Page 2 of Something Forever

“I’m sorry. It all happened so suddenly, and I just couldn’t turn down the opportunity.”

“What are you talking about?” I ask, confused.

“I got an offer to open for Young the Giant on their US tour, and we leave tomorrow.”

“Oh, wow. Wait, so you’re… moving out?”

Olivia has been my roommate for a little over a year, but we aren’t friends. We coexist, but we don’t really know each other. I know she’s been trying to make it as musician and works as a waitress somewhere in the Lower East Side, but other than that, I don’t know much about her. She spends a lot of time out of the apartment, so I rarely see her.

“Yeah, I am. Sorry again. I meant to talk to you about it, but it’s been a crazy twenty-four hours. My friend is coming for my boxes tomorrow, and the subletter will be in sometime next week.”

My mouth is opening and closing like a fish.

Boxes. Her stuff is in boxes. Because she’s moving out.

“Oh-kay?” I manage.

“I’ll text you everything you need to know about the sublet. He’s got the key already. Thank you so much for everything.”

Olivia brings me in for a hug that I think I reciprocate, but my limbs are sort of moving of their own accord. She brushes past me, yanking her suitcases behind her, and clamors through the front door without looking back. Just like that, she’s gone.

Wow.

I know she said it was just the tour, but part of me feels hurt that my roommate is leaving me behind. That she didn’t care enough about our sort-of-friendship to give me an advance notice. That she chose today, of all days, to announce her swift departure. Okay, so maybe she had no way of knowing that today was going to blow up in my face, but now I’ve not only quit my job, but I’m completely alone.

My mind reels, snagging on a detail that Olivia mentioned.

“I’ll text you everything you need to know about the sublet. He’s got a key already.”

He’s got a key?

My new roommate is a guy?

A guy living here? In my apartment? Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no. I haven’t lived with a man since my ex, Christopher, and I certainly never planned to again until I got married, which is many years off. Decades, even. Boys are irresponsible! Boys are messy! Boys are gross! It was bad enough having to deal with those assholes at my job, but what if my roommate is some creep? How can I even trust living in the same apartment as some strange guy I’ve literally never met? He could be a murderer. He could be a mansplainer. He could be the type of person that claps when planes land and knows how NFTs work.

Okay, so maybe I’m being childish, but the point is my apartment is my happy place. My sacred place. My lavender scented, perfectly decorated haven. Fall is just around the corner, and I plan on turning this place into a veritable Pinterest board of autumnal cheer. If a man moves in here, it’s going to screw everything up. He’ll leave his sweaty man-things everywhere and just… ugh!

I groan into the empty room and take a gulp of my coffee, praying it’ll wake me up from this nightmare scenario I’ve entered.

It doesn’t.

This cannot be happening.

Freaking out, I grab my phone and send a text to Olivia.

Whitney: Sorry, did you say the subletter you found was a guy?

Her response comes in quickly.

Olivia: Yes, his name is Liam. He’s the best!

Suppressing a growl, I reply immediately.

Whitney: I really don’t want some random ass guy living in my apartment.

Olivia: I promise, you’ve got nothing to worry about. Besides, he works nights like I did, so you’ll never see him.

I scowl down at my phone. Am I really going to get into this fight with her over text? Whatever. I’ll just have to wait for this Liam guy to show up and inform him that the room is no longer available. Rolling my eyes, I send a text to my best friend, Abbi, to relay my two shocking tidbits of news.

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