Open Heart: Second Year {On Halt}

Chapter 22- Mixed Feelings

A week after hauling my adequacy at Edenbrook, waking from the bed felt like facing a force of 7g's being slammed into you, pushing you back into your plushy world.

But today was the day to bring my promise for completion.

Today, I promised to eradicate every stain on the kitchen.

Bathing was stalled to later half of morning. I brushed, cleansed my face and glared at the pimple which defiantly poked out near my chin. Then fixing my hair in a crow's nest updo, I tottered to the living room where the pets intently waited for treats.

"It's 7am in the morning!" I exclaimed at them, "How are you hungry? Uh, nevermind."

I dropped their 'delicious' nutritional viand menu on respective bowls and popped my earbuds, blasting Skáld on IPod. My arsenal today consisted of zoflora, furniture polish, limescale remover, bleach, surgical spirit (perks of working in hospital), lots of clothes, more bleach and toothbrush. Plus my non-beloved gloves.

Mounting my weapons in a bucket....

I began.

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"No we are not having gelato." I condemned from my position in kitchen counter, "That's what we had last night! I am depressed by watermelons and strawberries!"

Sienna glanced up from the notepad she was scribbling on, making an extremely long list of groceries we needed for week, "Jackie likes them!"

"Yeah!" Jackie's groggy voice came from her room, "Jackie likes hedgehog cookies and crocodile chips. Please add jaguar nachos as well."

Ivanna and Andi gave me horrified looks, their tiny black eyes darting towards the door. I frowned at them and skidded over the counter to kick the apartment door shut— just in case our pets learned that we were discussing their distant-relatives in five kingdom classification and making lunch wagon out of them.

"That's gross, Jackie!" Sienna flipped her bird, "All those night-shifts have made you annibal!"

Elijah sputtered on his coffee mug, "What now?!"

Stifling a chuckle, I braced myself between the burners and cleansed the upper cabinets beside the chimney with bleach and toothbrush. We didn't have air-conditioner in the living and dining space. And since there wasn't AC here, black widows crept around, totally being unlike Scarlett Johansson. Nobody used the balcony anymore because the slider-doors were made double-panned after Panacea's goons broke inside and pulled in a heist to steal their files back. Thank Apollo, I had sent copies to Ethan beforehand or else my mother wouldn't be having her epic showdown during the ethics hearing.

"Elijah?" I called, "You are coming with me right?"

"Sure."

"Will Phoebe join us?"

Content lit in my friend's eyes, "You would do that? I don't want you to feel like a third-wheel."

"Me?" I smirked, "I am looking to spend some gal-time with our neighbor next door who happens to be beloved of my friend here. It's you who's gonna be the third wheel today, garçon."

Faint color rose over Elijah's dark tint as he focused solely on his already finished coffee. Phoebe and Elijah's story was straight out of a romance novel. We met Phoebe during our housewarming party where among the swarm of meticulous doctors, a pleasant and timid woman making her way towards her apartment caught Elijah's eye and from that moment, everything started.

The noise from Landry—uh, Aurora's door craned the three of us towards her. Aurora ambled in the living room, dressed in grey-blue colored ripped denims and a red crop-top with plunging neckline, baring enough skin to flush me down roots if I ever decided to wear like that it public. On her feet, Ana de Luca's mid-calf boots decked while on her head, a cloche covered the short ebony length. A large handbag was hefted on left shoulder.