It's Me, Again

Ch. 5 (Dylan)

After the slightly awkward meeting with Kate yesterday at the hospital, I was nervous for how today would go. But, when she called me this morning with instructions, it kind of felt comfortable and like old times. Back when she would tell me what needed to be done - never in a bossy, bitchy way unless I was making her mad, but in a Type A way, because she knew if left to my own devices back then I'd just screw it all up. I never resented it - in fact, I saw it as a sign of love and her caring enough about me to take care of things. I should say, I never resented it when we were together throughout high school and as childhood friends before that. When we got to college, things changed. I changed. And not for the better.

Thinking back to those early days of college, she didn't ever tell me what to do or demand things of me, but at the time I felt like she was. I felt like I was tied down and when I looked around and saw all these other 18 year olds who were partying it up with girls hanging over them every night, I felt like she was keeping me from experiencing the "real" college. Now that I'm a little bit older, I know that wasn't the real college experience at all. I was following some stupid idea of what guys should be doing in college. Little did I know that tons of guys come to regret those choices. It's like the people who party a little too much when they first start college, skip classes, all that stuff and then spend the rest of their college years desperately trying to recover their GPAs. I'm spending my time trying to make up for my mistakes with Kate. She remembers the awful night we broke up. But I don't think she remembers everything that happened between us after that night. It's been weighing on me whether I should tell her everything or not. She deserves to know the truth, but she may hate me when she finds out and selfishly, I don't want that.

After screwing things up so bad, I've been working to redeem myself - to make myself worthy of whoever I fall in love with next. I never thought that Kate would come back in my life. But here we are in each other's lives again. Just the simple words, "It's me, again"  on the phone line gave me this sense of hope. I never thought I'd hear from her ever again and with a kind of messed up twist of fate, she was calling me and I am on my way to pick her up. Okay, yeah, she was in a bad accident and has amnesia, but besides that - this is a chance for me to show her that I'm not the same guy she remembers during those last few months of our relationship.

I pull into a guest parking spot at Kate's apartment building. When I enter there's a uniformed man sitting at a security desk.

"Hi, can I help you, sir?" the middle aged man asks.

"Hi, yeah I'm here to get some things from Kate Weber's apartment. I think her roommate called to let you know?"

"Oh yes, she did. Can I see some ID?"

I show him my license and once satisfied, he hands it back to me.

"Here is a spare key, she's on the 5th floor, apartment C. Just return the key to me on your way out."

I take the gold key from him, "Great, thank you."

The building looks nice and modern, well maintained, and clean. I like that there's a doorman and a security guard on duty. This downtown area is generally pretty safe, but It's a nice extra layer of security. I would hate it if she lived in an unsafe area and in a questionable apartment building. It wouldn't be my place to say anything, since I'd pretty much relinquished my right to commenting on her life when I broke up with her. Luckily, I don't need to worry about it.

The elevator dings and the doors open to let me off on the 5th floor. I step out onto the grey carpet and look to my right and left at the apartment doors to see which way I should turn. I see apartment 5C and unlock the door. Upon entering, I see a small table for keys, mail, and some sunglasses on top. There's a coat rack, and some shoes that line the entry hall wall.