Page 103 of The Jerk in Apartment 1B

“I need to get something.” I grab her keys. “I’ll lock the door so no one kills you while I’m gone.”

She smiles. “That’s very thoughtful. Thanks.”

When I get to the storage room, I prepare myself for what’s inside. Every time I see stuff from my old house, I think of Megan and the life we could’ve had. That’s why I never go in here.

Opening the door, I see the dresser shoved against the wall. I check all the drawers to make sure they’re empty. They are, except for the bottom drawer that has a Christmas ornament Megan gave me that looks like one of my inflatable chairs. She wrote the date on the bottom with a permanent marker. It wasthe year I started the company. She was so proud of me. My biggest fan.

“Fuck,” I mutter, wiping my eyes.

I put the ornament in a box and take some deep breaths. I need to get myself together. It’s just an ornament.

I take the dresser out to the hall and lock up the storage room. I might need to let more time pass before I go through it. It’s full of things from my house. I don’t think I’m ready to face those memories yet.

“It’s me,” I say as I open Trina’s door. “Not a murderer.”

She’s laughing. “I would hope a murderer doesn’t have a key.”

She’s dressed now, in jeans and a t-shirt, her usual work outfit.

“I got you something.” I go out to the hall and get the dresser and bring it into her apartment.

Her eyes get huge. “Where’d you get that?”

“I had it in storage. You want it?”

“Yes!” She claps her hands. “I have a dresser! And a chair!”

I put the dresser against the wall next to the chair. “Your place looks like an actual apartment now.”

“Thank you!” She runs up to me and hugs me. “I love it!”

“You’re welcome,” I say, surprised she’s so excited. But I guess if you have nothing, a used dresser and inflatable chair is exciting.

“It looks so much better in here. It almost feels like home.”

“If your home were a closet,” I joke, sitting down on the chair. “Oh, I’m ordering you a new one of these.” I get my phone out and do it now so I don’t forget.

“You don’t have to get me a new one.”

“I want to. And they’re free. It’s a perk of being on the board. I can order whatever I want. You want anything else? Another pool float?”

She smiles. “I have a mattress now. I don’t need a pool float.”

“The chair will be here on Wednesday.” I check the time. “You want to grab lunch? You didn’t eat today and you have time before your shift starts.”

“Yeah, let’s go, but it has to be somewhere cheap.”

We go to a fast food place and each pay for our own meal. Before we had sex, I could take her to a nice restaurant and pay for it and not have it mean anything. But now if I do that, she might think I see her as a girlfriend.

Things just got a lot more complicated. It’s like I said. Sex complicates things.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Trina

“Your place is so cute!” Sara says, sitting down on the inflatable chair.

“Thanks! It looks a lot better than it did a few weeks ago.” I sit across from her on the floor pillow I recently bought. It’s bright yellow and adds a cheerful pop of color to the room.

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