2024-07-26 “And Then There Were Two” by Merritt

A lot has happened since our run-in last night with that… person in the alley.

Jenn was upset by what he said—or didn’t say—and was slow getting up, so Emma and I ended up in the living room. Her iPhone received a text, which is odd because only her father, Jenn, Ailana Geven, and I even know she has an iPhone. The alert was from her bank. Also odd. We didn’t know she had a bank.

It said she needed to download a new version of the banking app. Also odd. She didn’t have an old version. We figured out how to do it and logged in. Beyond belief, she has a lot of money.

Based on what happened to me and Jenn, I took a guess. Her 2024 self had some money from the dish-washing job. The time shift multiplied by 4 or 5 and added a zero.

About that time, there was a knock at the door. It was the apartment manager. He was dodging some movers as they carried a sofa down the hall. It was a fairly long conversation that sums down to this.

He had learned that 3 of us were living here and the health department would not allow that. But the neighbors beside me had to break their lease and he wanted to know if I / we wanted to rent it. Given Emma’s newfound wealth and her hope to get a job, we agreed.

We talked to Jenn about it and she thought it was a good idea, but she wasn’t very enthusiastic. We moved forward as she retreated back into the bedroom. It was a hasty decision, but it made sense.

Emma said she’d still like to spend time in my place and “make meals” for the three of us. I said that sounded great.

We were just getting our heads around the new situation when Jenn came out and said. “I can’t stay here. It’s too much for now. I thought we’d get here and find out why. I don’t want to just sit around waiting on a shadowy figure to show up and explain that we have to wait longer. I need some air.”

She said she was going to take some time and go to the mountains for solitude.

So… In the course of a day, we went from 3 people in 1 apartment to 2 people in 2.

It has been a lot for the 2 of us to take in. But, we’ll make it through together.