A Game of Hearts

When I refused, she immediately responded, "I was just joking."

Then, testing the waters, she hesitantly asked, "What about if I moved in next door?"

I didn't answer.

But to my surprise, just a couple of days later, she really did move into the empty apartment next door that had been vacant for two years.

One night, she knocked on my door, asking if she could use my bathroom since she didn't have hot water yet. Later, she stood in my bathroom, her hair wrapped in a towel, and asked if she could crash on my couch for the night because her place was too messy to sleep in.

She made sure to assure me that she wouldn't do anything, which made me laugh.

She was a woman. Wasn't she worried I would take advantage of her?

I ended up giving her my bedroom.

The next morning, she woke up early and made breakfast. When I got up, I saw her wearing an apron, working hard at the kitchen counter. This was the kind of life I had been dreaming of for the last five years.

In a completely impulsive moment, I pulled out my phone and took a picture of her back as she worked.

The next day, I found myself smiling at the photo in the office. My coworkers teased me, asking if I was in love since I had been walking around with a permanent smile on my face, and was much more cheerful than usual.

Was I?

Well, I hadn't thought about Jessica in a long time.

-

Living in the same building as Selena meant I would pick her up after work every day and drive us both back home.

One day, she called ahead to let me know I didn't need to pick her up. After questioning her for a while, she finally told me that Jessica had gotten into an argument with Cameron. He had disappeared for three days without any explanation, and Jessica wasn't doing well. So, Selena would be going over to her place to keep her company for a few days.

As I listened to her talk about Jessica, I realized something strange—I didn't feel upset at all. Instead, there was a strange sense of satisfaction, almost like revenge. I was petty enough to hope that Jessica would really understand what it felt like to have her feelings wasted.

Selena didn't come home until three days later. When we finally saw each other, she told me that Jessica was doing a lot better.

I ruffled her hair. "I'm not worried about how she's doing, silly."

"I've missed your cooking though," I added with a smile.

I changed the subject easily, and Selena's attention was quickly diverted. She eagerly pulled me out the door, heading to the supermarket to pick up ingredients for dinner.

I realized something then—I really didn't care about Jessica anymore. Even knowing she wasn't in the best place, I didn't think about her at all.

While we were having dinner that evening, Selena put on a pitiful expression and asked if I could spend the next day with her to celebrate her birthday. I checked the calendar, intending to make a note of when her birthday was to remember it in the future.

That was when I realized something—Selena's birthday was the same day as Jessica's mother's death anniversary.