You, Again

New York, New You

A week after giving Christian 1/5 of the rent he was asking, Devin began moving in. Began was a loose term. She couldn't afford movers and didn't want to ask her parents so she'd carry a box to work and then schlep it on the train from 42nd street to Brooklyn. From there she'd be sweaty and practically panting as she carried her belongings into the apartment, dropping them to the ground in an unceremonious dump. More often than not Christian wouldn't be home. He'd recently completed his MBA and was vying for a promotion as his new job already. He was driven, she hadn't remembered him being like that but it didn't bother her. She could use some alone time.

Dropping the last of her boxes off she looked around. Her room was now full almost to the ceiling of boxes and bins. Some with clothes already falling out of them. Others more safely duct taped shut. She had inherited the bed the old roommate had. It was nothing special and certainly the mattress could have been tossed a good five years ago, but it saved her money. It also meant she could technically sleep here tonight if she wanted to.

The thought of sleeping in the same apartment as Christian had crossed her mind. Of course it had. She would be lying if she said she hadn't been thinking about what it would be like to wake up in her pajamas and pad into the kitchen to find him in his boxers. She quickly shook the thought out of her head. That had been years ago. She imagined he was still fit underneath his t-shirts. Perhaps not as ripped as before but certainly still taking care of himself.

She couldn't think about this. She didn't have the time or the energy to think about this. For the last week she had been showing up at the theater and still had yet to meet her boss. She'd been put to work by stage hands who simply assumed she belonged. No one had really stopped to ask her who she was or what she was doing there. It was to her benefit. She gave her first name only and prayed no one remembered the fire incident. She kept her head down and did whatever was asked of her. She had gotten into a good rhythm of bouncing between the multiple theaters essentially doing whatever was asked at the time. It wasn't uncommon for passersby's to see her sprinting down the street or hustling across the avenue to get to her next destination.

She found the work thrilling. She hadn't expected it to be this enjoyable. She was constantly being tested in a good way. One night she could be in the wings, the next she could be an usher. Sometimes she helped paint sets and other times she was running as if her life depended on it to replace a mic battery before the next scene change.

To Devin, the rhythm of the theater worked in her favor. It kept her from processing. It kept her from thinking about the past. She had fucked up too much of her life to harp on it. Besides after the fire incident, she had had countless months of rehashing the story. It was not only all over the news but Rosie had made sure she never forgot it. Devin shuddered at the thought of running into Rosie on the street. It was bound to happen sometime. She would eventually have to get it over with. For now, she would hide in her Brooklyn bubble.

She heard keys jangling in the door and popped her head out of her bedroom. She and Christian hadn't seen each other since they agreed to be roommates. She panicked. Should she say hi? What if he had headphones in? She should probably walk out into the living room to let him know someone was here but that might scare him. She should walk out. Yes, that's what normal people did. They walked out of their bedrooms and gave a wave to their not-quite-ex-boyfriend roommate and then went back to their business.

"Jesus Christ!" Devin had rounded the corner after her internal hype up about not being weird only to in fact, scare the absolute bejesus out of Christian.

"God Devin! What the hell!" She thought he was overreacting until she saw his phone, wallet, keys and what looked like a green smoothie pooling at his feet.

"I, uh, oh crap hold on!" Devin rushed to the kitchen grabbing as many paper towels as possible. Christian snatched some out of her hand and they knocked heads as they both bent down to clean up the mess. Holding one hand out at a distance Christian looked exasperated.