[ WP ] It 's New Years Eve . Your best friend died in September , you 've been robbed twice , your girl friend is leaving you , you 've just lost your job and the only one left to talk to is a gay burglar you 've got tied up in the kitchen . P.S . Your cat is dead .

Davis doesn ’ t feel the cold. It ’ s windy enough that the gravel-lined roof flings the occasional flecks of grit into her eyes. Although her shoulder length hair is whipping in all directions, it doesn ’ t bother her enough to flick it out of her eyes as she looks over the edge of the apartment roof. She stares down, imagining she can see the people below her celebrating New Year in the dark. Although she can see trees in the well-lit nearby park swaying as gusts of wind bend their boughs in a semi-co-ordinated fashion, she ’ s far enough away to miss the sound of that organic white noise. 
 
 One of her hands come out from the deep pockets of her cargo pants to pop a tablet of chewing gum into her mouth, before she finally looks away from the faint noises at street level and goes back to her apartment. The dark liquorice flavour on her tongue matches the mood of the evening. She knows her cheeks must be ruddy from the winds steady abrasion. 
 
 She puts the kettle on, and turns around to her guest. 
 
 “ I ’ d offer you some tea, but the last burglar who came in decided to steal the teabags. Have no idea why. Strange, as he didn ’ t bother with the milk or sugar. Lucky me. ” she says, with no hint of irony present in her voice. 
 
 She puts one cup in front of the bound and gagged man and the other in front of her before picking up the knife. She ’ d forgotten how well-balanced it was. 
 
 “ Just in case you get any funny ideas about screaming and the like, I got ta admit that it ’ s been a… bad month for me. You don ’ t want to get me all emotional right now, because I will start crying. Okay? ” 
 
 The bound man bobs his head rapidly. Davis twirls the knife around in her fingers before leaning forward and plucking Lisa ’ s knickers from the man ’ s mouth. She sighs. 
 
 “ Don ’ t worry, ” she says, “ these were clean. They ’ re my girlfriend ’ s nanny-panties. ” She watches a thin trickle of blood make its way past his wide eyes and along his cheek. Then she sees what he ’ s staring at. 
 
 “ Oh, sorry. ” she says, and cuts one of the man ’ s bound hands loose from the chair. 
 “ So, what ’ s your name? ” She puts the knife down beside her and captures his attention with a gesture as she picks up her knitting needles and the half-finished square in front of her. 
 
 “ Hello? ” 
 
 He licks the sweat from his lips. “ Aaron. Look, this was obviously a mistake. ” 
 
 Davis smiles. It doesn ’ t seem to reassure Aaron as his face goes a shade paler. He 
 “ Here ’ s the problem Aaron. We ’ ll leave aside that you broke into my apartment, which by the way, is the equivalent of sloppy seconds. You wouldn ’ t know but this is the third time this month. I ’ m not happy about it. ” Davis shakes her head slowly. Aaron averts his eyes to grope for the mug. She can see his well-manicured hands are unsteady. He looks back to knife her as she studies him. 
 
 “ A girl has to protect herself, ” she says. His eyes grow wide. 
 
 “ Oh honey, you don ’ t have to worry yourself on that account, you really aren ’ t my type, ” he reassures her. 
 
 “ Gee, thanks. I feel so much safer already. Here ’ s the thing Aaron - and well-done on being so honest with me. I checked your wallet before you woke back up, so I knew your name. And where you live. I ’ m going to keep is as a souvenir. Where was I? Yes, here ’ s the thing. You aren ’ t very good at this. Am I your.. first? ” 
 
 Aaron nods glumly. His eyes fall on something on the floor behind her, and she turns to see that he ’ s spied Magdalena Aurelius. 
 
 “ Poor thing. I think you landed on her when I started hitting you. Truth be told, I think you did me a favour. It ’ s… It was Anita ’ s cat. I think she ’ s going to dump me, and it ’ s always harder to find a new place that takes pets. ” The clack of the needles fill up the awkward silence as she finishes another square and puts it on the small pile. 
 
 “ I picked up the habit from my best friend. She ’ s the one who taught me how to defend myself. I get a bouquet of carnations from the florist every month to remind me of her. Six orders since September. Time flies, when you ’ re having fun. I ’ m not sure what to do with you Aaron, but I ’ m very unhappy right now. ” 
 
 “ Uhn? ” Aaron says. “ Let me go, and I promise I ’ ll never bother you again? ” 
 
 Davis puts down her knitting. “ Are you trying to be funny? ” 
 
 Aaron shakes his head and holds his free hand up. “ I know it ’ s hard to believe, but I didn ’ t know you were going to be here. The guy I've been hooking up with said he lives here and I wanted to surprise him. I didn ’ t know he ’ d lied. ” 
 Davis stares at Aaron, and he flinches under her gaze before turning back to his mug, gazing into it for answers. The sounds of clacking needles start again, and he fidgets with the handle. 
 
 “ People lying is my lot in life. It ’ s one of the reason ’ s I lost my job today. ” 
 
 “ You ’ re very… calm about all of this. ” 
 
 “ I think my threshold for stress was reached a while ago. ” 
 
 Aaron mulls this over. 
 
 “ Where did he say he lived? ” she asks eventually. 
 
 “ Here! Apartment 691. He even said the door was open. ” Aaron steals a glance at his captor. She has a frown. 
 
 “ Aaron, what do you do? ” 
 
 “ I - I ’ m a designer. I want to be a designer. Right now I ’ m interning at a help-desk in a fashion company, but I think they ’ ll kick me out because of my dyslexia. ” 
 
 Davis starts laughing, and then realises she can ’ t stop, even when it turns from laughter to jagged sobs. 
 
 “ FML, ” she says once she ’ s recovered. “ I live on 961. You went into the wrong apartment. When it rains, it surely does pour. ” 
 
 Edit: trying to fix formatting.
