(A.N. aaand back to the main plot)

I had so many questions running through my mind.

I wanted so desperately to scoop her up into my arms just like I used to. 

But something felt strange about her reactions. 

To put it simply, she was cold.

After my initial shock at seeing her ran out, I picked up the note and looked at the room in question.

There was already a wooden name card hanging from the doorknob.

How am I supposed to clean it then?

I looked back at Eve and opened my mouth to speak.

But she didn't give me a chance.

She stood up from the couch, walked into the kitchen, and placed the glass inside the sink. All in one fluid motion. 

She turned away without giving me a second glance and entered her room, leaving me standing with one of my arms stretched out, reaching for her.

The words died in my mouth.

They came out in a frenzy after I heard the click of a lock.

"How have you been?"

I sunk onto the floor and held down my arm. 

I didn't care anymore. 

She was back. 

That's all I wanted.

Right?

––––––––

It was a week since Eve's first appearance.

We still had yet to talk.

She seemed to avoid me, but for some reason, my door would always be open when I woke up. 

There would also be a slight fragrance that I was able to just barely smell. 

I didn't pay much attention to it.

I started leaving her a plate of food wrapped in plastic outside her door before I left for work. 

Whenever I came back, I would see the plate empty, so I assumed she was eating it. 

Usually, she would be at the house, lounging around on the sofa whenever I got home from work. 

But sometimes she wasn't.

I panicked the first time she wasn't there but remembered she wasn't the same little girl who would always cling to me.

But I couldn't stand the cold treatment. 

It started affecting me at my job as well.

It had been a week and I was at my breaking point. 

Why?

Why?

Why?

Why can't she even acknowledge me? 

Doesn't she know how worried I was? 

You don't just disappear for three years and act like nothing happened?

While my mind was swirling from my conflicting emotions, I mindlessly bumped into the counter.

* CRASH *

The plate I was holding fell to the ground.

"Shit!"

I bent over and started cleaning up the mess.

The slight commotion attracted some attention and I heard a familiar voice a little ways away.

"Adam? Was that you?"

A cheerful-looking woman in her early twenties appeared by my side.

She was also one of the waitresses of this restaurant, my coworker, Yvonne Marie.

She was well-known amongst the staff as being a bit of an airhead. She was working as much as she could while taking night classes at the local university in photography and fashion. 

She was my first point of contact at the restaurant and had been the one assigned to "teach me the ways." From then on, she had always been a big help and I was very much in debt with her. 

She'd often be my alarm clock for haircuts. 

We were close friends. Or at least I thought we were. 

One more thing I forgot to mention is that she happened to have a fanbase amongst the customers, mainly the males. Sure she had a great figure with a well-rounded buxom, but above all, she always had a bright smile on her face and a perky voice. A lot of them would come only during her shifts and give her impressive amounts of tips or gazes. She was fully aware of this but didn't really mind. She was the kind of girl that saw the best in everyone, you know? 

I looked up at Yvonne and mustered a small smile.

"I'm sorry about that. You can tell the manager to deduct the cost of the plate from my tips."

She frowned.

"Hey what's going on? I've noticed that you've been out of it recently. Your girlfriend dump ya or something?"

She got in a boxing stance and started fake punching me and said with a huff.

"If so I'll beat her up! No one makes my little Adam sad!"

I was half a foot taller than her so I laughed when I heard that.

"Haaah? You think I won't?"

I just shook my head.

"No, no it's nothing like that. It's just troubles at home."

She grimaced after hearing that.

"Sorry to hear that. You wanna talk about it? We can use one of our breaks!"

"Haha, it's fine really."

She still had a frown on her face.  

"Listen we're all going drinking tomorrow night because Roy is getting a promotion. How about you tag along? Maybe it'll get your mind off things."

Drinking? I wasn't a big fan of alcohol so I'd often opt out of these events. It was also a rather unnecessary expense.

"Hey I know that look! You're about to say no aren't ya? Well I won't take no for an answer!"

She turned around on her heels and stomped away.

"This woman..."

I didn't realize it but talking with Yvonne was actually quite helpful.

 At least it took my thoughts off of Eve.

Thanks to that, I made it through the rest of my shift without a problem.

"See ya Adam! Don't forget you're coming with us tomorrow!"

Yvonne waved at me in front of the door.

It was already night and I was clocking out. 

I raised my hand slightly and walked towards the busy street. 

I hailed a cab and arrived at my complex.

As I left the cab, I looked to my right and saw something unexpected.

Eve was leaning against a brown Porsche and talking with a woman in the driver's seat.

She had a scarlet dress with slits showcasing her thighs. She also had on black stiletto heels. 

I could see her laughing. 

How long had it been since I last saw her laugh?

I considered saying hi but I decided against it.

She'd surely hate me even more.

Instead, I began walking towards the glass doors.

Eve said something and backed away from the car, as the car began driving away.

I thought that she wanted to go up with me but no.

She walked right past me without a word.

She seemed to be in a hurry too?

Did she really not want to be seen with me?

I sighed.

I followed behind her, though I was careful to put some distance between us.

I even waited for the next elevator to arrive. I doubted she'd want to ride up with me.

The door was left unlocked when I came to my door and I grabbed my nightwear from my room.

I threw my clothes in the dirty clothes bin and stepped into the bathroom. 

I was tired and wanted to get ready for bed as soon as I could. 

As the scalding hot water poured against my skin, I could only think shower thoughts.

Is this how it's going to be?

I finished washing and toweled off, putting on the clean set of clothes. I passed by the dirty clothes bin and frowned.

Where did my boxers go?

––––––––

"Alright! Drink up!"

Yvonne hands me a shot glass and downs her own in a fast swig.

"AHHHH that hits the spot!"

She leans back in the chair with a satisfied sigh.

After giving a short speech, Roy promised us that all drinks would be on him tonight.

Suddenly everyone became a record-breaking drinker. 

Except for me. 

I had just arrived and had no intention of getting drunk.

Just a few shots I said to myself.

As I said, I wasn't a big fan of alcohol. It hindered my decision-making and I preferred to be able to act rationally, thank you.

I looked down at my drink.

Somehow my glass had filled itself before it was even fully emptied.

I looked over at Yvonne who was winking at me. 

Alas. It seems I was ill-fated to be at the mercy of this brown-haired demoness named Yvonne.

Her cheeks were already flushed and she was talking rather loudly.

The music wasn't even that noisy, but she was still hollering!

We had only been here for, what, 20 minutes? And she was already this drunk?

"SO. FEELING ANY BETTER ADAM?"

She leaned over and practically shouted in my ear.

"Ahh you're too loud auntie!"

She pinched my cheeks. 

"Don't call me an auntie! I'm only twenty-two! I'm mad now so you're gonna have to drink at least ten more glasses!"

"How does that even work..."

"Shut up and drink!"

She kept filling my glass and was practically force-feeding me it.

This night would be long...

––––––––

Before I knew it, it was closing time.

Our group was already beginning to disperse and soon it was just me, Yvonne, and another waitress.

I downed one last glass and stumbled my way out of the restaurant, feeling woozy and light-headed. 

I stepped out and took a long, deep breath of the night air.

The other two were right behind me, though Yvonne was being carried by the waitress.

She was saying something that I couldn't quite catch. 

I leaned a little closer.

"Mmmmpph, Adam you bastard. You better start smiling ~ ungh. You look ~ anh ~ cuter when you smile ~ mmm."

She was slurring her words in her sleep.

The other waitress had hailed a cab for her and was struggling to place her in the backseat.

"Don't say that...You're boyfriend will get jealous."

I could only whisper as the car drove away. 

I stumbled my way to the intersection and flagged a cab for myself. 

"2300 Apple Boulevard."

The cabbie wrinkled his nose at the stench of alcohol but took me there without a complaint.

After I paid, I got off and rested against one of the streetlights that was flickering. 

My head was feeling heavy and my vision was blurry. 

I slowly shambled my way up to the room and spent a good two minutes just finding the right key. 

The lock turned and the apartment was still dark.

Huh.

Normally Eve would be here already. 

I looked at the floor and I didn't see her shoes. 

Is she out with her friends? Her lover? 

AHH.

A stabbing pain in my head.

I really, really wanted to lie down. 

Ugh.

Just make it to the room.

I half-crawled my way to my room.

It was locked? 

Why would my room be locked? 

I couldn't think straight and got my keyring out once more. 

I had a master key for all the rooms in the apartment and unlocked my door, conveniently not noticing the name 'EVE' hanging from the knob.

As I opened it, I turned on the light.

And was shocked at the sight before me.

––––––––

A.N. 

Adam drinking at 18? >>>>> Don't ask. Just go with it.

Anyways just wanted to make it super transparent. This is not fking netorare! I'd rather watch boku no pico then write that shit. His sister was not r-worded. There will be uncomfortable moments that she had to go through but no sex. Her flower should be picked by Adam yeah? 

Some points:

His sister is cold to him. At least for now. This will be explained in the next chapter. 

I'm thinking of making Adam get scouted himself after he gets closer with Eve and starts tidying up his appearance. Right now he gives not a flying damn about his looks and only gets the occasional haircut and workclothes. Eve will change that.

As for his money, Adam's not rich but he's not a broke orphan. He hates spending more than he has to and the rest of it accumulates in a bank account he opened with the help of Yvonne. I'll be touching more into their past later. Though I don't think anyone would care about learning how Adam gets documentation or social security. Correct me if I'm wrong.

thanks for reading.