The Fix

Janice's apartment was a mere fifteen minute walk from the townhouse that Amy and Sam shared, but since he was bringing tools, Sam decided to drive. The day was warm and sunny, perfect for driving with the windows down. Having the day off, Sam made a mental note to go for a drive in the country to enjoy the weather when he was done helping his future sister-in-law.

As he parked the car and walked up to the building, lugging his tool bag along with him, Sam couldn't understand why Janice hadn't just asked the building super to take care of the door. Most likely she had been complaining about it to Amy, but wouldn’t actually take action to fix it. That’s what Janice was like. She complained a lot, but wouldn’t take action to make things better. Sam wouldn’t have been surprised if it had been Amy’s idea for him to go fix it, just to be helpful.

It was a good thing Janice was hot. Without that, Sam figured that she’d be pretty lonely, what with all her selfishness, her complaining, her general un-winning personality. As it was, she seemed to always be stringing some guy along, not committing, hit making them hope that they would be the one. Sam couldn’t blame them. Before he’d met Amy, before he knew how good it could get, he could have easily been one of those guys. Janice had exactly what he would have chased in those days: a gorgeous face, a fit body, and an ass that didn’t quit.

But those days were behind him. Younger Sam wouldn’t have understood, but older Sam had won the grand prize in Amy. Life wasn’t about chasing a hot piece of tail, it was about making a connection with someone you cared about, building a life together. That’s what he wanted, that’s what he had.

He pressed the button labelled with Janice’s apartment number on the metal box next to the entrance. It made an electrical buzzing sound, then silence, then…

“What.”

Janice’s cold, disinterested voice sounded through the tiny speaker. The sun was still warm, but suddenly it felt colder to Sam.

“It’s Sam,” he said, leaning in and speaking loudly, “Amy said you needed help with your door.”

“Finally.”

The door buzzed, and Sam swung it open, already dreading the task. Not that the work would be difficult, but rather that Sam knew he would leave feeling much worse than he did when he arrived. Janice had a way of doing that to him.

He took the elevator up two floors, turned left, sighed deeply, then knocked on her door.

After a moment the door opened. Janice had her cell phone to her ear, looked at Sam, then rolled her eyes and walked away, leaving the door open.

“Oh, it’s nobody, just my sister’s boyfriend,” she said to the person on the other end, “Yeah, I know, seriously,” a break as she listened, then, “No, he’s fixing my door. Took his time, too. I’ve been waiting all morning,” a break, “I don’t know. Maybe he’s, like, funny or something. Amy used to have such good taste…”

It went on like that as she walked into her bedroom and closed the door behind her, but Sam started tuning her out. It was better to ignore her. He didn’t know if she was being ignorant on purpose to hurt him, or if she really didn’t realize how hurtful she could be, but the results were the same.

“Bitch,” he muttered quietly, making sure that nobody could hear him.

The problematic door was the one to the bathroom. He had been told that it wouldn’t latch, but Janice hadn’t described why. Standing in the hallway, he opened and closed the door gently a few times, carefully observing how it was acting as it closed. Then he took out a screwdriver and adjusted the passage set. The screws that had held it in place had loosened slightly, allowing it to shift in place, keeping it from properly latching. After tightening it, he tried again.

Click.

Perfect. The doorbell latched perfectly. Looking at the jamb, he could tell that Janice had been rough on the door, slamming it, probably during her tantrums. Pulling some Loctite from his kit, he loosened one screw at a time, applied the adhesive, then tightened it up again, hoping that it would help the poor door survive Janice’s moods.

His phone beeped.

Hey baby, it was Amy, whatcha doing?

Just finished Janice’s door - easy fix

Honey! You’re amazing! I can’t believe I get to marry you. Such a manly man! I promise I’ll thank you properly tonight. In bed.

Sam smiled and put his phone away, knowing that Amy could make even the experience of helping Janice out feel better. The ring she had given him, the token of her affection, felt warm as he closed up his tool kit and stood up to leave. Probably psychosomatic, a subconscious reminder of his love for her.

But he didn’t want to stay at Janice’s all day. It was so rare that he took a day off work that he wanted to spend some time relaxing at home. If he was lucky, he’d be able to leave without saying goodbye, avoiding his future in-law altogether.

What he didn’t notice was that sometime in the last minute or so, Janice had gotten very quiet.