Chapter 16
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Scott
Trina’s angry at me. Because I told her the truth. Maybe I should’ve kept quiet, but I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t let her ex make her think they had a future when they don’t. It’s obvious he’s just keeping her around until he finds someone new. Or maybe it’s all a game to him. A way to control her and make sure she doesn’t find anyone else.
I can’t stand guys like that, but unfortunately, they’re everywhere. They know just what to say to keep a girl attached to them. Trina’s ex can say he loves her over and over again, but his actions don’t match up. He wouldn’t break up with a girl he loves and throw her out on the street.
Trina doesn’t get that, which is why I tried to tell her what’s really going on. She told me I’m wrong, but I think, deep down, she knows I’m right. That’s why she ran out of here. She didn’t want to hear that her ex doesn’t love her the way he should.
Maybe I should’ve said it a different way. People always tell me I’m too direct, but if someone needs to hear something, I don’t think I’m doing them any favors by talking around it, making them guess what I’m saying.
Now Trina’s probably crying in her apartment. I hope not, but given how she looked when she left, it’s definitely possible. My intent wasn’t to make her cry. I wasn’t even going to get involved. I kept telling myself to keep quiet, to stay out of it. But the more she told me, the angrier I got. The guy is playing her, but she doesn’t see it. She still loves him and wants the future he promised her. The wedding. The kids.
She’ll probably go back to him. She’ll move into his apartment and six months later, maybe a year, he’ll do it again. He’ll end it and kick her out.
I’m pacing the floor, my hands forming tight fists, feeling the need to punch something. I shouldn’t be this upset over some girl I just met, but I am. I’m furious this guy asked to meet with her just so he could tell her to sit around and wait for him.
Why would Trina want a guy like that? She could do so much better. She’s smart and funny and surprisingly resilient. Most people in her situation would be staying on their friend’s couch, sleeping all day, and feeling sorry for themselves. But Trina got an apartment and a job within days of her whole life falling apart. She’s even willing to sleep on the floor. It really bothers me that she’s doing that. She’s so uncomfortable she’s only getting a few hours of sleep. And she’s right about the rats. I’ve had a few get into that apartment the past year. I didn’t want to tell her that or she’d never sleep.
While I’m thinking about it, I decide to go get some traps. The grocery store Trina works at sells a little of everything, not just food, which is really convenient when you run out of stuff.
When I get to the store, I head straight to the hardware section where they keep the traps.
“Got a mouse problem?” someone says.
Turning back, I see Frank standing there, a big grin on his face. Living nearby, I come here a lot, enough that Frank and I have become friends.
“Hey, Frank. How’s it going?”
“I’m good. How about you? Other than the mouse problem.”
I smile. “It’s not a problem yet. It’s more of a preventative thing. I got a new tenant who’s worried about rats getting in her apartment.”
“You talking about Trina? You know I hired her, right?”
“Yeah, I came by when she was working last Saturday.”
Trina was so embarrassed to be seen wearing that smock. She kept glancing at it, which just drew more attention to it. She looked like a school lunch lady, but not the kind I had. She was the really hot kind, which probably doesn’t exist.
“She’s a great little worker,” Frank says. “She races back and forth to that stockroom like no one I’ve ever seen. By the time she goes home, she’s got all the shelves stocked. I’ve never had an employee work that hard.”
“You should tell her that,” I say, thinking she could use a boost to her self esteem. Maybe it’d help her realize she deserves better than her loser ex-boyfriend.
“I will,” Frank says. “I might even give her a little bonus.”
Turning back to the shelf, I look over the traps. “You got one you recommend?”
“The black box.” He points to it. “With that one, you won’t even see them. There’s an indicator on top that tells you if you got one.”
“Sounds good. I’ll get a few.” I take four from the shelf.
“She got a boyfriend?” Frank asks.
I turn to him. “Who?”
“Your new tenant.”
“I’m not sure.”
“You haven’t asked her?”
“I try to stay out of my tenants’ personal lives.”
He laughs. “That’s not true. Half the people living there are your friends.”
It’s actually more than that.
“She mentioned having a boyfriend,” I say. “But they’re not really together anymore.”
They’re not together, but she’s waiting around for him. Putting her life on hold while her ex figures out if he wants her. I can’t believe Trina agreed to that.
“You should ask her out,” Frank says.
“Why would I do that?”
He shrugs. “I think you and her would make a good couple.”
“Me and Trina?” I laugh. “Yeah, I don’t think so. And you know how I feel about relationships.”
“That’s all nonsense,” he says, waving his hand around. “You just haven’t met the right girl.”
“And you think Trina’s that girl? You don’t even know her.”
“I know enough. And it isn’t about what I know. It’s a feeling I get, and I got a feeling you and Trina would be good together.”
Frank is always trying to set me up. He tries to set everyone up. He should’ve been a matchmaker.
“I’ll have to disagree with you, Frank. Trina and I are not a match. And I’m pretty sure she’ll end up getting back with her boyfriend.”
“So get her before she does. You’re a good-looking young man. You’re smart. You got money. You got a lot going for you. I bet if she had the choice, she’d choose you over whoever this other guy is.”
She wouldn’t. She’d choose her ex. They have a long history and she’s still in love with him.
“Frank, I gotta get going.” I hold up the traps. “I need to go set these up. But it was good talking to you.”
“She’s working tonight.” He winks at me. “If you want to stop by. She takes her break around eight.”
“Or I could just see her at home since she lives right next to me.”
“That works too.”
He walks with me to the self-check out lane. I avoid the regular register because the girl that works there is really unfriendly. It’s like she’s in a permanent bad mood.
“Maybe just take her out to eat,” Frank says as I run the traps over the scanner. “As a friend.”
“I already did. I took her to brunch yesterday.”
“Is that so?” he says, like taking Trina to brunch means something.
“It was brunch. It wasn’t a date.” I pay with a credit card, then gather up the traps.
“Did you two hit it off?” Frank asks.
I smile at him. “She’s my tenant. That’s it.”
“We’ll see.” He winks. “Have a good day.”
“You too. See ya, Frank.”
When I’m back at the apartment, I go to the very end of the hall and set two traps by the door. I set the other two along the hallway across from my storage unit. Hopefully, that will stop any rats before they make it to Trina’s place.
I’m right outside her door, but it doesn’t sound like she’s home. Maybe she went for a walk or to get something to eat. I feel like I should apologize for upsetting her, but I’m not going to take back what I said. She needed to hear it, even if she didn’t want to.
As I’m heading back to my apartment, Cole comes into the building. “I got the shower head.” He walks down to me. “Should I go install it?”
“Do it later. I don’t think she’s home. Actually, give it to me. I’ll do it myself.”
He hands me the package and follows me into my place. “Why are you doing it?”
“I need to make up for something I did. Not that fixing her shower will help, but it’s at least something.”
“What did you do?”
“I said something that upset Trina.”
“What did you say?”
“It’s a long story.”
He sinks down on the couch. “I got time.”
“Okay, but don’t tell her I told you this. I’m only telling you because I need some advice about how to handle this.”
I tell him what Trina’s ex said to her this morning and how she agreed to give him time to figure things out.
“She really thinks he still loves her?” Cole says.
“Yeah, she’s convinced he wants to continue where they left off. Get married. Have kids. Live happily ever after.”
He shakes his head. “That really sucks. I feel bad for her.”
“Me too, but there’s nothing I can do. She didn’t believe me when I told her guys don’t break up with a girl they love and want to marry.”
“You could’ve worded it better. What you said was kind of harsh.”
“I didn’t say those exact words, but really, there’s no easy way to say it. And why sugarcoat it? She needs to know the guy is lying. He doesn’t love her. Maybe he used to, but he doesn’t now.”
“He could still marry her,” Cole says. “I know guys who married girls they don’t love.”
“Like who?”
“My cousin. He dated this girl for a week and got her pregnant so he married her. He didn’t love her. And this guy on my hockey team married a girl he didn’t love just so his parents would stop nagging him to get married. I’m just saying, there’s a lot of reasons people get married. It’s not always about love.”
“So why would this guy marry Trina if it wasn’t about love?”
“I don’t know. Maybe he thinks she’d be a good mom, or take care of the house, or cook for him. ”
“You’re saying he wants a maid, a cook, and someone to raise his kids?” I huff. “Yeah, that sounds like him. She can’t marry that guy. She shouldn’t even be talking to him.”
“Why do you care? Why are you getting involved in this?”
“Because she’s got a lot going for her. I’d hate to see her throw her life away for that asshole.”
“It’s her choice. If that’s what she wants, then—”
“But why would she want that? She could do so much better. She needs to go out with a guy who’s better than her ex so she can see what a mistake it would be to go back to him.”
“You got a guy in mind?” Cole asks, grinning at me.
“I was talking hypothetically. Trina won’t go on a date. Not after her ex told her to wait for him.”
“What if you took her out?”
“I’m not asking her out,” I say, like he’s crazy for even suggesting it. “She’s my tenant.”
“There’s no law saying you can’t date your tenant. And it doesn’t have to be a date. You could take her out as a friend. It sounds like she hasn’t spent much time around guys. If she did, she’d see what an ass her boyfriend is.”
“Not if all his friends are just like him.”
“True, I didn’t think about that. Hey, you know what you should do? Invite her to one of your parties. The guys there aren’t assholes. I’m not saying they’re perfect, but they’re a lot better than her ex.”
“She won’t be able to tell that just by meeting them at a party.”
“Then have her hang out with us. You, me, Hudson, Marc, Grant. We could convince her to leave her ex.”
The guys he listed off are all good friends of mine. They live in the building.
“That’s not going to work. She still loves her ex. She won’t be comparing him to other guys because, in her mind, he’s the guy she’s going to marry. There’s no one else.”
“I think if she met the right guy, that would change.”
“Maybe, but I don’t know who that guy would be.”