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Do you want me?
Itdidn’ttakelongfor Malik’s landlord to hear about his predicament. It took even less time for him to serve Malik an eviction notice, asking him to leave the apartment by the end of the month. Instead of waiting for the impending date to arrive, Kent had invited Malik to live with them before his lease was up. That way, he’d said, there would be more time to make arrangements for his belongings to go into storage or be sold. Malik eagerly agreed, but Birgitta knew it was for different reasons than easing the load.
She was standing on the inside of her front door, leaning her head against the wood. Luckily she wasn’t tall enough to be seen through the windows embedded into the top of the door, otherwise, Malik would have known she was there.
On the other side of the door, she knew Malik was standing out in the cold with all of his worldly belongings packed into a couple of bags. Birgitta closed her eyes as she tried to prepare herself. She didn’t know how long Malik was going to be staying with them for, nor did she know what this visit would have in store. Would she look back on this visit with regret, or as the start of something wonderful?
Birgitta would’ve liked more time to figure out her feelings on the matter, but her hand was forced. Kent had opened his fat mouth and invited Malik to live with them. This wasn’t how she imagined her relationship blossoming with Malik, but there was nothing to be done about it now.
Her cold, numb hand raised up to the door handle and clasped it loosely in her palm. Craning her neck around, she stared down at her hand. All she had to do was tug on the handle. The door would swing open and Malik would be in her life for the foreseeable future. She wasn’t ready to take this step. Her mind told her this fact, over and over and over, until it was the only thing she could hear.
Malik rapped his knuckles against the wood, just to the right of Birgitta’s head. The sudden vibration through the wood startled her, causing her to lean away from the door.
Sighing, she stepped away from the door and allowed it to open. It swung past her face, barely missing her nose. Malik was revealed to her, bathed in the orange glow of the porch lights. A small smile formed on the corners of her mouth at the very sight of him. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach. The feeling made her anxious. She hadn’t felt this way about a man for years, and now she was bringing him into her home, right in front of her husband.
“Gitta,” Malik smiled.
He said her nickname so easily as if they’d been friends for years. It made her uneasy. Malik didn’t seem to notice. His whole body relaxed as he looked at her. His shoulders immediately lowered, letting his arms droop down by the weight of the bags in his hands.
There was nothing else for Birgitta to do but step away from the door and allow him inside. Just as she scooted away, Malik came through the door, banging his bags against the door frame. Kent would know that Malik had arrived now. The sound traveled all the way through the house, sending shakes and shivers through the very walls.
As Malik set his bags down on the floor and began to take off his shoes and coat, Birgitta heard Kent’s footsteps thundering down the stairs. It didn’t take long for him to join them, hovering in the kitchen as he waited for Malik to come into the house.
“Let me show you around,” Kent said proudly, waving his arms toward the end of the kitchen.
Malik’s large brown eyes looked confused. Instead of protesting like Birgitta expected he would, he nodded gratefully and followed Kent for a tour of the house.
The men talked to each other pleasantly enough, but that didn’t matter to her. She knew this was going to end badly for everyone involved. How wouldn’t it? Either she was going to start to resent them both for not being able to do what she wanted, or Kent was going to find out about the weird little thing going on between them.
Either way, it wasn’t going to end well for anyone involved. As she stood there, alone in the kitchen listening to their voices breeze through the house, she wondered how she was going to be able to separate these two parts of her life. And, more importantly, how was she going to make sure that Kent stayed in the dark, completely oblivious to everything?
By the time they got back into the kitchen, Malik looked completely at ease. He was joking and laughing with Kent, smoothing over whatever tension had been there.
“All that we ask is that you contribute to the house,” Kent said, stuffing his hands into his jeans pockets.
“Contribute?” Malik asked, his heavy, foreign accent causing his voice to lilt and waver.
“Doing things around the home for me or Gitta,” Kent clarified happily. “And to help with your portion of the bills.”
Malik’s eyes centered on Birgitta’s face, drifting over her features. “I can help around the house,” he said purposefully.
The words fell out of his mouth like silk, rolling off the tongue to mist into the air. Birgitta felt her knees go weak beneath her. She grabbed hold of the chair in front of her to steady herself.
“Great,” Kent exclaimed. “Do you want help bringing your bags up?”
Both men took the bags upstairs, vanishing for a while. Birgitta just floated around downstairs, not sure what to do with herself. Kent came down the stairs a couple of minutes later. Birgitta’s legs rushed over to him as her nervous hand raised to pick at her bottom lip.
“What did he say to you?” Birgitta whispered.
Kent frowned and shrugged his shoulders. “Nothing,” he said. “What’s wrong? Did he say something to you?”
Birgitta looked to the floor and shook her head, feeling her hair brush against the back of her neck.
“Then what is it?” Kent asked, before pausing for a short moment. He leaned forward and lowered his voice even more. “Did you not want him to stay here?”
“No,” Birgitta said quickly. “No, no. It’s just . . . Are you sure you want to do this?”
Kent sighed. “What is it?” He asked, sounding more agitated than before. “If you don’t want him here, tell me now.”
