I See You[MxB]

Chapter 11 | The one with the sincere apology and a non-apologetic banter

Sunday was always in a hurry, it would leave as early as it would arrive. It might be a first that Sunday was boring Preston to death or was it instead his wayward thoughts? The feeling of guilt was foreign to him. There might be a time or two when he experienced it but only with his parents. His classmates? Never. In school, no party was innocent. They were all liars, manipulators, and sinners. The gray-blue-themed building was their Temple of Sin.

Multiple times he backspaced the message, feeling weird in his own skin. When was the last time he texted anyone apart from Ty? As he was about to chuck the phone on the bed and go watch a movie, his hovering thumb decided that it was more courageous than Preston's mind. Screaming in the pillow did not help in the least. When the day passed and he did not hear back from Alastair, he had to make do by beating the pillow with his fists. It relieved some of his frustration. The half of Monday passed too, but the ticks under the message did not turn blue.

Time at Richard's was a blur. He would not be able to retell what happened at the old man's house even if someone put a knife to his throat. Wishing Katie a half-hearted 'good day,' he left.

When he reached the familiar black door, he was surprised to find it unlocked. By the time he entered the kitchen, his transformation into a jittery mess was astounding. The house seemed empty but he knew better. Paranoia gripped him; anytime Alastair would walk down the stairs, sit still on one of the stools and stare at him creepily as he did on a few instances.

With an irritably mistrustful brain he took over his kitchen duties. Since no one was by his side to disturb him, he was done with preparing two-third of the food fairly early. Reluctantly, he had to slow down for the last one-third to pass the time. It read fifteen to 7 PM when Preston finished. The man still did not show up. Having enough of the tantrum, he marched up to the bottom of the stairs.

"Mr. Cabot. Mr. Cabot! ALASTAIR!" The stubborn mule did not even make a peep, forget about answering like a polite person. "AayLaustaaar," he tried a last time in whale language.

He heard a sound, not the one he expected. "Alastair, the house phone is ringing." With bated breath, he waited before sighing. Distancing himself from the living room as he confidently walked backward, he refused to let Alastair win another round and stew in guilt. "Let it RING, Let it RING, I am angry and on the BRIIINK," he repeatedly sang the skilfully composed lyrics and went to put the dishes on the table. It stopped and Preston was slightly disappointed. Five seconds later, the sound began to echo through the quiet house a second time. Losing the momentum to sing, Preston ignored it unceremoniously. It stopped after a full ring before ringing yet another time. The third time was not the charm. It was annoying.

For fuck's sake! He mumbled before going near the steps once again and hollering - "Alastair, the house phone is ringing."

In reply, he received silence. He wanted to march upstairs and pull on the man's ear and drag him by the organ to answer the phone. The touch of the phone on his hurting ear would remind him of his rude behavior, but he knew better than to intrude in someone's private space. Reaching the conclusion that the man really was not present in the house and it could be an emergency for the house phone to ring thrice, he decided to be a selfless person for once and answered the call. "Hello?"

"Stop yelling in my house and stop with the damn singing. It is awful. I have started to think I adopted a child - a big baby."

"Your baby!" was what Preston ended up exclaiming over the phone when all he wished to say was a harmless "You are a baby." While the latter was not a smart retort he would take anything over the utterly stupid words he spilled. Needing something to blame it on, he blamed the flurry of emotions he had been experiencing since his first encounter with Alastair. He cursed having to spend time in close proximity with another human.