Neighbor Dearest(6)
“I’m not going to bone him. Because he’s a jackass. And even if in some bizarre universe, I were doing that…I would never not pay my rent. That would make me like a whore.”
She laughed. “Mmmm.”
“What?”
“Angry sex is the best sex, you know.”
“Yeah, you’ve said that before. I can’t say I’ve ever experienced it.”
“Well, when you have it with…what’s his name?”
“Damien. That’s his name. I’m not going to be having angry sex with Damien.”
“Damien? Like from The Omen?”
“That’s what I said to him! I mentioned that when he told me his name. He didn’t seem too happy.”
“When does he seem happy about anything?”
Snickering, I said, “True.”
“That’s hot, though. Shit…they’re calling me. I have to go.”
“Break a leg!”
“Fuck a landlord!”
“You’re nuts.”
“Love you.”
“Love you, too.”
Conversations with my sister always put me in a good mood.
With an hour to go before my phone therapy session, I decided to go grab some takeout. On my way downstairs, I ran into Murray, the building super. He was sweeping the stairs and whistling while the metal from the dozens of keys he carried attached to his belt clanked together.
“Hey, Murray!”
“Well, hello there, gorgeous lady.”
“You don’t normally work on Tuesdays.”
“Going through a bit of a rough patch. Boss let me pick up some extra hours.”
“By boss…you mean D.H. Hennessey?”
“Yeah…Damien.”
“You know, I just met him. I had no clue that my anti-social, next-door neighbor with the barking dogs was actually the landlord.”
Murray chuckled. “Yeah, he doesn’t really advertise that fact.”
“What’s his deal?”
“You mean how does a young guy like that own this place?”
“Well, yeah, that, but also why is he so mean?”
“His bark is way bigger than his bite.”
“No pun intended there?”
“Right.” He laughed. “Deep down, Damien’s good people. Lets me work extra whenever I need to and real generous at Christmas time…even if he does seem to have a stick up his ass sometimes.”
“A stick? It’s more like a pole.” I snorted.
“Some days, yeah. But hey, he puts meals on my table, so you won’t hear that from me.” Murray winked.
“He’s pretty talented, though,” I said. “I’ll give him that.”
“Smart, too. Believe me. Rumor has it, he graduated from MIT.”
“MIT? Are you kidding?”
“Nope. Can’t judge a book by its cover. Invented something. Sold the rights to the patent apparently then used the money to invest in real estate. Now he just collects the rent and does what he wants…makes art.”
“Wow. That’s…pretty darn impressive.”
“You didn’t hear that from me, though.”
“Got it, Murray.”
“Fancy plans tonight?”
“Nope. Just heading to grab some dinner and bring it back to the apartment.”
“Well, enjoy.”
“I will.”
Twenty minutes later, I returned to my apartment with tostones and arroz blanco con gandules from my favorite restaurant, Casa del Sol.
After scarfing down my food, I sat in my room and meditated for a bit in preparation for my phone therapy session with Dr. Veronica Little: Relationship Trauma Specialist.
At two hundred dollars per one-hour session, Dr. Little wasn’t cheap. It was my mother who suggested I see someone to talk about my feelings. While I wasn’t sure if it was working, I continued to go along with it every Tuesday evening at eight-thirty.
Perhaps, I should have forwarded the bills to Elec.
I had my therapist on speakerphone while I folded laundry in the bedroom.
“You bring that question up a lot, Chelsea. Whether or not Elec truly loved you. I think part of why we can’t seem to move forward from that can be explained by the concept of the unicorn.”
“The unicorn? What is that?”
“A unicorn is something that is mythically beautiful and unattainable, right?”
“Okay…”
“That was what Greta was to Elec. He’d ruled out a possibility of love with her because she was forbidden. He was able to fall in love with you in the meantime. That love was quite genuine. However, when the unicorn suddenly becomes attainable, that changes everything. The power of the unicorn is extremely potent.”
“So, what you’re saying is that Elec really did love me but only when he basically thought that being with Greta was an impossibility. She was his unicorn. I wasn’t a unicorn.”