Chapter five

The ray of the morning sun forced Anne to shut her eyes the moment her eyes were opened. It was a few minutes past 08:00 in the morning and although she had woken up a few hours ago, she didn't feel up to getting her day started. She felt sad still and No! It had nothing to do with Collins. There were traces of lines running down her cheeks like... tears? But she didn't cry last night, or did she?

Slowly she made her way out of her bed and out of her room, completely ignoring her phone which was vibrating on the bedside table. She prepared breakfast and did the dishes ever so slowly to avoid going back to her room too quickly. In no time, she was done with everything there was to be done. Even time was working against her it seemed.

She went back to her room with her breakfast and gave up trying to eat when she almost choked on a slice of bread. Feeling frustrated, she took her breakfast, which she hardly ate from back to the kitchen and put it in the refrigerator, She dragged her feet back to her room and sat on her bed.

Her hand stopped a few feet from her phone as she resisted the urge to answer the call that kept coming. Placing her hands on her thighs, she stood up abruptly, as if hypnotized, walked in long strides to the neatly arranged books on the shelf, and picked a book. After trying without success to focus on the book, she kept the book on her bedside table, and without thinking, she picked up her phone. The number of missed calls and messages that greeted her was unbelievable.

"Can you at least answer your call? I need to hear from you, hope you are doing well?"

"There was a clash between two rival cult groups, that resulted in many casualties".

"I only saw your calls after I found my phone which was missing for days, Just take your calls, please.. "

As she read through some of the messages, she realized her mistake. She had been too quick to pass judgment, not giving a second thought to his safety. She felt really bad. Now she gathered her thoughts together as a sigh of relief escaped through her lips. There was no other lady after all, well not like she had been worried. Her phone rang just as she was about to call him and she picked up immediately on noticing who the caller was. There was no point pretending to Collins who could read her as though she were an open book. However, he admonished her for jumping to conclusions and then reassured her that there would be no games or tricks where it concerned her. She in turn apologized for her lack of trust and expressed gratitude that he was safe. With that, they settled their disagreements and cleared every doubt. They talked about other things and they both agreed it was nice to finally hear from each other again after about three days. He pleaded a headache and was excused. It was after the call was disconnected that Anne noticed how badly hungry she felt. She walked hastily back to the kitchen to get the food she had kept in the refrigerator and was only a little surprised the food was no longer there. The hunger increased as if sensing that food was not forthcoming.

It is funny how suddenly she felt better, better enough to feel hungry and of course, it had nothing to do with Collins. She recalled all the thoughts that played in her mind the night before and couldn't help but wonder where they had come from. Quickly she made tea with one hand while her other hand expertly put slices of bread into her mouth. By the time the tea was ready, there was no bread to eat it with and so she took the tea in large gulps. From the kitchen, she headed straight to her brother's room to take her revenge. Of course, she knew he ate her food while she almost starved. Opening the door, she slid in and gazed around, thinking of the perfect way to revenge. It was a good thing he left home minutes ago as that aided her revenge plans. She opened his wardrobe and emptied the contents on the floor, undressed the bed, and changed the position of other things. By the time she was done, the room was a complete mess and she was gasping for breath. Feeling very pleased with herself, she slid through the door, out of the room, and went to her room.

* * * * *

Anne woke up to the sound of heavy footsteps in the corridor which indicated her brother, Felix's arrival. When he got to his door, Anne's heart skipped a beat and then she decided, she would pretend to be asleep should her brother confront her about his messed up room. Well, he didn't seem to notice as he entered the room and came out long minutes later. When he entered her room, there were no traces of anger on his face. Genuinely, he begged Anne to help him arrange his room, that he had messed it up while looking for his wristwatch before he stepped out. He held a wrapped nylon to Anne and said he would give her the whole package containing grilled meat if she agreed to tidy up his room. She held tightly to the nylon to feel its contents since Felix wouldn't release the nylon to her and accepted the deal when she became sure that the nylon contained grilled meat. She walked quickly to his room and started to work, badly blaming herself for the unnecessary stress she caused. By the time she was done, she had countlessly promised herself not to take out any revenge by that means again. She was very tired when she went back to her room and her only source of energy was thoughts of the grilled meat. Her brother handed the nylon to her and left for his room immediately and she hardly noticed that the nylon wasn't as packaged as it was when they made the deal. Hastily she opened the nylon and the content provoked a bubbling laughter from her. There was no single piece of meat in it, it only contained nicely sliced onions. She knew instantly that the joke was on her, her brother knew just how his room got messed up and had perfectly dealt with her. Not willing to accept defeat easily, she went to her brother's room only to see it locked. As she banged his door with what little strength she had left, all she could hear was his laughter.

It is like this with Anne and her brother, sometimes that most people think Felix is

Anne's immediate elder brother whereas there is a sister in between them.

Collins called her a little while later, complained that the headache persisted, and was granted permission to sleep earlier than usual.

She got on her bed and pulled the bed covers over her and soon slept off.