Marissa Carmine almost had a panic attack when suddenly the volume of the music rose from the stereo.
She recently bought a new music system as her old one decided to die down. She wasn’t that good at technology like her peers, so when she attempted to press all sorts of buttons to reduce the volume, it only worsened the situation.
In her defence, she did tried to read and understand the instructions given in the manual, but it all were gibberish to her.
“You! Stupid dumb box! Why don’t you lower your damn voice? Goddamit! Why can’t this system be simple to work with?” She shouted loudly, talking to no one in particular. “Jesus Christ! Come on, which one of you is going to lower the volume of the music?” She started talking to the buttons trying to figure the operation of her music system.
As crazy as this sounds, she didn’t want the grumpy old lady to give her a long lecture about discipline, and, as it is, it wasn’t her fault that she was not that literate about gadgets.
Unfortunately, stars were not aligned to support. Right when she was able to control the volume and get rewarded with much needed silence, the doorbell rang. She was confident that it would be one of her neighbours to reprimand her. But she could handle them. Her neighbours were pretty decent and understanding but she cannot say the same for that grumpy old lady.
When the doorbell rang twice in mere few seconds, she was sure that her worst possible dream came true. It has to be the grumpy old lady.
Marissa recalls the time when her friend Ronny decided it would be hilarious to awaken the entire building with loud music in the middle of the night. Much to her dismay, the outcome wasn’t very good as she got a long lecture by the famous grumpy old lady about being an ill-mannered woman and how it is not ladylike to have a guy home in the evening. She sometimes wonders how the hell that old lady was even born in this era. She was too narrow-minded and orthodox.
Nonetheless, now she must deal with the consequences of her unintentional accident.
She closed her eyes and opened the door, presuming to be the grumpy old lady. “I am so sorry, Margarita. It was totally by mistake. I got this new stereo and was having difficulty handling it...” She kept on rambling words like an idiot for few second but she was greeted by silence.
That was not quite like the old lady.
Marissa slowly opened one of her eyes to get a glimpse of the grumpy old lady’s face, but to her utter surprise, she found a man standing in front of her. The very same man whom she swore never to meet or even think about ever again.
The man from her past.
“Marissa,” Cameron whispered in shock. He was unable to believe his eyes. He had lost almost all hopes of ever meeting her again, let alone discovering her as one of his neighbours. They both were standing in shock, trying to decipher the meaning of their sudden encounter, when Steve, her neighbour abruptly came out of nowhere. “Is everything alright here?” “I... um...” Marissa was having difficulty forming words. She was still trying to digest that Cameron Bernard was standing before her equally shocked by her presence. Steve, however, oblivious to the entire situation and their history asked Cameron, “Are you new here? I have not seen you before.” “Yes. I have just shifted here.” Cameron told him after composing himself. “And let me guess, the sudden and loud music from this apartment brought you here?” Steve asks him with amusement. “You could say that.” He replied with an uneasy smile. “Well, let’s say our little Marissa is illiterate when it comes to electronics or any ot
Unlike the previous day, Cameron was prepared to run into Marissa. In fact, he hoped for the same but unfortunately, when he left his apartment he could not see her anywhere. However, she did not leave his mind. He knew that life was giving him second chance to make things right with her and ask her for his forgiveness and he had every intention to do so. At present, Cameron was working in the office when his phone rang. Without looking at the caller ID, he accepted the call. “Hello, baby brother.” His sister spoke from another line. “What do I owe the pleasure of you calling me?” He asked her teasingly. “Well, it will be great if you could pick Brooklyn from her class.” She told him, hoping that he would agree. “Olivia, your daughter is eighteen. Why can’t you just buy her a goddamn car?” “Cameron, we are planning to get it for her next birthday.” His sister defended herself. “You said the same thing last time.” He rolled his eyes. “Don’t roll your eyes on me.” She knew her b
“I cannot believe you, Jennifer.” Cameron glared at his younger sister. “It’s not a big deal.” His sister rolled her eyes. “It’s not a big deal! Are you crazy? Imagine my surprise when I found out from Brook that you were getting married. I didn’t even know you were dating someone, let alone getting married. And the worst part is, I found this from my niece instead of my very own sister.” He exclaimed. “Well, what did you expect me to say when you called me the first time after so many years? Hey brother, you know I have a boyfriend. You don’t know that guy because when I met him, you were busy screwing your good-for-nothing girlfriend, especially when you finally came to your senses and tried to mend our relationship. I was hesitant to tell you because I was just waiting for the moment for you to disappear again. But fortuDevonly, you proved us all wrong.” Jennifer crossed her arms and grunted loudly. “That would have been better than nothing.” Both of them were shooting daggers a
The previous week was a little strange for Marissa. For some unknown reason, Cameron’s behaviour has been absurd. ‘I think I am over-analysing everything.’ Marissa thought. Her train of thought was broken when she heard Nicholas and Brooklyn arguing. “Brook, can’t you see where you are dancing? Stop stepping on my foot.” Nick said loudly. “It was a mistake, Nick.” She said while rolling her eyes. “Of course, whatever the high and mighty do is by mistake.” “What’s your problem, jerk face?” Brook shouted. “My problem is with you. What are you going to do about it? Complaint to your parents?” He retorted. “Excuse me!” Brook was completely baffled by Nick’s behaviour. For the past few days, he has been behaving strangely, getting annoyed at every little thing. “You heard that right. For every little thing, you go to your parents. Have you ever tried fighting your own battles?” “I do fight my own battles. You know what, Nick? I pity your parents for having a kid like you.” She yel
Cameron was standing outside Marissa’s door, trying to build the courage to ring the doorbell. After a deep breath, when he was about to touch the bell, someone called from behind, causing him to have a mini heart attack. “Cameron,” “Fuck! Marissa, you scared the shit out of me.” He exclaimed loudly, one hand on his heart and breathing deeply. “I am sorry, but why are you standing outside my door?” She asked him curiously. Today, Marissa was late coming home as she had to run to the grocery store, so it was unusual for her to see her student uncle standing in front of her doorstep in all his glory. To move on with her life, she refuse to associate him as her past. It was their history. She do not know about him but she do not want any negativity in her life and it would be better for everyone if she pretends to omit that part of her life forever. Cameron would now only be her best friend’s brother and brother-in-law and Uncle of one of her student. “Well, you see, I kind of got
“You always knew that Daphne was cheating on me with Devon.” It was more of a statement than a question towards Marissa. Devon was one of his competitors and it did break his heart when he discovered them together. “I will make something for us to eat. You might be hungry.” She tried to dodge the subject. She quickly stood up to make some noodles. Cameron was himself lost in his thoughts. He was an idiot to believe his ex-girlfriend’s words. Instead of Marissa, it was Daphne who used to reek of expensive stuff, and it was confirmed when he went to her place to tell her that Marissa had left him, only to find her in bed with Devon. All the pictures of her were clear. It was an eye-opener for him. Instantly, he knew what the right thing to do was and broke off with Daphne immediately. But she was persistent and was glued to him. He repeatedly warned his ex to stay away from him. It was a nasty fight. But in the end, he finally got rid of her. However, the smell of divine food made h
Caleb, Olivia, Ronny, Jennifer, Cameron, and Marissa were having dinner at an Italian restaurant. Things were going pretty smoothly, and unlike before or any other time, the atmosphere was not tense between Cameron and Marissa. True to their words, everything was actually fine between them. They might not be the best of friends, but on their own terms, they understood each other and knew where they stood with each other. “I love this place and its food,” Jenny said, with a dreamy look in her eyes. “Who doesn’t? On top of that, it’s an Italian restaurant which serves the best Italian food.” Olivia agreed with Jenny. “Can you both stop gushing about the food so that we can actually eat something?” Cameron rolled his eyes. His sisters do behave like kids. “Who is stopping you then?” Jenny narrowed her eyes at her brother. “Guys, cut it out. Don’t start fighting here.” Ronny intervened. “Marissa, how was your date last night?” Jenny asked teasingly, which caused her to choke and Cam
The next day, Marissa was woken up by the doorbell. Before she could fully open the door, her best friend Jenny entered and hugged her tight. “Why had you never told me about Rob and everything else?” She asked Marissa. “I never found it necessary. The incident with Rob was something which happened two years ago and the rest of everything which happened to me is in the past. I have come a long way from that.” Marissa explained. “You surely have Marissa. But two years or not, you should have told me.” “I know, but I didn’t want to bother you with my problems.” Marissa smiled sheepishly. “Risa, you are my best friend, and it’s my duty to know about you. Anyway, I am glad that you told me about him. If I find him next time, I will kill him myself.” Jenny stated furiously. “You will do no such thing. I have already forgiven him.” “But...” “No, Jenny. Forget about it. Rob is my past so I do not want to think about it. Now tell me what you want to do with me today?” Marissa tried to