"Neighbor! Neighbor!"
I huffed and closed my eyes when I heard someone frantically knocking on the door of my apartment. I'm in the middle of reading a book when all of a sudden, the quietness of my Saturday evening was broken by the annoying person standing outside of my unit.
Honestly, it's so enticing to completely dismiss him and not give a fig on whether or not he gets his knuckles bloody for hammering it against my door. However, it's just not possible to pretend that he's not there given that he's being hella noisy.
I groaned and put the book down. I carefully held Sav who was then resting on my belly and put him down, as well.
"Hold a sec, Sav. I'll come back after talking to that annoying guy."
His eyes widened and his head swiftly turned in the door's direction. And to my surprise, instead of staying on the couch—like he always does—he straight off jumped on the floor and ran to the door.
My mouth gaped.
"Oh, dear God. You really like him," I muttered in horror.
With my lips still slightly parted, I dragged myself going to the door where my cat is excitedly waiting for me.
"Neigh—" His words were halted when he finally saw me. "Hello," he greeted, smiling. That made me grimace. He looks so delighted for someone who ruined another person's quiet evening. "And hi, Sav." He kneeled to reach my cat's level. As soon as he did, Sav nuzzled his head against his leg.
That made me wince even more.
"What are you doing here?" I asked him with a raised brow.
"Magandang gabi rin, Calli," nakangising aniya habang tumatayo. "Oh, huwag ka masyadong ma-excite na makita ako. Kalma ka lang," sarkastikong dagdag nito habang nakatingin sa akin nang diretso.
"Why are you here?" I inquired again, dismissing his teasing.
His lips slightly pursed. "Wala man lang ba talagang good evening diyan?"
I took a deep breath and briefly closed my eyes. "Fine. Good evening. Now, answer the question."
"Halata namang napilitan lang. Kaunting energy—"
"For the love of God, just please!" I frustratedly implored.
"Okay, okay. Sungit talaga." He scrunched his nose while acting all sulky. When he saw that I'm not buying his drama, he cleared his throat and carried on. "Itatanong ko kasi sana kung nakapag-dinner ka na. If not, I'd like to invite you to join me. Nagluto kasi ako ng pagkain at naisip ko na i-share sa iba. Maganda rin kasi na may ibang makatikim para makakuha ako ng feedback."
"Are you planning to kill me?" I seriously asked.
That made him laugh. "Grabe namang tanong 'yan, Calli. Sobra ka, ha."
"Can you blame me? The last time you cooked, it's as if you wanted to poison someone."
"Kaya nga sumusubok ulit ako, 'di ba? Hindi naman kasi porket nag-fail noon, magfe-fail ulit sa susunod." Bigla siyang natawa. "Teka, parang hindi na yata pagluluto 'yung tinutukoy ko." Iniling niya ang kaniyang ulo bago siya nagpatuloy. "Anyway, both sa pagluluto at sa iba pang mga bagay naman, importanteng hindi tayo sumusuko. Kapag hindi ka nagtagumpay sa unang pagkakataon, okay lang. Charge it to experience. Just give it some time, and make sure to try again. Malay mo kapag tinapangan mo ulit na sumubok, 'yun na 'yung sucess story mo, 'di ba?" Hindi pa rin niya mapigilan ang pagtawa. "And that's on perseverance, kids. See you next week."
He even waved and pretended as if there are people around him.
I grimaced again. He's so weird.
