Playing With Fire

Chapter 6

I paid the money for the ride and stepped down from the cab when we reached the address that I had shown the cab driver.

I looked at the surrounding of the house, scanning the area for a few seconds before walking towards the house that I am guessing where Mindy lives. It was a fairly new house from the looks of it. In fact, the entire area looked like new. Maybe this was a new housing area around here.

Taking a deep breath, I raised my hand and rang the doorbell. I patiently waited for a few seconds for someone to answer the door.

About a minute later, someone finally answered the door. A beautiful woman with raven black hair answered the door with a smile on her face. The main feature that attracted me immediately after my eyes landed on her is those dimples on her cheeks. She had them on both sides and that looked very unique.

Despite the tiredness, I tried to offer the best smile that I can ever pull off, "Hi, are you, Mindy, by any chance?" I asked her politely when she raised her eyebrows at me in question.

The smile on her face widened when I asked that and her eyes softened in understanding, "You must be Rayna" She said, her eyes scanning from the top of my head to my feet. I gave her a nod when her eyes traveled up to my face again, "Come in" She said, opening the door wider so I can walk in.

I tightened my hand around the handle of my trolley bag and wheeled it behind me as I stepped into the house. I let my eyes wander around the cozy house, "Thanks. Pretty place you have here" I said, turning around to look at her again.

She smiled at me again, "Thank you" She said, gesturing me to follow her, "I have already changed your bedsheets. I hope you like it here" She looked over her shoulder as she walked through the narrow hallway.

She paused in front of a door and pushed it open, motioning her hand for me to walk into the room. I smiled, low-key excited to see the room as I walked in.

Mindy switched on the lights and a smile made its way to my lips. This room was more than enough for me. There were a single bed and a working desk with a chair. There was a wardrobe as well at the end of the room, "It looks exactly like in the picture" I said to myself, "I love this place" I said in a louder voice, turning to look at her again.

Mindy was watching from the doorframe."I am glad you love it here" She gave me another genuine smile, "You can unpack and rest first. We will talk about everything else later" She stepped back as I gave her a nod in agreement.

I badly need a shower and some sleep to think straight after this.

"Oh, I almost forgot," She said, "This room has an attached bathroom as well. I forgot to put the picture up on the site you found the house" She pointed at the door and I assumed it was the bathroom.

Oh, this is a cherry on top. My own bathroom. Who would have thought?

"That's really awesome" I grinned, feeling more than satisfied with my room now, "Thanks again for allowing me to stay here. I promise that I will pay the rent on time" I promised her and I intended to keep that promise.

Mindy chuckled softly at that, "I know you will" She nodded at me, "Go get some rest first" She added, her eyes going to my face again. She probably noticed that I looked exhausted.

She left the room after that after pulling the door shut to give me some privacy. I looked around the room for a minute or two before unpacking to get a set of fresh clothes and my toiletries out from my bag before rushing into the bathroom.

The bathroom was spacious and most importantly, it was better than the one I had grown accustomed to back in Canada. Mindy had installed a heater so I took a warm shower first to relax my muscles. A satisfied sigh left from my lips as I stood under the spray of shower, basking in it.

Once I was done with the shower, I quickly changed into my night attire and sighed. My stomach rumbled loudly as I walked out of the bathroom and I went immediately to the green-eyed man.

He had bought me another sandwich after that and I was too full to eat it right then and there so I told him that I will take it back with me and promised him that I wouldn't forget to eat that.

I smiled to myself as I went to get that sandwich out from my bag. With one hand toweling my hair dry, I held the sandwich with my other hand and bit into it, going to sit on the chair by the desk.

I ate my food in silence, looking around the room and noticing the small details of the room like the curtain color were maroon and the bedsheet color was light brown. The walls of the room were painted in light beige. All in all, it felt like the money that I am about to pay for the rent is worth everything.

Not to forget that Mindy is a great housemate too.

She had done a great job in keeping the house clean. I can't imagine what will I do if I get an unclean person as my housemate. It would be mentally depressing for me.

Brushing the crumbs away from my lips, my eyes landed on the bed. I sighed longingly and started to get under the duvet, feeling too exhausted to procrastinate sleeping anymore.

Even though it was a single bed, the mattress felt great against my back. It made me realize how uncomfortable my previous bed was but I still felt grateful for it. I know that many unfortunate ones didn't have a bed and had to sleep on the floor.

When I woke up again, I felt groggy from all the flying I had done. It felt like someone had hit me repeatedly all over my body without leaving any bruises.

It looks like it will take a day or two for me to feel normal again. Thank god that I decided to come here a few days earlier than the day I was supposed to check-in for the first day of my work.

Knowing if I stay in the bed, that's what I will do until I fall asleep again, I threw my legs off the bed and smoothed my hair down with my fingers. I have to explore the other part of the house.

I stepped out of my room cautiously, feeling like I would get caught for not sleeping past my bedtime.

"I didn't expect to see you walking in here. I thought you will be sleeping for the next five hours straight"

I jumped a foot high from the floor at the sudden noise, turning around to see Mindy standing there with a bag of Cheetos in her hands. Her eyes were amused and she fought back a smile that was threatening to show up on her lips. She probably didn't want to make me feel embarrassed.

I smiled sheepishly at her, scratching the back of my neck, "I did fell asleep but I am a light sleeper so I woke up in a couple of hours" I said with a smile on my face.

Mindy nodded her head, "Do you want some coffee?" She asked me, looking at me in wary.

"Yeah that would be great" I accepted her offer right away, dying to have some caffeine in my system to feel somewhat refreshed.

"Come. I will show you the kitchen and how to use the stuff around there" Mindy said, gesturing her head for me to follow her.

I walked behind her into the kitchen. The kitchen wasn't huge but it wasn't small for the only two people living in here. Mindy showed me where she keeps all the groceries and she even informed me that I was free to use the kitchen, the fridge, and the groceries. Apparently, the rent was inclusive of all of that.

After handing me a cup of steaming coffee, Mindy gave me a proper house tour. The house didn't have any upper ground hence Mindy felt like it was super easy to take care of it.

There were a washing machine and a dryer. Mindy told me that she likes to do her laundry on Wednesday and had asked me to not specifically do mine on that day to give her the space she needs.

She is already kind enough to let me share the washing machine so I wasn't going to make her upset by doing my laundry on Wednesdays so I agreed right away.

After the house tour, we found ourselves sitting on the couch in the living area in front of the flat screen. Mindy made herself a cup of coffee and sat next to me to have it with me.

"So do you mind if I ask you where are you working?" I asked her after taking a sip of my coffee, my eyes going to her dimples again.

Mindy was sipping some coffee when I had asked that so she signaled me to wait to let her swallow it first, "Actually, I wanted to ask you that since the moment you had stepped into the house" "I am working at Hummingbird Microsystems. What about you?" She asked me curiously.

My eyes widened and the smile returned to my lips, "This may sound unbelievable but I am going to start working there as well" I informed her and she squealed in delight. I was happy to have someone I know at my office as well.

"You can have a ride with me. I go there by car every single day" She offered without thinking twice.

It was so kind of her to do that but I don't know if I can accept her offer as she had already given me so much freedom in the house, "There is no need for that. I don't want to burden-"

"There is nothing to be burdened" Mindy interrupted me, "I am going there all alone and there is plenty of seats in my car. It wouldn't hurt me if I let you sit with me while I am driving to our office" She raised her shoulders to shrug.

I sighed, knowing she had a point there. Besides, I don't know how to get there as well. I can't imagine calling for a cab every day after work, "Okay, but I will chip in half of the money for petrol" I said, my tone held finality in it, leaving no room for arguments.

Mindy smiled at me and nodded her head, "There's no need for that but if that makes you feel better then why not" She said, taking another sip of her coffee, "So tell me more about yourself. Like, how about your family?" She asked, lifting her eyes to look at me again.

"I don't have anyone. I am an orphan" I shrugged carelessly. When I was younger, it hurt me to say this out loud but now it didn't. Or it is just me who have gotten used to it.

Mindy's eyes widened, "s**t. Sorry, I didn't know" She apologized right away, looking like she had committed a crime.

I smiled and shook my head at her "That's alright. It's not a sensitive subject to me anymore" I said, my voice had an edge to it.

We fell into comfortable silence after that, sipping into our coffees without saying anything to each other. After washing the cups, Mindy smiled my way,

"Alright, you may not join until next week but I have work tomorrow so I should probably go to sleep now," She said, excusing her for the night.

I nodded my head at her and watched her as she walked towards her room before disappearing behind the door.

It seems like everything is settled for me here. Maybe god had enough fun with me and decided to let me live my life in peace. That's what in my mind as I made my way to my room so I can unpack my stuff. Whatever it is, I won't stop being grateful.