Page 41 of The Jerk in Apartment 1B

“I’m good,” I say in a cheerful tone. I don’t want him thinking I’m miserable without him. I want him to think I’m over him and moving on with my life. “Did you need something?”

“Um, yeah.” He sounds nervous and unsure of himself. He hasn’t sounded that way since he asked me out back in college. He was certain I’d turn him down. He was more quiet and shyback then, which I found to be kind of adorable. Now he’s much more confident, almost to the point of being arrogant.

“So what is it?” I say. “What do you need?”

“I was wondering if we could meet.”

“Why would we meet?”

“I wanted to see how you were doing. And maybe talk a little. Everything seemed really rushed last Friday. I felt like we didn’t get to say goodbye.”

“That’s why you want to meet?” I roll my eyes. “Asher, you said your goodbye. You said it by breaking up with me, telling me I had to leave. I don’t want to go through that again.”

“Trina, come on. You know I’m bad at stuff like that. I’ve never been good with confrontation. I wanted you to leave because I didn’t want to see you hurt and crying about what happened. I’d been feeling sick about it all day and I just wanted it to be over with.”

“Well, it’s good you protected yourself like that,” I say in a sarcastic tone. “I wouldn’t want you to have to suffer over this.”

“That’s not fair. Of course I suffered. I’m still suffering. It’s hard being in this apartment without you. I got so used to having you here that…”

“That what?” I ask, my pulse racing. Is he going to ask me to move back? If he did, would I do it? “Asher, tell me what you want.”

“I want to see you. Can I take you to dinner? You can pick the place.”

“I can’t. I have to work.”

“You got a job?”

“Yeah, and I need to be there soon so I have to go.”

“Why are you working on a Sunday?”

I sigh. “It’s not a real job. Well, it is, but it’s not in fashion. I got a job at a grocery store until I find something better.”

“A grocery store? Are you joking?”

“No. Why?”

“I can’t picture you doing that. It’s kind of… beneath you, isn’t it? I mean, you have a degree.”

“And finding a job that uses that degree takes time. I can’t wait. I need money now, so I got whatever job I could find.”

“I’m impressed,” he says, and he actually sounds sincere. “Are you still living with Sara?”

“No, I got my own place.”

“Already? How’d you find something that fast?”

“I’m not helpless. I can figure stuff out.”

“I know. I’m just surprised. So where is it?”

“Asher, I need to go. I have to get to work.” It’s not true. I don’t have to be at work for an hour, but I shouldn’t be talking to Asher.

“What about dinner? Does tomorrow night work?”

“Why would we go to dinner? We broke up.”

“I think we should talk. We were together for four years. We can’t just end it like this.”

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