CHAPTER : 9

I have this odd habit of stretching and yawning when I wake up in the morning, and the worst part of it all is that it's contagious. Anyone around in two feet distance can easily get infected, and the symptoms mostly consists of well, yawning and stretching. That's exactly what happened to Ivan when he came to the kitchen.

"Rose, I am in love with your bed, I slept like a baby. It's so comfortable. What do I need to do to make it mine?" Ivan rubbed his eyes like a baby and stifled another yawn.

"I don't think it's the bed. It has something to do with the tree in the backyard. I don't remember the name, but the previous owner said that its flowers release a certain kind of scent with a strong, potent drug that can knock out anyone if highly consumed or smelled. So I am assuming it was the scent of the flowers..." It was kinda funny how Ivan's eyes turned wide with shock and his mouth was left hanging open. 

"Where is Mr. Dimitri? Is he still sleeping?" The warmth of the coffee mug in my hands felt comforting as I avoided his eyes and took a sip.

"You know you can call him Dimitri in front of me. I don't think he'll mind," He said with his signature wink and smirk.

"I don't think it's right. I mean, he is my teacher so." I don't know why I do it, but I've always called my teachers a Mr or Miss or Mrs. Liza thinks I am retarded since I've never given a nickname to any of my teachers. It just feels wrong.

"Well, whatever. He left in the middle of the night saying he has something very important to do, and it can't wait any longer. He just grabbed his belongings and drove away. I was going to tell you, but you were snoring so I didn't wake you up."

"I didn't snore! I never do!" I folded my hands on my chest and glared at him.

He just ignored whatever I said and grabbed a cup of coffee with a teasing smile on his lips.

****

There is nothing more boring and lame than stocking shelves. All you do is grab a trolley full of all kinds of stuff and stock them up in their respective aisles. I wish I could still work at the club, but after whatever happened, I didn't want to set foot in any clubs.

A guy had tried to force himself on me, and he would have succeeded if Liza didn't come to rescue me. The owner obviously didn't believe me because the guy paid him with money, something I possibly couldn't have. From then on, I swore I'll never ever do a job in a club.

So that landed my sweet ass on this job. Although it doesn't pay like my previous job, it pays enough. But sometimes it just gets too boring.

"Hello Rose, how are you holding up?" Old Mrs. Abernathy asked with a kind smile on her face. She is the reason why I took up this job. She is just like my grandmother, although I never had one. She just fills in the gap. So when she asked me to get under her wing, I willingly complied.

"Hello, Mrs. Abernathy. I am fine. How are you? Has your sprain  healed?" She is a fine old lady who believes that she is as strong as Vin Diesel even though she is 64 years old. The previous week she was carrying a bunch of cold drink bottles to stock them up, although she is the manager and there are loads of staffs who can do it. That ended up badly, and she got a sprain on her left leg.

"I am fine, honey. A few minutes ago, I was going to fall on my butt again, but a young man with a hoodie saved me. I was in the next aisle, carrying some ice cream tubs and some brat must have spit his gum in there and I slipped, but the young man saved my life. I think he was stalking me, cause I noticed him standing in that aisle for quite some time staring at god knows what." Her wrinkled face and blond white hair was evidence enough that she was indeed beautiful once, but now old age has got her.

"Oh, I am sure Mrs. Abernathy, you are quite a catch" I winked at her and got a hearty laugh in response.

"You are not bad yourself, honey. Tell me has someone, at last, stole your heart or is it still caged inside." She had that teasing voice which made me giggle involuntarily.

"No grans, the key to the cage is lost" I made a pouty face and looked at her with doe eyes, but she didn't notice anything cause she was squinting her eyes at something behind my back. When I turned, I just saw the back of a guy.

A guy wearing a black hoodie.

****

When I returned home, the first thing I did was go to the kitchen to get some tea because my head was throbbing. I was driving home from the supermarket when it started raining and being the rain lover I pulled the window in this cold weather. The raindrops were very cold, with the occasional snowflakes. Thus, I got this annoying cold.

It was 7:00 pm, so I decided to check on Liza because I knew she'll do the same. On cue, my phone started ringing, and undoubtedly it was my best girl.

"Hey, hun! Sup? Enjoying your home-alone-day? Are the ghosts from the basement haunting you?"

"Liza don't try to scare me cause it's working. You know how much I am afraid of the dark! Anyways it's a good thing that you called because I was going to do the same. So how is your day with Romeo going so far?" I took a bar of chocolate from a cabinet and started nibbling it.

"Oh, everything is so rainbowy and sunshiny! It's perfect! By the way, we are holding up a party here tomorrow and there will be a bunch of hot guys so wear that sexy dress I bought you for Valentine's Day."

"Wait, what happened to you begging me to go to the party? How can you be so sure I'll go?"

"Because honey if you don't, I'll make sure to bring all the guys home when I return so that you can hook up with some of them. You can't mess with me, honey!"

"Okay I give up, but don't make me wear that piece of cloth which is more like lingerie than a dress."

"Oh hell no! You are wearing that and it's final. See you at the party!" And she hung up her phone like my decision didn't even matter.

I guess I am going to get in deep trouble tomorrow.