the lonely hearts club || n.h au

two

Alexandra's brain needs to be rewired. It's the only organ in her body that hasn't quite caught up with the breakup yet.

Last night, she kept to her side of the bed. Even though she no longer has to worry about accidentally taking up too much space. She could sleep horizontally if she wanted to. But she didn't. And she woke up feeling annoyed.

This morning, she poured coffee into two cups instead of one. Even though her ex-boyfriend is no longer around and won't be expecting coffee to be ready for him before he leaves for work. She ended up drinking both coffee.

And less than an hour ago, she forgot to change the quantity of the food she's ordering from two to one. So now she has food for two. Which isn't exactly a bad thing. She can keep that for dinner.

Still, it bothers her that there's a part of her that still thinks of David. Consciously or unconsciously.

She wants him out of her system. Wants no trace of him on her. But she knows that's impossible. You don't spend years with someone — half of those years cohabiting with said person — and forget about them the next day. It's not that easy. She can even see traces of him all around her here in this flat.

Alexandra shoves the last piece of chicken into her mouth. She's annoyed. Angry. Frustrated. And maybe a little bit sad.

Now she's feeling things people usually feel after they've been dumped. She doesn't like it. Not one bit of it.

Fortunately, the sound of her doorbell ringing provides just the distraction she needs. Unfortunately, the person standing on the other side of the door is the last person she wants to see. The person responsible for putting her into a state of emotional turmoil: David Warren.

The second she comes face to face with her ex-boyfriend, she wonders if it's too late to slam the door close. She should've looked through the peephole — it's there for a reason.

"David," she frowns, "What're you doing here?"

"Hey," he smiles, "Sorry for showing up unannounced."

At least he has the decency to look guilty, Alexandra thinks. He scratches his jaw. Something he does when he's nervous. Then he shoves his hand into the pocket of his jeans. Another nervous tic of his. And the familiarity of it all does something to her and she quickly shuts it down by asking another question.

"Why're you here?"

"Right. Uh. I think I left my chargers here and also some of my books?"

Alexandra presses her lips together, contemplating. She really doesn't want to let him in. But she also doesn't want to look around for the things he left here.

"Okay," she says as she steps aside and lets him in. He shoots her a thankful look as he toes off his shoes. She closes the door.

David doesn't move further into her flat and starts looking for his things. He waits for her. Even though he knows the layout of this place. He's being polite, she realises, standing there with an innocent smile on his lips. And for some reasons, that annoys her. It's his air of nonchalance. Acting like he didn't end things with her two nights ago. That. That's what annoys her. It's not the fact that he still looks good that annoys her. Or that his cologne smells so familiar that she just wants to wrap her arms around him even though she knows she shouldn't.

We're over, she reminds herself, and he fucking dumped you.

"I don't know where you left your things," Alexandra says. It's a lie. She knows where his chargers are. Probably at the same place he's always left them. In the other room that they've turned from guest bedroom to office room. And his books are probably there too. Stacked either on the table if he's been reading them or at the bookshelf if he hasn't read them.