The flat had a drawing room, three bedrooms, a bathroom, a living room, and a kitchen, but Flora really only lived in the kitchen and her bedroom. Flora made her way to the kitchen, which served as her kitchen, dining room, and living room, as she had a table and TV in here. She closed the kitchen door and felt warm and safe at last. Flora hung her coat up and rubbed the tip of her nose in a self-soothing action.

She was safe here, but her heart was still racing. Today she had come face to face with someone who took her right back to the most terrifying night of her life. Flora covered her ears with her hands and tried to regulate her heart rate.

“I need a distraction,” Flora said out loud.

Flora hurried over to the kitchen table and grasped the TV remote. She pointed it at the TV on the wall, and her favourite channel came on. An episode of The Simpsons was playing, and she started to relax a bit.

Routine and everything being the same brought calm to Flora’s world, and the same set of shows ran every night at dinnertime. If they were changed around for any reason, Flora was anxious and uneasy. She knew watching was just another self-soothing action, and after today she needed it.

She walked over to the kitchen area and switched on the oven for her dinner. But her visions of her saviour from that fateful night ran through her mind. Flora leaned against the countertop. Why next to her shop? Surely coincidences like that didn’t happen?

Flora did feel bad for running away from the woman. Sandra said her name was Mack. This Mack had only come to her aid, saved her from what might have been… She didn’t want to think what. It wasn’t her fault that Flora felt such anxiety and fear at seeing her.

She opened her fridge and brought out the ingredients to make a stir-fry. Before she began to chop the vegetables, she tapped the chopping board three times. The compulsion was definitely stronger today. Flora hated it, but her mental health dominated her day, especially on days like today when fear coursed through her veins.

Flora started by cutting and preparing her ingredients and trying not to let her mind wander, but just as she was about to throw her vegetables in the wok, she heard shouts from her neighbours above, and then the booming of music.

Although this was a quiet and respectable area, the flat upstairs was rented out by a property company, and the two young male students who occupied the flat, probably paid for by Mummy and Daddy, tormented her with loud music, parties, and lewd shouting from the windows sometimes.