Page 110 of The Jerk in Apartment 1B

“Guess I’ll be going,” Cole says, getting up.

Trina knocks again. “Scott? Are you home?”

“Be right there!” I call out.

“You sure you want to do this?” Cole asks.

“I have to. It’s gone on long enough.”

Cole walks to the door and opens it. “Hey, Trina.”

“Oh, hi, Cole. I didn’t know you were here. I can come back later.”

“No, stay. I was just leaving.” He goes past her out the door.

“Come on in,” I say, getting up from the couch.

Trina walks into my apartment and shuts the door. The energy between us feels off, like the spark we had has fizzled out and all that remains is a heaviness in the air. It’s almost like she knows what I’m about to say.

I don’t want to do it, but I have to. I can’t keep this going. I want to, but I can’t. It’s not right.

“Hey, about earlier,” I say. “Sorry about taking off like that. One of my clients wanted to go over some documents and he didn’t want to wait until later this week.”

“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it. I got everything done. I mean, I think I did. You’ll have to go check for yourself, but I think it’s done.”

“That’s great. Thanks for finishing it up.”

She nods.

“You want to sit down?” I ask.

“I can’t stay long. I just want to say something.”

“Yeah, me too.” I walk up to her. “But why don’t we sit down?” I reach for her hand, but she pulls it back.

She looks down, then back up at me. “Scott, I think we should stop doing this.”

“Doing what?” I ask, but I think I already know the answer.

“This… whatever it is we’re doing.”

She’s ending this? I wasn’t expecting that. But I guess it’s good we’re both deciding this rather than just me.

“I was about to say the same thing,” I tell her.

“You were?” she asks, a sad look in her eyes.

Was she thinking I’d fight to keep this going? Maybe she was hoping for that, but I can’t do it. It’s best for both of us if it ends.

“We said we’d keep this casual,” I say. “And I think we can agree it’s become more than that.”

“It has for me. I know I said that wouldn’t happen but—”

“You don’t have to explain. I get it. It happened to me too.”

“It did?” she asks, sounding surprised.

I shouldn’t have said that. I don’t want her thinking I have feelings for her or that I’ve changed my mind about relationships.

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