His Cologne

The City

This is the first time away from home. I can't believe I moved out to live alone in this cold city. I had to leave my home and everything behind. I wish I didn't have to do all this and live a normal life with the person I love the most. I have exactly none. No normal life. No one to love me back. Everything about this point in life is terrible and weird. For the last couple of days, I've been moving everything from my  home to my new apartment recklessly. That's the terrible part, but the weird part is how quiet this apartment. Not a single greeting from any of the neighbors. I guess this city isn't too friendly to people outside or maybe the people in this apartment don't like someone like me living near them. Only time would tell now. 

I unpack the last of the thing that came today. I must admit that cleaning and unpacking is a lot of work and mostly a pain to find a place to put it down. I dump the last box on my bed. I was looking through the things until something caught my eyes. A damn key chain. I thought I threw this away. Not any key chain but this one is from my ex. He's the reason why I moved to this cold city. I got up and run down to the front desk and toss the ugly key chain in their trash bin. I don't have to see this anywhere near me anymore. I walk back to my place but stop around the corner. Someone was at my door. I'm not sure who the man is. From the back, I can see that he has on a white shirt with a pink pony....?  I'm not sure what this man is wanting from me but I don't like the way he is dressed. Now, what...do I call out that that's my new home?

"Um...hello, sir. I..I live there..is there anything you need to ask me about?" I hardly talk to my friends so this is pretty tough for me. Is this why Juhan left me? 

The man turns around and smile. A very ugly smile. A forced smile. I smile back reluctantly. He nods, "Oh, hello, I am your neighbor. I just wanted to stop by and see if you needed help with anything since the service here is terrible." I didn't think it was that bad. I walk a little faster over to my door. To be completely honest I didn't want him in my home. I unlock the door and enter inside. "I think the service was fine and thanks for asking. You want to come in and we can talk a little bit?" That was a wrong move. I didn't want to talk since I am dead from the moving and packing to unpacking for the last few days. I wanted to go to sleep and forget about reality but this man is sitting on my couch and drinking a cup of tea that was supposed to be only for me. What else can I do now? I can cross my fingers and wish that he would leave after finishing his tea. Seriously, why did I let him in...

"I like this tea. Where did you get it?" The anonymous man talks as he is drinking my tea. "It's a homemade tea," I said. The man is now done with his tea. For the last five minutes, that was all we did. We said one thing to each other. I watched him drink my tea. I start to yawn and act as if I am very sleepy. The man saw that I was about to fall asleep while watching him drink my tea so he got up and did a little stretch. "Thank you for the tea. I'm so sorry for coming at such a bad time at night and disturb you while you should be getting your rest." Wow, this man finally got his hints. I got up and walk him over to the door, "It's fine. You're the first guest that I will have over at my place." I'm getting a bit cocky from the lack of sleep and food. But there's one thing I can't forget. "What's your name?" I ask politely as he exits my door. "It's Taeki." Taeki? What kind of name is that? I look at his face again. This time I had to stare at it. Is he not a western? I guess he could tell the confusion in my face when he said his name. "I'm half white, but my other half is Japanese." Japanese? Is that a Japanese name? I can't tell anything apart anymore. I had to. "Is that a Japanese name? I'm just curious since I'm not good at names. My cousin is also half Japanese...but he doesn't have a Japanese name..." I lied. I don't have any other relative or a cousin that is half Japanese. Sometimes you have to lie to get a little more in. The man stares at me and laughs a bit. "I'm not sure either. I should ask my mother sometimes. I guess you should go rest now. I'll be making my way back to my place." I nod. I continue to watch from my door, but something shocks me in the head. Taeki went down the stairs. How did he know about me when I'm on the very top floor...if he doesn't live on the same floor. Does that mean.....