Pizza n' Tea: A Weird Combination

3. I Think I'm Gonna Kill Something.

Fin: Jul 9, 2020

My eyes widen and my breathing quickens as he stalks over to my couch.

I scoot backwards, my whole body taut, as I get ready to kick him in the balls.

All of a sudden, he stops and doubles over in laughter. "You-you should've seen your f-face," he says between guffaws. "I was like-" he smirks like before. "And-and then you were like-" he imitates my expression. "Oh my god, that was priceless!" He starts slapping his knee and eventually rolls on the floor, clutching his stomach.

"What the fuck?! , you're an asshole." I stomp up the spiral staircase, head back into my room, and slam the door. I'm so ready for this day to be over.

"Wait! Wait!" he's still laughing. "I'm sorry!" He runs up the stairs after me and stops outside my room, panting.

"I can still hear you laughing," I shout from behind my door, fuming.

"I'm sorry, so sorry. Really sorry. Truly."

I open the door to look at his stupid face. His mouth is twitching from trying so hard to hide his laughter.

I pull my right arm back and punch him straight in the gut. "Oof!" He doubles over again, this time in pain.

I send him a sarcastic smile. "Now I accept your apology." I turn around and slam the door.

"Is that any way to treat your host!" he yells through the door in pain.

I don't reply.

"Alright, I guess I deserved that. Damn, that punch hurt though." He pauses a few seconds. "Sleep well, Bailey. You really don't have to worry about me. You're safe here. I'll see you in the morning. Good night," Shaun says in a softer tone. I hear his footsteps walk away from my door.

My lips curl into a small smile before I can help it. "Good night, Shaun," I say to myself.

And then I lock the door anyway.

----

Morning. My favorite time of the day. It's a time full of possibility. Every morning, I feel like it's the day when everything will change. I'll get lucky somehow, and everything will be better. I'd be able to escape my unlucky lot in life and ride off into the sunset in blissful happiness.

I snort to myself, laying on this impossibly comfortable bed that doesn't belong to me, with my eyes wide open and staring at the ceiling. It's time to come back to reality. There's no such thing as luck and definitely not happy ever after.

I peel myself off the bed and make my way to the bathroom. Rubbing my eyes with one hand, I reach for the toothbrush and toothpaste.

I change back into my clothes from yesterday, folding the sweatshirt and pants neatly and placing it on the bed. I take in this beautiful room with its bold colored walls one last time. The sun is shining through the thick layer of snow that coats the entire window. I've been here long enough. It's time to go to work.

Grabbing my outdated Blackberry, I trudge out the door and down the spiral staircase. I stand in front of the main entrance door, about to turn the knob.

"Where do you think you're going?" a voice says behind me, causing me to jump a mile high. I sigh loudly as I turn around.

"I have to get to work Shaun. I'm gonna be late enough as it is. I didn't want to wake you-" I turn around to see Shaun in a kitchen apron, holding a spatula in hand. "Oh." He's wearing a tight black T-shirt, showing off his broad shoulders and lean, muscular arms. The man clearly works out.

"Yeah oh. You were just going to leave without saying goodbye to this generous benefactor?" He waves the spatula up and down. "Aren't you going to at least stay for breakfast first? Judging from last night, you certainly have an appetite." He wiggles his eyebrows at me.

I give him a blank stare. "No. Thanks for the pizza and for letting me stay the night, but I need to go to work now. Goodbye, Shaun." With that, I turn the doorknob and walk out the door.

Or at least I try to.

"What the fuck?!" I yell.

"What's wrong?" Shaun rushes over to the door, still holding the spatula. What's wrong is that there is a giant mountain of snow towering above me. What's wrong is that this snow mountain is preventing me from leaving this house. What's wrong is that the goddamn blizzard from last night is disallowing me from getting to work. I can't even see above the snow. It's literally a giant wall of white blocking the entire doorway.

"Argh! What the hell is this?" I yell, clutching my head with my two hands. Right at that moment, some snow decides to dump itself onto my head, leaving me spluttering. I just stand there and let the melting snow slide down my face.

"What. The actual fuck." I deadpan.

Next to me, Shaun snickers. "Looks like you're staying for breakfast after all."

----

Sighing, I push my eggs back and forth on my plate.

"Is my cooking bad or something? You're not even eating your breakfast. I spent a lot of time perfecting this you know," Shaun puts his hands on hips, deliberately looking like a sass queen with his hip cocked to the side.

"Sorry, I'm not very hungry," I mumble.

"Bullshit. Are you worried about getting to work? Don't worry, once you finish breakfast, we can find a way out." He puts his hand on my shoulder.

"It doesn't even matter. I'll be so late, I'll probably be fired." I click the power button on my phone again and again. I can't believe this piece of trash just had to die at this moment. "I can't even call my manager to explain. I don't even have her number memorized," I raise my dead Blackberry up.

"Do you have your charger with you? We can try charging it," Shaun says.

I sit up straight. Oh right! I forgot that this is the one time that I brought my charger out with me. "I do!" I rush up to my bag that I left on the couch last night. "But this phone is such a piece of trash, charging doesn't really work either," I slump down. I take out my charger and hand it to Shaun.

"Let's try anyway," he says. He plugs the phone into the wall outlet. Nothing happens. The phone doesn't light up to show that it's charging or anything. I sigh loudly. Great. I'm so going to be fired. How am I going to pay the bills next month?

"Maybe it's the outlet. Let's try another one." The next one and the next one doesn't work either.

"Shaun, I don't think it's the outlet. It's fine, my phone is just dead. Don't worry about it," I sag onto the wall and accidentally flip the light switch to 'on'. "I'll just figure something else out later."

I turn around to flip the light switch back off when I realize the kitchen light didn't turn on.

"Shaun," I say slowly, "Have you been having trouble with your electricity lately?"

"No, why?" He furrows his eyebrows.

"Um, the light switch is on, but..." I point up at the ceiling, "The lights aren't."