Maybe because of her mood, possibly out of boredom, she wanted to witness some changes. She was really curious whether this house prison was purely out of his laziness or he really had some serious mental problem and he just stayed there without a reason at all. She messed with the fuse a bit and she triggered a power cut solely in their flat. He got mad. She watched him calling the neighbor about the matter, later even the powerhouse. Suddenly he just put the phone down and lied in bed, reading comics and looking through his books. She spent some time in her balcony oasis and then decided to go for a walk. She enjoyed herself in the nearest café and was confident that this lack of internet connection would do him good. He was still inside, even though his window to the outside world was shut down completely.
When nothing changed she called the building administrator and said that they were going to have some plumbing works again and they needed to have the water cut off for a couple of days. Her wish was kindly fulfilled and from then on not even a drop of water fell from the tap. He was furious. To alleviate his pain, she offered him mineral water. It also did her good as she went to the swimming pool, lazily washed and pampered with a mild dosage of exercise in the water. She was refreshed, her stomach visible, her breasts almost falling out of a swimming suit. She blessed the invention of flexible materials.
After a couple of days, the water came back and he rushed to his bathroom like crazy. He must have been dirty and irritated. Still, he didn’t even think about leaving the flat.
She had to try harder. When the courier came with packages filled with his internet order, she made use of the time when he was asleep and got rid of almost all edible things, toilet paper, all the drinks that he ordered, and left him with a small percentage of goods he expected to receive. Still, he didn’t do anything. He just sat there hungry and didn’t make an effort.
‘You should go shopping,’ she suggested ‘I would buy something for you, but I cannot carry heavy things.’
This lead to nothing. He chose a different online store and bought supplies for the upcoming trimester. She was considering the situation for a while. And when she didn’t think of anything else, she used the only idea she had in mind. To one of his drinks, she added a big portion of medicine causing diarrhea. She carefully unwrapped the package and placed the powder in the bottle. She gently shook it and she was glad that he was fond of those sugary fizzy drinks rather than transparent and bland mineral water.
Then she just had to wait. It wasn’t a pleasant experience to listen to him during defecation. He was in pain. Dehydrated, he occupied the toilet for the whole night. He probably felt as she felt during her early stages of pregnancy. She suggested calling for a doctor, then – when his state didn’t seem to get better - for an ambulance. She even considered calling for help on her own, when he entered the phase of a starvation diet.
‘And what if you were really sick?’, she asked.
‘Then I wouldn’t have a choice.’
‘What if I got sick? Or unconscious?’
‘Then I would call for an ambulance. You’re not tied to this place. It’s my choice.’
‘Then, if you lived with someone else, let’s say, another human, would you allow him to have a normal life?’
He felt silent for a while.
‘What do you mean, another human? If I had another flatmate, I wouldn’t imprison him, that’s rather obvious. I think you are the last roommate I’ve had. Mother had a silly idea.’
‘She’s dead. She won’t have another one.’
He was probably offended, as he didn’t talk to her from then on. She shouldn’t have spoken about his mother. It wasn’t his fault. She felt sorry for him and stopped trying to get him out of the flat. One thing was certain, though. It didn’t look as if he was going to get out of there anytime soon.
