Make me stay

Chapter Three - Erica

WHAT THE HECK? Universe is making fun of me? The guy I saw in the park yesterday 1. Is my neighbor 2. OWNS this building.
Yesterday he even helped me when this goddamn door was stuck? Okay sure very funny. This aint a romance novel that he will find me pretty and fall in love and stuffs its real world Erica stop dreaming and you dont even want to fall in love. Okay why dont i want to fall in love? Because i dont even understand myself. If i let someone come into my life, that person will have to tolerate me and just put up with me. I'm too much. I overthink, i have these horrible mood swings, my anxiety and constant pushing people away when i'm feeling low will never ever let me be in a relationship in peace. That's fine i guess i'm fine alone.

Just when i was busy thinking about my life my phone starts to ring and ughh i dont want to pickup this call at all, yet i do and the moment i answer the phone my father starts to yell on the other side

"Will you never do anything to make me proud?" spat my father.
"Well hello to you too, father." I answered boringly because talking to him is the last thing I want to do right now. I put the phone on speaker and started to fold the washed bed sheets.
"You are nothing but a disappointment for me, you didn't show up for dinner last weekend, for how long will you keep letting me down?" He kept saying.
If this conversation was with the 15 year old Erica, she would cry. But this 20 year old one? Nuh uh not happening. I started to ignore my fathers snarky comments and kept doing my work. How funny that he is the first man to break my heart, dads are supposed to protect their daughter's heart, not break it. Guess not everyone gets everything.

It all started when i was 8. I started to see how my father actually treats my mother, the way he would come home and shout at her, at me. Break things, hit me. After hitting me he would bring me toys the next day and say sorry. I thought yeah he said sorry he surely wont do it again but he proved me wrong every time. At some point I stopped trusting his apologies. He abused me mentally and physically. God the amount of times he made me visit the hospital is horrible. After my mother passed away when I was 17, I finally decided to leave that house and him forever. Yet he wanted to have weekly dinners with me and I agreed. He wouldnt create a scene in restaurants, He protects his image in the outer world. People think he's a perfect family man and sigh only if they knew.

I hang up and lay down on the pile of bed sheets. I stare at the ceiling, tears welling up my eyes. I shake my head and sit up to call lia. Then i remember-

Shitttt

I told atlas i would make him some muffins. I get up and think about what muffins to make. I wanted to make some muffins for my so-pretty-it-hurts-my-eyes neighbor. Atlas maroni..hmmm i have to search him up in facebook later.
I call lia and ask her to come to my place for a baking session. In less than 30 minutes she rings up my doorbell. After we got ready to bake our muffins and cookies I told her everything about last night.

"WHAAAT? And you are telling me this now?? You should've told me this the moment you saw that Mr. perfect!" She yelled at me. Well wait what? "What do you mean by Mr. perfect?" I frowned at her while making the batter."You never even think someone is even remotely cute and you tell me that this guy was so astonishingly beautiful you couldnt tear your gaze apart, so duhhhh eri he is the perfect one! Did you sent him a friend request though??" she kept shouting with excitement."Woah woah woah girl hold your horses, we had one conversation where he helped me, im making him these muffins so yeah for now thats enough. Shut up and focus now li" I shut her up. And she pretends to throw the whole batter of muffins on my face, and we started to laugh hilariously. There are very few people who brings out this laughter from me and im grateful to have my friends in my life. 

Alrightyyyy the muffins are done. Lia got busy posting those photos on instagram. And i started to arrange them in a tray. Who knows if atlas was home or not.. 

After all was arranged i went to his door and the moment i would knock, he opened the door. and whaat the heellll???