My Rebel Angel (Editing)

The Visitor

Mallory woke up from the smell of pancakes in the kitchen. As he rose up, his hangover caught up to him and made it feel like his skull was being bashed and cracked open. His roommate, Rose, left him a remedy, a cup of warm green tea, on his nightstand. He pinched his nose and reluctantly gulped it down. His face crumpled at the bitter aftertaste.

Every time Mallory was confronted with tea, it always reminded him of his introverted younger brother. He always had used the teabags nobody had wanted to drink in the house. 

He misses his brother sometimes. He would call his brother to cheer himself up when he was feeling down in the dumps. 

He looked at his phone and became upset as he remembered that he had forgotten to write his number down for Don to call. His head hurt again from the anguish, and he fell back into the pillows. 

A redhead with pink freckled cheeks and wide green eyes came through the door, radiating her unwanted morning person energy. "Rise and shine, gorgeous!" 

"Rose! Don't yell when I'm hungover! Argh!" 

Rose lowered her voice and apologized, "Oh, sorry. You know I have a loud voice." 

"It's okay," Mallory grunted. "Anyways, thanks for the tea, Rosie."

He squinted at her like the morning sun was hurting his eyes. Rose took the empty teacup from Mallory's hands as she warmly smiled at him.

"Will he visit again? He's pretty nice," She asked curiously.

"Yeah, later at noon."

She clapped and smiled. After that, she put her hand on her waist and changed her tone, "Also, I am not spoiling you with another breakfast-in-bed. Get up."

"Okay, mum."

"Stop calling me mum." 

"Okay, mum."

Rose stuck out her tongue in response and left the room. He looked at the clock to check how much time was left until the visit. Little less than an hour.

Mallory went out to the balcony after breakfast and looked down at the busy streets. He sipped the strong coffee and draped his shoulders with his black-checkered red scarf.

He rubbed his hands on the hot swan cup in his palms to savor the warmth. He closed his eyes and took in the feeling of the breeze, making him at ease.

Faint knocking on the door disrupted his peaceful moment, "I'll get it!" Mallory shouted, almost pushing Rose over. He stopped at the living room and felt nervous as he stared at the door.

A man's singing was heard from behind the door as Mallory inched closer. He put his ears on the door and indulged in the enchanting voice. 

"Come with me and you'll be
In a world of pure imagination
Take a look and you'll see
Into your imagination..."

Rose came and shot Mallory a questioning glare before attempting to tell him off. Mallory covered her mouth so she could hear the singing too.

"...If you want to view paradise
Simply look around and view it
Anything you want to, do it
Want to change the world?
There's nothing to it..."

The singing stopped. The roommates became suddenly confused before a contagious chuckle erupted from outside. The man then calmly asked,

"Isn't it a bit rude to keep a guest waiting, Mal?"