Kick-Start the Day

"Mandy, Mandy, wake up. The maintenance is here."

Mandy jumped up from the couch. She blinked a couple of times before her eyes finally focused on the person speaking to her. It was Xander. It took a couple of seconds before she remembered she slept in another person's apartment.

"Yeah, I'm up. What time is it?" She asked as she rubbed her eyes and put on her flip flops.

"It's a little past 4am," Xander replied.

Mandy looked at him. She wondered if he had already slept. His hair was not messed at all. He was wearing a white undershirt and a pair of dark blue lounge pants.

"Where's the maintenance guy?" Her voice sounded husky from sleeping. She looked at her clothes that were wrinkled from sleeping. She had refused Xander's offer to use his pajamas for the night so she could change. She ran her fingers through her tangled hair, hoping to fix it even a little.

"He's outside waiting for you. He said he wanted you to be there when he opens your door."

"Okay." Mandy started for the door but Xander held her arm.

"Do you want me to go with you?" Xander asked her when she stopped.

Mandy honestly wanted to but she had already bothered Xander too much.

"No, it's okay. I can manage." Xander didn't insist. He let go of her arm.

"All right." He and Mandy walked to the door.

"Thank you for letting me sleep over. I'm sorry if I was any bother. I can come back later to fix the couch."

Xander laughed a little. "No, you don't need to do that. But you are welcome to come by any time."

Mandy smiled as she opened the door and went out to meet the maintenance guy.

. . .

It took the maintenance guy less than a minute to open her door.

"That's it?" Mandy asked the elderly maintenance man.

"Yeah, that's it. Unless you want me to fix some other stuff for you?" The man's voice was soft and gentle. He reminded her so much of a grandfather in a cartoons series she used to watch when she was young.

"No, Sir. There is nothing else, just the door. Thanks. How much do I owe you?"

"Nothing. Actually, you already paid — from the monthly building dues I mean." The man started to prepare to leave.

"Thank you again. Do you, by any chance, stay in the building for the whole day?"

"Yes, I do. I stay here everyday until 6 o'clock."

"Okay then. Thank you for coming so early. I thought you'd come by later."

"I'm sorry you had to sleep at your neighbor's. My car broke and I couldn't get a cab last night. It's a good thing Xander came to your rescue."

"You know Xander?" Mandy was surprised.

"Oh, yes I do. He's been here for a couple of years now. I've repaired three or four things in there. He's a nice guy." The man paused as if studying Mandy. "Are you new here? I think this is the first time I saw you."

"Oh, no. I've been here for years. But this is the first time I asked for maintenance." Mandy smiled. There had been times she needed to have something repaired in the apartment but her dad would always send somebody over, somebody he knew and trusted. It's one of his ways to show Mandy he cared.

"I see. Okay then, I'll go now. Here's my card in case you need my services after hours."

Mandy took the card and read it. The maintenance man walked to the elevator.

Mandy went inside. She looked at the clock. It was about 20 minutes past 4 o'clock. She wanted to go to bed but she figured she might oversleep and be late for work so she decided to start her day already. She went to the kitchen and found her buffalo wings she had left on the table. She smelled the ones still inside the bucket. They still smelled good. She put them inside a dish and popped the wings in the microwave. She turned on the microwave to medium heat for two minutes. In the meantime, she made coffee.

She turned on the TV and flipped through the channels. She stopped at a news and left the TV there. She wasn't actually watching. She just wanted to hear something other than the noises her apartment makes.

DING! The microwave sounded. She opened the door and the smell of the chicken filled the kitchen. She placed the steamy chicken on the table, got some coffee and started to eat.

. . .

Mandy was now ready for work. She was just going to spray some perfume and go out the door. She remembered Xander's immaculate apartment so she had already washed all the dirty dishes and did some cleaning before she showered for work. She looked at her apartment and decided it looked tidy enough for a lady's place though it's still not close to Xander's. She smiled as she remembered him. Xander had been so hospitable last night. She thought she would get him something later when she comes home from work.

As she went to her door, she saw a small piece of paper on the floor. It seemed somebody had slipped a note for her under the door. As she picked it up, she realized it was a calling card.

"I hope you'll have a great day today. In case you forget your key card again, here's my number. Xander."

Mandy's jaw dropped. He actually gave her his number!

"Not that I wanted to have it, of course," she said to herself, "but this could actually be helpful."

She dropped the calling card in her purse and walked out. She checked her key card if it was in her bag before she closed the door. She half-heartedly wished Xander would also be there at the hallway but he wasn't. She felt a little disappointed.

She went to her car and drove to work. She had a feeling today will be a good day.

. . .

The drive to work wasn't that bad. There was a minor accident along the way but it didn't cause that much traffic. She parked her car in the same lot as yesterday. As she walked out of the parking lot, she saw a familiar figure — it was Josh.

"Josh! What are you doing here?" Mandy called out as she approached him.

Josh turned around at the sound of his name. He smiled at Mandy.

"Hey there, Amanda! I was waiting for you, actually."

Mandy was surprised but felt a little awkward at the name she was called. She wasn't used to it.

"For me? Why?"

"Just wanna walk with you this morning. I wanna make sure you don't get lost — again."

Mandy laughed. She remembered how she went the other way last night instead of the way to the parking lot.

"Don't worry. I know now where I parked and where the office building is. Now let's go or we'll both be late for work."

"No need to hurry. It's still early."

Mandy looked at her watch. Josh was right, it was still a good thirty minutes before 8am.

"Well, after what happened yesterday, I don't wanna get into any more trouble today. Speaking of which, we DO have to hurry. I wanna make sure those documents are still there." Mandy started to pick up her pace, though Josh seemed to be walking at a comfortable pace.

"So, how was your night?" Josh wanted to make conversation.

"Well," Mandy said in between breaths, "you wouldn't believe what happened to me last night." And she started narrating to Josh how she got locked out of her apartment and ended up sleeping over at her neighbor's house.

"No way! You made that up didn't you?" Josh said jokingly, though he truly doubted the story.

"I'm telling you that's what really happened! If you don't believe me, that's up to you." Mandy was a bit hurt. How can Josh think her story was incredible, anyway?

"It's not that I don't believe you," Josh started to explain, "it's just that it doesn't usually happen, at least to people I know."

Mandy ignored Josh's last statement. She didn't want to start her day arguing with anyone — especially Josh. She kept silent for a few minutes.

Josh was bothered by the silence.

"Hey, look, I'm sorry. I believe you. Please don't be mad."

"I'm not mad. Forget about it." Mandy smiled to assure Josh she was sincerely not mad at him.

"Okay. If ever you get locked outside your apartment again, you can call me."

"You're gonna let me sleep over at your place?" Mandy glanced at Josh in time to catch him run his fingers through his hair. Her heart skipped a beat.

"Uhm, if you need to, sure you can sleep over at our house." Josh lied. There was no way he would ever let Mandy inside their house let alone sleep there. Alynna's presence complicated everything.

"That doesn't sound very sincere," Mandy replied. Josh didn't say anything.

"I'm kidding! What's with you today?" Mandy said but Josh just looked ahead. "Don't worry. The next time I get locked out of my apartment, you'll be the first to know. Though frankly, I don't plan on getting locked out again after what I've been through last night. I think I got stiff shoulders from sleeping on that couch last night." Josh just nodded.

"Finally, we're here." Mandy was a bit breathless when they entered the building.

Josh opened the door for Mandy and let her pass. He caught her scent as she passed. He took a deep breath, as if he wanted to take in all the scent Mandy was wearing. He smiled to himself. Already, his day seemed to have made a good start.

"By the way, Josh… How did you know I was going to park my car there?"

"Uhm, I don't know. It was just a hunch," was all Josh replied.