Lover | S.R.

Ophelia

"What are you up to?" Spencer asks. "Are you at home?"

"Yeah, I'm just going over a screenplay I'm working on. It's due next week and I've been in the biggest funk, so I have to focus on it," I sigh and switch my phone to my left hand.

"Lia, where are you? Seriously."

He doesn't know. He can't know.

"Spencer, I'm at home—"

"With the seventy-something year old man and his stacks of unpacked boxes?"

Damnit. He went over there.

"I may have reported my landlord for his failure to make repairs. He drove my rent up each month and... it got so high that I just couldn't pay all of it. So I didn't and he hit me with an eviction notice," I sigh. "So, I've kind of been staying in my car for the last month."

"Ophelia! It's thirteen degrees outside tonight and you're staying in your car?" His tone is an odd mixture of both concern and disappointment.

I let out another sigh and rest my forehead on the top of the steering wheel. "Trust me, I'm fine. I've got—"

I hear Spencer laugh in disbelief. "Come over so that we can talk about this, okay? I got us takeout."

Well, I ended up going over.

And I also ended up getting convinced to stay with him until I find a new place.

He did offer me an air mattress twice, but I just stuck with the couch. At least his couch is comfortable, maybe even as comfortable as my bed.

God, I miss my bed.

I woke up at five this morning, so that I could prepare Spencer breakfast. I talked to my dad on the phone as I cooked and told him what happened and how I'm staying with Spencer for a little while.

He knows all about Spencer. I've talked about him a lot, I guess. Dad started up with the teasing almost immediately about Spencer being my 'boyfriend', to which I replied, in the exact same manner as a second grader, 'he's not my boyfriend. he's my friend! that's gross.'.

Of course, Dad had to ask: Well, do you think you could like him as a boyfriend?

He's asked that before and my answer is always the same.

'I don't know.'

Of course, just as I told my dad that, Spencer walked in. I'm so glad he didn't walk in when I called the idea of dating him 'gross'.

It wasn't, but even if it was in Spanish, Spencer would be able to decipher it. He's fluent in Spanish.

I had to dodge the subject when Spencer asked what my dad was teasing me about. I told him that it was the living situation, which wasn't exactly a lie.

When I came back to his apartment after work and running errands, we were putting groceries away and he was acting weird the entire time. He wasn't really making eye contact with me, I'd catch him staring and then he'd quickly look away... and when he was putting the freezer items away, I said his name four times in an effort to get his attention and he didn't hear me. So, I hooked my finger in his belt loop and tugged.

Of course, he jumped back and raised his voice as he told me 'don't do that!'.

I felt like shit. I still feel like shit, but we've returned to our normal banter. That's a good sign, right?

Still, I can't help but to wonder what I did to make him act so uncomfortable around me. Maybe it is best that I don't stay with him.

Now, he's following me as I walk backwards towards the entrance of the restaurant.