A girl, by the looks of it – in her twenties, sat down on the opposite side of the table. Luke was frozen with his mouth wide open - about to take a bite from the raspberry bun. Though he wasn’t frozen due to her beauty. More like due to a completely unexpected development. When things didn’t go as planned, Luke always felt lost and was slow to react.

Don’t get him wrong though, she was beautiful. Medium length dark hair, light make-up, delicate features. She had a knack at stylish clothing as well, but these days it wasn’t an uncommon feature. Everyone liked to be “stylish and modern” in this day and age. Everyone wanted to attract attention.

Something seemed off though. There were plenty types of beautiful. Refined beauty, cold beauty and a number of others. Frankly - Luke wasn’t too knowledgeable on that topic. Either way - this particular girl could and would be considered as an insane beauty. Not that her beauty itself was insane - on how eye-catching and alluring it seemed. Oh no - she herself seemed slightly insane. A weird glimmer in the eye that somehow signaled every nerve in Luke’s body to stay away. Dangerous. Especially since she was quite to his liking. Just his type to say the least.

All in all, the whole situation made him feel terribly uncomfortable. So much that he slightly shifted in his chair, without closing his mouth or moving the bun out of the way. Might have something to do with a combined effect of never having intimate relations with females and rarely conversing with people he didn’t know.

Keeping in mind Luke’s narrow social-circle, conclusions could be made.

“What the fuck?” – She finally said, after a short pause. Arms crossed, an angry - cold even, glare. That and quite a strange way to start a conversation. This won’t go well.

Surprisingly - Luke could feel getting more and more confused and lost as how to react in this particular development. He never had a conversation like this before. Everything was crumbling around him. At the very least, he managed to close his mouth – though the raspberry bun? He forgot about it.

“You think I haven’t noticed you following me around? First that bakery across the street. Then the mall. The shoe store. And now even here? 6 blocks away?” – She continued, steadily flaring up, leaning closer towards Luke. This was getting out of hand, multiple unfriendly stares were directed towards him. Unpleasant memories rising.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“How much more fucking obvious can you get? Grow some balls already! Can’t even say hi to a neighbor, but stalking me all over the city doesn’t seem as hard? Seriously!?” – The monologue was getting out of hand.

Neighbor? Luke suddenly looked more closely at this over-bearing female. Sure, she wasn’t dressed all in black this time, but it was surely her. This loud-mouthed, one-sided decision making torturer. His neighbor, with whom he never even exchanged a greeting. Maybe a short glance at each other, sure. Nothing beyond that, though. It’s true that they usually left their apartments at the same times, but it was all a strange coincidence. Yet it turned into a huge misunderstanding. Blown out of all proportions.

Also, Luke noticed that he was still holding the raspberry bun. Thus he finally placed it down on the table.

“If I find you following me around again, I swear, I’ll call the cops on you. Creep!”  - With a shout, she finally ended the monologue. Got up, gave him another angry glance and stormed off.

Luke was reminded of a song he liked, thus decided to listen to it once back home. Considering how everyone else glared at him now, as if looking at some sort of a stalker, public enemy number - something. Leaving as soon as possible seemed like a great idea.

Even though she was the one, who made a huge scene, threw around baseless accusations. Waving around flawed conclusions like some flag. Luke was still the one who gathered all the resentment from everyone. Even though he wasn’t at fault. Even though he didn’t do anything wrong.

The raspberry bun was really good though. He still ate it - without paying heed to all the stares. Not saying he didn’t mind – on the contrary, disliking the situation would be a gentle way to describe it. He was used to such developments, yet hated them all the same. Some things don’t change.

An unpleasant burning sensation down in his very gut. If you believed strong enough that it’s in the stomach – food helped keep it on the down low. Thus the raspberry bun was just at the right time, at the right place.

What a day.

Luke returned home soon after, stopping at a few shops to vent on the way. His weekly quota was almost done, thus now he could spend the rest of his time in Alternative Reality. All that needed to be done now - was get some sleep and he was ready for adventure. That dungeon, actually being explored - would be quite a punch to the teeth right about now.

As Luke climbed up the stairs towards his apartment, another unwelcome development awaited him. Seems like it was forming a trend. If life keeps at it - avoiding going outside all together sounds like a possible development.

Both neighbors returned home at basically the same time by the looks of it. Another coincidence. But only Luke knew as much.

“Creep” – Was all she said, before hiding in her own apartment. Ending this one-sided day with a one-sided statement. What a day indeed.

He really wanted to listen to that song though.