10 YEARS AGO
Laughter echoed in the walls of the classroom, it was gloomy as it was raining outside so the classroom was a little rowdy because no teacher had come in , in the midst of the fun chaos , some girls were spitefully looking at Rhea, " she thinks she's all that huh...., it's not like she is rich or anything all she does is write ", said one of the girls , one of them took a light glance at Rhea then she smiled , it was wicked , something twisted running through her mind, " if we take the book away from her , we will hear her speak and her reaction could be very funny", said Bianca , " hiding the book won't be enough...", said Ashley with a wicked smile as she turned and looked at the window, the downpour was still heavy, " let's throw the book in the rain", she said turning to her friends , her tone laced with a devilish excitement but her friends were surprised at what she had said , " Ashley, isn't that a little too.....", Ashley leaned in closer , her eyes held a sheer of disgust and disdain, " what?.....didn't you say you wanted to see her reaction....", she said as she glanced at Rhea once more then turned back to her friends , " if we throw it in the rain , she will totally loose it", she said as she chuckled darkly.
************************************************
PRESENT
I couldn't believe it, the person I had tried so hard to escape from was now my next door neighbor, I slumped to the floor both helpless and frustrated, he was a nutcase, a big nutcase, should I just move?, but where would I go, this was the cheapest and in my current financial state I could t move to another apartment, I looked out the window , the day looked gloomy , I was happy when I was the only one on this floor but now...he was here, I sighed deeply, my mind wandering to him, since the reunion we have been bumping into each other and he had seen me in my most miserable state , I didn't want him to know what was really going on in my life , at that very moment my phone dinged , a message had come through , I knew who it was almost immediately , it was Daniel, I had gotten used to his demanding messages but anytime he sent me a message my chest suddenly felt heavy, the message was short and simple, " come outside", he was here , it was definitely about my progress on the book but.....I had nothing, I looked over at my desk, I had no title in mind talkless of a whole draft , I had to make something up and start writing as soon as possible.
************************************************
Rhea was inside Daniels car which had been silent for a while, " hah...does it always have to be like this...", Rhea still didn't bother to look at him making Daniel to scoff, " or....", he leaned closer , a breath inches away from her , " you are still angry with me ", he said as he caressed Rheas cheek which she flinched in disgust as she turned and met his gaze, he was grinning , his eyes lustfully scanned her, " still so pretty", he said , Rhea was disgusted , she hated him so much, she was just going to give him a title and then she gets out from here, " the riding lyre", the first thing that came to her mind was what she had blurted out, forming a title of a book was easier than writing the actual book, a title could be interpreted to several meanings , once you had the title you could easily form the story.
" Hmmmm...", Daniel pulled away as he tapped on the steering wheel then a smirk pulled up on his lips, Rhea was nervous , was he going to buy it, " what genre...", his voice cold but still had a hint of undeniable interest , Rhea sat up , he bought it, " it's a thriller .....", she said , Daniel tilted his head , " T .H.R.I.L.L.E.R...", he repeated, " yes...it's still ongoing but I have stared writing it", it was a lie , a blatant lie. Daniel smiled, " competent as always ....even the title sounds like something you would write ", when he said those words it felt like a weight had been lifted off her but she was still scared, where was she going to start , it had been only once she wrote a thriller and if he usually read her books he will know that and by now he will probably be questioning her.
" Diah wants the book before the end of this month and if there is no book before the end the month , that means there will be no paying of the debts", Rhea nodded , that debt, her parents debt was a huge stain to her, if she doesn't pay it , it will be impossible to completely cut off her mother and her relatives.
After her father's unexpected death, Rheas mother ( Renee) had taken out his life insurance, seeing Rhea as a burden she had sent Rhea to her uncle's place , never for once checking up on her , Renee moved to the big city and spent that insurance money on gambling and men , and due to loans and gambling she was in so much debt that she even lost their family house , she latched herself to a man who was wealthy and twice her age and they got married, every loan she took and all gambling debt was signed under Rheas name , an uprising author and a three time bestseller, every income that was generated from her books was used to pay off debts leaving little to nothing for herself.
Rhea looked up at the devil that had once considered her savior, someone who lied his way to her life , someone she thought she could lean in and Diah....,someone she had considered as a friend, they both stabbed her mercilessly at her back.
" And also ...your uncle , is he okay, I heard about what happened , were you hurt? ...., ", he wanted to touch her but Rhea instinctively backed away , it was obvious he was faking his concern , she knew he was the one that told her uncle where she lived , he was just trying to remind her that she could never escape him, then he suddenly pulled away, " of course you will be fine .....", his eyes narrowed with anger , Rhea stared at him , what did he mean by that and then he smiled, it was forced , " you can leave ....." , he said without sparing a glance , Rhea opened the door and rushed out, Daniel waved at her and drove away leaving her there , what did you mean by that and.....what the hell was she going to write, " the riding lyre", she had been too impulsive that she spat out anything that was on her mind and now she was clueless, she had no idea of what to write.
************************************************
As I strodded to my home I could not stop thinking of the title I had impulsively made up, " the riding lyre.....", what was I going to make up from that title , as my mind wandered , Denvers door flung open and he came out , I had almost forgotten that he was my neighbour , he was probably off to work , he wore a plain black shirt with jeans , it was simple yet he was still so attractive , that fresh mint scent didn't quench that his usual fruity smell and ...he was looking at me , I had rushed out of the apartment when Daniel had texted, it's not like I ever bothered with my appearance before but seeing him now I felt...embarrassed, I wore a loose grey sweater that was falling loosely at my left shoulder, it was already so stretched out and old , an old stain I couldn't decipher , I think it was a coffee stain because it was brown, loose pair of joggers , comfy , fluffy and white slippers that you could sink into and my hair was loose , it fell down my shoulders in it's messy waves.
I had gotten so use to this because I had lived alone on this floor by myself but now someone was also living on this floor , we both stared at each other , I could tell that he was nervous , I was also nervous and for some reason super cautious , I was the one that said we should treat each other like we didn't exist , why was I suddenly nervous at my own statement?.
I sighed , I was just going to walk right past him, I was about to do that when...., " Rhea .....", he called my name and that was how my plans were thrown out the window , " what!...", I replied sharply hoping to discourage him from talking to me but I knew Denver all too well, either he wasn't taking the hint or he was just pretending not to take the hint instead he stretched out his arm , it was a paper bag filled with something, with that sweet scent that had wafted through when he had presented it, you could easily tell it was pastries , I looked up at him confused , his smile was its usual warm and gentle , it had never changed , all these made the once cold atmosphere warm and fuzzy , " I don't eat fo.....", " I gave it to everyone in this apartment complex , I am just doing business you know ..., trying to bring in customers", he said , it was as if he was stating the obvious , I had almost forgotten that he had newly opened a restaurant, this was just a market strategy to pull in customers, sharing free samples , I had not eaten anything since yesterday , I hadn't even thought of food for a while now and now that I was thinking about it I was hungry, then it happened.....my stomach grumbled so loud in the quiet tension filled hallway, I impulsively clutched my stomach in embarrassment as if trying to tell it to shut up.
I looked up to see Denver trying to hold in a laugh , I sighed and snatched the bag from him, I wasn't desperate cause I was hungry , I was just desperate to get out from this embarrassing situation, " it's conchas , it is a Mexican dessert, it's better if you eat it while it is hot.....", he said with that annoying smile of his, it was warm and it smelt good.
I nodded as I was about to open the door to my home and finally leave the halls but then, " oh...and also the landlady said it is better if we both had each other contacts ", I didn't have anyone's number on my phone except from Daniel and her ex agent , it would feel so foreign to have a new number on her phone, " I...", " but it's okay if you don't give me now .....let's get comfortable with each other first and then he left , he entered the elevator and we both stared at each other till the elevator door closed and then it felt lonely again.
He just moved in , how was he able to bake for the entire apartment complex , I heaved as I opened the bad , the sweet small wafted through my senses , I took out a pastry , it was shaped in a seashell and radiated of different colours from blue, pink, green and yellow, it was so pretty . I took a bite , the outer was hard but as you bite into it the inner was soft, I didn't have to chew or do anything as it just melted in my mouth , I closed my eyes to the insatiable taste , it was sweet and buttery , the taste was something I had never tasted before and for some reason I found myself smiling, it was too sweet.
************************************************
" God...you literally stressed me out a lot ...I deserve a raise, I had come in so early around four in the morning just to start baking , do you know how stressful that was ...", Thompson said as he sauteed some tomatoes in a pan, Denver smirked as he was filleting a salmon, " I was also stressed, I also baked you know...", Thompson stopped sauteing , " really!....for how many then", Denver smiled , " just ...one ", he said simply.
Thompson scoffed in disbelief , " this guy ...you.....are really something ", he said as he continued to saute , Denver smiled when he remembered Rhea.