3. Brooke
Chapter 3
Brooke
I was going to be late for work. I quickly pulled my hair into a ponytail, roughly grabbing the hair tie that was between my lips while I tried to tidy up my messy apartment. So much had happened in the past weeks since I had moved into my new apartment, and I felt like I was struggling to gain an equilibrium.
My neighbor didn’t make it easy, either; I could see in his eyes just how much he hated me, and I shared the same feelings toward him. He was unbearable.
Him , with his dark blue eyes that matched his brooding personality. He always looked clean; he took special care with his appearance, and it showed in the way that he carried himself. His hair was always trimmed down to a buzzcut, and I hated to admit that it did actually make him look fucking hot. But I didn’t care. I hated him!
I grabbed my tote bag from the kitchen counter, along with the apple I had decided would be today’s lunch because I was flat broke until my next paycheck. But it was all worth it; as long as I had a roof over my head, hunger could wait.
I locked my apartment and ran toward the opening elevators, and out of all the people in the world that I could share this space with, it had to be him.
I took a deep breath in and looked him up and down, not hiding the fact that I was staring at him in utter annoyance. He shared the same sentiment, as his judging gaze met my eyes. I felt intimidated. I turned my chin slightly upward, refusing to back down from the staring competition I started all on my own. It was his fault, though!
“ Morning ,” I greeted with a simple nod; I had decided to be the bigger person since he made this elevator space seem incredibly small with his huge build.
Why was he so hot?
His earthy, masculine scent filled the elevator, and I was tempted to move closer to him so that I could unashamedly take a huge sniff of his scent. He smelled so damn good, but his attitude was shit!
“ Hmm ,” he grunted, and I rolled my eyes. Did he call that a greeting?
“ You owe me a new door.” I crossed my arms over my chest, and his deep eyes glanced over me before he sighed and stared straight ahead, ignoring my statement. “ You broke my door!” I argued, and he swallowed; my eyes followed his Adams apple, and I unconsciously licked my lips.
Why are the hot men always the ones with the most horrible personalities? Even though he was terrible, it didn’t make him ugly, it just added to his hotness, and I found that annoying!
We entered the elevator, and he didn’t bother to glance at me this time as he answered. “ I saved you, didn’t I ?” he said in that damn all-knowing tone, and I scoffed as I put my hand on my waist.
“ I had it handled.” I didn’t. I was freaking out that night and had no idea how to handle it.
“ You stared at the flames like an idiot. You had nothing handled.” His tone let me know that that was the end of our conversation, but no man was ever going to talk down to me and call me an idiot all in one sentence. I refused to be talked to like that!
“ No , you thought you were some hero and proceeded to break my door. I had it handled, better than that—” I choked as I struggled to find something offensive to say, and my eyes landed on his compression shirt. “—shirt you’re wearing that’s choking you.”
Hot damn, he is too fine!
He sighed and crossed his arms over his chest, and I swallowed a moan. How was he able to make such a normal action look so attractive?
We stood in the elevator in silence as it descended, and I chewed the inside of my cheek as I watched the numbers change. The silence was supposed to calm me down, but instead all it did was further piss me off.
“ Why are you trying to get me kicked out?” I broke the silence, and this time, he stared at me from the corner of his eyes before facing me fully. I motioned with my finger, drawing circles in the air as I said, “ Some of the neighbors told me about the petition you have circulating around the building.”
Why did I feel the need to explain all of my statements to him? I owed him no explanation nor any validation, but the way he was so quiet, it felt awkward not to validate everything I said.
“ Do you think you don’t deserve to get kicked out?” I pulled my eyebrows together as I opened my mouth, but only a scoff left my lips. “ You’re careless. You’re an endangerment to everyone in this building.”
The sound of the elevator doors opening and him stepping out of the elevator finally let me find my voice.
“ It was a mistake! I didn’t mean to burn a box of papers; stop acting like I had it all planned out to spite you!” Once again, my approach to get him to stop his madness was met with silence, and I so wanted to kick his broad back as I followed behind him.
“ Say something!” I gritted out, frustrated by his silence, but my need to get a response felt like I was begging for his attention, and I hated it!
We were on the streets, and here I was arguing with a man, gaining the attention of the passersby. Oh no, the girls are going to think I’m begging him to be with me.
He raised his eyebrows and scoffed lightly. He was so frustrating! And still, in my frustration, I found him attractive; just like the group of women who stopped walking just to gawk at him and giggle among each other.
If they only knew how shitty he was, they wouldn’t be giggling!
“ You know what, mister? You are rude and unbearable. We just met, and you have already managed to make me hate you!” I enunciated every word in anger, and that finally got him to stop in his tracks.
His shoulders shook, and at every bounce it looked forced as his humorless chuckle left his lips. He turned around and pointed a finger at me as he squinted his eyes, slowly approaching me, and I stood my ground.
Oh , I could just melt right now.
Here we were, a few meters away from our apartment building, the morning sunlight warm against our bodies as we expressed our distaste for each other.
“ For once, we agree on something. I feel the exact same way about you. You are careless and irresponsible, and you won’t even take accountability for that. At least I am willing to admit that I am trying to get you kicked out of the building; I will own up to it proudly.”
His words were harsh, and he was right. I wasn’t willing to take accountability for my actions.
He pulled on his cap that he had been holding for a while, his disdainful expression showed just how much he meant every word, and he had no intention of taking it back.
“ Prick ,” I whispered as I clutched my tote bag tightly and stormed past him as I tried to push my tears back and pretend his words hadn’t hurt me. It wasn’t even what he had said, but the indifference and cockiness in his tone made me feel like a failure.
It was all my fault.
I shook my head, refusing to cry over something my terrible neighbor had said. He held no value in my life, and what he said shouldn’t ruin the rest of my day. I took a deep breath in and checked for cars before I crossed the street as I neared my job. I noticed him following closely behind me, and my heartbeat quickened as he crossed the street, as well.
What the hell? Does he still want to argue?
I turned left around the corner, and the smell of coffee and baked goods wafted through my nose, causing my stomach to grumble in response. I was hungry. As I passed the cafe, I looked slightly behind me, and there he was, his cap covering half of his face, while his hands were shoved inside the pockets of his sweatpants.
No , he wasn’t following me. I was being paranoid. I swallowed hard and quickened my pace, realizing that my workplace was close by, he would pass the building, and I would be safe. My heart beat quickly as I stumbled on my path, apologizing to some of the passersby as I maneuvered my way around them.
Fuck . Fuck . Fuck . Was my new neighbor some kind of psychopath? Just one more street to cross, I reminded myself as I saw the center I worked at. It was difficult to remain calm when a crazy man was following right behind me. When he crossed the street after me, I ran toward the opened glass doors at the center and threw my tote bag on the floor.
I had one foot inside the center and one outside as I pointed my finger at my neighbor. I felt safe since I was at work, and I knew my colleagues had my back if anything were to happen during a confrontation with my stalker neighbor. “ Look ! If you wanted an apology, you could’ve just said so,” I yelled at him, and he halted as he stared at me silently. “ You don’t have to follow me. I’m sorry, okay!”
“ Brooke ? Is everything okay?” one of my colleagues asked as he approached me and stood beside me, watching my stalker neighbor.
“ I’m sorry I lit up the candles and that I almost burnt down my apartment. I’m sorry I called you a prick, but please, that is not enough reason for you to suddenly follow me to my workplace!” I could feel the tears pricking at my eyes as I struggled to maintain a confident posture.
I was not going to be intimidated by a man who lived next door me.
“ Are you following her, man?” Chris asked as he moved in front of me, hiding me from the gaze of the stalker who looked calm, without a speck of reaction in his expression.
Was this something he did regularly? Come to think of it, his expressions were always so stoic, as if he were some kind of robot.
“ I asked you a question, man,” Chris took a step toward him, and if they were to get into a fight, it did not look good for soft Chris compared to the brick wall of a man in front of him.
The stalker took his cap off, and I held my breath. Was he going to fight?
“ My name is Asher Stone ; I’m here for my appointment. I called beforehand, and I was told to come today.”
“ Oh !” Chris took a step back, and I looked at them as they spoke amongst each other regarding his appointment. Asher Stone , what a pretty name. “ I’ll get things prepared for you; Brooke will help you.”
Huh ?
“ Thank you,” Asher nodded, and Chris patted my back before disappearing, and I stood there, not knowing what to do. “ I wasn’t following you, Brooke .” His voice was strangely calm as he said my name. He entered the center and stared down at me, and I held in my breath, but it was too late.
The proximity only led to the scent being stronger.
“ I - I .” No words would follow after my stutter, and he passed by me as he whispered something.
“ You’re not worth it.”
Ouch .