There always was something about getting into your pyjamas at the end of a busy day. Something about rewarding yourself for being so productive by cooking and eating dinner in comfy sleep clothes, rather than wearing your work clothes to do both.
Not that I could cook particularly well, but I knew how to boil pasta and mix in a ready made sauce. Plus, if you sprinkled enough cheese on anything, it would taste good. I sat in front of the television, a blanket over my lap to add to the cosy, relaxing nature I planned my evening to have. The bowl of pasta was warm, balanced on my lap, and I ate while flipping through channels. Nothing was on, and I couldn’t be bothered to get up and put a film on.
I left the sound of some sort of cooking show on in the background as I tidied up after my meal. I picked up the bowl I had grated the cheese into. Strange, I was sure I had some left over. I always grated too much. I must’ve eaten it at some point. The only thing better than slices of cheese was a handful of grated cheese.
I walked back to the television, to pick up the glass of water I had left on my coffee table, but it wasn’t there. I frowned down at the clear table. A soft clink made me pause and turn around, and I stared at the glass on the counter that I had just cleared. The glass that was supposed to be on the coffee table.
A feeling of dread washed over me, soaking me from head to toe, as I tried to remember where my phone was. It should be on the sofa somewhere. I lifted my blanket, shaking it out and willing my phone to fall out and hit the sofa cushion, but there was nothing.
My phone pinged from across the house, and I stared at the doorway, expecting to see someone standing there. It was dark through the door, there were no windows in the hallway, and I couldn’t see much past the wall of shadows. I walked slowly back to the kitchen, and drew a knife out of the knife block. My last boyfriend used to tell me I was paranoid, hearing sounds around the house and asking him to investigate, to make sure there was no one there. But this wasn’t just hearing sounds. Things didn’t just teleport across the house.
I approached the hallway like one might approach a timid animal, as if something was going to jump out at me at any moment. Holding the knife out, I reached for the light switch and flipped it on, jumping back as the bulbs shed light over the shadows. There was no one there.
Slowly, I went through the rooms. The bathroom shower curtain was drawn, I pulled it like that after my shower in the morning, so it would dry off and wouldn’t go mouldy. I was having a hard time trying to figure out whether I would prefer to deal with mould or have peace of mind. I flung the shower curtain back, thrusting the knife forwards, just in case I needed to ward someone off, but the bath was empty.
My bedroom was next, and my heart was already pounding after the shower curtain. I checked my cupboards before taking a deep breath, and kneeling down to look under my bed. I lifted the blanket that was trailing off my bed, looking under, and through to the other side. There was nothing under there but dust.
Just when I was starting to feel a little better, the light clicked off, and my bedroom door slammed shut. I jumped to my feet in the dark, holding the knife out. There was a faint amount of late evening light creeping through the window, enough to know that there was no one in the room with me, but my hand shook as I held the knife up. There was no way this was paranoia. Paranoia turned shadows into people, sounds into dangerous scenarios. Paranoia did not move glasses, didn’t shut me in rooms and turn the lights off. Paranoid didn’t eat my leftover cheese.
I sunk onto the edge of my bed, trying to slow my somewhat erratic breathing. I listened, hearing footsteps along the hallway, and held my breath until I realised what a stupid thing that was to do. Whoever it was knew I was in here, what did it matter if they heard me breathing?
It dawned upon me that there was nothing in this situation I could control. I was in a room with no lock on the door, no way out, no way to call for help… but, I could change those things, couldn’t I?
I dragged my bed across the room, shoving it up against the door. It wouldn’t do much, but I couldn’t think of how else to block the door. I turned to the window. It didn’t open very wide, and I was two stories up, but I could squeeze through, I was sure.
The window creaked as I pushed it as wide as it would go. I could hear my kettle start boiling, and I frowned towards my barricaded bedroom door. Had this person broken into my house, shut me in a room, and sat down to make themselves a cup of tea?
I swung my legs out the window, wiggling through until I was dangling, holding on with just my hands. I made the mistake of looking down, but even the added nausea wasn’t going to stop me. I wasn’t going to stay in a house I wasn’t safe in. I closed my eyes, and let go.
I landed hard on the ground below, in a heap on the floor. I looked up at the sound of a window opening, and saw my downstairs neighbour looking out the window at me.
“Are you okay?” She asked, turning to look across the room when the cry of a baby filled the air. She glanced back towards me.
“Call the police. There’s someone in my apartment.”
The woman brought me inside as she called the police, her baby on her hip as she bounced it around to get it to stop crying. I sat on the edge of one of her sofas, biting my nails as I listened to her talk on the phone.
It took approximately one and a half cups of tea, and six nails bitten down to the quick before the police turned up. An officer knocked on the door of the woman I now knew as Lucy, and sat with me as he tried to get the whole story, although I had to keep backtracking, forgetting things and remembering them after I had finished that part of the story.
I glanced out the window when I saw movement, and watched two police officers flank my ex boyfriend as they led him, in handcuffs, to one of the two police cars parked outside. The boyfriend who had called me paranoid. Paranoid, my ass.
And done!
The post is up a little late today, I know, I know. I forgot to schedule it, and then left the house!
Anyway, that's all for now...
Bye!
No comments:
Post a Comment