That goddamned thing

Chapter 6

I wake up to the ringing of my phone. I half open my eyes and reach for the side-table to pick it. The caller ID says Angela. I jerk my head towards the wall clock and it says 7 am. All I can think about is Dora. Whenever my sister calls me at odd hours, my mind gives me illusions of something bad happening to Dora. I receive the call.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Cara. Sorry, did I wake you up?” Her voice is fresh and relaxed.

I calm down and close my eyes. I want to shout at her but I know that I should have been up by now already.

“No, no. I was up already. What’s up? Everything alright?” I say sitting up in my bed.

“Yeah, everything is fine. I just wanted to ask you if you could look after Dora for me today from 3 to around 10. I have a party to attend and Jacob is going with me. You work only until 2 on Fridays, right?”

I had promised my boss that I would work a few hours extra on Friday but I think I will have to drop the idea. Angela hardly goes out for parties since she is always too busy with work or Dora. If she really wants to go to this party I should not ruin it for her. But my boss is a witch – literally. She is not going to spare me if I don’t work extra hours. Just then I think of Alexander.

“Uhm, hey Angela, I will be working a few hours extra today, but I think we can coordinate. Just give me 30 minutes and I will call you back, okay?”

“Alright love. Bye” And she disconnects.

I keep sitting in the same position for a while staring at my phone. I think about what happened yesterday and it all seems like a dream. Or a dream of a dream. I shake my head and get out of my bed and get a quick shower. I wear a baby-pink dress shirt and black pants. I go out of the room and look around. There is no sign of Alexander. Just then I remember that I had locked him in his room. I curse myself. I should have woken up earlier to unlock his room. I slowly move towards the door and turn the key in the lock. I think of going in but I don’t want it to be more awkward than it already is so I just turn around and walk to the kitchen to make breakfast.

After a while I hear movement and Alexander enters the kitchen.

“Good morning, Cara.”

“Morning.” I say, “How was your night?”

“Oh grand. My night was grand. Couldn’t have been better.” He says indifferently.

I make scrambled eggs and fry bacon for both of us. He sets them on the table and we sit down to eat. We start to eat in silence. I want to ask him whether he would take care after Dora for me for a while until I get home but I feel guilty about locking him away and him acting totally indifferent about it.

“So, you are going for work?” He asks after a while.

“Yes.” I say, looking up.

“Fancy telling me what you do?”

“I work as a junior consultant at an agency called MASH.”

“Sounds awesome.” He says as if complimenting.

I decide to ask him about Dora. “So what are your plans for the day?”

“I have no plans, yet. I will just face what the day brings.” He says in a dreamy way.

He could be a philosopher, honestly.

“Can you do me a favor?”

He doesn’t answer for a while. He just looks at me closely.