Page 61 of Hello Stranger

“This is a private space!” I said. “This rooftop is part of my—” But I didn’t know how to describe it. “Myarea. You can’t just come up here!”

When Joe finally climbed to his feet and started tucking his shirt in, his voice was a little hoarse. “The door downstairs was open.”

“So you thought that was an invitation to just come on up here?”

“I think the lock’s broken,” Joe went on. “The dead bolt’s frozen in the out position.”

“That’s a Mr. Kim problem,” I said. “Unless you’re a locksmith.”

He put his hands in his pockets. “I was just worried about you.”

He was? Huh. “Well, I was fine.”

“I saw that.”

Oh, god. He’d seen me skating. To headphone disco. “You clearly did.”

“You can really skate,” he said.

“Fine,” I said, refusing to take the compliment. “So you came up here and saw I was fine. Why didn’t you turn around and leave?”

“I was kind of mesmerized, to be honest.”

“That’s not funny.”

“I’m not joking.”

Mesmerized? Mesmerized by what? My skating prowess? The ridiculousness of my outfit? The comedy that always ensues when a person wearing headphones can’t resist doing dance moves out loud, like a mime? I decided I didn’t want to know. “I’m allowed to do what I want on my own rooftop, Joe.”

“I’m not saying you’re not.”

“And you’re not allowed to sneak up here and watch me.”

“I didn’t sneak up. I thought you should know.”

“About what?”

“About the broken door lock.”

Okay, that wasn’t totally unreasonable.

“Once I de-mesmerized myself, I was trying to tell you. So you could get it fixed. But when I called your name, you didn’t hear me.”

“Yeah. Well. I was listening to music.”

“What were you listening to?”

Not relevant! “Why do you want to know?”

Joe shrugged. “You looked happy.”

“That’s none of your business.”

“Fair enough,” he said, lifting his hands in defeat.

In case it’s not already clear, I felt irrationally angry at him. I’m not sure I could even have pinned down a reason. Because he came up without asking. Because the lock was broken. Because he interrupted me. Because before I saw him, I’d been freakishly, genuinely happy, for the first time in so long and now, thanks to him, I had to be… whatever this was.

Annoyed.

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