The next hour, I sort out my stuff by emptying three boxes of clothes in total, leaving four to be dealt with later.
It's only when my alarm goes off by 4am, did I know I've been sleeping on the couch. I leave the living room to use the washroom of the second bedroom, clean up and prepare to make a cup of coffee.

While measuring the tablespoon of milk, footsteps approaches the kitchen, and it stops after few more strides to reveal a completely disheveled Eleanor.
I gasp at the sight of her.
It's like I brought a mad woman home with her hair sticking out everywhere, red eyes and dark bags underneath them.

She disregards me to drag a nearby stood by the counter to sit on, leaning by the island and holding her face with both hands. "I know this is too much to ask, but can I use your bathroom? I can't go to my apartment looking like this, someone might see me" she mumbles her face still in her hands.

"Okay" I shrug, continuing with my coffee making routine.
She raised her head, watching me stir the coffee I'm supposed to be gulping.
"Why are you helping me?". She continues, "I've not been good to you, the only good I did to you was glare, which is considered not a good thing".
I don't think she'll enjoy it when I tell her it's also out of pity, no one deserves to be a mess like she is right now, and I may not know her story which I'm not too interested in learning about anyway but if helping her can go as much as not seeing her scattered, I'll be willing.

"It's not for free, you'll pay me back" I take my seat on one of the four stools in the kitchen.
"I knew it wasn't free. So, pay you back in what way?".
"Whatever way you decide" I reply, not taking my eyes off the mug in my hand.
She scoffs and recedes to the door but stop to compliment me,
"You have a nice house".
"I just moved in" I claim
"I saw the boxes in the living room, I can help you unpack, to pay you back maybe?"
"I can unpack myself"
She groans
"Don't worry. I'll let you know whenever I need the favor back"
She raised an eyebrow "I doubt it's anything monetary".
I shake my head
"What if it is?" I ask
"I'm afraid, I don't have it" she says confidently
"Okay" I reply, not convinced with her poor attempt to lie.
Even the best liars can't go past my skills, part of the training I got was to detect a lying and cunning customer, keep questioning them, let it go on until they're tongue-tied, but this is not the case.

"I'm sure for you, with this furnished apartment, you have a lot of money"
"Wrong. The former tenant did all of this" I also lie, she's being somewhat nosy, and I don't like nosy people.
She noticed my disinterest then proceeds to leave but stops, doing a three-sixty degree
"Thank you for your hospitality, Leo", the first time she mentions my name.
"You can find the washroom, by the right door of the room you slept in" I holler after she exits the kitchen.
I inhale the scent of my drink, which I find pleasing, before gulping its content as I've planned.
Since there's nothing to eat in this dessert refrigerator, I might as wellhead out to get something.

Exactly 7:45am, Eleanor leaves the room, looking more presentable still in her clothes of yesterday.
"I'll tell you where your stuff are when I get back from breakfast" I say, my keys in hand, ready to move.
"You don't cook your food?" She asks
"Have I told you I do?" I ask confused.

She space out then facepalm herself, "I'm sorry" she apologizes for what I'm not certain of.
"Can I tag along?, I'm so famished, and I don't cook too, another reason is, my car is not here, and I can't find my phone to order anything—". She starts listing so many reasons why she needs to head out with me without looking clingy or strange.

"Alright, you can come along, but you'll like to have a change of clothes, meet me at the front of the building in 30 minutes" She smiles at my gesture, hurrying out of the apartment while I lock up.

=========

We both settle to a table for two which is located outside a small restaurant, the large blue umbrella serves as shade, shielding us from the rising sun. The restaurant is unbelievably small but packed with people mostly eating the same meal, a cup of what, I believe, is coffee with pancake and heavy syrup.
"I can't say this enough, but thank you, Leo, for everything, I don't know what impression you have of me up there, well, I really don't want to know what it is, but thanks for helping this drunk girl get home safe last night", she said through a mouth full of her plate of pancake and syrup.

"It's alright Eleanor, but you must know, I don't like your drinking habits. What if I wasn't the one who helped you get home last night, what if I was a bad guy and had other intentions?" I ask, which is technically ironic coming from me, I am a bad person, been trained from a young age to do what bad people do.

"But you aren't, you aren't a bad person, Leo, if you were, you wouldn't have helped me and still allow me to accompany you here" replied Eleanor, a special glint in her eyes.
I push what's building up in me aside to commend her on recommending we eat here at this small restaurant called, 'Hannah's Hut'. Just like everyone else, I ordered the pancake and syrup, it's doing heavenly goodness to my taste buds.

"I must say, you have great taste as a tour guide when it comes to food".
She drops the fork in her grasp, giving me her straight face.
"This place is special. The breakfast they serve here is absolutely great, and you're the first I've taken here. It's for the estimable" she whispers the last sentence.

"Ha!...Thank you" I grin at her undercover compliment.
She returns mine with a toothy smile which made me suppress an awkward laughter, if only she knew being angry suited her better.
"May I know, what number I am, in the list of those you find estimable?" I tease
"I'll give you lucky number seven" she announces.
"Hmm! that's close enough".
Again she smiles, thankfully without her teeth on full display.

When we're done eating, with me insisting and ending up paying the bills for us both, I drive her home as I still have business to attend to with Axel.
Once in a while, I catch myself staring at Eleanor, who's seated opposite me. Even without make up that most women don to boost their confidence and beauty, she looks radiant, beautiful, stunning, and I dare say, happy?
The smile hasn't left her face since we departed the restaurant, maybe it's the food, frankly speaking, it's a great meal.
I'll take anything to see more of this Eleanor, and not the staggering drunk Eleanor.

I put the car on halt as it approaches a red traffic light, ready to feed her in on yesterday's event.
"You were so drunk you couldn't drive, so I drove us home. Your car is still at that bar and I think you should know Ben, a blonde bartender, he said you both know each other and has promised to park it somewhere safe, he's with your car keys. Then your bag should be inside your car, but your phone and credit card is here".

I open one of the storage compartment in between the front seat of my car and pull out her phone and the credit card I found inside the pouch of the phone.
She collects it from me, trying to switch it on, but it came off as battery dead which makes her disappointed.
She sets it on her lap and faces me, staring, "thank you, Leo, really, I owe you one".
"It's cool" I reply then add
"As far as you get to repay my favor".

"Of course" she nods and winks after, that simple action of hers got me, again.

==========

Thank you for reading this far.
~Darasimiwrites.