The Upside of Being Let Down (new adult romance - 1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

Angela
took the time to write me a quick note and taped it to one of the flaps on the
boxes.
    Sorry it had to come to this
    I mean, come on, right?
    What the hell was it all about? Did
she have to write it like that? Even in a quick scribbled note Angela sounded
like a bitch.
    I took out my keys and held them up.
I stared at my car key and I stared at a silver ring that I used to wear on my ring
finger in high school because I was just oh-so freaking cool. The silver
ring now had no purpose besides being a key chain for me.
    The problem was that there was no
other key attached.
    No apartment key.
    That was on my desk. In the
apartment. In my bedroom. Or my old bedroom, whatever the hell it was now.
    I dangled the car key in front of
my face and growled.
    I hated being so naive sometimes. I
could picture the apartment key on my desk. And of course, I could picture
myself walking out of the bedroom without the key knowing damn well that Angela
would be in the apartment to let me in.
    Why didn ’ t I grab the key before I left?
    Because I needed to get out.
    I needed to get out of the
apartment before Angela got home. I needed to find food, a place to think, and
then see Wicked at the strip club. It had been all planned out in my mind yet
none of it went according to that plan.
    I slipped my car key back in my
pocket and knocked on the door.
    I waited the standard three, maybe
four seconds.
    Angela didn ’ t come to the door.
    Angela didn ’ t say a word.
    I didn ’ t expect her to.
    I knocked again, this time longer
and added, “ Angela, it ’ s me. It ’ s AJ. Open up. ”
    I waited longer this time, nine
seconds.
    Still nothing.
    I knocked again, and again, and
yes, again I called Angela ’ s
name. I stuck my eye to the peephole, wishing I could see inside the apartment.
I didn ’ t know if she was
sleeping. I didn ’ t know if
she was huddled on the couch with her eyes shut, wishing me away.
    When I finally relaxed, I looked
back down to the boxes and shook my head.
    This was how she was going to end
it.
    Not even a quick conversation. Not
even a chance for me to tell her I could pay the rest of the lease out and
figure out my plan. All I needed from that point was a job and maybe some focus
to get back into college. It wasn ’ t
that big of a deal. It certainly wasn ’ t
worthy enough to come home and find boxes outside the door.
    Then it hit me.
    My desk.
    My top right drawer.
    I fell to my knees and started to
scramble, digging through the top box.
    I found papers, notebooks, stupid
little pin up things that I had collected. Some comic strips out of the Sunday
paper. Random articles that meant nothing to life.
    “ Where
the fuck is it? ” I mumbled.
    I took a breath and looked at the
door. I started to wonder how strong the door was. How much force it would take
to take it down. I could do it. I could get inside.
    Shit... I wished I could call the
front office.
    The emergency number.
    Tell them I was locked out.
    Nope.
    I couldn ’ t do that.
    The apartment was solely in Angela ’ s name.
    We did it that way because she had
a job. I was just a roommate. A no-name. A nothing to the lease and the
apartment.
    Fuck.
    I lifted the box and dumped it.
    Stuff scattered and I didn ’ t care. I spread papers across
the floor, wanting to cry. I wanted to let it all go. I wanted to scream my way
into a different time and different place.
    But then I saw it.
    Small.
    Black.
    Everything.
    I touched it and curled it in my
hand. I kissed my hand like some moron, looking up at a cracked ceiling that
looked ready to let go any second.
    I sighed.
    I laughed.
    I looked at the mess on the floor
and started to clean it up.
    I put the small black flash drive
into my pocket and vowed never to let it go again. That drive had something on
it that I had been working on for a long time. Something that could be
something or something that could be nothing. Like life. Go figure.
    After cleaning up the mess I made,
I stood and turned to