The Man Next Door

Chapter 8: No Place Like Home

It's been a week since Vera's unexpected hospital visit. She was prescripted medication and was not permitted to drive herself anywhere until further notice. Because of this, Patrick offered to drive her places up until Sebastian got better.

Days trickled by slowly, and Sebastian seemed to get better and better every day. They both stayed put at home for an entire month, Sebastian spent most of the time sleeping whilst Patrick spent most of his time at work, leaving Vera stuck at home.

"Do you want me to cook something up for us tonight?" Vera asks softly, brushing her hand over Sebastian's arm, "maybe some pasta?"

"Yeah," Sebastian nods sleepily, crashing back down onto his pillow, "that sounds nice."

"Okay," Vera smiles, walking towards the bedroom door, "any requests?"

"Do we have the stuff for some alfredo?" Sebastian asks, looking at her drowsily.

"I'll go check," Vera says, happily skipping down the stairs and darting to the kitchen fridge. After digging through all of the drawers she noticed that they were out of the main ingredients for alfredo sauce.

Vera sighs and puts all of the ingredients back into place, trudging to the front door she slips on a pair of slides and walks out the front door towards the mailbox, "Vera!" Patrick hollers as he exits his house, walking towards his car.

"Oh," Vera says out of shock, waving at him as she shuts the lid of the mailbox, "hey!"

"Are you doing okay?" Patrick smiles, starting up his pick-up truck before walking towards her.

"Yeah," Vera chuckles, "Sebastian and I are doing great."

"That's good," Patrick nods, taking a glance at his house and his car before fully focusing his attention on Vera, "do you need me to drive you anywhere today?"

"Yeah," Vera grins with a nod, "I ran out of ingredients for dinner tonight."

"What are you making?"

"Just some pasta," Vera says, "you can join us if you'd like."

"I really shouldn't."

"You are," Vera says confidently with a smirk, "7:00 pm."

"Okay, sounds great then," Patrick smiles sweetly, "I'll drive you at around 1:00 pm after I run some errands."

"That's perfect," Vera says, immediately noticing a brunette haired lady stroll out of Patrick's house.

"Patrick, you coming?" the lady calls out, climbing into the passenger seat of his car.

"Yeah, I'll be right there!" Patrick yells back without taking his eyes off of Vera, "I gotta go, see you soon though."

Vera watched as Patrick sprinted back to his car, climbing into the driver's side whilst a big smile sat plastered across his face. Who is that lady? Vera watched the car gracefully peel out of the driveway as she walked back to her front door, a weird sensation of jealousy rushing through her as she entered the house.

-

Vera was binge-watching movies when she heard knocks on the door, getting up from her cozy position on the couch she looks at the time, 12:46 pm. She shuts the tv off and seizes her bag before unlocking the front door, "Hey," Patrick grins widely, stuffing his hands into his jean pockets.

"You're early," Vera jokes, jumping down the doorstep and locking the door behind her.

"We can wait a few minutes if you want," Patrick chuckles, unlocking his car they climb in.

Vera tries her best to avoid asking about the girl, deciding it would be best to ask about work. Small talk is always good, "so hows work been?"

"Busy," Patrick nods as he switches the gears to reverse and pulls out of his driveway, "I have a lot of stuff to get done still."

"I'm glad I finally get to see you again," Vera smiles, running her hands over her legs, "works really been kicking you in the ass."

"Very true," Patrick shrugs, "I've found time to relax here and there but whenever I'm home I'm always taking calls or sketching out my next big project."

"I see." Vera nods, starting to laugh, "I've had it harder, I've been doing bupkis."

Patrick laughs, taking a small glance at Vera, "and what about you? Are those black outs still going on?"

"No, they're much better now," Vera reassures gently, looking up at the road in front of her before turning to face him, "I've just been having weird dreams."

"What kind?" Patrick asks, trying his best to hide the concern in his voice.

"Very strange ones," Vera says, "and the same, terrifying visions keep reoccurring."

"Do they keep you up?" Patrick questions, his eyebrows scrunching as he pulls into the parking lot of the grocery store.

"Yeah," Vera simply says, "but I don't mind them, I'm still accumulating to my medication."

"I guess that's true," Wilson says, smiling lopsidedly at her, "Well, we're here," he says, turning off the car before jumping out.

Patrick had a lot of time on his hands so he decided to help Vera with grocery shopping, "what's on the list?" he asks, nudging her a little.

Vera glares back at him as they enter the cold store, "what list?"

"Shopping list?" Patrick smirks.

"Oh, uh," Vera chuckles, "I guess I don't have one, I just grab things."

"Do you know what you need for pasta?"

"Yeah," Vera mocks, still glaring at him, "Fettuccine, cream, garlic, and cheese."

"Do you have a recipe?" Patrick laughs.

"I don't do recipes," Vera shrugs chuckling, "I don't follow anything, I just cook."

"Interesting," Patrick smiles, beginning to load the basket with packaged cheese and creams, "Well, how about we do my recipe?"

"We'll do your recipe but only if you don't help."

Patrick stops in his tracks and glares at her like she's crazy, "You expect me to sit back and watch you cook?"

"Well, yeah." Vera laughs, throwing uncooked chicken into the basket, "You've already cooked for me and Sebastian before."

"That is not happening," Patrick laughs, "I'm helping you cook, whether you like it or not."