Chapter 2: Chapter 2 The Neighbors (1)

The argument only got worse from there—the sound of two people arguing transferred through the wall.

“Where were you?! I waited for an hour until you returned home, and you don’t have anything to say for yourself?!”

The voice was mellow but the rage had lifted it to a higher frequency.

“I told you, I had overtime!” Yelled elevator man.

“I called in to your work.” She replied.

The man caved in after hearing it, but even after getting caught he still didn’t tell his lover where he went after work. 

It suddenly went quiet, and the thirty minutes of arguing ended there.

William didn’t mean to listen in but realized even after turning the television on that he couldn’t drown them out. His old television could only get so loud.

He felt it was unfortunate that he didn’t check if his wall was soundproof last year. The wall was connected to a pipeline that would steam every time hot water was used. After a couple of years mildew started to form so the landlord had to tear it down and fix it.

His neighbors were quiet people so he never noticed.

Not being able to sleep or watch tv he just gave in and sat on the couch for thirty minutes.

The old clock on the dresser ticked.

After confirming their argument was over he went to turn on the tv. The sound of shallow crying seeped into the walls. Then it was silent again.

The tv screen turned on and the show began.

The sound of the crowd laughing 

In a couple of hours, daylight broke through the window’s curtains and into the room. The sleep-deprived William could only slink into the kitchen and make coffee to relieve his drowsiness. 

The birds outside chirped happily and the children running in the halls laughed. 

He left the lights in the house off. He turned on his phone and checked the date, it was Sunday, which meant the cookie shop next door made their specialty.

He got ready to leave the house and grabbed his coat on the way out. The corridor had small children running up and down them.

The children slowed as he grew closer. The kids all gave him a curious glance then swiftly ran past him to play on the other side of the hall.

After silently greeting the cashier at the bakery and ordering, he took his time to go and sit on one of their outdoor seats.

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The crispness of spring morning mildew made everything feel a tad calmer. The cars whizzed past, the birds chirped, and the smell of the bakery made everything feel like a dream.

Who knew it would be the peace before the storm? 

Once he grabbed his cookies and made his way home. He suddenly tripped because of a pothole.

The new pants he purchased were torn and muddied, a car passing by suddenly splashed him as he tried to pick himself up. He checked his sweets with his heart in his gut, they were luckily protected by the container. He breathed a sigh of relief and his taut emotions finally cooled down.

He could not bask in the joy of his cookies surviving before a pot fell from a nearby windowsill knocking the desserts out of his hands and smashed the container into the ground. 

‘What the hell?!’ He thought. As he watched as the young lady of the florist shop ran out and went to see if he was injured. He told her he was fine but mentally he was breaking down.

Was it his turn to die or something? All he wanted was cookies, not a free ticket to the pearly gates of heaven. 

He trudged his way back home carefully.

His phone buzzed as he went up the elevator. He accepted the call, and prepared for the screaming.

“Yo! Where have you been?! Why didn’t you tell me your grandfather passed away?! I had to learn it from a friend!”

“I needed some time alone.” 

“Yeah, yeah. I think what you really need is some company man, Troy said to get your ass over here so we can play games and eat some salt and pepper wings.” He said in excitement.

“Sorry, I still have an essay to finish up, I’ll see you some other time, Asher.” William grumbled as the doors opened up. His neighbor from the other night walked in, his face was ghastly white. He just quietly stood in the corner as William walked out.

He ended the call, and prepared to go unlock his door. Before he pulled out his keys he was tapped roughly on the shoulder and forcefully turned around.

“C-Can I stay with you for a night?” He didn’t know when the man from the elevator came back out into the hall, but he was extremely uneasy with his sudden appearance. William wasn't sure why he was asking him this, they had never talked and weren’t particularly close.

“Sorry, I don't really know you well enough. I can give you some money for a hotel if you really need it.” William didn't really want to help him, but he felt he should do something. He felt somewhat guilty for eavesdropping the other night.

“Please just let me stay the night. I-I don't know what I might do to myself.”

The man from the elevator's face was even more ghastly. Upon closer inspection he had his luggage on him, like he was kicked out. The bags under his eyes were swollen and his eye capillaries were prominent.

The image of the man brought back bad memories.

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