Page 50 of The Jerk in Apartment 1B

His eyes rise back to mine. “I love you. I don’t want to lose you to some other guy.”

“I don’t understand. Are you saying you want us to get back together? Like go out again?”

“Not exactly. I mean, I love seeing you. I just don’t have time right now to be going out. I need to get my career figured out first and go from there.”

“But what does that mean for me?”

“It’s like I said. I need you to give me time. I know it’s a lot to ask, but if we love each other, isn’t it worth it? If it means we’ll be together someday?”

“How long am I supposed to wait? Are you talking about weeks? Months?”

“I don’t know. I thought about this over the weekend, how we could make this work, and all I came up with for now is that I need time. I rushed into a decision about us that I shouldn’t have made. I realize now that it’s possible I could have both you and a career. I just need to figure out how, and that’s going to take some time.”

Something doesn’t feel right about this. If I agree to what he’s asking for, Asher gets what he wants, but what do I get? The possibility of us getting back together? Without any kind of time frame? Sounds like he’s getting the better end of the deal.

I get that he’s panicking about his career. He’s very competitive, and I had no idea this guy at his office was causing him so much stress. But I would think that having me, the person he loves, in his life, would help relieve that stress. So why did he push me away? Why didn’t he tell me what was going on?

“Trina, say something,” he says, still rubbing my hand. “What do you think? Can we work on this?”

“Asher, we’re not working on anything if we’re apart. You’re working on your career and I’m just supposed to do nothing.”

“You won’t be doing nothing. You’ll be looking for a job, and you can do it without having me as a distraction. This time apart will be good for both of us.”

“I guess I don’t see it that way.”

“You don’t now, but you will. All I’m asking is that you give me some time. If I’m taking too long and you decide you can’t do it anymore, then fine. I’ll understand. But let’s not end this yet. We love each other. We should give this more time before we end it for good.”

If Callie were here, she’d tell me to turn down Asher’s offer and walk out the door. And maybe, if I didn’t still love him, that’s exactly what I’d do. But my heart isn’t ready to give up on him, or on us. We were going to get married, and maybe we still will.

“Okay,” I say with a sigh. “I’ll give you some time.”

His face lights up and he smiles. “I’m really glad you said that.” He lets go of my hand and checks his phone. “I hate to run off, but I have a really important meeting I’m going to miss if I don’t leave right now.”

That’s it? We’re done talking? He got what he wanted so now he’s taking off for his ‘important’ meeting? What aboutme? Aren’t I important?

He comes over to me as I get up from my chair. “It was really good seeing you.”

“Yeah, you too,” I say as he gives me a hug.

He pulls back, keeping hold of my shoulders as he looks into my eyes. “Everything will work out. We just need some time. I’ll be in touch, okay?”

“Yeah,” I mutter as he takes off.

He’ll be in touch?He sounds like he’s talking to a client, not his girlfriend.

Am I his girlfriend? I don’t even know. I’m so confused. I’m not sure what just happened. Are we back together? Or are webroken up with the possibility of getting back together sometime in the future, when Asher has figured out his career?

None of that was clear. I could call and ask him to clarify what he meant, but is that allowed? Does this arrangement mean we can call each other? Or does ‘giving him time’ mean no contact?

Even if I called and asked him the rules of our arrangement, I doubt he’d have an answer. It seemed like he hadn’t really thought it through. All he’s certain about is that he wants me to remain single and wait for him to get his career figured out.

I wasn’t planning to date, so remaining single isn’t an issue. But I don’t feel good about his open time frame. What if he takes months to figure out his career? Or longer than that?

Do I really want to wait for him? And trust that if we get back together, he’ll stay with me this time?

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Trina

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