Knights of the Grey City

Chapter 55 - CURVEBALL

Sunday crawled by, Esther needling me the whole while, until I was almost grateful to get up at the crack of stupidity the next day to go to work. My arm wasn't fully back to normal, but it was out of the brace and felt fine most of the time, so it wouldn't be long until I was off of modified and back to normal work duty.

No one talked to me for my entire shift. It occurred to me that I had begun the habit of eating alone, speaking to no one throughout the day, then going home having barely spoken a word to another human being. Joel and the other guys didn't even try to start conversations with me anymore. Even smoke breaks, which in another life had been pretty sociable things, were silent, cold, and unpleasant.

After work, I fumbled for my phone to check the time for the bus and found to my annoyance that I had forgotten the phone charging at home.

I should have probably saved the bus fare, but hell, I was tired and the weather was dismal. It was spitting frozen rain, and the streets of Toronto were a sludgy, muddy mess. I just waited until the next bus came by, then I sat down and imagined how long this week was going to feel.

When I got home, I found I had yet another uninvited guest.

I blinked, my hand still on the doorknob. Inside, Esther was sitting at the kitchen table, once more sipping a hot drink. Across from her, hands around her own steaming mug, was... one of Esther's college friends?

Nope, I recognized her. It was Joanna. My thoughts short-circuited.

"Welcome home, Camilo," Esther smiled brightly. "Hope it isn't too much of a bother that I invited Joanna over. I told her it was fine."

"I..." bzzrt, went my brain cells. Then I sighed, put down my stuff, and closed the door behind me. Time to deal with whatever this was about. "How did you two... meet?" And why was Huang's girlfriend in my apartment, sans Huang?

Esther continued smiling. "Well," she said, "you forgot your phone charging again. A call came through and I thought I'd do you a favour and take a message."

I hung my coat and approached the table. Joanna offered me a hesitant smile, though she looked uncomfortable and was twisting the bright blue ends of her hair. I resolved to be angry with Esther later.

"The call was me," Joanna admitted. "I'm sorry, I know this is pretty strange, but I was hoping to talk to you."

"Well... I'm here," I said, still mystified. "Did Huang—sorry, Joshua, give you my number?"

"Not exactly," Joanna admitted. "I kind of borrowed his phone. I know it's like I went behind his back, but I kind of felt like this was my only option."

Esther abruptly stood up and said: "I have some laundry to do. I'll be back in a minute." She then threw a laundry bag over her shoulder and left, presumably heading down the stairs to the laundromat attached to the building's lobby. Before I could say anything in protest, the door clicked shut behind her.

Joanna and I looked at each other. I sighed again.

"She convinced you to come out here?" I asked.

"She can be pretty convincing," Joanna confirmed. "Sorry again. I know this is unexpected. But, I was hoping you could tell me what Joshua has been up to lately."

"He seems like he's been fine."

She shook her head. "He's been hiding something from me. I don't know what or why. I told myself I'd be patient. I'd let him tell me in his own time. But now it's been... God, it's been so long, and he's so different now."

She took a sip and set her mug down with a clink. "Is he cheating on me?"

Oh, fuck.

"Definitely not," I told her dryly. "If you think there's another woman on the planet who could handle that idiot, you're mistaken."