Past the Tipping Point

\ Chapter 14 /

When the next few days were quiet for Rebecca, without a sign of Colby, she praised herself for getting rid of him so quickly. She once knew him to match her stubborn ways, but she figured that was yet another thing about him now that changed.

She forced herself not to put too much thought into it, though. Even when she found herself strangely not reaching for a drink when she first awoke in the morning. That, she chalked up to still having enough alcohol flowing through her from the night before when Ashley brought her to someone's house party.

Rebecca wasn't, however, too sedated to have a cigarette. She whistled happily as she lit it and began to smoke, promptly taking a piece of bread out of the loaf Fergal had bought for her the other day and shoving it into her old toaster.

She had to hit it on the side to get the timer properly ticking, letting her cigarette dangle between her lips. Once she got that to work, she went to the washroom, rushing to get back out the second she smelt burning in the air.

Rebecca got into the kitchen in time to see her toaster smoking, which, in turn, made her fire alarm ring aggressively. As she yanked her toast out of the machine, sizzling the tips of her fingers, her hand jerked back, and the toast flung onto the counter.

She ran to grab a chair to stand on so she could disable her fire alarm before firefighters showed up, and she was fined by the landlord or neighbours who started to complain. While finishing that up, she grabbed her only worn-down towel and waved it around to disperse the smoke.

Except when in the process of doing so, and opening the two windows she had in her apartment, she forgot about the cigarette in her mouth, only remembering it when it fell into her bra and started to burn her.

"Fuck!" She jumped and pulled her top and bra away from her chest, watching the cigarette fall to the floor.

Rebecca had to take a minute to process everything that just happened. Her mind then decided she needed a drink to move past the rough patch. Instead, she found herself getting abruptly stopped the moment she touched her fridge handle and there was a knock on her door.

Rebecca stayed silent, hoping the knocker would go away, but when there was a knock again, she rolled her eyes and moved to the door thinking it was a neighbour. "There's no fire. You're fine."

She looked through the peephole to find a blacked-out view and immediately became suspicious. "Who the hell is it?"

There was no verbal response, just a litany of strange rhythmic knocks. "If you're selling shit, I don't want it..."

Then she took a moment to reevaluate her answer and realized something crucial. "Well, it depends on the shit being sold."

When there was once again nothing being said, her previously content state soured. "I swear to fuck, I will murder you."

She became restless, quickly growing tired of the anonymous knocks. Rebecca stared at the door with a clenched jaw until she yanked it open aggressively.

She saw Colby smiling victoriously, a smile that had always pushed her buttons when he wanted it to. "Oh, for the fucks sake."

Colby watched her roll her eyes and try to close the door on him, but he quickly put his foot in the way. "Good morning to you too."

"No." She shook her head as Colby invaded. "Go."

"Hold the hostility, sunshine." He laughed to himself. "I brought you coffee."

She only then looked into his one hand, the one that wasn't to blame for the covered peephole, seeing two cups in a holder. "Two cups insinuates you're having one too. And you brought it here instead of drinking it before. Which means you plan on staying. So still, no."

Colby became distracted when he smelled the air. "Is something burning?"

"No..." Rebecca's eyes flickered to the side for a moment. "Does it smell like burnt toast?"

"Actually... yeah." Colby nodded as he focused on the smell.

"Nope. No burnt toast in here." Rebecca doubled down on her lie. "But I hear that if you smell it randomly, you're having a stroke or something. So you may wanna leave and get that checked out."

Suddenly, Colby looked at her unimpressed. "So you burnt toast."

She frowned and crossed her arms. "What would give you that impression?"

"You're telling me to get checked out, which could keep me alive." Colby raised an eyebrow. "Pretty sure you'd rather have me croak."

Rebecca thought about it. "Now that you mention it..."

Even as Rebecca continued to try her best to annoy him, Colby forced a smile to stay on his face,  extending the coffee tray towards her. "Let's start over."

Rebecca looked between him and the coffee, seeing the cup branded by the shop she had always loved. She also noticed the abbreviated drink name on the side, indicating the order. It was her order. To a tea.

And he remembered it.

She swiped the cup and muttered a thank you, to which he nodded in acknowledgement. Rebecca shuffled herself to her kitchen counter, sitting on top of it after panic-tossing the burnt toast into her sink before Colby saw, finding herself staring at the cup in her lap.

Of course, he fucking remembered it, it's not that complicated of an order, you dumbass.

At first, she begrudgingly took a sip, but in the blink of an eye, the familiar taste overwhelmed her, flooding her with memories. Suddenly, she spoke up. "Why were you covering the peephole?"

"Well..." Colby grinned as he reached her kitchen, leaning against the counter across from her. "I figured you wouldn't open the door if you saw that it was me."

Colby could've sworn he heard Rebecca laugh quietly before speaking. "You're not wrong."