Chapter 6

Two days past by and I spent it inside my condo unit without stepping outside and just finish the novel I'm working on. It's past midnight when I decided to go outside and go to the convenience store to grab something to eat.

I grab my purse and coat and stepped outside. When I locked my door I noticed Black doing the same thing, 2 doors away from my unit. I looked away, thinking if I should avoid him because of what I did that night. But when I'm about to face the other way he's already facing me smiling.

"Elise" he called my name and walked towards me.

"h-hey" I said shyly, trying to avoid his gaze.

"I didn't know that we live at the same floor. so we are really neighbors, as in neighbors" he said jokingly, trying to lighten up the awkward atmosphere that's surrounding us.

"y-yeah, m-me t-too"

"where are you going? It's already late."

"I'll just grab some food. how about you?"

"I just got back from work, I decided to drop off my things and head out to eat dinner"

"i-I'm sorry a-about that n-night. I think I o-owe you an explanation s-since I left you there hanging, w-without saying anything" I said and sighed but he just chuckled.

"you don't need to force yourself to explain, I understand. I know that you have your reasons so I understand. Don't worry about it." He said and smiled, the same as the smile he showed me that night so I chose to look away.

"i-im heading to the c-convenience store. W-wanna come w-with me?" I asked, wanting to make it up to him.

"let's go" he said and lead the way. He waited for me to get in the elevator before stepping next to me.

"thank you" I said, still trying to avoid his gaze but i saw him looking at me thru the reflection at the elevator's door but I chose to ignore it.

When we got outside, no one dared to talk while we are walking side by side. There's no one but us walking at the side of the road. When i can't take the silence anymore i decided to talk to him.

"Are-"

"are-"

We talked at the same time and stopped at the same time too that made us burst into laughter.

"you go first" I said when I calmed myself a little.

"no, ladies first" he said and smiled at me, trying to stop his laugh.

"alright, I'm just wondering if you are still up with the tour you offered me"

"yes, that's what I'm going to ask you" he said and scratched the back of his head.

"so when do you wanna go?"

"when are you free?" he asked that made me think.

"this weekend?"

"perfect. that's my day off. I'll pick you up" he said and he even flicked his fingers.

"your unit is like 2 doors away from mine. There's no need to pick me up " I said.

"ohh, even so. It's the thought that counts" he said while laughing that made me shook my head I disbelief.

"you are really unbelievable"

"good morning ma'am" the clerk greeted and smiled at me.

"good morning" I greeted back and walked toward the stall to find something to eat.

When I grab mine I walk towards Black who's still choosing what to eat even though he already have so many foods in his hands

"are you done?" I asked and looked at the food he's holding.

"yep" he said emphasizing the letter P at the end.

"let me pay for it so that i can make it up to you" I said and grab it from his hands and walked towards the cashier, not minding him calling my name.

"here" I said at the cashier and handed him our food.

"what coffee do you like?" I Asked Black who's standing next to me, busy looking at the gummy worms infront of him. He looks like a kid that's shy to ask his mom to buy something for him.

"do you want that?" I added which made him look at me.

"nope, and a black coffee will do" he said and showed me his smile.

"one black coffee and once extra creamy coffee" I said at the cashier who's looking at me, puzzled. "why? Is there something with my face?" I asked, forehead creased.

"nothing ma'am, let me get your coffee" he said and shook his head.

When he came cack I paid for our food and stepped outside where the benches are located at the side of the convenience store where you can see the city lights from afar.

It's not that dark here because of the light coming from the light post so i thinks it's okay to eat here.

"aren't you cold?" he asked when he sat beside me.

"a little but I can manage. How about you?" I asked when I noticed that he's just wearing his longsleeves polo and white pants, like what he usually wear.

"nope, I prefer feeling the cold breeze" he said and rolled his sleeve onto his elbow and handed me my food. "Let's eat before it gets cold."

No one dared to talked when we are eating. We are really focused on what we are eatung while staring at the city lights infront of us.

"I want to read people's mind" he suddenly said that made me looked at him.

"why?" I asked after I swallowed my food.

"I'm curious about what's going on with their brain. Are what they're saying is true? Or all of them are lies?"

"but if you'll have that kind of power, you'll be able to know their pains and what they are going thru."

"it's okay. Atleast I'll know what to do, what to say, what to act when I'm around them. Sometimes people tend to go over the line without realizing it because they don't know what other people are going thru."

"you don't need to know what they are going thru for you to be careful on what you are going to say. Be sensitive all the time, try to filter words that you think is not that needed and appropriate."

"yes ma'am" he playfully replied and smiled. "but I have one main reason" he added.

"what is it?" I asked and sipped my coffee.

"I want to read what's going on with your mind. I'm curious why do you prefer to walk outside in the middle of the night, why do you chose to feel the breeze outside that to stay in your bed comfortably. I'm curious about you, I want to know you more" he said that made me stoped for a while but I just chuckled at it.

"you know, if you want to know something, you should ask. Don't wait to have powers because that's never gonna happen." I said and shook my head.

"It's not in my vocabulary to ask that's why I'm just waiting" he said.

"is that so?" I said and looked at him who's already staring at me. I don't know if he's staring at me for a while or just now.

"I suffered from selective amnesia and that night, when I saw your smile, my head huts like hell and I know that if I'll stay there with you, it'll just get worse"

I explained and just stared at the coffee that I'm holding.

"do you want me to stop smiling at you?" he asked that made me look at him "shoud I just make this face when we bumped into each other?" he asked and pouted at me that made me laugh.

"or like this?" he asked and tuck out his tongue and winked at me like the emoji that made me laugh harder.

"or should I just cover myself like this?" he said and covered his face using both of his hand and part his pinky an ring finger.

"stop it" I said and burst into laughter still looking at the silly faces he's making.

"I'm glad that I made you happy" he said when I calmed down.

"no, I should be the one to thank you for making me laugh. I mean I'm stressed out these days and I know that I'll be worn out if it wasn't for you" I said and smiled at him sincerely.

"it's nothing, besides you always treat me meals so it's a tie. We made each other happy" he said chuckling and drank his coffee.

" I wish that I'm just as happy go lucky like you"

"i'm not that happy go lucky type of person. In fact I ony have 2 friends before but not anymore" he said and stared at his hands that's holding his cup."I left them" he added.

" if they are really your friends, they'll accept you once you come back to them"

"but I have no other choice but to just look after them from afar. I want them to know that I'm still here for them but I know that it will just hurt them more. The longer I stay the bigger the scar I'll leave." He said and I can clearly see sadness in his eyes that's why I chose to look away.

I don't know but i can't stand seeing him in that state.

I didn't know what to say so I just stayed silent and patted his shoulder slightly. We are both staring at the view infront of us but I found some comfort in it.

"I'm not good when it comes to comforting other people but I know that if that's your decision, I know that they''ll accept It and they will try to understand you but if they don't then I can be your friend." I said, breaking the silence. I saw in my peripheral vision that he looked at me. He offered me his hands smiling.

"friends?" he asked, I looked back at him and smiled before accepting his hand"

"friends"

"I'm glad that we are friends now" he chuckled.

"let's talk about our tour this weekend"

"where do you want to go after Kunstmuseum?"

"there's another art museum nearby. Do you want to go there? We can look around maybe you'll find your inspiration there" I suggested.

"hmm, that's a good idea. I've searched that there are so many cafes near that place, wanna try it?" he asked and showed me pictures of it.

"alright, we can have our breakfast or lunch there. What time do we go there?"

"you decide."

"at nine?"

"it sounds good to me." He said ad puts his phone back to his pocket. After a while he fished it out again and faced me.

"can we take a picture? I want to cpture this moment" he shyly asked that made me smile at his cuteness.

"of course" i said and snatched his phone away from his hands.

"smile" I said and took a photo of us. I stared at it and send it on my phone and gave it back to him. When I looked at him I saw him yawning that made me chuckle.

"I think we should head home, you are already sleepy" I said and picked up our trash to put it in the garbage bin near us.

"let's go?" I asked him and he just nodded while yawning.

This night, when the stars shines the brightest, my smile that was gone for a long time, came back once again because Black who came into my life unexpectedly.