The clock ticks 10, the pizza must be here. I open the door, but my hopes are crushed down. It's the postman. "Post for you, miss..." He struggles to read the name.

"Grace, it's not that hard, dude" I correct him. He blushes, hands me the letters and leaves. 

I close the door and head back inside to the living room. I place the letter on the couch before I take the stairs to the second floor. I take a left turn and enter the bathroom. My towel is neatly placed on the shelf. I grab the system remote control and place it close to the bathtub. I start undressing and I get into the bathtub. I turn the handle and the water instantly starts to flow on my back. The water was warm. Warm enough to calm my stressed body and my busy mind racing with rushed thoughts.

I turn the water off with the water-proof remote control and I rush out to cover myself.

As soon as I step out of my large bathtub, I hear the doorbell ringing. Again.

I grab my bathrobe towel and wrap it around my body. I then hurry out of the bathroom, head downstairs and look through the hole in the door to check who's there.

No one.

They were probably gone since I was late to answer.

I make my way to the living room. The doorbell rings again. I let out a sigh and check the door again, only to find a basket on the floor.

I open the door and check my surroundings. Maybe this is some clickbait. Maybe a bomb. Someone who's ready to push me or stab me and rob my house. 

No one.

I slowly lift the basket off the floor and take it inside. I close the door behind me and lock it with the key. Three times.

I am now examining the basket carefully from the outside. I have placed it on my brown wooden table in the kitchen.

I have to know what's inside.

I gently open a small crack and a lovely smell sneaks out and goes through my nose nostrils.

Inside, I find a lasagna neatly placed in a decorated plate, my favorite salad, and a freshly squeezed apple juice.

There's also a letter. A small envelope that has my name on it.

Hello!

Here's a fresh meal that I prepared for you as a welcoming and warm greeting from the neighbor next door. I heard you're new here. Everyone is talking about you. We all welcome you in town. I hope you enjoy this meal that I've specially cooked for you a while ago.

Made with love,

Your neighbor.

The handwriting was neat. This mysterious neighbor has lovely handwriting. There was no name mentioned tho.

I quickly grab a spoon and a fork and dive in. The lasagna is good. This mysterious friend is a good cook. Must be a chef too.

By 10 minutes, the lasagna plate and the salad are wiped away. I slowly sip a small amount from the juice cup. Tastes good too.

After I'm done, I clean up after myself and take the plates and the empty cup to the kitchen.

The doorbell rings again. I take the pizza from my delivery man, hand him the money, a tip and I place the pizza in the small refrigerator in my room.

The plates. The basket. What am I gonna do with them? To whom do they belong? Keeping them would be rude. But I have no clue who they belong to. 

A big dilemma.

I decide to wait until the morning, hoping this generous neighbor will show up to greet me themselves.

I change into my pajamas and call it a night.

------------------

7 am.

My alarm goes off and I turn it off. Another day full of cleaning and work around my new house.

Such a big space for one person to live in. My mom has always told me I should start seeing someone so I could actually use that space for good.

I never thought about dating. And surely not after my first heartbreak a few years ago. I had promised myself I will not fall in love ever again. A crazy decision, I know.

Life does really be hard sometimes.

But I'm happy on my own. Really. Living on my own has always been a joyful life for me. I get to manage my own time without having to worry about whether my partner is hungry, then I should make him a sandwich while he plays some stupid video games instead of us actually spending time together in the kitchen making food together and having a food fight then arguing about who's gonna clean it. He's bored? I have to play some cards game with him, a game that I hate. He's going to work while I'm stuck at home dealing with some noisy kids, then rebellious teens and rude high schoolers.

And guys do really be tiring sometimes.

Girls are tiring too. But I'm not like the rest of them. I'm not that type of girl who's dying to get attention. Nor that girl who's too demanding of others. I'm not that girl who is always with a mad temper on her periods. I actually am sometimes, but my mom always tells me I'm mostly funny during that.

I never really got in a relationship, for so many reasons.

One, mutually falling in love seems to only happen in movies. I roll my eyes at my own thoughts. Two, I have to focus on my studies now. I want to get accepted into my dream university. Three, I have no time for love. I have enough in my life. I have my family, myself and I.

I smile at my own thoughts. I love my life. I don't need love to be happy.

I roll out of the bed and pull my curtains open. The sun is bright today. Must be 28C or something close according to the warmth that brushes against my skin when I open the glass window and the air smoothly rushes inside the big room.

I get into the bathroom and wash my face. With cold water. It makes me feel awake. I then go downstairs to the kitchen to have breakfast. I have a limited list of options for the food I can make since the new refrigerator hasn't arrived yet. I can make an egg, have a cereal bowl or make an omelet.

I choose to go with cereal and milk. I first grab the cereal, then pour the milk above. 

I can't understand people who put milk first. Like... Why? I laugh loudly and I place my bowl on the table and start eating.

I am instantly reminded of the basket I received yesterday. How am I going to thank my mysterious generous neighbor? Receiving a welcoming gift like that had such an influence on me. I actually had good food on my first night here. Maybe better than the pizza I had ordered and forgot to eat last night. I was too full to even drink a sip of water.

I decide to think about how I'm going to investigate this incident later and start working and cleaning around the house.

I lose track of time and it's actually 10 pm. 

I heavily throw myself on the couch and I let out a tired "hmph". That was a long day. I managed to clean lots of things in the house. I also got to take out some items of the boxes and place them where they belong.

My head is spinning. I close my eyes, and I am close to the point where I just crash on the couch.

But I don't.

Because the doorbell is ringing and I'm running on my feet only to see a tall figure standing on my door porch.

A young man is standing there with a warm smile on his face.

"Hello, I'm Aiden. I'm your neighbor that lives in that house just across the street." I hope my meal was tasty enough to satisfy you, miss..." he extends his hand to shake mine.

"Just call me Grace," I reply while extending my hand out and shaking his. 

"Please, come inside".

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