Alpine

Gambit 2 - Atomic

He took me up on our deal that Friday.

My morning started off well. I honestly thought that I was making progress with him. On the day after we drove together, I woke up to his car being parked one space away from mine instead of right next to it. A symbolic gesture that moved me more than I like to admit. The rest of the work week had been busy but strangely uneventful. He only said a good morning on his way in and a good evening on his way out.

I was impressed. Confused, but impressed. It demonstrated a level of self-restraint he had never shown towards me. So, by Friday morning I was feeling better than I had in ages. For once, I was okay.

I went so far as to sit at the threshold between my apartment and the balcony, mumbling nonsense at Charlie the entire time I drank my coffee. That poor weed had become my living diary in a sense. If my stress hurt it any, Charlie hid it well. In fact, the flower bud had finally opened. A perfect, fluffy, yellow circle bigger than a watch dial. Charlie had outdone himself. I hoped the bees would discover his labor. It deserved to be admired.

When it was time to get to work, I found that Switch had left me a parking spot's worth of space again. Our new normal. One I could get used to. Sure, it was still creepy, but it was so much less creepy. After everything else he had done, this would not spike my blood pressure. So, I got into my car humming and pulled out of the parking lot in a fantastic mood. It dampened a bit, when I realized that the tune stuck in my head was one of his pop songs, but that was what the radio was for. I turned on the news and half listened for the remainder of the drive. Walking into the office, I felt like things were going to be great.

And then he showed up late for work.

He did not say "good morning." Not to me. Not to Bea. Not to Janice. Not to Ryan, Clara, or Dave. No one was acknowledged. A few people tried to initiate pleasantries with Switch, but it did not go well. Snappy is too strong a word, but he was curt with everyone.

I had an email from Ryan by midmorning, demanding to know what happened. It reminded me that I had never explained the carpool situation. I gave him the rundown of the incident, ending with: "He seemed fine after that. He seemed fine yesterday. I don't know what happened." Ryan never responded to that email. When the time for a midmorning smoke break rolled around, Switch left without a word. Ryan hurried after him. Ryan returned early and alone.

By the end of the workday, I had overheard several coworkers anxiously gossiping about Switch and whether he was okay. I was getting anxious about it too, though it was as much for his sake as mine. Was this a private struggle of his or something he would inflict on me? I should have known the answer.

The knock on my apartment door came around sunset. I knew it would either be him or Ryan, because who else would knock on my door? I pleaded for it to be Ryan, but I knew it was Switch before I opened the door. Cherry smoke. There was a door chain lock I had never used. I clicked it into place before I cracked open the door. He did not give me a chance to say hello.

"I can't be alone right now." His voice was flat and factual.

"What?"

"I cannot be alone."

"Is Ryan busy?"

"Everyone is busy. Except you. You're never busy."

"I mean..." He was right, but I could still probably come up with a decent excuse.

He hissed, "We had a deal. This is the wrong time to break it."

"I just wasn't expecting you to ask so soon."

"Are you going to let me in?"

Warning bells. "Can we talk like this?"

A sigh. "Yeah." The door strained inward against the chain as he bumped his back into it and slid down onto the floor. His lighter was clicking. The quiet whoosh of fire igniting paper. The lighter snapped shut.