Chapter 3: Trash

Going back to work after even one day off always feels like hell. The very air feels like an alien environment the smell of day old coffee ad printer primer make me nauseous. In short, I hate work. Today is a Friday so the mood is a lot better than most days and nobody wats ay extra work on their hands as they get ready for the weekend.

The routine is still the same, greet the staff sit at my desk and handle everyone else’s problems while avoiding my boss. I think he has it in for me since he’s always popping in to look over my shoulder and saddling me with more work. The hands on the clock seem to be going backwards like always but at least today I can keep myself busy with memories of what happened last night.

That kid’s gonna be the end of me if I try to go on any more marathons like that with him. I haven’t felt so drained and full of life at the same time since I discovered self-love back in high school. We didn’t get to continue this morning since I had to get up early and had to settle for a little kiss as we left the apartment and went our separate ways. He said he had some stuff to do tonight so we’ll probably not see each other until Saturday night.

It appears fantasizing while letting your hands go on autopilot is a good way to make the time pass quickly since before I know it people are wishing me a happy weekend while leaving. I start to clear up the last bits of the report I was working on when a hand drops on to my shoulder from behind. Without even looking I know who it is.

“What is it Mr. Crowder,” I ask my manager although I already know what he’s going to ask.

“Gonna need you to stay a bit longer and clear something that just came up.” He says acting really remorsefully but I can tell he’s lying and probably just wants to frustrate me, I bet he’s been sitting on whatever ‘just came in’ for a while now just to spring it on me.

“Sure just let me take care of this report and I’ll get right on it,” I reply without ever turning toward him or stopping my work but I can tell he’s not happy to hear me so nonchalant about it. The file gets slapped on to the desk right beside me and he stomps back into his office. Opening it I look at the time stamp at the back and see that it was generated almost an hour ago, “just came up my ass,” I mutter before getting started with it.

Almost an hour later and I’m finally done with my task, my mood is substantially ruined but being able to leave makes it bearable. My manager doesn’t have anything to say and even manages to wish me a happy weekend when I leave the office which I return with about as much enthusiasm as you would expect. Getting home from work for me usually involves taking the metro then walking a short distance, I fill this entire distance by catching up with my subscriptions and talking with my friends.

I do decide to take a slight detour to the convenience store for some extra weekend supplies just so I don’t have to leave the house once the weekend starts properly. The store is crowded given that it’s a Friday so I walk to the refrigerated section to wait out the lines.

“Hey there,” someone says from behind me as I inspect the frozen steaks, its Natalie. She’s not alone either because by her side is Mark who’s busy with a handheld console.

“Hi Natalie, hi Mark.” I reply to the too glad for the little bit of company. “I see you’ve discovered the always crowded convenience store.”

“Yeah I guess it’s because of the weekend since it was pretty empty when I left for work today Thinking of buying some meat?’ she asks gesturing towards the steaks in the fridge.

“Yeah but I’m not really good at telling what counts as good meat and the expensive ones don’t make much sense to me. I’ll just pick something at random.” I say looking at the shelf again and wondering why meat has to be so complicated.

“What? No, I’ll help you out and just so you know sometimes a better price changes the flavor significantly.” Saying that she reaches into the fridge and pulls out three different meat brands with about the same prices. “If you’re looking for cheap but decent quality then these brands are the best and their more expensive cuts are good too.” She explains.

“How do you know so much about local meats?” I ask inspecting the three wrapped steaks noticing that they all seem to be produced by locally owned companies.

“I work in sales, it’s my job to know things about our competitors and how they compare to us.”

“Are you trying to sell me your own products here Natalie?” I ask meaning it in jest and she laughs back in kind.

“No, I stopped working for the beef industry a while ago, its actually why we moved here, to get closer to work.”

“Moving states is a tough ask especially for the kids,” I say this part while looking down at Mark who has successfully ignored the two of us the entire time.

“Yeah tell me about it and no offense to this lovely town of yours but finding a house was a nightmare. Did you move here too?” she asks.

“Not exactly, my mom and I used to move around a lot when I was a kid but we settled here when I finished high school.” I explain and move one of the steaks into my little basket, “this seems like a good one, I’ll trust your choice and it seems like the store’s calmed down a bit.”

The store is now calmer than before so the two of us make our way to the checkout counter and finish up. The night has gotten a little colder than it was before forcing me to tuck my chin into my scarf just to stop from freezing. The walk back to the apartment building is quiet with Natalie having to hold Mark’s arm and keep him from getting shoved by people. Finally, back in the apartment building we’re riding the elevator when Natalie turns to me.

“Would you like to have dinner with us? It doesn’t have to be tonight. Just as a way of saying thanks for helping us out.”

“I’ll think about it, but you don’t need to thank me for that.” I say and then continue without really thinking about it, “just ask me for help if you ever need anything.” I finish which is unlike me because I try to stay away from my neighbors.

“I’ll try not to rely on you too much but I’ll keep offering dinner until you’re ready.” She says just as the elevator stops and the doors open on our follow. We separate at my door and I enter my apartment trying to shake off the cold while heading into the bathroom. I’m not even done with the bathroom when my doorbell dings again and thinking that it’s probably Natalie I swing it open and instantly regret it.

“The fuck are you doing here?” I ask the mass of muscle standing in my doorway.

“Hey, is that any way to talk to a friend,” Jake asks faking a hurt look but I can spot the smirk just hiding underneath the surface.

“Sorry, my bad. What are apes like you doing outside the zoo on a Friday night?” I throw back folding my hands in front of me and staring him down.

“Can’t a guy come to see his friend once in a while?”

“You keep using the word friend and that makes me think you want something from me besides, we saw each other at the party so I see no point in you being here today. Why is it that you’re really here?” I say and he drops the fake act righting himself and staring me down.

“You ditched us last night and so I thought I’d come over make sure you hadn’t left the country,” he says reminding me that I turned down Alex’s invitation for dinner the previous night.

“I already told Alex I had other plans so there’s nothing for you to worry about, also I don’t have any plans for leaving the country anytime soon.” I say and his face breaks out into a smile that unnerves me.

“You got lucky last night didn’t you?” he asks and maybe my face gives him a clue because his smile grows larger, “was it the milf I saw you at the store with today?”

“Are you stalking me now?” I ask genuinely concerned since I didn’t see him at the store at all.

“Hey, I don’t know what kind of guy you think I am but I don’t do that shit. I was answering a call on my way here and saw you two walk out from across the street. Was it her though?”

“No, she’s my new neighbor I helped her family out and we met at the store by chance.” I explain still not believing his explanation.

“That’s a shame, she looks like a fun time.” He says with a disgusting look on his face but his presence out in the hall makes me fear that Natalie might hear him so I step back into the apartment letting him know he can enter and he comes in closing the door behind him and mercifully taking off his shoes. Given that it’s a work day his wardrobe is professional as usual with a pair of tight black jeans, a shirt and a blazer on top. From a distance you wouldn’t be able to tell he’s a meat head.

“So, who was it?” he returns to asking after throwing himself onto my poor little couch.

“What does it matter to you?” I ask handing him a glass of water which he accepts and sips before continuing.

“We’re friends that’s why it matters,” he says matter-of-factly and then continues, “also because it’s you it might come back to bite us all in the ass afterwards.”

“What are you insinuating that I only I ever involve myself with difficult people?” I ask now upset that he thinks that I might cause problems for him.

“Take it easy, that’s not what I’m trying to say, it’s just that with what happened in college ... we don’t want a repeat of that,” he says minding his words about the past which calms me down.

“I won’t let it get to that point so you can relax, I’ve grown up a lot in the last few years.” I try to convince him but he eyes me with suspicion for a while longer before sighing and seemingly accepting my declaration.

“So who’d you spend two days of debauchery with?” he returns to his prior questioning and I decide to tell him just to stop the annoyance.

“A cutie named Nicky.” I say and then watch him process the information for a second before he seemingly figures it out.

“Boy or girl?” Apparently he hasn’t figured it out.

“He was at the party and we sort of connected,” I try to explain to him already regretting my decision.

“Party huh ... wait a minute doesn’t that mean he’s one of Alex’s work colleagues?” he asks and I nod only for him to lunge and grab me by the shoulders.