05

Lauren Hart

I came back home singing throughout the way. I was content that my stupidity didn’t cost me my job. I thought Mr. Peterson would definitely punish me for my act but he was surprisingly calm. Initially, I doubted and all day I kept praying for him not to change his decision but I sighed in relief when he went out after lunch, giving me a huge load of work.

Well, whatever his reason was I had my job and it was enough for me. On my way back home I ordered some take-out to celebrate with Christy but she wasn’t home when I came back so I decided to wait for her. For the time being, I decided to nourish my skin which had become dull because of stress.

I was on my way to the bathroom to do skin treatment when my phone went off. I rolled my eyes when I saw my mother’s contact on the screen.

“Hey, mom.” I chirped as I put the phone against my ear.

“Don’t ‘hey mom’ me, Lauren. Where have you been? You haven’t called me for so long. How are you? Are you doing fine? How’s work? Why didn’t you call me?”

Here we go… I knew the talk was going to take time so I went to the bathroom and starting rummaging the cabinet to find my green tea hydrating mask tube. I couldn’t find it. I don’t know when I had used it last. I was not a regular user of these kinds of products as I barely had time to take care of my skin and most importantly I was too lazy to carry a proper skin routine daily.

“Lauren, are you listening to me?” I almost flinched at my mom’s high pitched voice.

“Geez, mom, please lower your voice. I’m listening right now but I might have to see a doctor if you keep shouting like this… Oh goodness, where have I kept it?” I rummaged through the other drawer but still couldn’t find it.

“You mannerless girl. You’ll never learn. You have always been like this, rebellious and difficult. It was a bad idea to let you live alone there. I shouldn’t have agreed with your dad to send you away. I don’t know how-“

“Found it.” I chirped when I found the face pack tube in the last drawer.

“See, you aren’t even listening to me. What are you doing?”

I put the phone on the speaker and placed it on the bathroom counter. “Mom, I’m trying to do something,” I spoke absent-mindedly as I tried to look for the expiry date of the product, and when I found it still good to use I began to apply the green-colored cream on my face.

“Goodness, this girl. Neither you call by yourself nor you answer my and your father’s calls. Don’t you miss us? Don’t you ever feel to ask about your parent’s health?”

I sighed. “I’m sorry. How are you, mom? How’s dad and Laura? Are you all doing well?”

“No need to do the formality. I know you don’t care. You don’t tell us about your whereabouts that’s why I have to talk to your landlord, Mrs. Harris, to know about your health and whereabouts. And you know what I get to hear from her in return? Your complaints. She always complains that you don’t behave properly and always create problems. She wants to throw you out of her house but it’s me who pleaded her not to do so.”

“Mom! I didn’t give you her number to spy on me or gossip about me. I am not a five-year-old kid. Please stop messing with my life. Let me breathe.” I raised my voice a bit.

“I never taught you to shout on your elders. You have gone out of hands, Lauren. When will you learn to behave, Lauren, huh? You have failed to learn basic manners.” Her voice was filled with disbelief.

My hands stopped mid-air when I heard her say that. Huffing, I stared at the phone screen. I wanted to defend myself but that would have been too basic so I decided to go sarcastic. I forced a sweet smile on my face, I knew she couldn’t see me but to answer her I had to mimic the perfect expression. I again began to apply the mask with my index finger and spoke,

“My sweet mom, why are you venting your anger on me? Did my obedient, classy, mannered, and ‘perfect girl’ titled older sister, Laura do something wrong to offend you? I know you can’t say anything to your lovely daughter, is that’s why you’re venting her anger on me? Or is there some other reason?”

“Lauren, this is not the way to talk to your mother.” She chastised.

I rolled my eyes in annoyance. My sister Laura who’s two years older than me has always been the perfect daughter to my parents who never created any trouble and was well-behaved unlike me who was a troublemaker.

My dad was a little bit easy on me but my mother was strict as hell when it comes to teaching me manners. I loved my parents and my sister but I couldn’t handle being the way they wanted me to be.

I mean, if I have a spirited, outspoken, and wild persona that doesn’t mean I’m less of a girl or I don’t have manners but my strict parents always criticized me for breaking rules and adored my sisters for following rules.

“And your sister is everything you are not. You must learn something from her-“

“Mom, I have some work to do. I’ll talk to you later, bye.” I hung the call before she could speak any further. I was fed up with her including Laura in our talk.

When I was done with applying the face mask, I went to my room and turned on the music system to listen to rock songs to cheer myself up as my mood was dropped by my mother. When the music hit my ears, I swayed my body with the tune, dancing freely, letting the mask to dry properly.

Amidst of dancing, I heard the ringing of the doorbell. I lowered the volume and glanced at the watch. It was ten past eight at night. “Must be Christy,” I mumbled.

Jumping while still listening to the song, I made my way to the door. I was just two steps away from the door when the bell rang again.

“Oh, goodness, Christy stop pressing the doorbell. I have only two legs. It takes time to reach the door.” I shouted irritatedly and swung the door open.

“Chri-“

My eyes came out of the sockets when I saw someone else standing there instead of Christy. It was someone I could never expect would come to my doorstep. I was shocked to see him standing there that too at an unusual time. I thought I was dreaming so I shut my eyes tightly, hoping when I open them I won’t see the person but when I opened my eyes again I found him standing there.

He was actually here! What was he doing here?

“Miss-“

Before he could say anything I remembered that I was looking like she-hulk with the green face mask on.

Panicked, shocked, and embarrassed, I did what I was good at. Stupidity.

I shut the door in his face.

God, he saw me in an awful state. Why! Why! Why! Why do all the embarrassing things happen to me?

Sean Peterson

On my way back to my home after having a talk with my grandma I kept on thinking about my own stupidity. I was pooled with confusion and annoyance. Grandma trapped me in her trap so smoothly that I couldn’t do anything.

Now I had to think of something to bring myself out of the problem that I created.

I couldn’t ask for my friends’ help as they would just make fun of me to death. Moreover, I didn’t want them to know that I had mistakenly involved my P.A. in my plan. I didn’t want them to know that I wanted my P.A. to live with me.

I even thought of taking the help of some other woman but it would only complicate things and most importantly, I couldn’t let an unknown woman enter my house or come near Ryan. Also, my sharp-minded, cunning grandma would get suspicious so, in the end, there was only one person left who could help me. It was hard to accept but I needed Miss Hart’s help. And she wasn’t unfamiliar. Although a bit, I knew her.

But what could I do to make her help me without mocking me? She would definitely laugh at my situation and there was a hundred percent chance that she won’t agree to help me. But it was only her that could help me and I had to talk to her. But how?

I banged my hand on the steering wheel of the car as I couldn’t think of a solution. Never in my worst nightmare, I imagined being in this type of situation.

I stopped the car in front of my house. Coming out of the car I shut the door with a loud thud. Running my hands through my hair I gritted my teeth. I didn’t know when my frustration exploded and I banged my fist on the hood of the car.

“Fuck.” I flinched as my knuckles took the impact of the hit. I glared at the part of the car I banged on and then sighed. My annoyance was taking over my mind making me do ridiculous things. I rubbed my knuckles to soothe the pain when my eyes got stuck on my car.

Car…Car…CAR. Fuck! Why didn’t I think of it sooner?

Without waiting for another second I took out my phone and went through the employee’s database to look for her address. I had never cared about knowing her address as it was never required but now I needed it. As soon as I got her address I drove to her place.

Standing in front of her house I scanned the surrounding. It was night time and it felt odd to visit someone’s house without prior notice at an unusual hour. But it was not the time to think about that so I took a deep breath and marched towards the door. Now, standing at the wooden deck in front of the door I again contemplated whether to ring the bell or to back out and think of some other plan.

“Fuck it.” I pressed the doorbell before I could change my mind and waited for the door to open. I heard muffled yelling before the door opened and I came face to face with a green-faced girl.

“Chri-“ Her eyes turned wide and she studied me for a while. My eyes traveled from her green face to her outfit, oversized t-shirt and shorts, and then to her bare legs and then to her barefoot. I switched my eyes to her masked face again.

Okay… I indeed knocked on someone’s door at the wrong time. Well, that was awkward. For a second, I thought of going back but then I remembered my work was more important than anything.

“Miss-“ Before I could ask her if she was Miss Hart, the door was shut in my face.

Wait, was she Miss Hart? And did she just shut the door in my face?

Bewildered, I looked at my sides and my back. Did she really shut the door in my face or was there someone else standing behind me? But there was no one.

Shrugging, I again pressed the doorbell but no one answered. Frowning, I again pressed the bell, and then again, and again but no one answered. I thought of shouting Miss Hart’s name but decided against it as that would be odd to do and might force the neighbors to come out. So, I decided to give her a phone call but before I could take out the from my pocket the door of the house swung open and there stood clear-faced Miss Hart with her t-shirt wet around her neck, slightly wet hair, and still barefoot.

“Sir?”

Embarrassed of what I was doing I averted my eyes from her for a second then again gazed at her face. Clearing my throat I asked,

“Why did you shut the door in my face?”

Her eyes turned wide and uneasiness surfaced on her face. “Me? No, it wasn’t me. It was my housemate who did that. Sorry about her.” She chuckled nervously.

My eyes got filled with amusement and my lips battled to twitch up but I stopped them from doing so. She didn’t want me to know that the green-faced girl who opened the door was her.

“Do you and your housemate…wear the same clothes?” I quirked an eyebrow.

She lowered her eyes on her outfit then looked up but didn’t meet my eyes. And I could bet on my fortune that I saw a tint of red on her cheek. Shifting on her feet she again laughed nervously.

“Hehe. Ahem, What are you doing here? I…I mean do you have some work?”

Yeah, come to the point, Sean.

I straightened my posture and adjusted my suit jacket. “Are you free?” I asked.

“Uh, I…”

“Doesn’t matter. I have something important to talk to you about.”

“Oh.”

Awkward silence.

“Won’t you invite me in?”

As soon as those words left my mouth she came out of her house, shutting the door behind her. Honestly, I was taken aback by her action. For a second I thought I might have requested something unusual but then I thought I had only asked her to invite me in. That wasn’t a big deal, right? Or perhaps she had a messy house or a man living with her that’s why she did that. But again, it was not my place to ask as I had arrived at her doorstep unannounced.

“Uh…Erm…sorry but I can’t invite you in. If I do so I’ll be thrown out of the house.” She said hesitantly.

I kept staring at her in confusion as I couldn’t comprehend the reason she gave me. She looked at her right side and scoffing, she then looked at me.

“Uh, don’t react but can you see the lady in the adjoining house peeking through the window? She’s my landlord and she has a strict rule that men aren’t allowed in.”

“What?” Through my peripheral vision, I saw a lady peeking through the window, scrutinizing us. “What kind of absurd rule is this?”

Miss Hart waved her hand. “She is still living in the stone age.” She then laughed. Weird!

“Whatever. We can’t talk here. Would you mind if we talk somewhere else? Maybe a restaurant?” I asked.

“Is it that important?” Her frown deepened and hesitation lurked her face.

“Yes.”

“Umm… can’t we talk in the office?”

“If I could wait that long I wouldn’t have been standing here.”

“Umm…”

Please say yes. Please.

“O…okay but first let me change.”

Phew! Thank goodness she agreed.

I nodded my head. “I’ll be waiting in my car.”