Madness

Millicent Van Der Walt

September 21st

Ahhhh! The date was perfect! It went just as I envisioned it! I knew it would be amazing. Ever since I laid eyes on him, I had this feeling take root in my heart. I knew he was going to be different. I couldn’t believe it.

Why was it him and not the other dozen or so men I saw in my day-to-day life? What makes him so special compared to the rest? What flipped a switch inside of me and made me certain that this man was the one? Was it the divine hands of the gods who turned my head his direction? Or maybe there is some kind of science behind why all these emotions exploded inside of me the moment I saw him? Well, whatever the cause, I’m overjoyed.

I bumped into him at a dog park about a week ago and introduction followed by conversation came naturally. His name is Leon and after exchanging numbers, we messaged back and forth for a bit, but I was way too impatient to hold off any longer. I brought up the idea of dinner and he suggested we meet at this sweet little Italian place. There we ate pasta and drank red wine till we were ready to burst and stumble out the door. We talked about ourselves the whole time, getting to know things we didn’t mention over text. I loved hearing him tell me about his life and family, like how when he was eight, he broke his arm by tripping over his own untied shoelaces, but he told everyone that it broke while he was doing tricks at the skatepark. I felt honoured listening to these old memories of his, I bet he hasn’t mentioned those to anyone for a long time.

After dinner we decided to take a little walk through the night to try and sober ourselves up. We held hands and continued trading memories as we passed under the streetlights. I told him it was late and that I should probably call a cab. Before I hopped in the cab he kissed me on the cheek, smiled and said that he had an amazing time with me and that he was already excited to see me again! It was magical. I can’t wait to find out where we’ll go next.

October 1st

I had my second date with Leon today, I decided it should be a classic cinema date and keeping with the Halloween season, I thought a horror movie would be perfect. We stocked up on snacks before going in and we both had a good laugh about not wanting to pay movie prices. After finding our seats and getting settled, he wrapped his arm around me and the movie began.

After it was over, I told him all my favourite scenes but how I thought that all the unnecessary killing made the movie feeling a little unrealistic. He responded by saying the killer was definitely justified for doing what he did. I was a little concerned when he said this, but I guess it is really thrilling to watch the victim getting stalked and the killer hiding in plain sight the whole time. Anyway, apart from that I had the best time and I’m sure he did too because he took things a step further and kissed me on the lips!!! It was a real and passionate one where my cheeks burned red and my legs grew weak and when we pulled apart, he stared deep into my eyes which made me swoon even more. He said that even though it was only our second date, he really liked me and felt this odd connection when we’re together, like he’s known me his whole life. I laughed and told him how silly that sounded but he insisted, somewhat jokingly, that it was true. He smiled and brushed it aside and then he, like the gentleman he is, he drove me home. We parted ways with another kiss and I waved him goodbye as he got in his car and drove away.

It was such a strange thing he said today, about feeling like he’s known me for longer than he actually has. It’s probably because of our immediate bond, but I’d rather not to read too much into it.

October 15th

I know it’s been a while but I have very exciting news! Leon asked me to be his girlfriend! It happened the day after our second date and I’ve just been so caught up in the experience that I haven’t had a single moment to write. Anyway, I have to wrap up this entry because we are heading out to go strawberry picking. I thought it would be a wonderful idea for an outing because I know he used to do the same thing with his mum when he was a kid. I really hope he loves it. I’ll try to find some time left in the day to write about it.

November 14th

Today marks Leon and my one-month anniversary! This whole month has made me feel as though I have been swept off my feet. Everything is perfect and just how I dreamt it would be! Everything except one weird thing about him. He has this office space at his house that he told me is off-limits and that I am never to go in there. Obviously, I’m curious about it. I mean, what could possibly be in there that he wouldn’t want me to see? It’s pretty strange but I don’t want to disrupt anything so early in the relationship, after all, it took me years to finally get here and I’m not about to mess it up with nosy questions. He’s probably just a private person, and I’m okay with that. He’ll open up when he’s ready.

December 3rd

It hasn’t even been two months since we’ve started dating, but I’m starting to notice something strange about Leon. He has these moments where he’s super lovey and attentive and then it’s like he’s a different person. It must be something I say because he’ll get all silent and huffy with me out of the blue. This kind of attitude was not something I expected from him and when I mention or joke about that room, he’ll get really defensive. I hope he gets over this whole secrecy thing soon because it’s getting kina childish. I bet he’s just trying to hide an embarrassing hobby or something, ooh, or maybe my Christmas present!

December 4th

It’s 2am and I’m at Leon’s house. We fell asleep watching a movie but I’ve woken up to these strange noises coming from somewhere in the house and Leon isn’t in bed. I’m kinda nervous to go look for him and wander around his house at night. I’m sure everything’s fine.  I’m just being paranoid. I’m gonna just try and go back to sleep.

December 5th

Leon was very quiet at breakfast this morning and he stared at me pretty much the whole time. It was intense. He told me he didn’t want me to leave the house today and he said it in such a way that I was a little scared to disobey. I’m really questioning our whole relationship. If I had known he would get this weird, I wouldn’t have let it get this far. Maybe everything was just too good to be true.  While he’s out, I’ll do some snooping and try and make my way into that room.

***

I’ve been sitting in front of the door to the restricted office for about an hour now. It’s not locked or anything, I tested the doorknob. This is eating away at me. I want to know what he is hiding, but at the same time, I also want to leave. The temptation is unbearable. I have to know what he’s keeping from me. I’m going to open the door.

Author: Millicent van der Walt is a fourth-year creative writing student at QUT. She has a passionate love for fantasy writing but is trying to break out of her comfort zone by exploring different genres.

Artist: Sarah McLachlan is a third year Bachelor of Creative Writing student who likes to draw in her spare time. She wishes to combine both her art and writing skills to create a webcomic of her own one day, but she’s also open to illustrating for books and book covers. Sarah is also a major The Legend of Zelda fan and can be found drawing a lot of elves. You can find her at @hideriame02 on Instagram.

Editors: Jasmine Tait and Eliana Fritz