Turbulence - (18+)

36.

GATE B31 JUSTIN

JFK (New York)

A line of cars slowly drove down Hampton Avenue in Brooklyn, honking their horns at me as I slowed my car in the right lane. A heavy rain was falling over the city, drenching every walking straggler in sight and damn near flooding the city drains.

I looked outside my window at the address Jeff gave me for Shay-a brick building that looked more like a haunted house experiment than an apartment, and shook my head.

We hadn't spoken since she blocked my email address, and the few times I'd seen her in passing, she'd done everything she could to avoid me. The more recent occasion, when I saw her boarding a tram in Atlanta International, she glared at me before rushing away. If it hadn't been for the fact that I was needed for a quick turnaround flight, I would've gone after her.

Braving the rain, I stepped out of the car and shut the door. I walked up the steps at the front of her unit and pressed the call button for unit four. The panel let out a loud, screeching sound, and then the entire thing fell to the ground.

Jesus...

I knocked on the warped wooden door, but as the winds blew by, it immediately gave way. I headed up the steps to the fourth floor and came face to face with two apartment doors, but when I saw the words "Two Broke Girls" artfully written in pink across the one on the right, I knocked on it a few times and waited.

Two minutes passed.

I knocked again, even louder this time.

"I heard you!" Someone yelled. "I heard you!"

The door swung open, but it wasn't Shay. It was a brunette in a bathrobe with huge red rollers in her hair.

"Yes?" She crossed her arms. "It's two in the morning, asshole. What the hell do you want?"

"I'm looking for-" I paused. "I'm Justin."

"I know who you are." She glared at me. "May I help you with something?"

"Is Shay here?"

"I don't know a Shay." She leaned against the frame. "I'm pretty sure you have the wrong address."

"I'm pretty sure I don't. Is she here?"

She shrugged. "I think she's flying to Los Angeles right now."

"Her line says she returned from Los Angeles yesterday."

"Oh, well I guess you're right," she said. "Well, I guess she's still out on a date. You know, those things you never take her on."

I rolled my eyes. "When will she be back?"

"Tell him never." Shay whispered harshly from inside the apartment. "Never."

I peered through the crack in the door, seeing Shay standing in the kitchen with her arms crossed. She was shaking her head and wiping her eyes with a Kleenex.

"Never." Her roommate repeated. "She'll never be back, Justin. I'll tell her you stopped by though. You can go now."

"Did you get my flowers?" I ignored her, knowing damn well Shay could hear me right now.

"She never got any flowers." Her roommate stepped back. "Best of luck, Justin." She slammed the door in my face before I could say anything else.

I started to knock again, but since the walls were so thin, I heard Shay begin to speak.

"I hate him..." she said. "I fucking hate him."

"No, you don't." Her roommate countered. "But you don't have to put up with him anymore."