On a grim, cloudy Sunday morning, Tiana is lying on her completely made bed in her organized room. Tiana is scrolling through her checklist. Tiana, softly to herself aloud, reading the list,  “let’s see… I’ve done the dishes, emptied the garbage bin… what am I forgetting? Oh wait- I haven’t done the laundry yet. Suppose I should do that before I forget!” Tiana gets up from her bed and grabs a laundry detergent pod from her desk, grabs her wallet from the backpack and places it in her pants pocket. 

        Tiana exits her room, closing the door gently behind her. Tiana enters the laundry room in the basement of the apartment and removes the laundry bag from her back and throws her load of laundry into the washing machine. 

     Then, she shut the washing machine door, took out her card and inserted it into the washing machine’s card reader. The first time the card reader declined. Second attempt, also declined. Tiana for the THIRD time takes her card out and re-inserts it. The card reader finally approves and Tiana presses the option for “power wash.”  The machine makes a grinding noise as it’s starting up.  Tiana then walks back upstairs. 

   Thirty-seven minutes slowly pass by and Tiana goes back to the laundry room in the basement of the apartment complex. She opens the washing machine door following the dryer door. 

    She grabs her clothes from the washer and throws them into the dryer all in one go, then closes the dryer door. 

    Tiana inserts her card into the dryer’s card reader. The card reader chimes, meaning the payment has been approved. Tiana grabs her laundry bag, heading back upstairs. 

      A slow painful hour has passed by and Tiana goes back downstairs to the basement to pick up her clothes. She opens the dryer door and puts all her clothes in the laundry bag as fast as possible, throws the bag over her shoulders and heads upstairs. She unlocks her apartment unit door with her key, opens it and closes it gently behind her. She spends the next 10 minutes folding her clothes.  After folding her clothes, she spends the rest of the day watching TV. The next day, the same weather as the previous day… grim cloudy skies and high winds, Tiana is at the mall with her friends, Alicia and Taylor having a girl’s day out eating corn dogs. 

   Tiana glances over at the tables by the water fountain and notices her neighbor  from down the hall, Collin. Tiana looks down at the table embarrassed. Alicia notices. Out of concern, Alicia asks Tiana “Why are you looking at the table like you’re going to be sick?” Tiana responded with embarrassment, “it’s because my neighbor, Collin- the weird guy is sitting right over there within glancing distance, meaning he’ll probably see me!” Alicia replies reassuringly “he won’t see you, T. I guarantee it.” Taylor, stuffing her face with a corn dog adds slightly muffled “besides, isn’t he moving out soon anyways?” 

     Tiana replies “yeah- at the end of this month, I believe his lease is up. I really wish it were sooner!” 

    Tiana quickly looks at Collin and notices him getting up from his seat, walking to the hot dog stand to place his order. The cashier behind the host stand  asks Collin, “what’ll it be today?” Collin replies, “I’ll have two jumbo fries and two hot dogs.” The cashier responds in a friendly manner,  “thanks for choosing to eat with us. Have a great day.” 

      Collin lightly grabbed the receipt from the cashier who handed it out to him. 

 Collin went to sit back down in his chair close to the water fountain. Taylor whispers “I  personally find it creepy that he somehow managed to find out our whereabouts. I think he knows we come here, he just doesn’t make it obvious when Alicia and I are around. It’s even more disturbing to know he’ll only talk to you if you’re alone, Tiana.”

    Alicia replies annoyed, “He probably follows us to every damn location we ever go to, in hopes of finding you alone- kind of like what he’s doing today.” 

          The cashier announces that Collin’s order is ready. Collin gets up from his seat, grabs his bagged order from the host stand and exits the mall. Tiana and the girls let out a sigh of relief. Tiana speaks, sounding annoyed “now you know why I was embarrassed earlier. But I agree with you and Alicia. He probably does follow us and doesn’t make it obvious when you are here.” The next day with slightly better weather, Tiana  and her friends are hanging out in Taylor’s apartment unit, which is the floor above Tiana’s. Alicia asks Tiana “So, tomorrow’s Valentine’s day- got any plans?” 

      Tiana responds bummed “not really. I don’t really celebrate the holiday- It only lasts a day, so what’s the point?” Tiana then adds “But I bet Collin’s made plans to ask me out. If he does, will you be my backup in case he gets weird or just embarrassing- good lord, he does not get I don’t like him.” Taylor speaks reassuringly “don’t worry, girl, we got your back.” 

    In the apartment parking lot, Collin is hanging out with his friend, Jonah.

         Collin bends to pick up a rock from the ground to fidget with in his hands. Jonah looks over at Collin. Jonah asks Collin hopefully “so, did you get a date for Valentine's Day? The club across the street is doing a couple’s dance on Wednesday the 14th. That’s happening tomorrow night.” 

    Collin lets out a disappointed sigh and responds “no, but I think I’ll ask Tiana to go out with me.” Jonah bursts out laughing “dude, you do know she’s a classy girl, right?” Collin replies “yeah, so what’s your point?” Jonah replies with a smirk on his face “my point is that she won’t EVER agree to go out with a guy who does nothing but play video games all day!” Collin, not buying Jonah’s comment,  sharply replies “don’t be absurd! I can make her like me. Besides- I have muscles and a buzz cut!” Jonah, confused “your point being?” Collin responds confidently “I can be gentle and kind to win her over. That’s my point.” 

   Jonah, completely baffled, “I’m sorry, I’m not following your plan to make your neighbor down the hall like you. But, good luck trying not to get punched!” 

      Jonah bursts out laughing again and Collin shoots him a dirty glare. Collin, playfully, “alright- don’t make me throw this rock at your eye.” 

      Jonah replies, “0kay, okay- I’ll stop teasing you- calm down!” Collin sighs and then places the rock he was fidgeting with back on the ground. 

     Jonah gets a message on his phone from his group chat of work friends. He pulls the phone out of his pocket to check it. The message he received reads, “we’re going clubbing tonight- want to get totally hammered?” Jonah replies “Sure lol. Meet up at the bar 40 minutes from my house… How does 9:15pm sound?” A work friend messaged the group chat “sure- lets get on that booze train and chug!” 

     Jonah tells Collin “look, I gotta meet up with some work people tonight. Wish I could stick around. I unfortunately have to skedaddle.” Collin, bummed, replies, “will I see you soon?” Jonah says hopeful, “yeah- I’ll let you know when I have the time to hang out.” Collin watches as Jonah walks to his car, gets in and drives off. After Jonah’s car disappears round the corner, Collin heads back to his room. 

    He wanders the hall hopefully getting the opportunity to chat with Tiana. Eventually, he sighs and goes back to his apartment unit. He decides to spend the  evening playing video games on his desktop computer. 

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

     Tiana and the girls are on the floor of Taylor’s apartment, still chatting about Valentine’s Day plans. 

Taylor, curious, “so, what do we want to do tomorrow?” Tiana asks, “why don’t we go to the mall tomorrow, do some shopping, maybe eat in the food court?” Alicia and Taylor nod in agreement. TIana stands up from sitting on the floor then lets out a big yawn. Tiana yawns  again and announces, “Well, I am exhausted- I’m going back to my apartment and am going to bed- it’s getting really late.” 

    Alicia gets up from sitting on the floor and tells Taylor, “I’m with T. it’s getting late.” Taylor asks Alicia and Tiana before they exit, “What time you guys wanna meet up at? Do we wanna leave ‘round 10:45 am tomorrow?” 

     Tiana replies contently, “sure, that works!” Alicia exits Taylor's unit first and holds the door open for Tiana. Tiana says, “night, Taylor- we’ll see you tomorrow!” Alicia then gently closes Taylor’s door. Taylor responds, “night!” as they close the door.  Tiana asks, “Alicia, you wanna walk me to my apartment?” 

    Alicia agrees, “sure! I’d be delighted!” Tiana and Alicia take the stairs to Tiana's floor, the first floor. 

    They arrive at Tiana’s  door. Tiana unlocks the door with her key. Tiana says good night to Alicia while opening the door and entering her unit.  Then, Tiana closes the door gently behind her, not wanting to be a disturbance to the neighbors. 

    It’s officially Valentine’s Day and the girls are getting their nails done to treat themselves. Tiana says “Ah… nothing like making your nails feel good, right? I needed this.” Taylor then spots a store out of the corner of her eye. Taylor asks Alicia and Tiana “when our nails are done, we should get some cinnamon rolls?” Alicia replies “ooooh, that would be amazing.” Tiana also replies, “hell yes, sister!” 

One hour later and the girls exit the nail salon with their nails looking better and way more even. They also decided to get some  additional nail polish. They head to the pastry shop that’s right across the salon. They enter the shop and scan the area for a place to sit.  

     Tiana, happy, pointing out the empty table in the corner, “oh! There’s a table in that corner area!” They walk to the table and place their stuff in the seats. They walk up to the host stand. Taylor places her order first, then Alicia, Then Tiana. After they place their orders, they go back to their table, in the corner of the pastry shop. Taylor asks Tiana, “So, Tiana, do you think he’ll ask you out?” tiana replies, “god, I hope not. If he does, I’ll only agree and then ditch him. I don’t want to give him the impression that we’ll ever be an item.” 

      The host at the host stand finally announces the girl’s order after a lengthy wait. It was crowded since it was a holiday, and they all wanted to buy a treat for someone. The girls walk up to the stand where their orders are placed in to-go bags. They exit the pastry shop with their stuff and their treats since the shop was too packed for their likeness. Taylor suggests an idea, “hey, I’m getting pretty bored. You just wanna take these back to the apartment?” Tiana replies, “sure. I’m getting pretty bored of being here, too.” 

   Alicia responds, “me too.” So with that idea in place, they all walk back to Taylor’s car. They get in, and drive off.  After 15-20 minutes of driving, they pull into the apartment’s parking lot and exit the car with their nail polish and pastries.

      Collin is nowhere in sight because he’s spent most of his day doing nothing but playing video games all day. Tiana skips up to the door and unlocks it with her key. She holds the door open for Alicia and Taylor. Alicia and Taylor enter the apartment and Tiana lightly closes the door behind her. Tiana and her friends then head up the staircase to the third floor where Taylor’s apartment unit is. They arrive at the door and Taylor unlocks the door. She holds the door open for Tiana and Alicia. 

    They enter and Taylor enters the apartment, closing the door behind her, but the door makes a slight bang when it closes shut! Tiana, Alicia and Taylor all throw their stuff into one pile, only taking the pastries they ordered so they could eat them while sitting in a circle on the floor. 

    Taylor, curious “so, what did you guys order?” Tiana replies, “nothing special. Just a chocolate croissant.” Alicia follows up with, “I got one of their heart-shaped cookies.” They all dig in and begin eating. Then, a knock is heard on the door. Taylor says, “stay here, I’ll see who it is through the peep-hole.” Taylor gets up and checks who’s knocking. Taylor, nervously “Umm… Collin from the first floor is here. How’d he even figure out where I live?!” 

    Tiana groans, “Oh, no- probably wants to ask me to the couple’s dance happening at the club across the street from 8-10pm tonight!” 

     Tiana gets up and sets her food down on the floor. She opens the door. Tiana, annoyed, “oh, hi, collin. Did you forget what floor you live on? Do you have short term memory loss? This isn’t my or even your apartment.” Collin laughs, “oh, you’re so funny. I was hoping you’d go to the couple’s dance with me tonight.” Collin smiles hopefully.  Tiana replies, “interesting proposal, let me converse with my friends.” 

    Tiana shuts the door hard enough to make Collin flinch. Tiana, embarrassed, “I was right- he was going to ask me to the dance.” 

      Taylor looks up at Tiana whispering, “tell him yes, but on the condition he leaves you alone after!” Tiana opens the door again. Tiana, agreeing with Collins'  idea, “I’ll go.. But you have to promise to never bother me again, or at least until your lease is up.” 

 Collin nods his head and replies, “I can agree to those terms. What time should I pick you up?” Tiana, confidently, “you’re going to pick me up 10 minutes before, and my friends are coming along because they’re my ride or die. They also don’t trust a guy with a beard and a buzzcut… which is what you are.” Tiana closes Taylor’s door, hard, leaving collin to flinch again. Then Collin walks away back to his unit to pass time. 

Much later, tiana is back in her room, adding finishing touches so she makes an impression, but not enough. She finishes putting on lipstick and hears three knocks on the door. She checks her phone for the time and sees it’s 10 minutes to 8:00pm. She opens the door and sees Collin. She sees him wearing sweatpants, a leather jacket and a a white turtleneck. 

   Tiana giggles sarcastically, “wow, you look fashionable.” Collin, not picking up on the sarcasm replies, “thanks! Turtlenecks are ideal for this kind of weather. Shall we?” Tiana replies, “just give me a second.”

     Tiana quickly pulls out her phone from her pocket. She texts Taylor and Alicia “ok, I’m going to the club- meet me there!” Taylor and Alicia reply, “we’ll be there soon!” Tiana closes the door behind her and puts the phone in her pocket. Tiana, confidently tells Collin, “alright- I’m ready.. Let’s get this over with.” Collin reaches out to grab Tiana’s hand, but tiana quickly pulls her hand away. 

    Tiana says sharply, “No, we’re NOT  doing that.” Collin replies confused, “okay, I suppose.” Tiana and Collin then exit the apartment building. Collin brags about how he'll make this Tiana’s best night ever. Tiana just tunes him out until they both enter the club. Tiana notices her friends in the dance room. She excuses herself to go talk with them. 

   Taylor asks Tiana “so, how’s your date?” Tiana, in a playful tone responds, “he thinks turtlenecks are fashionable.” She then tells Taylor and Alicia, “just look over there and see for yourself.” she points at collin, who’s standing on the opposite side of the room. Taylor replies, “that turtleneck does not go with that leather jacket.” Alicia replies playfully, “yeah, the outfit is sad.” Tiana  giggles and responds, “yeah. That is totally unfashionable. He needs someone to pick his clothes out for him. It seems he can’t do that for himself.” 

   Collin grabs a drink from the punch bowl, then scans the room and finds Tiana and her friends in the very back of the club. He walks over to their table and asks, “will you come and dance with me?” Tiana agrees. Tiana tells her friends, “we’re hitting the dance floor, it looks like.” 

   Tiana and her friends just stand around awkwardly on the dance floor and see collin’ terrible dancing. He looks over at Tiana and tells her, “I’m pretty good, right?” Tiana replies with fake enthusiasm, “yeah… totally! You’re the best dancer here tonight!” Taylor responds, mildly embarrassed, “this is weird.” Tiana and Alica look over at Taylor and nod in agreement. 

   Much, much later, the dj announces, “alright, it’s time to close out the dance with a slow dance. So find a partner!” corny slow-paced music begins playing. 

   Tiana and her friends have had quite enough of Collin, so Taylor says to Collin, “will you excuse us? We need to use the bathroom.” They act like they’re walking to the bathroom, but as soon as they see Collin get distracted by some other friends he hasn’t seen in a while, that’s when the girls make a break for it, quickly exiting the door, retreating to their apartment. Tiana looks over at Taylor as they make their way to the third floor and says, “Thanks for getting me out of there.” Taylor replies, “no problem, I could tell you were getting annoyed with him.” Taylor and the girls arrive at the apartment. Taylor opens the door, they all enter and Taylor gently closes the door.