Chapter Five The One with Late Nights and An Unexpected Call

Anton was always a light sleeper. 

Maybe because when he was at home, he needed to be a good older brother. Since his parents were often late, he had to cook and clean the house and sometimes he woke up from the sound of his baby sister’s cries and he had to sing or tell stories to put her to sleep. 

Those were peaceful times despite his hectic schedule. 

When he lived on the streets, he couldn’t sleep well. He was often worried about getting mugged or being arrested by the police. 

The first time he had a deep sleep was when he arrived at Fin’s place. And he thought he could finally get enough sleep.

But every night, he was awoken by the sound of the opening door. The sound of distant footsteps creaked each step as if trying not to wake him up.

At first, he was considering it to be a thief lurking in Fin’s apartment but he always knew that Fin never arrived home past midnight. And each time he heard those footsteps, it always headed the same direction of Fin’s bedroom. 

And since living here, it became a habit of his to check the time next to his bedside table. 

3:14 AM.

Sometimes he wondered if Fin had any sleep at all or if she had enough rest at her work station. 

But he could see it sometimes. The dark circle under her eyes proved to him that she didn’t sleep. 

One day, he declared to himself, he would ask her whereabouts without being killed.  

He thought that to himself as he slowly drifted back to his slumber. Besides, he needed more sleep. 

Tomorrow is another day of work.

---

Sometimes it was hard for Anton to reach out to Eric. He already knew that Eric was busy with his thesis in Thailand and he was also making some kind of pet project he kept telling him about (which he nodded dumbly because he couldn’t understand a word he said).

So when Eric messaged that he was finally free he started video calling him in Discord right away.

“Hey, dumbass, how’s it going?” Eric’s face popped out on his phone.

“Surprisingly swell, contrary to what you think,” he smirked. “You are now talking to a jewelry shop assistant here.”

“Holy shit, I have gone offline ten straight days and you worked under Fin. Seriously, you have been chasing her long enough, Anton.” 

“Things happened and well, I kinda slipped out that I wanted to work with her.” He sighed. “But I’m getting the whole concept of the jewelry business.”

“I hate to say this but did you intentionally choose to work at the jewelry shop because it has lower chances of you seeing your football team?”

Anton blinked then frowned. “You know, you are way too honest at times, Eric. But I won’t deny what you said.”

Despite the dark circle of his eyes and the obvious weight loss from stress, Eric smiled for the first time. “Sorry, I forgot it’s a touchy subject.”

“But, Anton, I am sorry for not being there for you when you were at your lowest.”

“It’s okay, bud,” he said while laughing. “You helped me more than enough after I left school.”

Eric was silent for a while before he suddenly changed the topic. “Are you cool with Fin now?”

He sighed for the umpteenth time. He had been sighing a lot every time Eric changed his topic directly to Fin. “I don’t know. I still couldn’t figure out why she hated me, Eric. I mean she intentionally made that stupid rule so I couldn’t ask her anything at all.”

Eric didn’t answer but Anton continued. “That’s why I should leave as soon as possible because I don’t want to be a nuisance anymore.”

“Hey, if she doesn’t want a nuisance like you, you can always be my pest,” Eric said, proudly as he thrust on his chest.

“Hey, I don’t want another wisecrack friend.” Anton frowned.

“Anyway, she probably had her reasons. Maybe you could finally ask her after you’re moving in with me. It’s not like she’s leaving anytime soon.”

He hadn’t thought about it. He could still meet Fin after Eric comes back. 

And once he sorted things out, he could start thinking about his future.

---

It had been two weeks since he started working and he finally understood the system of Maiden’s Rose Jewelry. At first he thought being in the frontlines was hectic but with Fin’s system of handling deliveries, customized jewelry and creating a nice motif every season, it really attracted a lot of customers.

Fin has always been a natural leader. I have no doubt she could take the jewelry industry by storm, he thought.

And because he was busy at work, he almost forgot about Melissa and his football team.

Until he received a phone call from an unknown number.

Anton didn’t hesitate to answer it straight away because there were times he received cold calls like this.

Or a call from one of the jobs he applied for. Who knows?

“Anton?” 

Well, damn. He should have changed his number when he had the chance.

“Hey, Mikey.” 

“I, well, I didn’t expect you to answer immediately so..uh…” His former football captain was the type who was never at a loss of words.

“How’s the team?” Anton asked. 

There was a short silence in the other line as Anton knew he caught him off-guard with that question.

“They’re fine, they are doing well, actually. So, listen, Anton.” Then he sighed. “Can we meet tonight at our favorite diner? My treat!”

Anton hesitated for a while before asking, “Is this about our team or about Melissa?”

There was a long pause again but then he asked, “If I say both, are you still going?”

Anton didn’t reply. The thought about Melissa was still fresh in his mind. He was not ready to see her.

“Anton, it will be just you and me. Melissa—my sister won’t be there. I promise.”

He still didn’t answer. He wasn’t sure if he was still ready but Mikey had been too good to him as he entrusted the whole team with his skills. 

Even when he got injured and was forced to quit the team, Mikey and the rest still treated him like he was a part of them. But then there's Victor.

If he promised it would be just the two of them, it won't be bad, right?

“Fine,” he mumbled. “I’ll see you in an hour.”

“Great. Thank you, Anton.”

When he hung up the call, the first thing he had to do was to get dressed and place food and water on Bessie’s bowl.

Then, he would leave a note to Fin at the fridge if in any case she looked for him.

When he opened his bedroom door, what he didn’t expect was Fin coming out from the bathroom at the same time.

While wearing nothing but a red laced pantie and a towel around her neck, covering her bare breast.

No wonder she made a rule to never come out while she was in the bathroom.

“What the fuck, Emma?!” Fin yelled while her whole face reddened. She immediately covered her front.

“I’m sorry! I forgot!” He immediately covered his eyes. He was so distracted with the phone call that he had forgotten about it. 

“D-Did you see it?” She seethed, with gritted teeth.

“N-no! I swear the heck of it!” He quickly said, defending himself. “L-look, I’m actually in a hurry so I just need to feed Bessie and I’ll go, okay?” He slowly made his way to the kitchen counter while he didn’t turn to look at her. For his sake, he shouldn’t EVER turn around. 

Bessie on the other hand was jumping excitedly when she saw him. She was unaware of the tension in the room. Damn mutt.

While he was pouring dog food in Bessie’s bowl, he wondered if Fin was still behind him. There won’t be any harm turning around to check.

“Where are you going?” 

Thank God, she spoke before he was one second to hell. And he hadn’t written his will yet, after all.

But he didn’t expect Fin to be interested in his activities. 

“Err…I’m meeting a friend.”

“Is it a man or a woman?”

Now that piqued his interest. Fin suddenly asking questions was something he wouldn’t expect. 

“Why are you asking questions, Fin? I know that the rule stated that I shouldn’t be asking questions and since you never asked anything, I assumed it goes both ways.”

He wanted to take a peek to see her reaction but he knew she was probably still naked behind him. The thought itself made him flustered.

“Fine, be that way, you fucktard.” And with that Anton heard the sound of her bedroom door slammed as he instinctively flinched.

He slumped next to Bessie who was still munching her dinner and hugged her. The dog whimpered because he pulled her away from her bowl but he didn’t care. He needed Bessie’s warm fur.

Fin is a woman. He should have known that. But he denied it until he saw her naked for the first time. 

Even if he caught it only a few seconds, he could still remember it vividly. Her breasts are not small as he thought but instead they were well-endowed in a perfect pear shape. He caught a glimpse but he could have sworn at the middle of her breasts that a tattoo was there.  If he looked closer, he wanted to see that design.

Her body was very slender. He knew when he first hugged her. She was soft and felt right for his arms.

His cheeks started to flare up and he felt uncomfortable down there. It’s been a while since the breakup and he felt it would be too impure to jerk off in Fin’s apartment. 

In fact, he shouldn’t be hard for Fin’s body at all! 

The best way is to start imagining the weirdest things he could come up with.

Stone Cold Steve Austin in a tutu dress, he chanted, mentally. Stone Cold Steve Austin in a tutu dress.

It took a while till he sighed. Finally, his member softened. 

He may not be a fan of wrestling in general but one time when he saw Eric photoshopped it as a joke, he couldn’t stop laughing and he hadn’t moved on since.

So yeah, that image worked its charm.

But why was he thinking of Fin...in that way?!  

Did I think of her as hot? Fuck, he thought as he slapped his forehead multiple times. He mentally berated himself that he should chain himself in his room so it won't happen again. 

Bessie whimpered beside him and he was wondering if he had forgotten something.

“Oh right, I have to go now,” he said to himself. He seemed to forget easily these days.

He checked his phone and to see it was almost 8:40 in the evening. 

It would take 30 minutes to reach the diner.

Perhaps Mikey could wait, he was in no hurry after all.