A Collection of Short Stories

The Couple Down the Street

7:30 am. The morning sun shines through my window, and I shield my eyes from the rays of sunlight with my arm. I slam my alarm clock shut, hoping to catch a few more minutes of sleep.

8:30 am. I grab my bag, keys, phone, and a piece of fruit and shove my feet into my shoes before I'm out the door. I press my feet on the pedal and take the longer route, knowing well I'll be stuck in traffic, but at least I'll get to enjoy my coffee in peace.

9:30 am. I'm an hour late to work, although it's my start-up business, and Chelsea opens up for me most days. I flash her a thank-you smile and strut down the hallway and into my office. I can't remember the last time I cleaned this place.

11:00 am. I walked out of the meeting room after forty-five minutes of unnecessary discussion of the company's progress and what we could do to increase the sales of my failing business.

1:30 pm. I shove the last bit of my subway in my mouth and wash it down with water before running up the stairs for my next meeting since they still haven't fixed the elevators. I finally managed to get new investors to come down and meet with me.

5:00 pm. It's over. The meetings, the fake laughter and smiles, the tight handshakes knowing they'll never want to step foot in my company again.

6:30 pm. I kick my shoes off and drop my bag on the floor as I rush to the kitchen. I swing the fridge open, my stomach rumbling. There were three slices of bread, frozen macaroni and cheese, leftover pizza from last week, soda, beer, lettuce, and ketchup.

9:00 pm. I went with a sandwich and beer. Mostly beer because I burnt two of the three slices in the toaster. I gave half of my subway sandwich to a homeless woman wandering around with a sad face. I didn't have time to eat anyway, but I should've thought long term.

11:45 pm. I'm still hungry. I ate a few pieces of lettuce with ketchup, and it was disgusting. After a ten-minute long internal debate, I decided I'd sleep hungry tonight and dream of eating macaroni and cheese. And hopefully, save my lunch tomorrow. If I want to eat at all, I need to save up for rent.

Today was the same as yesterday. Tomorrow will be like this too, and the day after, and the day after that.

The day after that, however, I had something different to add to my routine. I was slightly earlier than usual and had done a bit of grocery shopping the previous evening on my way home. I was sipping coffee from my favourite mug as I stared out the window. The sound of rain tapping against the glass was snatching away all my worries and stress about my business, my one-bedroom apartment that I still hadn't paid rent for this month, about everything.

The sound of thunder raging in the clouds snapped me out of my thoughts, and I glanced down to see a middle-aged couple holding hands walking towards the entrance of the apartment across mine. They were talking and laughing and smiling amongst themselves, and something warm fluttered in my chest. They didn't bother using an umbrella even though it was pouring outside; the lady seemed to like the rain more than I did because she was dancing and spinning around with an ear-to-ear smile on her face. Although I couldn't make out the man's face properly, I could tell by his side profile he was staring at her lovingly, grinning. Maybe his heart fluttered too. Maybe he felt the joy I hadn't felt in ages as we watched the lady jumping in the puddles and squealing and laughing as she accidentally splashes a grumpy-looking man walking by.

When I came home that evening, I realized they live right down the street, directly across from me. The same floor, the same apartment. It was like looking into a mirror and watching your mother set the table for dinner while your father was seasoning the stir-fried vegetables in the pan with some spices and mixing the sauce in the pot.