Enigma

Haven

A hits a lightswitch on the inside wall of his apartment and his home is illuminated. It is full of vintage furniture and beautiful old books. The apartment, which must take up the entire floor of the building, is huge, and full of surprises. I walk over to a clock on the side wall of the room. It reads 11:30. It's late. Usually by now, I've found a place to hide away for the night, and am protected. In days like that, I would feel vulnerable, but today, I am different. I've found somebody. Somebody that I can trust.

A sees me looking at the clock and says, seeming tired,

"Hey, it's late, come with me, you can sleep on my bed, I'll take the couch.". I follow him through a doorway at the other side of his house, past the kitchen, and into what is presumably a bedroom. His bed is giant, and has magnificent red and black sheets. He looks at me, and my torn clothes and suggests,

"I have a shirt you could borrow to sleep in". Gladly, I accept,

"That would be great". As I speak, I can feel myself blushing. I never thought that being a criminal would lead to this, but now, in this moment, I am pleased at the turn of events. He walks to the other side of the room, and opens a sliding door, revealing a quite large closet. He bends down, and picks up a shirt from a neatly stacked pile. A walks back over to me, and then hands me the shirt. It's a brick colored shirt, and compared to my average-ish size, it's pretty big. He leaves the room, giving an uncommunicated signal for me to change. I change out of my ratty cardigan, but keep my stretched out skinny jeans on, as they give me a level of comfort and control in life.

After changing, I walk back out to the main room of A's apartment, in hopes to find him. He is sitting in a chair near the bookcase filled with the most magnificent antiquated wonders.

"It suits you well, Bryn", and laughs afterwards. I smile, laughing with him, too. He starts to walk away, towards the other side of the living room, but I childishly run up to him, and hug him, whispering,

"Thank you, for everything, good night". He holds me for a bit, and then also says,

"Good night". After our embrace, I feel so good. I feel ready for life again. I don't feel as drained, or anything of the sort. I climb into his bed, and lay down. I think for just a few minutes of the odd day I've had. I would have never guessed that this would happen, that I, a measly orphan would meet such a generous, handsome man, and that he would let me into his house. However, I feel a bit guilty as I have made him sleep on the couch for the night.

I wake up to the smell of bananas. Such a peculiar smell to encounter in the morning, I think. I wonder, what could possibly require bananas? I run all possibilities through my mind, and I still am faced with where and what it's coming from. I sit up, and yawn quite loudly, to my surprise. I, being my curious self get up and walk out of his room and into the kitchen.

When I arrive in the kitchen, A awaits me, with stacks of pancakes on two separate plates. A greets me with a cheesy, yet genuine smile, and says,

"Banana pancakes. I hope you like them.". For a second, I have an 'Ohhhhh' moment in my mind as I realise where the banana smell is coming from. I smile back at him, and sit down at one of the wooden stools that was tucked under the the counter of the island. I search for a fork somewhere in the vicinity of my plate of pancakes, but couldn't find one. I look up at A, and like a young child having a sleepover at a friend's house, ask,

"Where are the forks?". The feeling of embarrassment floods through my body. I absolutely hate awkward situations like this. A walks to the other side of the kitchen and opens up the top drawer at the very far left of the countertop. Inside lay just three utensils. A laughs and says,

"Well, now that I have a guest, I should probably acquire more forks.". I chuckle a bit in response, but don't speak, because it's already awkward enough. A grabs the single fork, and walks over to hand it to me. After giving me the fork, he sits down next to me, and we start to eat.

We eat for a while, without any words. I think about who may have been listening to us the other night. I had cut ties with everyone once I was alone, and nobody had tried to contact me, that is, except for A. Obviously, it wasn't A because he was there, but that still raised the question.