My Best Friend’s Brother

I am excited for what is to come, the door is not locked, and as soon as I open it, I realize that Molly is not in the living room or the kitchen. Maybe she’s already in the bedroom waiting for me, and I get even more excited. That woman has some fucking lingerie. I decide to call for her after noticing the silence in the apartment.

”Molly?”

I hear her voice coming from the bedroom:

” I’m here.”

I go towards her room, already smiling, and open the door to wait for a pleasant surprise. Molly is under the covers and lifts her head when she sees me. She doesn’t look well at all. I approach her and ask:

”What happened? What’s the matter with you?”

She says:

”My head hurts like hell. ”

I instinctively put my hand on her forehead, and she is burning up. I stand up and say:

”You need to go to a hospital.”

She says:

”No! It’s just a cold. I wouldn’t say I like hospitals. I’ll be fine, and I need you to get me a painkiller from the bathroom. I can’t even lift my head.”

I walk towards the bathroom and find a box with some medicine in it. I take one I know is for pain because I have taken it before and then go to the kitchen to get a glass of water.

She takes medicine and lies down again. I ask her:

”Where is Chantal?”

And she says:

”I don’t know, she went out.”

After a few seconds, she tells me:

”Thank you. You can go now, Chris.”

I say:

”But you are alone.”

” I’ll be fine.”

”Are you sure?”

”Chris: Yes.”

I continue:Còntens bel0ngs to Nô(v)elDr/a/ma.Org

”If you need anything else, anything at all, you can text me, right?”

She shakes her head affirmatively and closes her eyes again.

I got up from where I sat next to her on the bed and left the room, closing the door slowly.

…

I really won’t be able to continue this game knowing that Molly is in such a wrong way like that. I’ve never seen her like that before. I go to the kitchen and look in the cupboard for things Julie uses to make tea. She has several, so I do a quick search for which one is ideal for someone with a cold. Only then do I realize that I will have to watch a tutorial on how to make tea.

… Molly…

It’s as if any noise I hear in this house is tripled in sound. Then I hear when the door is opened again just after a time when Chris has left. Seconds later, my bedroom door is opened, I expect it to be Chantal or maybe Julie, but to my surprise, it is Chris.

So I show my surprise when I ask:

”Chris?”

He enters slowly and closes the door behind him. He is holding a glass in his hands and asks me:

”Are you feeling better.”

I sit up in bed and say:

” It’s a little better!”

My head still hurts, but not like it was hurting before. He approaches me, and I hold out the glass, saying:

”It’s tea. They say it’s good to help you get better soon. ”

I’m a little stunned right now, but I choose to say thank you as I take the cup from him. He seemed to care about me, and for the second time in my life, after I met him, I appreciated how he was acting toward me. First, it was that surprise dinner, and now this.

I bring the glass up to my nose and smell the mint, then say:

”That sounds good.”

He smiles as he watches me drink the tea. It’s a little sweeter than tea should be but still good. He is sitting on my bed, and as I finish my tea, I ask:

”Why are you home on a Friday night? ”

He looks a little embarrassed now but quickly changes his manner and says:

”I have this game that I’ve been trying to finish for days.”

I laugh, and he has always been a fan of these things. I remember the times I have seen him playing in the living room.

Then I say:

” You know I don’t demand any exclusivity.”

It seems to take him by surprise, but he promptly says:

”Of course, I do.”

I feel better after he proves that he knows that, that he can be with other people, that what we have doesn’t prevent him or me from being with someone else.

I finish my tea, and he picks up my glass placing it on my bedside table. He then asks:

”You have been sick since when?”

”Since earlier today, after I got back from class.”

”Why didn’t you call Julie or something? I bet she would have been here to help you.”

”She’s at Brennan’s because he’s painting his apartment.”

”Of course, I forgot about that. ”

”You could have called me.”

” I didn’t mean to bother you.”

”You never do.”

I smile faintly. I prefer this new Chris. Then he says:

”Can I stay here with you fofor a while?”

”I don’t think I’d be a good company today.”

He answers:

” You always are.”

I am speechless, and he smiles as he comes to lie down next to me with a cell phone in his hand, then says:

”I don’t have anywhere else to be, and you are the first person to take a tea I have made. I have to wait a while to see if you won’t have any adverse reactions.”

I end up laughing, making me hold my forehead with my hand so that the pain of the exertion passes soon. He puts his hand on my forehead and says that I am not as hot as I used to be, then asks me to lie down, and I do because my body is asking for it.