The Neighbour

It was bad enough that he had to deal with a sudden cold, visitors was the last thing he needed right now. His boss hadn’t been impressed when he informed him about taking a day off. It was their busy season and he was leading one of the biggest campaigns for the company. Sometimes he hated his job. It meant spending weekends at the office, working overtime most weekdays and never having a social life. But he liked living alone and couldn’t imagine sharing a house with a wife let alone kids. In fact whoever was knocking on the door was making him realize why he liked living alone. Whoever it was better have a good reason for knocking. Sniffing a little and stifling a cough he walked passed the stainless steel kitchen. His house didn’t have much personality but he liked it that way. It was mostly white, black and steel. Colors had always annoyed him anyway, especially bright ones. The knock was intensifying. I’m coming, I’m coming, he yelled. The nerve of this person. But he didn’t take another step. Frozen in place he listened to the knocking. It couldn’t be? For the first time he wished it was that annoying mailman or maybe Bill from work. And when the voice called out, “Hey open up”, his eyes widened and his blood ran cold. If only the person pounding on the door was at the front door and not the basement.