I heard the buzz of my phone while I was driving. I thought I saw “Jules”, but I hadn’t talked to her in months. Not since she stormed out of my place for reasons still unclear. Not that it mattered at the moment, eyes on the road for safety’s sake. A cold snap had come through and people were darting across the street in dark jackets. I preferred not to hit them.
Got to the gym and started my workout when I remembered to check what the message was – it was her. When she wasn’t mad at me for something I did or didn’t do, we were great together. Hang out, fuck like teenagers, have fun. Too much alcohol, a perceived slight, however, and things got bad. “Hey, sorry for the silence. What’s new?”
That’s open ended, but I’ll play along. Text back something generic, get “I just moved to the neighborhood next to you today”. Tease her that I’m not convinced that is a real neighborhood, just realtors making sales. “You should check it out sometime, it’s great”. Now we’re cooking. “The neighborhood or your place?”
“both”