Noah sighed again. He really hated people. His hand was holding his phone, staring at a message.
{Hey, I think it's hard to do this separately. Want to meet at a café near campus instead?}
To be honest, Noah did find it hard to work through texts only. But he really hated going to public places unless it was absolutely necessary.
Ah. What a hassle.
~~~~~
"Hi, Noah. Have you been waiting long? Why didn't you order anything first?"
Lila arrived in a lilac midi knit dress with short sleeves, She wear her hair down.
"I don't like sweet drinks," Noah replied shortly, lying.
"Oh, okay. I'll go order then." Lila left him and walked to the counter.
Noah opened the laptop Anne lent him. Yes, he had accepted her offer. But of course, he had deep cleaned the laptop and sterilized it in his machine first.
He wiped the table before placing the laptop down, not realizing that Lila was secretly watching him from the cashier.
A moment later, Lila returned with a small smile.
"I tried working on a few parts yesterday, but I think we really need to talk about it face to face," she said as she sat down.
Noah nodded without a word.
From the other side, a waiter came carrying a tall stack of dirty plates. He looked like he was struggling to balance them. Then suddenly, a little kid ran into him. The waiter stumbled, and the plates and glasses went flying, straight toward Noah and Lila's table.
[SPLASH]
"Oh my god!" Lila shouted as she jumped up, her clothes splashed with chocolate drink.
Right in front of her, Noah froze. His face went pale.
His shirt, pants, his whole body was splattered. Not just with drinks, but with leftover food from those dirty plates.
"Oh god… I-I'm really sorry…" the waiter said, bowing his head in panic. He looked no older than 17.
"Haha. No... it's... it's fine. It's just... leftover pasta sauce and probably lots of bacteria. No big deal, right?"
Noah's voice was forced, like he was trying too hard to stay calm.
"Are you… really okay?" Lila asked, starting to get worried after seeing his reaction.
"Y-yes… I need to go to the bathroom."
Noah quickly walked away and went into one of the stalls. He stripped off his clothes. His breathing became tight. Thank god he still had some sanity left. If not, he might've taken off everything.
But ten minutes later, Noah regretted everything.
I shouldn't have come to a public place. I shouldn't have run to the bathroom. I should've just gone home instead. Now I'm stuck here with dirty clothes I refuse to wear again.
"Noah?" Lila's voice came from outside the stall.
"Lila? What are you doing in the men's bathroom?"
"That's not important. I brought you some spare clothes. I'm leaving the bag in front of the stall."
A few seconds passed before Noah peeked out and quickly pulled in the shopping bag.
Inside the bag was a clean T-shirt and long pants. Perfect fit.
Noah exhaled in relief. He was starting to feel better. He stepped out, washed his hands, and carried his dirty clothes out. Outside the men's room, Lila was waiting. Noah was surprised because he had taken quite a while back there to recharging his full mentality.
"Feeling better?" she asked as soon as he came out.
Noah nodded.
"Umm… do you… have a phobia of bacteria?" Lila asked carefully.
Ah. That question again.
Noah hated showing that side of himself. Having a phobia wasn't something he chose.
"Mhmm." He gave a short answer, avoiding her gaze.
"It's okay. My little brother has that too. So I understood the moment you started to panic. I'm glad you're okay," Lila said, walking back to their table.
Noah followed silently. But when they reached their table, his steps stopped.
"I already asked them to clean it while you were gone. But if you want to clean it again, it's okay. I can step aside," Lila said, trying to reassure him.
"Ahh… no, it's okay," Noah said, sitting down.
"Wow, you look good in the clothes I bought you," Lila said with a small laugh.
Noah didn't know how to respond. This was the first time someone didn't freak out or give him a judgmental look after seeing his phobia.
"You know what? If you feel uncomfortable or want to clean up now, we can stop this and meet another day. What do you think?" Lila's suggestion made Noah raise an eyebrow.
"Mmm… thanks. I'll go home now. And thanks for the clothes too. I'll pay you back, just send me your bank account number." Noah quickly left the café.
He really needed to shower.
Wow. That was a first time someone actually accept me. I mean it's better than I thought it would be.
~~~~~
When Noah arrived at his apartment, he stopped. His breath caught in his throat.
A woman with shoulder-length brunette hair stood in front of his door, occasionally ringing his bell.
What is she doing here?
"What are you doing here?" Noah asked right away.
"Hi. Long time no see, lil bro." The woman smiled sweetly, like this surprise meeting was totally normal.
She was Gina. Noah's older sister.
"No, seriously. What do you want?"
"Did you know Mom can have visitors now?" Gina's gaze turned serious.
Noah sighed. He ignored her question and started unlocking his door. Getting splashed at the café was bad enough. He didn't need to make this day worse by talking to her.
"Are you serious?! You don't even want to see Mom?! You think I like taking care of her after what YOU did?!" Gina yelled, her voice echoing down the hallway.
Noah turned to shout back—
But then his eyes caught something else.
His neighbor. The professor from his campus.
The woman who kept showing up in his life lately.
Shit. Why now?
And of course, she was watching everything.
"You should just go. I don't want to deal with this anymor—"
[SLAP!]
The sound was so loud Anne covered her mouth in shock.
Then, without warning, Gina pushed Noah aside and stormed into his apartment. She looked around, then went to his trash bin. In a fury, she dumped all of the trash onto Noah's apartment floor.
Anne stood frozen, unsure what to do. But her eyes stopped on Noah's hand. It was shaking. His face pale, his expression… hard to describe. His left cheek was red from the slap.
Was that… his ex?
Anne slowly stepped toward him to help. But she stopped when Gina stormed out with tears in her eyes.
"You know what? This is exactly why Mom and Dad hate you. You're dirty, disgusting, useless. You should be thankful Dad still pays for your bills."
Noah stood frozen. His body was upright but it was like his soul wasn't there.
Anne stared at the woman who caused the chaos as she walked to the elevator and disappeared.
"...Noah, are you… are you okay?" Anne asked quietly.
She had no idea what just happened, but she couldn't leave him like this. ATleast not in this state.
But Noah didn't move. Didn't speak. Didn't even blink.
"Noah…?" Anne reached out to touch his arm, but Noah quickly slapped her hand away, shocking her.
What...?
He had been so silent just now, like he was possessed. But with one touch, he came back to being a jerk.
Wait… Does he have germaphobia? I mean, I knew he hated being touched and once sprayed me with a whole bottle of antiseptic. But this? This was… kind of serious.
Her thoughts stopped when Noah burped.
Then both of his hands covered his mouth. His eyes immediately turned red.
"Wait… Noah, are you going to throw up?!"
Anne shouted and quickly grabbed his arm, pulling him into her apartment.
Noah didn't have a choice, he let his body followed Anne.
There was no way he'd make it through his own apartment full of trash and mess in those kitchen and living room to get to his bathroom. He might've fainted halfway.
After it was over, Noah paused. He looked around Anne's bathroom.
It was so different from his. It felt… alive.
"You feeling better?" Anne called from outside the bathroom door.
Seriously.
Why was today so awful?
[CREAK]
Noah opened the door and looked at Anne. She looked really worried. But she didn't say a word when she saw him.
She turned around and walked to the kitchen. Then returned with a blue cup with a dolphin on it.
"Here. Moringa leaf tea. It helps you feel calmer." She handed it to Noah.
Noah looked at the cup. Then at Anne. He didn't like using anyone else's stuff. hat's why he hated eating out. There must be a lot of bacteria in those cup.
Anne sighed. "It's brand new. I've never used that cup. Trust me."
Noah hesitated, then finally took it and drank. He sighed again. Whether the tea worked or not, it really did make him feel calmer.
"Thanks," he said shortly.
He looked around. Not just the bathroom, but the whole place, the living room, the kitchen. They had colors he didn't even like. But somehow, it all felt warm.
"Why are you just standing there? Sit on the couch! I swear it's clean. I always wipe it if something spills," Anne said honestly.
Noah let out a small laugh.
Wow, that's her idea of clean?
"Nope. You never know what's been on that couch. When was the last time you vacuumed it?"
"Vacuum? Umm… vacuum… I never have, actually…"
Noah gave a small smile. He knew it.
Normal people rarely vacuum their furniture.
Only he did that every day, or every other day if he was busy.
"Just sit already! You standing there is driving me crazy!" Anne shouted.
"Nope. You probably had sex on that couch. I'd rather sit on the floor," Noah said, and actually sitting on the floor.
"Urgh, whatever! Yeah, I f*ck every guy here. That couch is full of sweat and love stains!" Anne stormed back to the kitchen.
Meanwhile, Noah couldn't stop smiling for no reason.