I heard a knock at the door but thought I was dreaming. Surely I’d only been in bed 5 minutes. The knocking continued and I finally came around from my slumber. I forced myself to the door to open it. There stood looking at me bright eyed and bushy tailed was Itchy. It was now 2pm in the afternoon.
“Are you ok?” he asked as I left him stood in the doorway and flopped on the couch. I pulled a blanket around me. He followed me into the apartment, closed the door and sat on the couch next to me.
“Are you ok? You look terrible” he said
“Hmmph Thanks” I huffed and sank deeper into the cushions and blanket
“No no I don’t mean it like that” he said “you just look exhausted. I heard what happened. Hoppos phoned the hospital this morning, Charlie’s ok”
“Oh good” I said trying to muster some motivation.
“Have you eaten?” he asked “Do you want me to make you something?”
“To be honest I just wanna crawl back into bed” I replied “but I should probably stay up now or I wont sleep tonight”
“You go jump in the shower and I’ll make you some lunch” he offered
“Oh great, first you say I look terrible and now you’re saying I smell. Cheers” I joked
“No no you’re beautiful babe but you’ll feel better when you’ve had a shower” he smiled. His smile could melt me from inside.
I prised myself from the couch and went for a shower and Itchy went to see what he could conjure up from whatever he could find in my cupboards & fridge.
When I returned from the shower the smell wafted through the whole apartment. There was no way he’d made that smell from anything he found in my cupboards. He must’ve been out I thought to myself.
I perched myself on the barstool in the kitchen
“Smells amazing” I said peering over the counter
“It’s just a veggie stirfry” he said “be ready in 5 minutes”
We sat at the breakfast bar and chatted about everything that had happened. It all seemed so unreal now, like I’d dreamt it. The reality started to sink in as I recounted the events to Itchy.
“So how did you’re charity event go?” he asked.
“Oh my god, I totally forgot about that” I said. It had seemed a lifetime ago now. I told him the amazing stories and showed him the selfie I’d taken in the mirror before the event.
“Wow, you look stunning” he said. His eyes nearly popped out of his head. He grabbed my phone and quickly forwarded the picture to his own phone.
“Thank you” I said blushing.
After lunch he left to go to finish off some film editing, He asked if I could check on Doris over the next couple of weeks as he’d been asked to cover Charlie’s shifts on the beach until she recovered. I agreed, how could I turn down a man who’d just made me lunch and called me stunning? I didn’t see it as a chore, I was genuinely fond of Doris.
I plonked myself back down on the couch and tried to start writing up the charity event which seemed a million moons ago. I spent the next couple of days in a haze, writing my blog – thankfully I’d made pretty decent notes and after catching up on my beauty sleep they made a bit more sense. Matching them to the photos I’d taken of the evening helped refresh the memory too.
I submitted the article to my editor and they were impressed, so impressed in fact that the whole article was going to feature in a national newspaper. After the criticism I’d received from my earlier works I’d needed to redeem myself. I sent a text to Itchy but he didn’t reply, he was working so he’d probably respond when he could. I was bursting with excitement, I needed to tell someone and with Charlie still in hospital I decided to head over to Doris’. I hadn’t told her that I’d risked being sent back home – she would have only worried but I was sure she’d be happy for me that my article was receiving such high praise. I printed off a copy of the email and put it in my bag and started to walk the short distance to Doris’ apartment. I picked us up some pastries from the coffee shop on the way – a day like today deserved a treat.
I knocked on the door of the apartment and waited. Doris wasn’t quick on her feet so I waited a good few minutes. I couldn’t see or hear anything from inside. I knocked again and shouted
“Doris, It’s me Alex. Are you ok?” I was starting to worry. She wouldn’t have gone out. She still wasn’t up to it. Panic suddenly rushed over me.
