The Roommate, Kiersten Modglin [best books for 20 year olds .txt] 📗

harshly. Was he truly just a bit awkward? Did he only want to be my friend?

Oliver sighed beside me and held out his hand again. "Anyway, I should get back to work, since I actually have a job to return to, but I just wanted to come by and say thanks again. You saved my ass."

"My pleasure," I told him, still in complete shock at what had transpired. With that, he walked back out the door, leaving me to watch Elias closely.

I couldn't quite figure him out, and I felt like there was something to that. Maybe there wasn't anything wrong with him after all; perhaps there was something wrong with me instead.

What had happened to me so that I thought anything good that could happen to me must be malicious? Why couldn't I accept the kindness I was being given? Why couldn't I have a conversation with a friend without being confrontational?

I wanted the answers to each question, because, even knowing what I knew, even hearing what I'd heard, I still had this unmistakable feeling as I stared at my roommate across the office.

Deep down, even as he smiled and laughed with my coworkers—people he hadn't known until a few hours ago, people he shouldn't have known at all—I couldn't quiet the whispering voice in my head repeating on a steady loop.

Run.

Chapter Ten

When it was time for Elias to work on my computer, he walked in my office, a giant grin on his face.

“Man, it’s no wonder you like working so much. Your coworkers are great.”

“They are?”

“Yeah, SarahBeth was telling me all about the Bake-Off she had with her grandma’s book club last week. Have you heard that one?”

I shook my head. “Sarah who?”

“SarahBeth,” he said, pointing out the window toward the dark-haired receptionist I had only spoken to in passing. “The one who sits next to Lenora.”

“No, I haven’t heard it.” In truth, I didn’t know Lenora either. Receptionists and interns came and went so quickly, I’d stopped bothering to learn their names a long time ago.

“It’s a hoot. You should ask her about it,” he said, wiggling his fingers as if he were on a keyboard already. “Okay, let me work my magic.” His head bobbed back and forth. “First trick, you out of your seat.” He threw both hands over his shoulders animatedly, grinning wildly. “Ope, here we go.”

As I stood, he took my seat in a hurry, and I pulled a chair up so I could watch him work. “What are you doing exactly?”

“Oh, just your basic tune-up,” he said. “We’ll start with a backup.” He turned to me, wagging a finger in my face dramatically. “It’s like I was telling Stewart, you always, always want to back up. You guys should be backing up more often, really. Then we’ll run a few software and operating system updates, check the hard drive for errors, run a malware scan, do a deep dive searching for any corrupted files, get rid of any lagging programs, do a quick defrag, and do a backup again. Bada bing bada boom, you’re back to work without knowing what hit you.” He dusted his hands in the air.

“Well, I don’t understand most of what you just said, but thank you for doing this. And for putting in a good word for Oliver. I know he appreciates it.”

“No prob, Bob. Any friend of yours is a friend of mine.” He winked at me again. “Okay, now let me get on with it. Stewart promised me the last piece of pecan pie in the break room when I’m done.”

“There’s pecan pie in the break room?”

He looked at me and laughed quietly, as if I was joking. “You’ve really got to talk to your coworkers more.” He turned back around, looking at the computer. “Oh, first things first.” He whipped open my desk drawer, riffling through it.

“What are you looking for?”

“This,” he said, pulling out a stack of sticky notes, swiping the top one off, and slapping it on top of the monitor.

“Of course. And why did you do that?”

He removed it, tapping his finger on the webcam. “Why did I do that?” he asked himself, rolling his eyes playfully. “Webcam, Wes. Need I say more?” He chuckled under his breath, placed the sticky note back over the webcam, and got to work.

As I turned and looked out over into the lobby, I noticed each computer now had a bright sticky note slapped upside down over their own cameras, and I couldn’t help smiling at myself.

What a weird little dude.

Elias left the office that afternoon just before three, pecan pie on a paper plate, and I headed out shortly after him. The entire office kept the sticky notes up long after he had left, and I found myself being talked to by coworkers I’d never spoken with before, all thanks to him.

As off as I found the entire thing, I couldn’t say I wasn’t thankful for what he’d done. Stewart was absolutely delighted by it all. He couldn’t stop thanking me, and Oliver, of course, was the most thankful of all.

As I left, I made the decision to do something nice for Elias to show him how appreciative I was, as I worried I hadn’t been as kind as I should’ve been when he’d caught me so off guard that morning.

So, I wanted to surprise him with something small but thoughtful, but all that I knew about him was that he liked computers, video games, beer, and food. Of those items, beer and food were the only things I could entertain the idea of being an expert on. I didn't know what the protocol was for one guy to buy his friend a gift, but it was important to me that I show him I appreciated what he'd done, even if I questioned his motives.

I stopped by one of my favorite restaurants downtown and grabbed us two of their best burgers with a side of house fries that I'd placed an