I’m back on cleaning the chair and the instruments when the bell chimes and Kai, my neighbour, enters the shop. He took care of Jay last night, by checking his injuries, patching him up, and giving me the instructions on how to care for his concussion, when the only thing I could do was watch.
“Hey,” he says when he finds me next to the working chair.
“Hey,” I grunt in reply. I should be nicer to him after what he did for Jay, but his happy-go-lucky attitude pisses me off.
He takes up a lot of space with his big body, but what makes him look even bigger is the confidence he exudes in buckets. His sharp jaw and those dark eyes give his face a wild look, as if he were an untamable stallion. Only his curly hair gives him a softness that otherwise wouldn’t be there.
My body is gym made. Bulking up has made my life easier, and less people stand up to someone looking like me. Tattoos, muscles, and a mean streak.
I’m grateful for what he did yesterday. When I woke him up in the middle of the night, he didn’t ask questions. He asked me to wait a second for him to get dressed, and not even five minutes later he was already examining Jay. But that doesn’t mean he can waltz in here whenever he wants and pretend we’re friends.
I’m still jealous of the way he handled Jay yesterday, his touch soft and gentle despite those huge hands, while trying in every way not to hurt him. Only for this reason will I try to be nice.
“How is your friend?”
“He’s not my friend.” Be nice flies out the window.
“Sure thing,” he says, not caring about my lack of manners.
The smirk on his lips reminds me even more why I don’t like him. Nothing seems to faze him, he’s always calm, confident, and nice.
Everything I’m not. However, I know what gratitude is. “Thanks for what you did last night.”
“That’s what neighbours do.” He looks around, and it comes to mind that this is the first time he’s seeing this place.
I don’t make friends, and I don’t chat with neighbours. I mind my own business and I do my job.
We’ve only exchanged a few words outside the shop a couple of times, when I was cleaning the entrance and he was going to work. He does strange hours, so most of the time I don’t see him.
“Are you interested in getting a tattoo?”
“Nah. It wouldn’t look good on me. I’m here to check on my patient.”
“He’s resting, as I woke him up every couple of hours last night. Just like you told me to,” I say, while throwing the wipe in the bin. I lead him to the internal door that’ll take us upstairs.
When I open the door, I spot Jay still on the sofa, sitting up and watching TV. The smile on his lips tugs at the tangled strings in my heart, dislodging some, and awakens a need to live a simple life like this, having someone to come back to who’ll welcome me with a smile.
“Hey.” I go for cool and detached, but instead my voice comes out all croaky.
“Hey, man,” Kai says, entering the room behind me.
When Jay jumps out of his skin and his groan of pain fills the room, going to my head, I turn around to kill Ka with my gaze.
Kai walks towards him, and when he’s close enough, pat his head gently. “How are you feeling today?”
Jay freezes, and I growl, because Kai touching him drives me crazy, so I step in between them to shield him.
When they both look at me, one in surprise and the other smirking like a lunatic, I pretend I was coughing.
“This is Kai.”
“Hi. How are you feeling today?” he says gently, but Jay pulls back, and I move closer to him and turn around to look at him.
“He took a look at you last night. You needed a doctor as I didn’t know how bad it was. He’s my neighbour and I trust him not to ask questions.”
“Yep, I don’t ask questions,” he says, peeking from around my shoulder and smiling at Jay. “Unless they’re related to your health. In that case I want to know everything.”
Jay’s smile brightens the room, and I like it very much. What I don’t like is that Kai put it there.
