Quarantined neighbour

The summer before last year of college was supposed to be a fun one - a summer full of trips to the beach and sleepovers and spending as much time together as possible with friends and family. But trouble has a way of finding its way to turn their perfect summer into a living nightmare.

Liam huffed, a heavy bag of groceries in his arms. This pandemic was nasty enough that the gyms had to close, and he could feel his stamina gravely impacted by the last months not spending time weight lifting. It was for the greater good, as the news kept being more and more depressing.But he was thankful he was just out of shape and not sick, at least.

Not like his new neighbour who shifted here in the middle of pandemic.

As Liam unlocked the door and the keys kept dancing and rattling, another horrible, raspy cough was heard next door. This outburst lasted too long – you would think three minutes mean nothing until you’re the host of this parasitic, painstaking outburst of mucus in your lungs. What Liam was worried about the most wasn’t the expectoration in itself, but the heavy breathing right after, those deep inhalations of the person that lived next door, making him think more of someone taking their breath after nearly drowning in water. He knocked gently at the door, mask still covering half of his face (nose included, unlike some fools outside)

“Hey… Are you okay? Should I call an ambulance for you? Or anyone?”

“No. Go away”

“Sir. You nearly died there”

A faint, husky laugh resonated on the other side of the front door. Followed by a few more outbursts, before the voice with an accent Liam couldn’t recognise.

“I know it doesn’t sound like it right now but I’m a woman”

“Oh”

Oh , indeed. Liam felt his face warm up to his ears, a complete, silent mess. He hid his face in his bag of groceries, not knowing what to say to make it up to his neighbour.

“I’m sorry, ma’am”

“Aaliyah”

“Huh?”

“My name is Aaliyah"

“Oh"

Another long, embarrassing silence followed, broken apart by a few more coughs. “No ambulance, no call to Mommy or daddy. You can go, thanks for offering”

“Okay… Aaliyah. I’ll check in with you tomorrow then"

“No –” Aaliyah started, but Liam's door slammed slowly, announcing that he’d already left the floor landing.

The next morning Liam made his way to his neighbour's door and knocked carefully.

“Good morning Aaliyah” 

From what he could hear through those paper-thin walls (perks of living in a building with a cheap rent: you could hear almost everything from the other side) Aaliyah had a rather rough night. The coughing didn’t really stop until 4AM, but soon after a peaceful silence eventually took place.

Nobody answered after that first knock, so he tentatively insisted. “Aaliyah?

Still nothing.

“Aaliyah if you don’t answer I’ll have to call –

“I’m sleeping, you idiot” Aaliyah complained, huffing under what seemed to be heavy covers. “Shitty night, haven’t you heard?”

“Oh… Yeah”

“Do you have a name? Or I should call you 'Oh'” she asked from other side of door.

“I’m Liam” he answered with a smile. Although she couldn't see but he gave his best.

“Nice to meet you Liam. Now let me sleep or I’ll be the one calling 911 on you”

“Sure! I’m – on my way! Yeah, I’m leaving. Like, right now,” he started babbling. “See you around! – screw that, not see you see you but you know-"

“Goodbye Liam!"

“Yep – Going! Bye!” he started walking back to his apartment, when an idea struck him like lightning would hit a clock.

Liam ran in his apartment. He hadn’t been that excited in a long while. And somehow, it felt so good to have that kind of energy kick back after all this time. Oh Liam, you’re a genius, he said to himself, grabbing a piece of paper and a pen, and started scratching down her plan on the piece of paper.

Dear Aaliyah

I know this is going to sound crazy but I’m really concerned about your well-being. I’m gonna go grocery shopping in a few hours and can buy a few things for you, if you want. I’m going to be there to check on you everyday, more like around after noon given that you don’t sound like a morning person.

I’m also going to bring you dinner tonight, so I can be sure you’ll eat today

Here’s my number, so you can text me your grocery list and I’ll bring it to you.

Your neighbor Liam

Proud of himself he walked to her door again to slide the piece of paper under the door, before turning back to his quarantine activities. 

Beaming bad news into brain via social sites. Trying to do some work and then giving up and looking out of the window. Watching Netflix for hours or keep switching between a total of 3-4 apps in phone.

And, apparently today, a nap. Which was nice, obviously, until the annoying buzz of his phone woke him up.

Unknown :Hey Liam

Liam: Who is it?

Unknown: The man from next door.

“HI Aaliyah!” Liam yelled at the wall with a knowing smile.

Aaliyah: I thought the texts were to avoid the yelling.

Liam: You got me there

Liam: How can I help you?

Aaliyah: The grocery list? I need a few things.

Liam still had time to go grocery shopping for Aaliyah, and he was glad he could actually move his legs a little today. He knew he shouldn’t go out, but it was necessary. 

He grabbed a new mask and his trusty tote bag, put on his running shoes, matching his red jacket, and went on his way to the store.

Moments later, he finally knocked, out of breath, on Aaliyah's door. “Hey Aaliyah… I just came back with everything you wanted… Pff, I’m so out of shape…”

“Thanks Liam” the hoarse voice answered in between coughs. “I’ll PayPal the money I owe you”

“Sure, I’ll send you the link. Everything okay on your side

Another outburst occurred, way too long to Liam's liking once again, before Aaliyah answered “I’m perfectly fine, as you can hear”

“Yeah… I’m totally making you dinner. See you there!” he grinned

“Will saying no stop you?”

“Nope!” Liam retorted, his goofy grin almost hurting because of how wide it was.

“Promise me it won’t be too fancy please”

“Pssht,” he brushed. “I’m not capable of fancy anyway. I only do comforting”

“…Okay. I’ll text you and let you know how I found it then”

He agreed, as it meant more texting with the mysterious neighbour.

When the time came to prepare dinner, he kept things rather seriously. Generally used to a healthy diet to keep him in shape, he sort of let himself slide into an instant-ramen-and-raw-vegetables diet with this cursed lockdown thanks to covid. But today, he finally had a reason to spend a little more time in the kitchen today, and he decided to make a chicken ramen recipe, with a little more work than usual.

After he boiled two eggs and peeled them before putting them aside, he heated a saucepan with a drizzle of chili oil, grated a clove of garlic and a ginger root that he sautéed in the hot pan for a minute. The sizzling of these roots entering in contact with oil in itself was music to ears, and he enjoyed the already present aroma invading his kitchen – it brought him back to easier times, spending afternoons with his grandma cooking and baking on holidays, his mom Grace, always around to try everything after her long shifts in the corporate.

He smiled fondly at the memory, and added the chicken stock to de-glaze his pan. He added soy sauce to broth, and cracked some pepper before scraping the bottom of pan with wooden spatula. After he tasted broth, he added a teaspoon of sugar and let the pan heat up. The amount of time for the pan to boil gave him enough time to shred the leftover chicken thigh he’d cooked the day before, added the shreds to the pan and threw a few sliced mushrooms that he topped with his instant ramen.

Once softened, he plated two bowls like they did in all those cooking TV shows – he put pasta first, poured a generous amount of broth, added the shredded chicken to one side, the mushrooms on the other, added an egg halved and topped with lime juice, sesame seeds, chopped scallions and a crushed nori sheet. He covered one of the bowls with plastic wrap, added a whole lime wedged on it so Aaliyah could decide if she would use it or not. Liam thought the broth was well-seasoned, and he could only hope the rest of the meal would follow. Suddenly nervous, he knocked on Aaliyah's door and let her know that her dinner was ready and waiting outside her door. He left before she opened the door.

Minutes later, Liam found himself stuffed and happy. The ramen was good, and he was happy that it turned out better than usual. He thought it probably had to do with the good memories he’d linked to food, and the happiness of preparing something for someone instead of just for himself. Wrapped in his blanket, he dozed off watching some random show that night.

He woke up next morning with a bunch of unread messages from Aaliyah. He chuckled reading them.

Aaliyah: Okay, how old are you? Because I want you to marry me.

Aaliyah: This was the best ramen I've ever had.

Aaliyah: Where did you learn how to cook.

Aaliyah: Where have you been all my life?

Weeks passed, Aaliyah felt better and better, but none of their habits changed. They would text each other everyday, share jokes and send memes as a way of communication. For sure, Aaliyah seemed to be a grumpy one, which was funny and cute according to Liam.

Liam became increasingly nervous. what if Aaliyah didn’t need him anymore and would stop talking? what if… what if she left any other day?

That’s when he realised his neighbor was a friend – a good friend – but not just a friend apparently.

Liam pinched the bridge of his nose, eyes squeezing shut. That was going to make things worse, more awkward. the worst in that moment? it’s that they hadn’t even met . The boy sighed, frustrated. “A dumb comic nerd” he hid his face in his hands. “that’s all you are, Liam”

More time passed with the same daily routine for the two neighbours, until one evening someone knocked at Liam's door. He frowned, not expecting any visit. The landlord would’ve called a possible visit, his mom and grandma were too far away to risk traveling in an actual pandemic, and he’d keep contact with her friends on skype. So when he woke up, he didn’t care switching his old sweatpants and mismatched socks to something more presentable, nor did he bother brush his hair, as messy as it currently was, or change from his stained university t-shirt. When he opened the door, the only thing his brain would let him do was freeze at the unfamiliar face.

“Hello, Liam”

Aaliyah , he instantly recognised the voice he’d conversed with for weeks and holy shit , was his neighbor gorgeous. The most striking feature were Aaliyah's eyes, emerald blue with traces of green around the pupil. Her gaze was enhanced by her smooth olive skin, a cute little mole on her naturally radiant face near lips and a smirk that would make anyone fall for the smaller woman.

And that included Liam.

She had long, wavy curls that framed her rather angular face, and god, Liam didn’t know he could be more nervous but here he was. The not-so-mysterious neighbor was dressed in a large white sweater and skinny jeans, and holding a tupperware in her perfectly manicured hands, the nail polish applied in a flawless manner.

Yes, she would definitely be either a goddess or a mirage, a dream maybe, if his own mismatched socks didn’t anchor him in reality somehow.

Liam kept staring, red as a tomato, jaw wide open, until Aaliyah smiled even brighter.

“I figured I could cook something for you, you know,” now it was Aaliyah's turn to blush slightly, and Liam was ready to die right here, right now. “since you’ve taken care of me all month long. I made you Shish tawook, chicken biryani and here you have a tiny box of Falafel too”

Liam grabbed the tupperware that was almost forced into his hands. “I have no idea what that is”

Aaliyah chuckled. “It’s not much, just food that brings me back home. I hope you like it” the brunette added.The gorgeous woman winked at Liam before she turned back to her apartment, and he could swear Aaliyah was swaying her hips on purpose.

When he was sure the door next to his clicked, he walked back to his couch, threw himself in it.

He didn’t stop bragging about how good the food tasted to Aaliyah, telling her that it somehow tasted like a warm and sunny day and like his mouth was dancing – making Aaliyah smile and proud of herself.

And that was the most beautiful smile in the world, he thought.

Stuck in a building during a pandemic, with her hot neighbor nearby?

He wouldn’t have it any other way.