meraki.

80s Bops

Perched on the bar stool next to the counter top, one of her hands holding her chin, her elbow resting on top of the kitchen counter, Mrs. Orlando was attentively watching Anna as she dragged her outrageously big suitcase from the hallway to the threshold of the kitchen, placing it right next to the door's jamb, carefully, doing her best to not chip it with the item's harnesses. 

Drumming her nails on the counter, Mrs.Orlando raised her eyebrows as Anna entered in the kitchen, still a little dissatisfied with Anna's sudden decision to leave her house like that. She had gotten back home, the previous Sunday, an ureadable expression on her face, her front teeth furiously grazing at the skin of her left thumb. Mrs Orlando was still up, watching the replica of an old movie on the living room's telly. 

Anna had silently made her way to the kitchen, placing her small purse on the counter before opening the cupboards and going for the herb tea's box, her hand haltering mid-air; Mrs Orlando had gotten up from the couch, fastening her night-gown over her body, and had made her way to the kitchen, feeling that something with the girl wasn't quite alright. 

Of course, Anna hadn't said anything about anything at all, she had just smiled, rubbing her tearduct with her middle finger, asking her for permission to make herself some herb tea, then remembering to be polite to the landlord, and offering her some as well. 

She had locked herself in her room, needing the peace and quietness of the room she had spent the previous week in, stripped down of her incredibly good yet incredibly uncomfortable clothes and wrapped herself in her soft pajamas, laying on the bed and staring at the ceiling, her heart beating incredibly fast, her mind still reeling with what had happened in the previous hours, how easily she had given up and broke the solemn promise she had made years ago. 

Eventually, she had fallen asleep, waking up several times, her mind refusing to slip into a deep and restful sleep. 

She truly wasn't at her best the following morning, when she had looked at herself in the mirror, her eyes a clear sign of the lack of true rest she hadn't got, her hair an absolute mess, her skin pale and sickly. 

Having come up with a solid and believable excuse as to why she had seeked hospitality from Mrs. Orlando - said excuse being that there were severe damages in the building she had found an apartment for herself that had to be fixed as soon as possible, which had led to the landlord kindly inviting all the residents to find another accomodation for a while, until the company that had took it upon themselves to renovate the building were finished - she wouldn't have to think much about what she would've had to say to the woman to explain why she was leaving after only a week. 

What she hadn't expected was how little impressed Mrs.Orlando had been about how  little time the made-up company had taken to finish the renovations. She had been looking at her all morning, her expression almost a judgemental one, her behaviour borderline aggressive, as if she was angry. At whom she might have been angry, well!, that Anna didn't know. Or maybe she did know it, but she wasn't in the right state of mind to actually address it and whatnot. She just wanted to get out of that house, sit on a bench in the chilly and bright morning air and have some peace and quiet to think about the mess she had just found herself into, before having to face Harry. Again. 

Apparently, Mrs. Orlando had an entirely different intention. 

"I just don't understand!" - she started, raising both of her hands in front of her face, as if she had been dying to say what she was about to say and was finally being given the chance to talk about it. She didn't even wait for Anna to address what she had said and continued to talk. - "Don't you think it's a bit iffy that the renovation work is already over?"