Not Invited

     “Who is that?” Abbey frowned, crossing two stiff arms over her boxy black mini-dress. Much too scandalous for a casual dinner party, in Rayne’s opinion, but that hardly seemed to bother the woman it adorned. What she was bothered by was the awkwardly lanky man who had just walked through their apartment door, smiling sheepishly and carrying not one, but two bottles of red wine. Abbey turned to look at Rayne, candlelight dancing in her accusatory dark eyes from the cheap dollar store candles adorning the table. “Did you invite him?” She asked harshly. 

    Rayne shrugged in response, setting another plate on the white paper tablecloth, then busying herself arranging the cutlery while using a pinterest picture as a reference. “No, I’ve never seen him before.” She jerked her head up towards the door. “Aden walked in with him. He probably invited him.” She looked up at Abbey, still sitting sulkily at the head of the small table. “You could always ask him.” 

     Abbey scowled at the idea. “I’d rather not.” She retorted shortly, her eyes locked in a glare at the newcomer. 

     “What’s your issue with him?” Rayne asked mildly, moving on to the next placemat. She was setting the table for six people, the number she had invited. She would have to find a place for the stranger. “You obviously don’t know him.” 

    Abbey didn’t respond. Instead she gave the stranger a very thin-lipped smile, and a deathly glare as he approached the dinner table. “Rayne, right?” He gave her a shy grin and set the wine bottles on the table, pointedly ignoring Abbey’s hostilities. “Where do you want these?” 

    Rayne waved an absent wrist in the general direction of the kitchen counter beside him. “Just set them in the kitchen.” He turned around and set the bottles where she had indicated, then put his hands in the front pockets of his jeans and hopped up onto the counter himself. “Need any help setting up?” 

    “No, I’m good.” She responded absently, vaguely aware of her roommate's gaze boring into the side of her head. As a bit of an afterthought she added “Unless you can find an extra chair. There’s only six.” 

    “Sure.” He shrugged. “I live in the building. It’s not a problem to drag a chair down.” 

    “Or you can leave.” Abbey added sweetly. “Then they’ll be just the right number.” 

     The stranger pushed his overgrown bangs out of his eyes and laughed. Abbey didn’t so much as crack a smile, still staring up at him through narrowed eyes. Her entire body was tensed up as if she was prepared to bolt right out of her chair. 

    He shook his head humorously and gave her a genuine smile in return. “You must be Abbey. You’re even prettier than I heard.” His eyes flicked down her dress. She balled up under his gaze, pulling her arms tighter around her chest. “And funny too.” 

      “Did Aden invite you? I don’t think we’ve ever met.” Rayne asked, turning his attention away from her roommate. 

      He paused. She could have imagined the panic in his eyes, but she was starting to share Abbey’s sentiments towards the stranger. Finally, he shook his head. “No.” He responded vaguely. “I’m Arthur, by the way.” 

     “So who did invite you then?” Abbey asked, her voice laced in pure venom. “Taylor? Ethan? Gloria? It sure as hell wasn’t me or Rayne.”

    “Taylor.” Arthur responded promptly, not breaking her gaze. “I met him downstairs.”  

     Abbey scooted out of her chair and started walking towards him. Her expression was chillingly calm as she said, “Taylor’s a girl.” 

     Rayne watched him unconsciously lean back, his expression morphing from confident assurance to pure panic in a moment.

    “Nothing to say now, huh nice guy?” Abbey questioned. “Who the fuck are you?” 

     “A-Arthur.” He stammered. “I already said that. I’m your downstairs neighbor.” 

     Rayne watched silently. She had forgotten about the plates and cutlery a while ago, instead inching unconsciously forward to put herself in between the two. But neither paid her any mind. 

     “What’s going on?” Aden asked. The other four invited guests had approached them, standing bundled up in the small space between the apartment doorway, the living room, and the kitchen. They had been chatting away for a while, but walked over as Abbey’s voice started to raise. 

    “I’d like to know that too.” Abbey flashed. She was now inches away from Arthur’s wide-eyed and terrified face. “I know who you are. It was you in the fire-escape last week, staring through my window like a creep. I served you at the cafe I used to work at every day. I’ve seen you around town. I saw you loitering around outside my job the other day.”

    A terrible realization hung among the assembled crowd. Gloria was reaching into her pocket to pull out her phone. Everyone else stood frozen as Abbey leaned herself up on the counter to hiss in the stranger’s ear.

   “Stalker.” 

   Arthur pulled back from her as if she had just blown a whistle directly into his eardrum, clutching at his ear and scrambling backwards along the counter. “N-No!” He insisted. “It’s a misunderstanding. I’ve only just met you!” 

  Abbey continued to lean forward, her eyes still locked firmly onto his own like a predator stalking helpless prey. Their roles utterly reversed. 

   “If I ever see you again, even in passing, the next time you see me will be in court.” She leaned back, satisfied. 

    Gloria’s phone dialed, the little voice cutting through the silence like a knife. “911, what’s your emergency?” 

    Arthur’s eyes were thrown wide. He scrambled back, his hands slipping right off the back of the counter. His head hit the tile floor with a vicious crack. A bottle of wine caught onto his foot, sending red liquid and green glass shards flying across his face and the white tile with a devastating shatter.

    “Hello?” asked the receiver.

     Utter silence. 

    Gloria hung up, her cellphone letting out a cheerful little beep. 

Ethan inched forward to peer at the man's face. "Yooo, dude. Is that the neighbor guy? I just talked to him downstairs. What the hell just happened?"

    Rayne and Abbey's eyes flicked to each other.

“Well, shit.”