Phantom of the Apartment

Coffee for Two

     Jason made two coffees every morning.

     There was nothing new about that, of course. He'd made two coffees every morning since a week after he had moved into his apartment. He still made two coffees and left them to cool to a bearable temperature while he got ready for work. As he'd get dressed, however, he'd peek outside his bedroom door to see the coffees sitting untouched. He'd eat breakfast and drink his coffee, keeping one eye on the second steaming mug only to see no change. He'd brush his teeth and look once more. It would still be there. He'd go to work, leaving the cup on the counter all day in hopes that it would have disappeared by nightfall. He'd return to a find it had not moved. What was different now was when he made two coffees, one grew cold. 

     One such Sunday afternoon, he sat in front of the television and tried to avoid glancing at the coffee cup. It had been two weeks since the events in the abandoned building and life still seemed to pass without him. Rebecca was still gone. The first week had been the worst, of course. Jason had tried every trick in the book for summoning ghosts, just like before. Nothing had worked. He'd told every stupid joke in the book. No luck. Somewhere in the back of his mind, a solemn truth had taken root: if Rebecca hadn't come back by now, she probably never would. He still made two two coffees, however. Just in case.

     Right on cue, there was a knock at the door. Jason sighed as he turned paused the television and quickly tried to make himself look presentable. Thomas had come over more often in the past two weeks, which Jason would've thought impossible considering how much time he already spent in the apartment. He walked over to the door and opened it. "Honestly, at this point, you should just move i--" Jason froze.

     The person at the door was not Thomas.

     Ronan raised an eyebrow. "Well, we have only spoken three times, but if you feel it is time to take that step in our relatio--"

     Jason slammed the door in his face without another word.

     He walked back to the couch and flopped down, ignoring the frantic knocking at his door. "Go away!" Jason shouted. "I'm not gonna open the door."

     "Jason, be reasonable," said the muffled voice. Jason turned on the television.

     "What was that?" he asked exaggeratedly. "I can't hear you!"

     "I--" Jason turned the volume up until it drowned out Ronan's knocking as well as his voice. Was it immature? Yes. However, Jason felt that he was entitled to perhaps one moment of childish selfishness, and he did not want to talk to Ronan. Why is he even here? He knew there was a reason, but he couldn't remember what it was. Had they made a deal? An appointment? Was it a sympathy visit? Jason sighed. Trying to understand Ronan was more likely to result in headaches than answers. He turned his attention back to the movie. It was about superheroes and whatnot, one Jason had probably seen before but couldn't quite remember. That was fine with him, of course. It just meant he got to watch it all over again. It was rather interesting, actually. He'd always been a fan of superheroes. As a matter of fact--

     There was a knock at the window behind Jason's head.

     Jason nearly jumped out of his skin at the sharp noise. He whirled to see Ronan sitting outside his window. Let me in, he mouthed as he tapped the glass. Jason gave him a wide-eyed stare. Finally, he pulled the window open. Ronan crawled through awkwardly, smiling happily. "Thank you! It is a bit chilly out there."

     "How--"

     "Fire escape." 

     Jason groaned inwardly. The fire escape. Of course. His own trick had been used against him. "Alright, I'll bite. Why are you here?"