No, you live alone

No one is here to greet you. There are no lights on and there’s no music playing, no footsteps down the hallway, no appliances being used in the kitchen. Not even a robot vacuum humming along to itself. Instead, your apartment is quiet and dim. It hasn’t been hot enough yet to need the A/C running but you do keep the curtains drawn during the day. In almost a full year of living here it’s always been just you. Sure, sometimes you have an overnight visitor. Even the same visitor several nights in the same month. But nothing more serious has come from any of those hookups.

They hadn’t really been meant to get serious, to be fair. They were just fun while they lasted.

Tossing your keys into a dish by the entrance you first deposit your shoulder bag onto your kitchen table and then head to your bedroom. You pull open the curtains and slide open the glass balcony door to let in some fresh air. You pull your cellphone out of your pocket and toss it onto your queen-size bed. Then you turn towards your closet.

As you change into a more relaxed set of clothes you start to consider what you might get up to this weekend. The dating scene was starting to get a bit more lively with summer around the corner. You had your usual list of bars, pubs, and clubs that could be relied on for a chance to flirt and maybe more.

These thoughts are interrupted by the ringing of your cellphone. You pick it up from the indent it has made in your blanket and check the caller ID.

It’s Liz.