Page 91 of My Ruthless Neighbor

Shedding the jacket and tie, I walk through the living room, not caring to flip on the lights.

I turn left and enter the master bedroom while unbuttoning my shirt, eager to douse myself in the cold shower. I need to numb my senses.

About five minutes later, I am out. Feeling a bit better.

Wearing a white undershirt and a pair of gray sweatpants, I walk out of my bedroom.

Once I’m back in the living room, I approach my home music system.

As I hit the button, the entire apartment is filled with soft jazz music.

Pushing my slightly wet hair off my forehead, I grab the flash drive from the table.

On my way to the study, I grab myself a cup of black coffee. Sipping it, I continue down the hall.

I connect the flash drive to my computer and it takes a few more minutes to connect it to the projector.

Right across my desk is the white wall that would display the slideshow of the pictures from the test shoot. I am about to take a seat behind my desk when my phone rings.

I frown when I read the contact number flashing on the phone screen.

“Yeoboseyo?” My mom starts speaking in Korean. Although her English is fluent, she still prefers to converse in Korean.

“Eomma,” I speak in Korean too. “Why are you calling at this hour? Is everything okay? Is Abeoji okay?” Even though my father and I aren’t close, I still worry about him.

“He is. Do I have to have a reason to call my son?”

I lean back against the edge of the desk. “It’s not that. You never call so late. I got worried.”

“You worry too much.” She chides softly. “And I always call you around this time to check if you are still working in the office. But you never answer my calls.”

I swallow thickly as guilt slices my heart. “I’m sorry. I…” I trail off.

“Come home to visit, son. It has been more than three months since you last came over. We miss you a lot.”

Reaching for the cup, I down the steaming coffee. “I’ll visit soon.” I rasp.

“You always say that.” She says quietly. After a pause, “Is it because of Meagan? I promise I will not force you to go on dates anymore.”

My eyes fall shut.

“Archer?” When her voice trembles, I grip the edge of the desk. “Son, I stopped dropping by unannounced after you told me to but now you stopped answering our calls.”

Pain spirals through me.

“It’s not your fault, Archer.” She says it with so much sadness, that I know she isn’t talking about Meagan or the unanswered phone calls. She is talking abouther. Amy.

I stagger to a stand. “Don’t.”

“You are carrying a burden that’s not yours.”

My chest is now too tight to breathe, unsettled by how she can bring that up when she never talked about it in a long time.

“I’ll talk to you later, Eomma.”

“But—” I hang up.

I toss the phone on the desk. It lands on the keyboard, hitting the buttons. The slideshow of the pictures starts and the dark room is illuminated by the glow of the projector reflecting on the wall.

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