Page 20 of The Jerk in Apartment 1B

“Babe, we need to get back to the party,” the girl says.

Babe?She must be the Jerk’s girlfriend. I thought he didn’t have girlfriends. I thought he just slept around.

“Get what you need and let’s go,” he says to her.

The girl shoves the can of whipped cream at me. “Do you have any more of this?”

“I don’t know. I’ll have to go check. How many do you want?”

The girl turns to the Jerk, smiling at him. “What do you think? How many do we need?”

The way she says it implies what they’ll be using it for. I really didn’t need to know that.

“Maybe one more,” he says, looking at me, not his girlfriend.

“I’ll be right back.”

I take my time going to the storeroom. Making him wait is payback for him not moving his stuff out of the hall.

When I reach the dairy cooler, I find we have a whole case of whipped cream. I’m tempted to tell the two lovebirds we’re out of it, but then change my mind and take three cans from the case and go back to the store.

“Here,” I say to the Jerk, holding out the three cans. “Will this be enough?”

The Jerk gives me a slight smile, which might be even sexier than his full-on smile. And the blue sweater he’s wearing really brings out the blue in his eyes. I’ve never cared much for blondes, but this guy’s hair is a rich, dark-blond color that women would pay a fortune to get at a salon. It’s almost unfair how good-looking he is, but I’m sure he comes up short in other areas. Maybe he’s not very smart or has no personality. But guys with no personality wouldn’t have enough friends to have huge parties.

“That should be plenty,” he says, his hand brushing against mine as he takes the cans. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Can we go now?” the girl says, sounding annoyed.

“You should stop by the party,” he says to me, ignoring his girlfriend. “What time are you done here?”

“In a few minutes, but I’m going straight to bed. It’s been a long day. I’m exhausted.”

“Then I guess I’ll see you around.” He nods at his girlfriend and she follows him to the register where they buy their four cans of whipped cream, the three I gave him plus the one they got from the cooler. I don’t even want to imagine what they’re going to do with all that whipped cream. Well, I know what they’re going to do with it, but I’d rather not think about it.

It’s finally ten, which means I can go home. I’m on my way to the break room when Frank comes out of his office, stopping me in the hall.

“How’d your first day go?” he asks.

“Good. I mean, I think it did.”

He nods. “You did a great job. A lot better than Jared. He’s a nice kid, but not too smart. Kept putting things in the wrong place so I had to let him go.”

“Well, I should punch out,” I say, wanting to leave and not stand here talking to my boss. I like Frank, but I’m finding he talks a lot.

“You saw the schedule, right?”

“Yeah, I got it.”

“Then I’ll see you tomorrow.” He smiles at me, then goes back to his office.

I punch out and take off my smock. Am I supposed to take it home? I forgot to ask. I’ll just leave it here. I fold it up and put it in one of the cupboards.

When I go outside, I notice a chill in the air and a gusty wind that’s making it feel even colder. By the time I reach my building, I’m shivering and my arms are covered in goosebumps. I hurry inside and hear the pounding bass coming from the party downthe hall. The one going on right next to my apartment. There’s no way I’ll get any sleep with the music that loud.

Going down the hall, which is now cleared of all the coolers and chairs, I stop at my neighbor’s door. I knock, but I doubt anyone will hear me over the music. I try the door. It’s locked. How am I going to tell them to turn down the music if I can’t get anyone to answer the door?

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