweetly, thinking how he would react if he knew AREV was me.

"Don't laugh, I am serious," he pouted and I rolled my eyes in the face of his exaggeration.

"Maybe one day," I just evaded, but he was content anyway.

"Don't you need to work?" he asked after swallowing a big piece of cake, "you can work, I can sit here silently. I just don't want to sit alone in my flat."

It still amazed me how frank he was. Unlike many people, including me, he wasn't afraid to express his feelings or thoughts. He was indeed so cool... so unique...

Without a word, I rose to my feet and walked to the bookcase. I grabbed a book and returned back to my seat. Pushing the book towards him from the surface of the table, I said "I translated this one."

"Really?!" he almost shouted as he grabbed the book carefully, "is it a crime novel?"

I nodded and he turned the back of the novel to read the description. When he was done, he raised his eyes to mine again, "seems exciting, can I read it while you work?"

I nodded again and without wasting time, he opened the first page with excited eyes. Chuckling silently for his enthusiasm, I moved to the sofa with my cake and coffee mug. Being sure, Talay was busy with the novel, I continued to write my novel.

Although I wasn't used to having someone while I was writing, Talay's existence didn't bother me at all. It was even nice to have him in front of me because he somehow encouraged me to write more.

Like that, the little legs of the clock kept moving without our attention. Only when it was dinner time, we broke the silence and discussed briefly what to order.

The dinner was also fun. Talay told me some stories about his childhood, well the ones didn't include any accidents, and I found myself laughing genuinely along with him. Although it might be hard to believe, I also shared a few of my childhood memories that I had with Somsak. Luckily, Talay was very understanding, so he didn't ask me further about Somsak. He just smiled at me brightly while I talked, and then took over the conversation before the silence got awkward.

His understanding nature, cute smiles, kind attitude, fighter soul... all was drawing me towards him more and more.

Maybe Somsak was telling me the truth in my dream...

Maybe I really liked blue after all...