Chapter 2: Passing Notes
 

Rhea’s new neighbor’s never returned her salt. She didn’t want to confront them but she did need salt to eat and survive. Then she came up with a brilliant idea. Rhea rummaged through her drawer and pulled out a piece of paper and a pencil. 

She wrote, ‘Give me my salt back or else’. 

That last part was meant to threaten them as she was a relatively cheap person that didn’t like to spend much money and only when it was truly needed. Now, she was regretting lending them her salt. It had been on a whim as she wasn’t entirely heartless to ignore someone’s plea for something simple like salt. 

And yet they had it for around two days and never thought to return it back. The nerve of those brothers amazed her! 

The doorknob was like a foreign object as she stared at it. She took a deep breath and placed her hand on the knob. Her hand gripped onto the knob and slowly twisted it. Then her head dipped left and right to make sure no one was around before dashing toward her neighbor’s door. She placed the note at the foot of the door and breathed heavily as she made it back to her condo and shut the door. 

Rhea sighed in relief as she was once again shrouded in comfort. Being outside sky rocketed her anxiety that she would bump into someone and have to socialize. She hated it. It’s not like she was sick. Her health was perfectly fine. The sick lied in her mental state. 

Agoraphobia. Agoraphobia was a real and type of phobia diagnosed by her physician that she was afraid of situations that would cause panic or embarrassment. It made sense because of what happened in her younger years. 

It was probably around two to three hours later that there was a knock on the door. She was jolted to look at the door as she looked up from her laptop. Rhea had been working on a new chapter to insert inside her manuscript as she was interrupted by a knock. 

“Mysterious neighbor, here is your salt.” 

She walked to the door and found the two brother standing outside her condo again, this time with the salt in their possession. 

Rhea slowly creaked open the door and tried to reach out to grab the salt but the rowdy brother jerked it back so she couldn’t reach it. She tried to reach for it again but he pulled it away from her grasp again. She clicked her tongue and began fighting him for it, all the while staying hidden behind the door. 

“I want my salt. Give it to me,” she whispered low, in such a frightening voice that the man named Aziel almost shrieked but he cleared his throat. 

“Why don’t you stop being rude and properly show your face and greet us?” 

She remained quiet and quickly set her hand on the salt as he was distracted. But he gripped onto her wrist. Rhea leaned forward and bit his hand just as he pulled back and screamed, so she shut the door as she obtained the salt. 

“…Zeven! It bit me. See? Look here, it’s turning red. Ah, what if I turn into some creature? I’m scared. Why did you make me do this?” 

“Stop whining, you’ll be fine. I made you do this so I wouldn’t have to. I am the older brother so it’s only fair that you would be sacrificed first if worst comes to worst case scenario.” 

“Heartless man. Ah, it’s bleeding again. I’m going to look for the bandaids!” 

That rowdy Aziel man walked away first. She didn’t hear the other pair of footsteps walk away so this prompted her to turn to the peep hole again. Rhea almost stepped back in surprise as she saw Zeven’s handsome face up close, similar to Aziel’s that always came close to the peep hole. 

He seemed much mature than his younger brother as an air of nonchalant manner exuded from him. 

“Mysterious neighbor, I’m leaving some dinner to make up for forgetting to return the salt.” 

She heard the sound of a plate rustling against the ground and then finally, the fading of his footsteps as their door closed behind them. Rhea quickly peered outside and then slid the plate of food inside toward her apartment. The plate of food consisted of some spaghetti wrapped neatly with ceramic wrapping. 

Rhea eagerly dug in and devoured the spaghetti in a few bites. It was delicious. She burped and satisfyingly rubbed her tummy. 

Something surged up inside her. They went out of their way to deliver her some food in return for forgetting to return the salt. And yet, she went and bit Aziel’s arm out of exaggerated self defense at his cruel game of not handing the salt over. Rhea sighed and rummaged through her kitchen drawer to find the first aid kit and picked out a bandaid. 

She wrote another letter that day. 

Rhea placed a letter outside of their condo as she taped a bandaid along the paper. 

‘Thanks, it was delicious.’