Nobody But You (Ignazio Boschetto)

The Key

He stirred his body trying to get a perfect positions, the one which will gave him less pain but failed. His whole body was aching and almost felt like it just being hit by the bus. No matter how hard he tried to close his eyes, he failed to bring himself back to sleep again. He raised his left arm to check the time but the watch is broken, probably the result of some impacts from the fight. He was sure though, that it was morning judging by the ray of sun coming through the window.

He was lying on the couch covered with a blanket. On the table beside of him were a glass of milk and some cookies along with a piece of note. He got up and yawn, trying to stretched his body but stopped when the pain hit. He noticed some bruises on his arm but they were nothing compared to the bluish circle on his abdomen. It doesn't look good at all.

"Sorry I need to go out early. I run out of coffee, so I hope milk is okay. Don't wait, just put the key under the mat when you left, will you? Thank you for last night." He read the note and looked at the key on the table. He put the note back and headed to the bathroom.

He stood up in front of the mirror and finally got to see his face for the first time after last night. Small cuts were everywhere but what bothers him so much was the black circle around his left eye, the results of a hard punch from the guy. He also noticed the band aid on the left side of his temple, right above his eyebrows.

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It was the fifth time he tried to call Ignazio since this morning. At first he thought he was still asleep but he got concern when he can't found Ignazio in his apartment. He was about to call him again when he heard someone open the door.

"What are you doing in here?" asked Ignazio the moment he realized Piero was there.

"I've been calling you since this morning. We have..." he stopped when he noticed the black circle around his eyes. "Hey, what happened?"

"Nothing." he headed straight to the kitchen, trying to avoid Piero. But Piero didn't give up easily and also went to the kitchen to confront him.

"Oh come on! You're all beaten up like that. Don't tell me nothing happened." he insisted.

"I got into a fight last night." he finally admitted. "There were drunken men trying to ask a girl for her wallet so..." Piero listened to his explanation carefully without interrupting.

"So where did you sleep last night? Why didn't you answer any of my phone calls?" he bombarded him with questions after he finished talking.

"I slept at her apartment. And I might've lost my phone somewhere, I don't remember."

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot. They put our Friday meeting earlier this week. It's today."

"Ugh... I thought today was our day off." he protested. "When will the meeting start?"

Piero looked at his watch and made a face, "Actually, it's in ten minutes." he paused, "But I'll ask them to reschedule it to 1 pm. Will you be ready by then?"

"Oh yes please. I'm all sore, gonna need a long hot shower." he headed to the bathroom to clean himself. "And Piero," he shouted from inside, "Don't forget to lock the door when you left."

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From the first lecture today she wasn't be able to concentrate on what her professor saying, no matter how hard she tried. Even a little thing like her friend's hand moves were able to distracts her. She keeps thinking about her apartment and how she actually trusted a stranger with the key.

"Hey Kate." someone touched her hand. "Want to grab some lunch?" She got confused because she didn't even realize the lecture was over.

"Uh? Okay, yes." she stammered.

"You seem so distracted today. Something's wrong?"

"Nothing, Al." she answered, still playing with a bowl of salad in front of her. Alison was the first friend she had in this city and she's been very kind and helpful to her.

"Okay then. By the way, how about the part time job I told you yesterday?"

"I'm going to apply today. But I need to go to the library first to borrow some books." she said. They then finished their lunch.

Everything didn't go as planned. She ended up spending more time in the library to read. The spot is just perfect, she got to enjoy the view while revised some lecture materials from today. The only thing distracted her was the beautiful view of the campus park that has just been showered by the rain.

It was already 9 pm when he got back to her apartment. She was checking the mat to find the key and relieved that it was there. If he got the key with him she won't be able to go in because she doesn't have any spare key with her. She threw her things to the couch and headed straight to the bathroom to clean herself. That was when she found a black jacket hanging on her bathroom. It was full of dust and ripped in some of the part.

"This might be his." she whispered to herself. She looked at the jacket for a moment and thinking of any possible way to hand it back to him because he never mentioned his address or phone number. She was about to put it in her laundry when she feels something on its pocket. It was a phone. She tried to push the power button several time, but nothing happened.

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Hello guys! I'm so sorry for my hiatus. I've just got back from a trip with my brother and barely had a chance to write, sorry :(

But now I'm back! And here it is, chapter 3!!
It's a short one, but I hope you like it :)