The Lover's Game

the removal: chapter two

I stare in the mirror. Same old mousy black hair, gaunt face, and thick arms and hip dips. I take a second looks and realize what I missed. My eyes were red and puffy, dried mascara dripping down my cheeks like comically large, black tears. My lips quivered as a choked back a sob. My eyebrows furrowed, body hunched and closed off. I'm wearing stained sweatpants and a shirt that has what looks like Dorito dust all over it.
  "I'm a hot mess." I thought to myself. "Time to start the day" I whisper, voice cracking slightly. I clear my throat and start picking up the apartment. Today will be the day that I finally say goodbye, for good. Dexter's moving out. He gave me a week to get ready, but I still wasn't prepared. In fact,I hadn't even started packing his stuff up. "Fuck. I just realized that I haven't left the apartment since he broke it off...I probably should get outside and get some fresh air. But first, get rid of all of his stuff." I glance over at the clock and notice it's already 3:27. He'll be here at 4:00.
  "Shit, shit, shit." I mutter, cramming his stuff into bins. I stop when I find a picture of the two of us; his curly dark hair blowing around in the wind, mine blowing in my face. He looked so good with his hair like that. And sure, we were a troubled couple, but we were a troubled couple in love. We weren't perfect and we understood that. So seeing his face again, that young, happy face, hurt. It really, really hurt. And then...
Knock, knock, knock.
"Hmm." I thought. "Dex is never early." I opened the door quickly, seeing a young, bright face. It was a little girl, no more than ten, holding out a flier and smiling. "Hi there! Here's an easy way to join the church of lover's". She said in a singsong tone. Startled, I quickly shut the door and continued packing "that was weird".
And then--before my mind could process what had just happened--
Knock.
A strong, single knock. Dex always knocks once. "One second!" I call as I run my fingers through my hair and try to dust as much orange powder off of me as possible. I haven't even finished packing, let alone freshened up.
   I open the door, still staring at the messy, half packed apartment.
"Uhh...hey Sam." I hear his deep, baritone voice say gently. I force a smile.
"Hey Dex and...who are you?" I do a double take as I notice a petite woman standing right next to him. They are all kinds of opposites; Dexter Simone is tall, broad, with caramel skin and sweet eyes. He has thick eyebrows, dark curly hair which he wears in a man bun most days, and a few tattoos from his time served in the Marines. The woman, however, was as pale as a ghost, with a skinny build and whispy blond hair. She had stenciled on eyebrows and a thin smile.
  "Hi, you must be Samara?" She said those words as if she were asking a trucker where the nearest bathroom was. I snort but notice the look Dex gives me, and I sigh and say,
  "Yeah, that me. And you are?"
Dex tries to interrupt her at this point but the woman dismisses him and gives me that cold, tight lipped smile.
  "I'm Nicki, Dex's new roommate."
Of course. "New roommate my ass." What she really means is "girl who's sleeping with him and will eventually date him" but she doesn't want to give up all of her power just yet. No, she likes to savor other's pain. But I'm so done with this shit. I don't care what the consequences are anymore.
  "Well I used to be his old 'roommate', and let me just tell you, honey, you won't last long. So don't get your hopes up." I spit. Her smiley facade crashes down and Dex gives me a disappointed look. "take your stuff and go, I'm heading out for a walk." I call out, storming past them and heading for the staircase. I don't know where I'm going, but I'm not coming back to that apartment complex for a while.