Forgetting Mellaine

Under Hood

The sun was glowing cheerfully, offering me its sunrays, reflecting through the thin sheets of my window curtains. It’s Saturday. Slowly, I woke up and placed my pillows and blanket well on the bed. It’s a new day to start. I went to the kitchen, only wearing my favourite yellow oversized shirt my mother gave me on my last 25th birthday. She was fond of giving me those stuff since I turned 18. She found it more relaxing to wear and definitely she would choose those which are made of cotton or wool for me. I open the fridge and an unpleasant smell from within escaped the house. I decided to clean it first before putting the groceries I bought yesterday before I entered the town. I made some lemon juice and pancakes for my breakfast as I played the song by David Choi, By My Side. There are so much things to be done for this day. I also need to talk to Mrs. Greys about the rent, but first I need to clean the apartment.

After I finished my meal, I went to the laundry at the back of it. Luckily I found a mop and used it to clean the floor. I also got the broom there to get the thick spider’s web hanging above the living room, living so freely with its newly born babies. I need to buy some appliances to make this house more presentable when someone will decide to come over anytime. I went to the attic, bringing with me the books I got. I placed them inside a box and put them in a corner where I can sit beside it and read. I opened the right window and let the fresh wind enter the attic with delight. Seeing how the leaves dance gracefully with air, is a peaceful moment. It's 7:30 in the morning. People were busy preparing their own for work. Others were with their pets walking down the streets, never been worrying about the sun’s heat neither to the busy bees flying over the blooming flowers.

My apartment was officially the last house on this street, making it as the perfect view to see the whole town. Glancing out the narrow casement window towards the street, I saw a tall guy walking so decent. I knew him from the first glance, too visible to be recognized. It was him – the same guy I met in France’s café. The guy standing below the light post. He’s the type of man probably going to choose over fancy clothes, yet still going to hit the spotlight with his loose shirts, caps and tattered jeans. He’s his own style. I suddenly heard a small knock at the main door. I look over the window and saw Amelia. As always, she’s quite a clever woman. Always been a busy bee to her clients living in her apartments. She’s more of a mother figure. I hope I could get along with her as I live here. I went downstairs and opened the door. Wearing a smile, I greeted her.

“Good morning, Amelia.”

“Hi there, dear! How’s your night? I just came from the other apartment on the other side. He’s quite a lovely guy.” She giggled. I offered her a sit and some wheat bread to eat.

“Well. Right now, I’m cleaning the entire apartment. Seems a bit fun for me.” I laughed and sat beside her.

“You should buy a television. I’m quite a fan of horror movies. I could watch them with you sometimes.” She ate some macaroon she just brought, filling her mouth with every inch of its taste. She was enjoying the food. “By the way, the guy next door is quite your type. You should meet him.” she added, making me curious about the person over the other side of my apartment. “Anyway, for the rent, you can pay next month, okay? France told me she’ll be the one to pay this month. She’s really happy to have you to help her in the business.” She patted me on the back.

I was shy to know about it and was gradually thankful. Guess these two ladies will be my new friends here. I smiled. “Thank you, Amelia. Uhm, can I ask what route will I be taking, if I’ll go to some of here’s malls?”

“Oh, if you want some classy and fashionable stuff, you can visit Victoria’s. It’s one of the popular malls here in town. They got so many designs for your home. A little bit costly, but it’s worth it. You can also go to Mind This. They got the best fresh goods here. You would never regret buying from there. They got all what you want in terms of food. Both local and assorted products. If you want some mini-stores, you can try to look over at Miel’s Shoppe, Carpentries and Goods. Lastly, C&C which is my favourite. They got many departments inside. Their employees are also very accommodating. Bet you’ll like it. You can freely ask taxi cabs to take you there.” She answered.

Amalia was fun of talking silly things. In fact, she’s more of a talkative person. Yet, she’s fun to share some company. Despite the haste, her eyes were busy glancing over the apartment, telling me that I should put some CCTV cameras for my security. It’s better to be safe as usual. She also told me that our neighbors are friendly and might help me in some things here and maybe they can be my mentors too.

“Mellaine, if you don’t mind. Why did you choose to be here? From your features, I guess you came from one of those well-known cities.” She asked unexpectedly, being nosy about my personal life. To think it’s normal for people to be like that – curious.

“I… wanted to start a new life. More like, to explore new things.” I replied.

“Oh. Do you have a partner? Parent? Maybe a boyfriend?”

“My mom passed away.” I looked at the mug I am holding. Chocolate. Tasted good as ever. “And…I don’t have a husband” Liar.

“I’m sorry for that, honey.”

With a wry smile, I laughed letting it fill the lie I made right now. “It’s okay.”

It’s not new to me every time someone is asking about how I live my life. Every person that I’ll be facing in my journey will always be curious about me. After our talk, Amelia and I decided to go together for shopping. She was bored while staying at home. She also shared about herself. She told me that her husband has been working abroad for almost 6 years now.

They still got no child and were hoping still to have one these days. We first arrived at her favourite shop, C&C. It means Cost & Cause. Nice meaning though. Amelia followed along, enjoying the surroundings inside the store. We came to the entrance, where the guard greeted us with a bobbly voice. She’s quite energetic for today’s morning. We went to the bookstore first. The scent of the books being piled on the shelves according to their genres filled our noses. My inner self was excited to grab some new to read. I went to the thriller department, while Amelia went to search for some recipe books. The book covers were attractive to look at. They perfectly matched the genres of the stories.

The book entitled Hush in the Bush by Covery caught my attention. I picked it up and was excited to read. I looked for Amelia and saw her, busy picking upon the two recipe books she got. She was holding the Italian recipe book and the other was American Dishes for Beginners. I walked to her with a curious face.

“Mmm. They say two is better than one. I guess, you should pick them both.” I suggested and gave her a smile. She looked at me with her pleasing eyes.

“I don’t have enough money. I still need to buy some dogfood for my dog, Amber.” She placed the Italian book over the shelf again and headed to the counter. I look the book she left and picked it up and eventually followed her to pay the books we got. She opened her wallet and took out the money. I placed my book and the other one too. She saw it and was a bit shocked.

“Are you going to cook too?” she asked.

“No. it’s for you.”

“R-really?” she clamped her both hands and giggled like a teen. Her wrinkles were showing off. “Yes. I wanted you to have it, and to thank you also for letting me stay at your apartment.”

“Thank you, Mellaine.”

Luckily, I was able to save money over these past years. I took the bills and handed them to the cashier. “You should better give me some of your specialties. I want to taste them too.” I joked and we both laughed.

People started to gather at the centre of the mall where a stage is placed. Spotlights began to shimmer, making the person standing in front of the crowd more recognizable. Two employees were climbing above. They were placing the banners, having the words imprinted on it, Happy Valentines. The woman at the stage announced that they’ll be having some spromos, discounts and raffle draws at 2 pm.

“Awh. I’m hungry.” Amelia suddenly said, cupping her tummy.

“Me too. Can we just eat now?” I asked. “Oh yes! There’s a restaurant here that offers some of good dishes.”

The C&C had so many different restaurants to choose from. From Italian, Asian and to American ones. Amelia brought me to the Nest In Resto. We decided to sit at the corner beside the window, letting us to see the garden of the mall on the other side.

“Let’s order some milkshakes here. They’re good in making them.” She suggested and winked at me, turning her gaze at the menu. I took mine and look at it. “We should try their cordon bleu and beef steak.” We waited for the main dish as the waiter served us some appetizers.

The weather today is quite not good. Gloomy and greyish pile of clouds were showing above us, yet the sun still made its way to give some light. Though, it is obvious that it will rain later. Thank God, I brought an umbrella. The appetizer was good. Amelia was glancing at the kitchen of the restaurant. I guess she was really that hungry. After a while, the waiter brought our main dishes. Amelia asked me to pray for the food, after that we ate.

I surely agree with her that they make delicious food. The cordon bleu was perfect. And yes, my favourite, the cheese inside is still hot and will surely melt inside your mouth when you eat it. I couldn’t stand the nice smell of it. Amelia was having fun sipping her cookies and cream shake while browsing through the internet. She was into online shopping. I saw that she just ordered a shower curtain in one of those online shops.

“Look at this. What colour do you prefer? The black one with red roses or the dark violet with trees on it?” she let me see her phone.

“I prefer the black one with roses. It’s classy.”

“Right. I also like it. So, this is it. Amelia you’re going to buy a neeeewww curtain.” She giggled and pressed the order button. She sipped again on her shake.

“How’s France’s café when you got there yesterday?” she uttered.

“Well..” glancing outside the restaurant, the mall’s garden began to be filled with people relaxing. “It’s quite good. To be honest, I’m excited to work with her.” I smiled holding the shake I got.

“Oh silly! She’s more of a strict person. France was really into baking and flower from the start. Be patient with her. Sometimes she’ll be showing her perfectionist side. But she’s a lovely and a caring lady both to her employees and friends. She told me she hired you and was very happy yesterday.”

I looked at her. “I’m also happy to meet you both.” A genuine smile escaped my lips. As we were enjoying our lunch, someone caught my attention. It was a man sitting at the next table behind Amelia. He was wearing a dark blue hoodie, a mask and black glasses. His features were familiar to me. I can see it clearly that he’s looking at my direction. Amelia was still busy surfing on her phone. The man suddenly took off his glasses. The cold air embraced me as I saw his eyes. Those emerald green eyes. It was him. Robert. No, it can’t be. I blinked twice, still the man is looking at me. I began to feel my knees becoming weak and my hands were shaking. My heart was pounding loud. He slowly waved his hand towards me, making me vulnerable. No. He's dead. I swear. He’s f*****g dead.

Little did I know, I was crushing the milkshake through my hands and I didn’t even noticed Amelia was glancing at me. She snapped a finger, making me to look at her.

"Are you okay, Mellaine?" she worriedly asked.

I looked again over the guy sitting behind Amelia. There was no one. Just the empty table and a wooden chair. I looked around the restaurant. No man with a hoodie was looking over me.

"Y-yes. I’m okay. T-the beef steak is good." I tried to smile, covering how scared I am. "I thought, you have seen a ghost. I was just surfing here, and when I looked back at you, you were pale white" she hysterically laughed.

I kept looking at the back, hoping the man will show again. I was anxious to my surroundings. She’s right. Maybe I’m just thinking about things. Hallucinations. I decided to take a deep breath and focus my attention on my meal. After half an hour, we finished our lunch and was ready again to go buy some groceries. Amelia grabbed a cart and snatched a list of the foods she needed to buy from her clutch. The surroundings were not that heavy. Few people were buying goods and most of them were busy with the raffle draws at the ground floor. I grabbed some prawn crackers, whole milk, and some vegetables. Amelia also took some liquors and spices. We also got some chicken nuggets, pork chops and ground beef.

Lastly, we visited their furniture. It was a bit classy and all designs were appealing. Many people were also looking around. A flat screen TV caught my attention from the distant. It’s not that big, guessed it will perfectly fit at the corner of my living room. I checked the price – totally a costly one. Well I need to start my saving routine again. Over the past years, Mom taught me to be thrifty on simple ways. She didn’t influence me to buy some fancy clothes when we can still buy some cheaper ones. She taught me how to be contented in life but never stop in dreaming to have a better one. That’s why I always admire Mom until now. It was past 5 pm in the evening when we decided to grab a cab to go home. We were carrying loads of paper bags filled with different goods. We were tired.

After a few minutes of waiting at St. Mount, we were able to get a cab. We put our things inside and hopped in directly. Suddenly, Amelia’s phone rang over. She picked it up inside her clutch and saw the person who was calling. She looked at me and said, “He’s calling.” I signalled her to go ahead and she answered the call. I told the driver to where we were going. With a smile and excited, Amelia was delighted that her husband called. “Hello there, baby! How’s your day? Oh, I miss you so much!....Yes, we’re going home now. Oh, by the way, we got a new neighbour here!” she was referring to me. “Yes, dear.”

“He said hi.” She whispered.

I laughed silently and waved my hand. “She said hi too, love. Oh, better call me later. Were almost near our house. I love you. Bye!”

I looked at her, grinning, almost ready to tease her at any moment. “You’re so sweet.”

“Well, that’s how I love him.” she chuckled.

After a while, we arrived at our street. We grabbed our things. Amelia went to my apartment to help me carrying them. “Thank you so much for today Amelia.” I said.

“No, thank you dear. How I wish I got a daughter like you. Anyways, you can call me Amy. So, I guess I’ll be heading off. Goodnight.”

We waved at each other. As I was closing the door, I glanced at the lamp post from afar, just a few meters away from my apartment. I think I just saw something moved there. To my dismay, there was nothing. Just a bit of cats running over the street.

This day is wonderful and…scary for a bit.

Then the heavy rain came.