Page 77 of Tapped By My Roommate
“I just hope he doesn’t have any other issues that are contributing,” Carla said. “I’ll get a full vet exam in the morning, but we’ll need to monitor him closely in the meantime. I can count on you for that?”
“Yeah, of course.”
“You’re the closest thing to a herpetologist we have around here,” she said. “It’s not my area of expertise.”
“I’m hardly an expert,” I said, but a flush of pleasure warmed me. I loved all the wildlife here, but reptiles—and lizards, especially—would always hold a special fascination for me.
Once Carla and I had hashed out my schedule for the afternoon and agreed on my working late to better observe our newest guest, I adjusted the settings on the enclosure and made a few notes about the monitor’s condition.
Could this poor lizard’s fate be Zilla’s someday? Tess was taking care of her for now, but maybe only because I was asking for regular updates. Would she keep it up over the long term? If Zilla were to get sick like this Savannah Monitor had, would Tess even notice or care?
On my break, I called Tess. I hated these kinds of confrontations, but I hoped talking—rather than texting—might help me get further with her. I couldn’t just sit back and hope she’d change her mind. Without a legal case to fall back on, I had to fight my own battles.
She picked up on the third ring, just as I thought she’d let it go to voicemail. “Hey.”
“Hey, um, it’s Ethan.”
“I know.”
She didn’t sound friendly. But then, that wasn’t surprising. I wanted this conversation to go smoothly, though, so I tried a soft approach.
“How’s Zilla?”
“She’s fine. She’s always fine. I wish you’d stop checking in so much.”
“Well, you could just give her back to me,” I said lightly. “I’d never have to call you again.”
She snorted. “Nice try.”
“I’m kind of serious though. Can’t we just meet and talk this out like adults? I know you don’t really want to keep Zilla. She’s going to live a long time, Tess. She’s going to keep getting bigger, needing more space. You don’t want to deal with that.”
“That’s my problem then, isn’t it?” Her voice was calm, but I heard the hostility simmering under the surface. “Zilla is my lizard, and that’s how it’s going to stay.”
My nerves tightened into a ball that made my stomach feel sick.
“Neither of us can move on as long as you keep this up. You have a new boyfriend. Why can’t you just give me Zilla so we can both move on?”
“Hey, you’re the one who left her behind.”
“I was coming back. If you hadn’t changed the locks overnight…”
“Youleft,” Tess repeated, and I knew this was what it was really about. She was angry that I’d left her. Not because she loved me or missed me—but because I’d insulted her by choosing to leave. “You ran out on us both, and now Zilla and I are in this together.”
My breath sped up as my emotions got the best of me. “You’re just doing this to hurt me. It’s childish and manipulative!”
There was a long silence. Then, with a biting tone, she said: “Let me make this really simple for you, Ethan. You don’t have me, so you don’t get to have her either. If I get tired of taking care of Zilla, I’ll find someone else to do it. But it won’t be you. You’ll never have her again. So stop texting, stop calling. You want some closure? Okay. We’redone.It’s over. You lose.”
Click.
She’d hung up on me.
I threw my phone down with a frustrated snarl. Enough was enough. Tess wasn’t going to change her mind about this. I’d texted and called for weeks. I’d argued my case multiple times.
But my words weren’t enough. This call proved that more than any other. I’d pushed harder than I ever had, and it’d gotten me nowhere.
It was time todosomething.
I was tired of accepting whatever the world gave me without a fight.
