In the morning Jules and I wake up to knocking. Banging. It’s Ashley, at my door.
Jules doesn’t know who it is at first. I know right away.
She’s standing at the top of the stairs, banging on my door, screaming for me to open up. This isn’t the first time this’s happened.
But it is the first time this’s happened when Jules slept over.
“Who is that?” Jules has my fur wrapped around her. She covers her breasts.
“That’s—“ I stand up. “I’ll go see.”
My apartment is small. It’s two rooms. It’s a main room with a kitchen off the side of it, then a bathroom, then my bedroom. When I go out I pull the door of the bedroom to.
I’m wearing sweatpants and I look through the spyglass.
Ashley has her pajamas on, carrying a blanket, and she’s got a makeup kit set on the steps behind her. It’s like one of those fishing tackle boxes but for makeup. It looks like she’s been camped out here a while.
She knocks on the door, right in my face.
I would really like to pretend she isn’t here, but we’re going to have to leave the house sometime. Maybe she’ll leave.
She steps to the door—she looks angry—and she bangs on it with her palm and forearm: slap slap slam!
“Ash,” I say. "What the fuck.”
"Oh good!” she says. “You’re there! I saw your car. I was worried. Are you ok?”
I wait about ten seconds before I say, “I’m fine, Ash.”
“Can I come in?” She looks angry still. Like she had a season pass, and yet the park won’t let her in. She knocks again.
“Ash, please.”
“Can I please come in? Why is your door locked?”
“It’s locked because I lock my door.”
"I need you to come over,” she says. "I had a spider incident."
I look at the floor, at my sweatpants, at my bare feet. I don’t have a shirt on.
Jules is looking at me. I turn around. She’s there, hot body wrapped in fur, standing in the bedroom doorway.
With my hand I make the sign for "one minute" and I put my hand on the doorknob. I wait for Jules to go back inside the bedroom (she does not look happy). With my other hand, I take the chain off.