Nin cracked open two eggs. You could barely hear them sizzle over the hot pan because of the continuous noise of the city outside - horns blaring, speakers blasting some religious tunes, people shouting at each other, and stray dogs barking at the people. It was 11 in the night. Nin found it a labour to breathe. The omelettes were ready, and he placed them on the leftover rice he had reheated in the microwave. He seasoned it with lots of... something, it was dark, he couldn't tell, but he was 90% sure it was oregano. He ate right there at the kitchen counter-top, without properly chewing, as it didn't taste very good and he wanted it down his gullet as quickly as possible. It wasn't food, it was sustenance.
A strong dry breeze came in through the window and grazed his bare chest. It was going to rain tonight, he was sure. He contemplated putting on some clothes, any clothes, but decided against it after little thought. If he gets a cold or fever, at least he could take a holiday from work. Work, he sighed and looked at his phone. It was 11:20. He had time to watch the latest episode, he thought. So he did, on his laptop while in bed, looking at his phone half the time. He wasn't really invested in the show, but he watched it anyway because it would be what his co-workers would talk about by the proverbial water cooler in the office tomorrow. It wasn't even like he actively used it to socialize with any of them, its just that he wanted to be prepared in case someone actually talked to him about it. He didn't want to be a social pariah after all, but he still didn't mind being invisible. He skimmed through the last couple of scenes, his finger repeatedly tapping the forward key, and it was over.
Almost midnight now, he had to wake up in 6 hours to get to work. He whimpered at no one in particular, except maybe the monster under his bed, hoping it'd come out and comfort him with any kind of existential dread. But there was nobody in his room, or in his apartment. He was in one of the most densely populated cities in the world, and he had never been so alone. His life felt like an episode of the show - he wasn't invested in it, he didn't particularly enjoy it, and instead of stopping, he just kept tapping the fast forward key, hoping that there would be an end in sight, or at least a point. So far, nothing. Maybe his life was one of those American shows that ran for 15 seasons, and oh how he wished it could be a BBC miniseries. He went to sleep, dreaming about a woman in a white dress, writing letters throughout the afternoon in an old mansion during the Victorian era, worrying about suitors and balls and whether the hydrangeas in the garden would bloom. This, was now thrilling to him.
All day at work the next day he thought about how empty his existence seemed, and the worst part was, he'd started out hating it, but slowly the work had chipped away all emotion that existed in him, all passion. Walking back home, he couldn't even tell when the sun set, being hidden away behind the dirty skyline. He felt all the artificial lights though - streetlights, car lights, digital billboards. The weather was humid, putrid almost, and he sweat through his shirt. It was dirty, this city life, the air itself seemed to place filth on his skin, polluting his sweat. He felt like he was about to be split open by the heat and the noise. Speaking of which, he needed to get more eggs. He found a mart on his route home, and it's air conditioned interior was a relief, although he had a feeling that the dirty sweat was drying on his skin, seeping in almost. He winced, and quickly started searching for a carton. While he was at it, might as well get a six-pack of beer he thought, that would be his weekend sorted. Now, getting drunk and masturbating in bed wasn't the ideal weekend, but he decided it was at least better than being sober and masturbating. At least he could be passed out for a longer time this wa-
"Hello, you." he heard the sweet voice from his side. He had been lost in the cool air of the fridge while getting the beer. It was a voice that made his heart jump start and his ears stand up. It was Mila.
"Holy shit Hi!" he exclaimed, a little too loudly. But it was Mila, with her flowing golden locks and the enchanting scent and the hugs that could cure insomnia. He wanted one right now, but then he remembered his sweat soaked state, and decided against. How did she still look so immaculate?
"We're quite a mess in this weather huh?" she said, and he was confused a bit because she was perfect.
"It's so nice to see you. How long has it been?"
"More than a year, I think. Not since the break up."
"Right, of course. I guess it really was hard to stay friends after that."
"How is he though? Do you guys still live together?"
"No, I live alone now, got my own place. And yeah, I talk to him, he's happy and busy with the new relationship." He cringed at the words as they left his mouth.
"Oh, good. I'm happy for him." She said somehow with no hint of negativity. Of course, it must have bothered her, but she showed no sign of it. Instead, she continued with the same disarming smile, "Speaking of getting your own place, I just got mine, not too far from here."
He congratulated her, and she told him it was a nice 8th floor apartment. Then she looked at him with a quiet contemplation, one that scared him, like he'd suddenly been found out, although of what, he couldn't fathom yet. She said gently, "I guess this chance meeting is a second opportunity, to really stay friends, properly this time."
"What do you mean?" He blurted out.
"I'm having a housewarming party this weekend, you should come. It'll be fun, bring your girlfriend if you want."
"Oh I don't have a... um yeah, I'll be there." He stumbled into it.
"Are you uh, having a party of your own there?" she asked, pointing at the six-pack.
He replied with a nervous laugh, "Oh uh no, not at all."
"Well, do you mind if I have them then? This is the last one, and I could use it for the party."
"Oh of course, of course. No doubt." And he handed them over. She smiled and touched his hand, gave it a small pat.
"I'll text you the details of the party. See you there then?"
He smiled at her, and she gave him the slightest of hugs, like she approved of him for handing the beers over. It was like a weird maternal instinct she had around him, or at least so he thought. The rest of the walk home, he thought only about her, and how it had lit up his life, only for a few moments but after so long. He thought about calling his roommate, to tell him about this, but by the time he'd reached home, his exhaustion caught up again and he dined and passed out on the bed.
Day of the party, he was being yelled at by his superior, and while normally that would've traumatized him, and he'd been dreading it for a day before and after. But today, as those cruel words left his superior's mouth, it's as if they vaporized in thin air. Nin had a spell of protection around him, cast by his meeting with Mila, and he was now only excited for the party, everything else could've gone to shit and he wouldn't have thought twice about it. So quietly and inattentively he sat through the admonition, nodded his head at the end, made his apologies and left. The rest of the day went by in a flash, and before he knew it, he was back in the same mart he met Mila, and pondered on which wine to buy.
Mila was busy running around the house to really enjoy herself; the party was still in its infancy, as was her level of inebriation. Three hours later, she wouldn't give a shit if someone fucked in her bathtub. Now though, she was a little amused to open the door and find Nin wearing a hoodie and slacks, with a bottle of shitty wine in hand, the cheap one they used to drink back in college. She wondered what he was thinking was going to happen tonight. Nonetheless, she hugged him, and showed him around the house, the bottle went into the fridge with a promise to be opened later in the night, and they invariably got to reminiscing, because that's all they could think to talk about. One beer down though, she was actually having fun talking about college, about that mini-life they'd lived for four years and left behind so abruptly. It was like playing house really, college was for her as for many others, the beta testing mode of what their adult life was supposed to be. Of course it was much more fun, because there were few actual responsibilities, and fewer consequences. What seemed so scary as a child, college had seemingly opened their eyes to being rather... well, childish. But as with actual adult life, responsibilities arrive sooner or later, and before she could get too cozy, she was pulled away by her other friends, by someone breaking a plate, someone trying to work the oven to reheat some pizza, etc. And she told Nin she'd be back in a sec, that he should try to mingle.
A sec, she said, right? Nin thought looking at his phone. It had been 20 minutes. The party was at peak saturation now, there was barely any room to move. He'd only had one beer, and his excitement was starting to die. He had thought this would be his chance to leave his current life behind, if only for a night. Maybe he'd run into old friends, but he didn't recognize anyone here, and those that he did he was sure didn't recognize him. So he fidgeted anxiously, resisting another beer, holding onto the promise of sharing the wine with Mila later. But he couldn't even see her any more. Maybe she had forgotten all about him, and maybe she already had someone. He hadn't asked her, he was just running on an assumption. Maybe he'd made an absolute fool of himself and she'd seen it. He started sweating, the hoodie didn't help. He needed air, so he squeezed his way through half-drunk sweaty men and women who he was invisible to, and made it onto the balcony.
The air outside was still warm and pungent, but better than inside. There was a slight breeze, there was an immediate quiet, and all the noise of the city, while still present, seemed at a distance. Nin thought he would have liked to live here, it's more bearable than his place. Why didn't he find such a place? Why, as he looked around, he noticed another balcony down below, chock full of little plants. There were vines growing too on tiny beams, that had roofed the balcony of completely, save for a small hole in the middle, but he couldn't see inside it. What a nice little garden, he thought, he should like to see it. Then the door opened behind him, and he heard someone stumble on the slide of the French door and whipped around to catch them, thinking it was a drunk idiot about to fall down face first. Instead, he ran into a woman. Well, he actually ran into the glass in her hand, which with his undisciplined whipping around he knocked over, spilling the red wine inside it onto her mint green dress. Maybe he shouldn't live here, this place had a small balcony, he realized.
"Oh fuck me." she said with clenched teeth.
Nin made a whimper. He tried again, and spoke, "I am so sorry about that, I just thought..." and his voice trailed off.
"Oh never mind you, just hold this." she handed him the glass, and sat on a small stool in the corner, picking away the stuck cloth of her dress, squeezing it to get some of the wine out.
She hadn't noticed Nin yet, not as Nin. He was still just a person. But as she was sitting, Nin took notice of her, saw her. The bright red hair was striking - long, flowing locks with a slight curl to them. Her skin was brilliant, like polished ivory, with a slight pattern of freckles burned onto her arms. She reminded him of a Trill, and in such a muted grey city, such a sudden flash of white and red and green, she might as well have been an alien. She looked up at him, they were bold thin eyes of dirty green, her nose was crinkled with the overpowering smell of wine and her big lips were tightly pressed together (they were the lips of a flapper from the 20s, he thought). Nin was sure he was about to be yelled at again, and all the times his boss had yelled at him suddenly overwhelmed him. He blurted out the first words that came to his mouth, "You can spill wine on me if you want!"
Her face loosened and he heard her chuckle, "Why would I want to do that?" she said in a prim voice, strong with an accent he couldn't place.
