FORBIDDEN DESIRES

2

After discussing all the aspects of fund raising event with Grace, I bid her goodbye for the night and packed my stuff to leave for home.

I remember the dark days of my life when home was a synonym of horror to me. Unlike those days, the definition for home has changed for me now.

Settled in one of the busiest streets of New York, it was a small rooftop apartment with absolute privacy and no creepy neighbors.

Even the apartment complex was a safe dwelling with modern interior and hospitable people. Just on the first floor lives Martha who is a sweet old lady.

After her husband's dead, she found peace in living alone in probably the nosiest city in the country with her four cats.

I remember her for inviting me on dinners every now and then in her home. And not to mention, I have spent almost all of my Christmas in her home ever since I moved here.

Just as my daily routine, I went to her apartment first. Observing the dimmed lights emitting from the windows, I concluded that she is already fast asleep.

Letting her have a peaceful sleep, I ascended the staircase to the rooftop.

At my doorstep I found a cute pink box of pastries along with a small sticky note that read "eat well." My lips curled up in a small smile as I recognized the handwriting well.
It was Martha and her motherly gestures that keeps me attached to her. Picking up the box, I made my way inside the house.

As I said, my now apartment is small but hell lot cozy. I have decorated it the exact way my mom had decorated our home when she was alive. I decorated the walls of the living room with their pictures that I kept with me all these years. The room was dipped with golden lights emitting from tiny bulbs decorating the pictures.

There was this small wooden show piece that read "Home sweet home," which fills my heart with content every time I see it.

Being a struggling elementary school teacher isn't the ideal job but it pays me enough that I can lead a stable life. It was not what I had initially planned when I moved to New York but it was all I could get with my miserable graduation grade sheet. I quickly made myself shrimp sandwiches and took out the pastries in another plate and made my way to the living room.

Plopping down on the couch, I turned on the TV and started watching the second season of sex education. Somewhere in between my fifth episode, I found myself dozing off with the now empty plates nestled in my lap.

The loud blaring of hideous alarm jolted me awake. The evidence of a new morning peeking in the apartment through the windows. Another sign of my laziness that I forgot to draw the curtains before sleeping last night.

My whole body was in cramps that I had to stretch to get rid of them. I should better quit sleeping on couches this often or else I would be getting my joints jammed no sooner.

Rubbing the sleep off my eyes, I pulled my hair in a top knot and made my way to the bathroom.

After doing my business, I flushed the toilet and literally crawled to the basin. Taking my toothbrush, I lathered it with green coloured toothpaste and started brushing my teeth.

As I looked around myself,  I spotted the pile of dirty clothes accumulated on top of the washing machine, the empty shampoo bottles littering the floor, my own reflection in the mirror was pathetic with my boobs literally hanging out of my old t-shirt which had sweat stains on it and my other hand scratching my butt cheeks.

A muffled groaned passed my lips as I pondered on how fast I can fix this place and leave for school also.

Debating was futile, I know. Never in the existence of mankind had anyone managed to do laundry, cleaning and ofcourse dressing up for work and prepare themselves breakfast in half an hour.