Despicable Roommate

Lynn’s POV

Kari had only been back for two days but she had turned the apartment into one of those you see in décor magazine pages. The apartment looked so neat and perfect, and there was no mess. It was back to the way it was pre-Alec. I had enjoyed living with Alec but having to do most of the organising by myself had been a little draining. It was a relief to see someone else putting things in order.

The apartment looked livelier than it had been before. A few of our other friends had been invited to the small party we were having. It was a reunion and reconciliation party, an idea that Kari came up with. She wanted to apologize to me in a proper way. According to her, having a reconciliation party was the proper way.

Kari’s parties were organized and pretty tame, unlike those that Alec had organized. The atmosphere was cool and the music soft. I realised I had missed these kind of parties a lot. Most of Alec’s friends were loud and boisterous, yet I preferred to mingle with calm and fairly reserved people. Seeing all those people made me realise that Alec and I were from two completely different worlds. How could we have expected the relationship to survive?

“Okay, Lynn. I’m very sorry for everything that I did to you,” Kari said. “I messed up your life when I decided to suddenly move out and got you a roommate I had not screened properly. I should have let you participate in the choosing of the person you had to live with. It was very unfair of me to bring Alec. Back then, it seemed fun.”

“We thought you were not enjoying life and wanted to bring in someone who could ruffle your fathers but we have realised that was a big mistake.” Jen said. “Will you forgive us for making so many stupid mistakes?”

“Yes, of course. You thought you were doing something that would be fun for me. Unfortunately, I backfired. I forgive you and I ask you to forgive for not letting you back when you didn’t have a place to stay, Kari. I’m really sorry that I didn’t take your side.”

“Yay!”

“Cheers to that.”

“You chose the side of some silly moron,” Holly Black said, laughing.

I glared at her. “We’re not here to insult anyone. This evening is about Kari, Jen and I, and that’s all.”

Jen immediately pulled me away. “Why are defending him after everything he did to you.”

“I’m just…”

“Oh my goodness, Lynn. You still love him.”

I sighed. “It’s not that easy to do that, okay. Sometimes I think I overreacted. I should have listened to him.”Content property of NôvelDra/ma.Org.

“You went to hear him out but he was already chatting up Carina. Girl, you tried. He is who he is. This is exactly what I went through Kari. She couldn’t stop wanting him back. It took her a very long time to accept the truth and move on.”

“I’ll try to stop thinking about him,” I said. “I’m going to my room. I can’t do this.”

Jen sighed. “If you go to your room, you’ll be alone with your thoughts and that’s not good.”

“Well, there’s one thing that might help,” I said. “I’ll go and sit in the backyard. I need some fresh air.”

“Okay, but don’t leave the compound, okay?”

I nodded.

I had no intentions of going outside, not even outside the building. My intended destination was inside the building. I wanted to confront Jessie to know from the horse’s mouth what was really going on between them. Were they exes? Had they ever hooked up?

I remembered how angry Alec had been when I took Jessie to our apartment. Now that I had time to think about it, I figured there was something they had not told me. Had she been a total stranger he had never interacted with before, Alec wouldn’t have reacted like that. What were they hiding?

The hallway on their floor was dimly lit. One of the bulbs was flickering. My flip flops barely made a noise as I made my way towards the door. I could hear loud voices in their apartment when I reached the door. I was about to lift my hand and knock when I heard something that made me freeze.

Carina’s voice. Damn. Was that girl everywhere?

“Ahh that Lynn Harris is the biggest idiot” Carina said, laughing. “I swear I didn’t think she’d really fall for it. She’s not beautiful so I expected her to be smart, at least. How can you be plain, boring and stupid as well? It’s a tragedy.”

“I know right,” Jessie said. “She just sees things and believes them. Poor Alec. He gave up his fun life to be with someone who doesn’t trust him at all. When I kissed him, he pushed me away so fast but she was already gone. Had she stayed one more second, she would have seen that he was not interested in me at all, and my plan would have failed.

“I can understand why she would run after seeing you kiss her boyfriend,” Lauren said. “But leaving just because Carina was talking to him makes no sense, unless she was just tired of the relationship.”

Jessie chuckled. “Forget that stupid idiot. I think I’ve found my new hobby, destroying relationships of dumb people. We need to find other dumb couples to separate. That was fun.”

“You liked Alec so it was reasonable that you wanted him to separate with Lynn but there’s no need to mess with other people. Let people just enjoy lives.”

“Okay, Lauren. You seem to like Lynn so much. We spent, like two days with her but you’re always on her side. She’s turned you into a goody two shoes and I’m not liking it one bit.”

With tears running down my cheeks, I started walking away from the door. My mind was hazy and my heart heavy. I couldn’t believe what I had just had. Alec had been saying the truth this whole time.

I had not believed him, had not even given him the benefit of doubt. I had fallen right into a trap dug by Jessie. I felt weak but I managed to drag myself down the stairs and to my apartment. I walked past everyone and locked myself in my bedroom. I removed my gown and put on a nightdress before getting on bed.

The realisation that I had broken my relationship was weighing heavy on me. I had messed everything up, and now I had no one to blame but myself. It hurt so much. I let the tears flow freely. I cried and sobbed. Thankfully, there music in the living room was fairly loud and no one could hear me.

What was I going to do? Was Alec going to want me again? Could he trust me or was he forever going to think I was the type who ran off at the slightest discomfort? Maybe I was not emotionally mature for a relationship.

I couldn’t sleep that night. I kept tossing and turning, while I imagined the possibility of us reuniting. I replayed all sorts of scenarios in my head. In some, he accepted me back and we went on to live happily ever after. However, in others he rejected me.

By morning, I was ready to go looking for Alec. I didn’t know where his new apartment was but I had to find it by all means.

The first thing I did in the morning was dial his number. It did not go through.