" This is a great deal." The salesman insists with a Colgate smile. I pursed my lips trying to decide.
" Everyone needs a television set in their home." He continues. " Well, I don't know." I replied. After all I had been in this foreign country for nearly a month and I managed without a tv set or radio. I have to decide if my work schedule will allow me time for entertainment.
" This is the last set we are selling at this price." The salesman enticed me and I fell into his trap immediately.
" I'll take it." I decided quickly despite the fact that I would have to set it up myself and I have no such experiences to bank on. " And that radio over there."
As I walk back home with my newest purchases, I reflect on how well I have settled down. Somehow my thoughts strayed to him again. Don't tell me he is really making an effort to avoid me?
When I walk past his door, I stopped and lean towards the door to listen for any sounds within but everything is quiet. After a moment of hesitation, I continue towards my apartment.
Sitting the tv set down on the sideboard I bought earlier, I kneel before it looking at the cables. I have no idea where to start. The knock on my door seems to be my savior. I jumped up excitedly and ran to answer it, glad that I can avoid the confusing task even for a few minutes.
" Is this your jacket?" My second floor neighbor asks me the moment I open the door. She thrust the white jacket in my floor expecting me to say yes so that her troubles will end.
" Eh, no." I replied then it struck me that I seen it before and I know the owner. " I mean, yes it is. Thank you." I took the jacket from her and she left with her face filled with relief.
Immediately I begin to regret. How would I be able to return him this? Stuff it into his mailbox? It wouldnt seem right if I dont hand it over to him personally. I put on my slippers and walk over to his apartment. Taking a deep breath, I raised my knuckle and knock lightly. Then I wait. The moments felt like hours. I want to turn and leave but my rationality tells me that I must wait a little longer. Then I knock again more firmly this time.
This time the door opened. I stepped back slightly till his head appear around the door. The alarm look on his face was surprising to me. I felt that he probably has visitors and he doesnt want them to see me. I press the jacket into his hands and turn to leave.
"Wait!" he called out. "Won't you like to come in for tea?"
My legs stopped moving as I consider the possibility. Then I turn and look at him. He is decently dressed in a tee and Bermudas. His hair was hurriedly combed and his face has an exhausted look. The expression on his face lifted up when he sees me move towards him. Stepping back into the room, he let me into his world.
The structure of the room is exactly the same as mine. But it has the neglected look of a bachelor pad. Plain white curtains hung across the window. The futon permanently placed on the floor next to the window. A low table that serves as a surface top for everything from keys to newspapers to empty bottles.
He left the door ajar after I enter and follow me in. I stood stiffly looking for a place to sit down while he plopped unceremoniously onto his futon bed and lie down.
" I had been feverish for a week now." He said simply with his eyes closed.
" Have you seen a doctor?" I asked naturally.
"No. It's only a fever." He replies nonchalantly as if we are discussing someone else apart from him.
"Did you measure yourself?"
"No."
"Why?"
"I don't have a thermometer."
I start to feel sorry for him. He had been sick for a week, probably sleeping the whole time without a thermometer to measure his temperature. "Eh," I felt I had to say something. To my surprise, he is already asleep again. I am thrown off balance by his simplicity and didn't know how to react. Still standing in the middle of a strange house wringing my hands with anxiety. It felt right to leave at once but I felt compelled to stay and look after him. I'll stay till he wakes up, probably in half an hour or so.
