Chapter 5

You moron. Why did you accept his offer?! When it comes to food, you get lured in so easily. Rayne was scolding herself as she followed Harold towards the dining room, which was right in view of the living room. She sat on one of the chairs and watched as Harold disappeared inside the kitchen. He came back seconds later looking sheepish.

"Looks like there's no pizza, but there's still, um, blueberry cheesecake." He said.

Rayne shrugged. "That's alright, thank you for being considerate." She said.

Harold went back to the kitchen. "What kind of coffee do you like? Is French vanilla okay with you?"

"Yes that is fine, thank you, Mr. Sales."

"There's no need to be formal, Rayne. We're neighbors."

Rayne remained silent. Harold was friendly enough, but she also had to keep her guard up. She let out a thin smile even if does not see it.

A few minutes later, Harold came out of the kitchen carrying a tray bearing two mugs of coffee and a slice of blueberry cheesecake on a saucer. He placed the tray on the table and took the contents out, placing them in front of her. He then sat across from her.

"How about you?" Rayne asked as she noticed that he was only drinking his coffee.

"I just had breakfast, but I could use the coffee."

Rayne remained silent as she took a forkful of the cheesecake and ate it. Her eyes widened. It was the best cheesecake she had ever eaten and that was coming from someone who was quite a food critic. It had a perfect balance of sweetness and sourness of the blueberries and the cream cheese as well as the graham cracker crust. She took the mug and drank from it. Wow, even the French vanilla coffee was amazing. It was not as sweet as the one she usually gets at a convenience store but she did not mind. It even goes well with the cheesecake.

Her foul mood slowly subsided as she was being plied with food and coffee. Heck, she felt less sleepy now and more alert. She remained silent as she continued eating and drinking her coffee, but she was also sneaking glances at Harold. The fact that he was a professor was baffling for her. He was young and handsome, totally not the image of what professors normally look like. She suppressed a laugh at the image of her last professor that reminded her of a mad scientist.

"This is good." She said as she put the fork back on the saucer and pushed it aside.

"Thanks. I made it last night."

A professor and a cook? Is he for real? She wondered. "Impressive. Now about the noise…!"

"I know. I'll try to keep it down. I really am sorry that my students were really loud during my class and to think you had been hearing us for three days."

"It's fine. I didn't know you were teaching, but you may need to find a way to reduce it because let's get real, no matter how much you try to tell them to pipe down it's not going to end anytime soon. They're not going to listen to you all the time."

"You're right. Fortunately, this is the first and last class for the day so I got time to find ways to fix this problem."

Rayne stood up. "Awesome. Thank you for the meal, but I have to get back to my place as I got work tonight and I need my sleep."

Harold did the same and ushered her towards the door. "Of course, again my apologies for causing such a racket. Also…what happened to your shoulder?"

"What?" she frowned as she looked over her shoulder.

"There's dried blood on it."

"Oh. Right. Nah, it's fine."

"That's hardly fine. You got a long set of scratches that starts from your shoulder to your upper back."

"It's cool, man. I have a cat. He does that when he's startled."

* * *

Harold was horrified. How could this woman be so calm about cat scratches? There were four long scratches on her shoulder that had him wondering if her cat was a tiger. She looked like she was nearly mauled by one. It was even worse when saw several smaller scratches on her back.

Without thinking, he grabbed Rayne by her shoulders and nearly shoved her to the living room and onto a chair. She was protesting about what he was doing, but he when he said he was going to give her first aid, she remained silent.

"Stay there." He said as he went to his bedroom to get his kit.

"What am I a dog?" She countered.

"Just stay!"

"The hell?!"

Harold went to his room and immediately found a small white box with a red cross on it as well as a sticker of an angel with the words OUCH KIT printed on it. He also took a spray bottle of isopropyl alcohol and went back to the living room. He was relieved that Rayne never left her seat but she did not look thrilled of being forced to stay.

When she saw him, she was scowling. "Seriously, you don't need to do this. It's not like you caused my cat to use me as a scratching pad for the nth time."

"But in a way I am responsible. Cats startle easily at almost anything. Now don't move and have your back face me."

Rayne let out an exasperated sigh but did what he told her to do.

Harold opened his first aid kit and brought out a flat cotton pad, gauze, and medical tape. He took the cotton pad and sprayed alcohol on it. "This may sting a little." He said in a soothing voice.

"I'm aware, dad."

Harold began to disinfect the wound ignoring her remark. "Dried blood huh?" He muttered as he saw there were still hints of blood on the cotton pad. Once he was finished he was wrapping another cotton pad in gauze and gently placed it on the wounded area securing it with medical tape.

"There you go. All done." Harold said as he closed the first aid kit.

Rayne looked over her shoulder trying to get a look at her bandaged wound. She turned to him and gave him a slight smile. "Thanks. You shouldn't have, but thanks anyway." She said as she stood up.

"You're welcome and again I'm sorry for causing you trouble." He said as he ushered her out of the door and opened it for her.

"It's fine. I had no idea you're a professor. Just keep it down next time though."

Harold nodded. "I'll have a word with my students."

The slight smile came back up again and Harold had to hold on to the doorframe as he felt like he was punched in the gut upon seeing that smile for the second time. It was not even a full-blown smile but a smirk. He returned it with a smile of his own although he felt it was a goofy one.

Rayne nodded as she walked away from him and back to her unit. Harold watched her departing figure and stopped in front of a door next to him. This surprised him. He knew they were in the same floor, but not at the fact that she was just right next to him. No wonder she got so mad at being deprived of her sleep.

Sensing that she was being watched, Rayne turned to face him and gave him a brief wave which he returned with the still goofy smile on his face. She entered her place and the sound of the door closing jolted him out of his fogged mind, blinking twice and shaking his head. Gazing at the living room, he sighed and closed the door behind him.

Harold looked at his laptop and saw that his students were looking at him in concern. "How long has it been?" he asked when he turned on his webcam.

"About 30 minutes." A student answered.

He winced. "Sorry class. Something happened. Speaking of which, may I advise you to reduce your screaming fits? A neighbor just complained about it earlier. Can you guys do that for me, be less loud? There's a mute button for a reason."

Voices of assent echoed in the living room. Harold turned to Fiona whose eyes widened upon meeting his gaze. "Fiona, were you able to answer my question earlier?"