Moving Forward

Chapter Seven

Oh My God! Such a perv!

"You are such a perv!" I slammed the door in his face, shivering in disgust.

He knocked on my door for five minutes straight and even apologized ten times for staring. I felt so invaded; I just couldn't face him again. First the panties, now this? Talk about bad timing.

I was almost finished with the bathroom when my phone began ringing. Without looking at the screen, I said, "Hello?"

"Hi, this is Mr. Bowles calling; your plumber who came to fi--"

"Yes, I know who you are. How did you get my number?" I barked.

"From your landlord ma'am."

I made a mental note to let Ms. Flint know that my number was not for sharing. I honestly didn't want him back in my home again. It was embarrassing enough with the panties and now my breasts. I just couldn't.

"Listen, I already got a new plumber so I won't be needing your services anymore. Please lose my number and don't call me again. Thank you." I hung up. Did he really think I would want him back after all of that? Huh...

After two minutes and he didn't  call again, I thanked the heavens. Now I could go back to doing what I shouldn't have been doing in the first place.

After emptying the remaining water in the bucket down my shower drain, I mopped the muddy floor. And weird enough, my mind kept replaying all the scenes with Rion. There was no way I could forget that. He was so insensitive.

In the middle of squeezing the mop, my phone rang out again. Ugh... I answered gruffly without looking. "Listen you perv! I told you not to..."

"Hello? Maliah? What's going on over there?" mom replied.

Shit!

"Who's a perv? Who is bothering you, dear? Should I come over?"

I rubbed my temple, "No mom, no-one was bothering me."

"So why were you shouting? You sounded angry. Are you sure you don't want me to come over?"

She always looked for a reason to invite herself over to my apartment. Ever since the spiritual healer incident, she'd been dying to come over.

"Maliah?" she pressed.

"No, mom. No. I don't want you to come over. What do you want?" I should have never answered the phone. Why didn't I check?

"Just calling to say hello."

She was bored. Definitely bored Nothing more, nothing less. "Hi, now bye mom."

I hung up the phone and stormed out the bathroom carrying the bucket and sponge outside with me. I knew I wasn't being nice to her but she was nerve-wracking. She was filled with so much negativity that some of it had rubbed off on me.

I went back inside and decided to call Anya to find out about the plumber. I needed one as soon as possible because I had to take a shower and do other things. I couldn't turn on the water because my bathroom would be flooded again.

"Hey Mals, I called the plumber and he would be there shortly."

"Okay cool. Just wanted to find out. Is he pricey?"

"Nah... He's ok."

Someone shouted my surname outside.

"Listen, Anya, someone's outside calling me. I gotta go, thanks."

"That's definitely him."

I hung up, threw a bigger jersey over my baby tee and opened my door. Getting eyeballed again was off my bucket list. A man probably in his mid-fifties was standing in the road with a tool bag. He had a chubby tummy and a silver beard. He introduced himself and told me Anya sent him to do some work. I waved, inviting him in. Without wasting time, he began to work immediately and was finished in twenty minutes.

"Here's the bill..." he said handing it to me.

The work looked neater than Rion's by far. I paid him right away and thanked him for his service. Before leaving, he made sure everything was working right.

Whew! I've never had this much persons enter and leave my home within my lifetime. Surprisingly, I didn't feel suffocated as I thought I would have.

I headed straight into the shower and stood underneath thinking about Malik. I had been so busy today that I didn't find the time to think about him at all. It was weirdly odd. Was I changing? When I was finished, I made my way to the couch and spent the rest of the evening watching movies. There was literally nothing else to do.

~~~~~

On Saturday, I made breakfast and called Ms. Flint to let her know that I got the problem fixed without Mr. Bowles. Thank God. She was grateful that everything was fine, and I also told her not to share my phone number again. She sounded a bit offended, but who cares? It was my darn number, anyway.

Anya picked me up after lunch to go get the groceries. I made sure to buy enough items to last me a few weeks. She was too helpful for me to bother her a second time in a week.

"Anya?" I called as we were on our way home from the grocery.

She gave me a quick glance before focusing her attention back on the road, "Yeah, 'sup chick?"

"Would you like to come with me next Thursday at the beach? It would be after work." I fidgeted with my purse, feeling like a nervous wreck for even asking. It would be the first time someone would accompany me to the beach. Anya wasn't a stranger, but it felt completely alien to ask her something like that.

"Sure no problem. I don't mind. Are you sure you're ok with that?"

I nodded, "Yeah..." Honestly, I wasn't sure how it would go because I always went by myself to reminisce and cleanse my system. Having Anya there would be a distraction. A distraction from my main purpose, and the fear of not knowing what would happen then was the part eating me up inside.

"It's a date then!" she said, nudging me with her elbows.

We both laughed at the idea but my mind was still reeling. Anya rounded the corner and pulled up by my gap, but my mood changed for the worse when I saw my dad sitting outside, on my front steps with a small suitcase.

"Isn't that your dad?" Anya said.

I didn't respond...

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