Against the Wind
When my boyfriend hit the elevator button for my best friend's floor by mistake for the ninety-ninth time, he shot me an accusing look.
"Why didn't you remind me? Forget it. Since we're already here, I might as well replace Gem's light bulb."
I froze, then forced a thin smile.
It was that line again.
"Since we're already here."
Ever since Gem Shaw moved into the apartment upstairs a year ago, my boyfriend Simon Lawson, had pressed the wrong floor every single time.
When we were supposed to watch a movie together, he carried the milkshake to Gem's door and knocked.
When my fever wouldn't break and I asked him to bring me medicine, he brought it to Gem's place instead because she had cramps.
Our date for two became a movie for three, and my fever medicine became painkillers. Even on my birthday, he carried the cake to Gem's place.
"Since we're already here, might as well celebrate your ten years of friendship."
"Since we're already here, I might as well fix Gem's clogged drain for her."
As I watched him walk into Gem's apartment without looking back, I silently pressed the close-door button.
He had already forgotten that today was the day my lease ended, and it was also the day I was moving out.
Since he was already here, he didn't need to come back to me.