ANNA
“All done.” I give Rosie the last bite of cheesecake, and she zooms back to play with her toys.
“I really should have just bought the whole thing.” Sylas takes the container and spoons from my hands and is up before I can tell him I got it.
“No, this was—” I break off as another yawn escapes my mouth. That’s the sixth one since he arrived.
“Do you want to go take a nap?” He tosses the container away and washes my spoons. It’s strange how he moves around my apartment as if this is something he’s done many times before.
“No, I’m fine and you don’t have to wash my dishes.” I stand although it’s pointless because by the time I’m next to him, he’s already done.
“I’m here to help, Anna. Anything you need, whether it be picking up groceries, washing your dishes, buying whatever Rosie or you need—”
“I told you I don’t want you to buy me anything.” It’s infuriating as it is sweet that he’d offer, but I need to put my foot down. “You’re welcome to buy Rosie stuff though.”
As he’s drying his hands, a grin curls his mouth. “Some things really don’t change.”
“What do you mean?” I lean against the counter.
I think he has the same idea because we both peek over at Rosie. She’s still on the floor, feeding her dog the pretend food Sylas got her.
“You’re still so stubborn.” He leans on the counter next to me, folding his thick arms against his chest.
“I’m not stubborn,” I argue, staring at him deadpan. “I just don’t need anything from you.”
He chuckles under his breath. “The beauty of free will is that I can do whatever I want. I’ll just buy it and you can decide what to do with it.”
I scoff, staring at him incredulously. “No. You’re not going to do that. I—” Another yawn leaves me, and my eyes grow heavy.
“Go take a nap,” he softly urges. “I’ve got her. We’ll be okay.”
“You’ve never been alone with Rosie. I can’t leave. What if—”
“Anna.” He gently clutches both my shoulders.
“What are you doing?” I tense under his hold, fighting the shudder that threatens to roll down my body.
“I’m going to watch Rosie, and you’re going to take a nap. This day was eventually going to come.” He gently shoves me out of the kitchen and through the living room. “Sleep for as long as you want. Everything will be okay.”
Despite his assurance, I feel a little nervous. What if he panics or does something wrong? What if she chokes or throws a tantrum?
He gives my shoulders a squeeze. “It’s all going to be okay. I promise I’m not going to let anything happen to our daughter, okay? Trust me, please.”
“Sy…” I falter, my eyes growing heavier by the second. Against my better judgment, I sigh and listen to him. “Just thirty minutes. If I don’t wake up, you better wake me up.”
He mock salutes me. “Will do. Now go to sleep.”
And I do just that. The moment my head touches the pillow, the world as I know it becomes nonexistent.
I feel disoriented but reenergized when I peel my eyes open. I stretch and roll in bed, lifting the covers over my head to block the sunlight, but I draw them back quickly when I realize there is none.
I sit up, throw the sheets off me, and reach for my glasses on my nightstand.
I hate sleeping with contacts, even if I’m napping for a few minutes.
Only, it wasn’t a few minutes. It had to have been hours because the sun was still out when I closed my eyes, and now my room is blanketed in darkness.
The only source of light comes from the gap underneath my door.
I rush into the hall but falter when I spot Sylas and Rosie in the living room. They’re playing with her toys, and the TV is turned on, a music video playing. I instantly recognize the rock band, The Sirens. Jenny is obsessed with them and listened to them a lot when I lived with her.
Sylas is bobbing his head, telling Rosie to follow his lead. She does so animatedly, but they both stop and turn to look at me, wide smiles mirroring each other.
“Hey.” He pauses the video, and the screen freezes on the lead singer, Katya Flores. “How’d you sleep?”
I approach them, circling the couch and dropping down on it. Rosie picks up her dog and pretends to feed it. “I told you to wake me up in thirty minutes. I slept for three hours. You should have—”
“You needed it.” He sets her toys down, and the playful expression on his face softens into something serious. “I’m not just here for Rosie, but for you too. I want to help you, and—”
“No, you—”
“Yes,” he cuts in as he moves to sit next to me.
“I get it. I get why you don’t want my help.
Why you want nothing to do with me. Why you hate me.
I really do. I wasn’t there when you needed me, and I will forever hate myself for it.
I can’t change the past, no matter how badly I want to, how desperate I am to stop myself from making the biggest mistake of my life. ”
“Sylas, please.” I scoot away from him, but no amount of space feels like enough. “Stop. I can’t…”
“You can’t what?” He lifts a brow, and his green eyes dim with regret.
“I’m not going anywhere. I’m here to stay, forever.
Hate me as I help you. Hate me as I’m here for you.
Hate me for leaving you. Hate me, Anna. Hate me, but I’m not going anywhere.
I’m here to stay, and I’m here to help. I’m here, meu bem. ”
“I…” I glance at Rosie and see that she’s blissfully unaware of what’s going on, too busy playing with her toys.
“Anna, look at me,” he pleads, and I feel him inch closer. I should move, but I don’t. Not when his leg is pressed against mine and his large palm cups my cheek. “I’d rather have you despise me than feel nothing at all for me.”
“I…” I meet his eyes and my breath catches. We’re too close. I shouldn’t have allowed this, but my heart screams home, and hammers at his proximity and the familiarity of his warmth. “I don’t hate you, Sylas,” I find myself saying instead of begging him to let go. “I wanted to…”
He rests his forehead against mine. “I’ve missed you.”
“Please don’t say that to me. Please don’t say anything. We can’t do this. We’re done,” I say, but the words are feeble, and I do nothing but stay as I am. Every part of me longs for every part of him. “You gave up on us.”
“I want us back. I want…” he roughs out. “You. I need you, Anna.” His words pierce through my skin and brand my bones. His lips are so close, his breath caresses my mouth. “Meu bem, I can’t let go. I can’t move on. I can’t. I won’t.”
“You need to,” I whisper, letting his lips stroke mine.
I shudder, hating and loving the way my body feels high and weak all at once for him.
I almost give in, but then I hear Rosie’s dog barking and a loud knock on the door, and the trance I’d been stuck in shatters, slapping me back to reality.
I’m up and speeding over to the door. I immediately regret not looking through the peephole because I open it to find our loud upstairs neighbor, Joel.
“Anna, just the girl I wanted to see.” A sly smile curves his mouth as his leering eyes sweep over me.
“I’m actually glad you’re here.”
“Are you now?” He perks up, leaning against the doorframe.
I back away, glowering at him. “Yes, I need you to stop being so loud. I can’t sleep, and you’re waking up my daughter.”
“I’m not that loud,” Joel replies, dismissing me.
“You are,” I say, aggravated by his nonchalance. “I’m going to report you again if you don’t—”
“You live in an apartment complex. The walls are thin. What did you expect?”
I grind my teeth, my frustration doubling. “Look, I don’t care what you do. Just stop being so loud.”
“Speaking of late-night activities, I came to ask if you wanted to join.” His suggestion is so blunt it leaves me speechless. “I know it’s forward, but fuck it. Life’s too short to—”
“The answer is no.” Sylas stands behind me, so close that anyone witnessing would assume he’s my boyfriend.
My neighbor’s eyes go round bouncing between me and Sylas. “Holy shit.” He gapes in disbelief and wonderment. “Y-you-you’re Sylas Lenoir! Holy shit, dude, I—oh my gosh. You’re Sylas Lenoir.”
“Yes, and you’re the reason she’s not getting enough sleep.” There’s nothing friendly about his voice, but Joel still stares at him, starstruck. “Stop being so fucking loud.”
“Right, yeah, of course, no worries.” He nods vigorously and almost bounces on his heels from excitement. “I’ll be quiet. Hey, man, do you think you could sign my—”
“No, and stay the fuck away from Anna.” He tugs me back and slams the door in his face.
“Sylas, what the hell?”
He’s locking the door, shrugging. “How long has this been happening?”
I roll my eyes. “This is the first time he’s ever come over to ask—”
“The noise.” He pierces an angry stare at the door as if he’s contemplating opening it back up and punching Joel in the face. “How long has that been going on?” he asks again.
“I don’t know…I guess since I moved in. It is an apartment complex, so the walls aren’t necessarily soundproof.”
He shakes his head, breathing out harshly. “No, you can’t live like this. This is not okay.”
“I’m planning to move out eventually. It’s not a big deal.” I walk around him and head to the living room. Rosie is still playing with her dog, bobbing her head to the music on the TV.
He scoffs. “Not a big deal? Anything that affects you and Rosie is a big deal to me.”
I flop down on the couch. “It doesn’t happen all the time. It’s—”
“It’s funny you think I’m going to argue with you about this.” He doesn’t sit. Instead, he folds his arms against his chest, his stance screaming I’m not letting this go.
“It’s funny you think I’m going to listen to anything you have to say.”
“Anna.” He levels me with a stern look. “Our daughter can’t live like this. You can’t live like this.”
“And what do you suggest? Where will I go?” The moment those words leave my mouth, he nods. “No. Absolutely not.”
“Absolutely yes. I have more than enough room in the condo.”
“Maya lives with me.”
“Bring Maya along.”
“Sylas, no. You and I should not be living together.”
He rolls his eyes before dropping on the couch next to me. “Don’t make me be an asshole.”
I offer him a tight-lipped smile. “Too late.”
“Funny.” He drapes an arm over the back of the cushion.
“But if you want me to be one, I’ll be one.
This apartment is shit. You live too far from the bakery.
You have a shitty neighbor, who if he shows up again, I might hit.
And those noises? Don’t tell me you’re actually okay with our daughter being woken up by them? ”
I know this apartment is horrible, and I know how far it is from the bakery. I can deal with that, but not Rosie waking up in the middle of the night because my neighbor doesn’t know how to control himself.
He’s not wrong, but I can’t do what he’s suggesting. How did things escalate this quickly?
“I’m not moving in with you.” I already struggle enough as it is being around him when he comes over. I can only imagine how difficult living in such close quarters would be.
Sylas clicks his tongue. “Find somewhere else to live or I’ll do it for you.”