Apartment 4C

"But I'm going on a date with him! That's progress!"

"You don't shit where you eat," Gabe said, shaking his head.

Ouch.

Jake swallowed heavily, looking down at his feet. He...He honestly thought this was a good thing.

Gabe saw the hurt in Jake's eyes and sighed. "I didn't mean to make you upset, Jake. I'm happy that you've been asked on a date, really I am. I just don't think dating someone from this building is a good idea,"

*

Jake barely slept that night, mind rolling with thoughts about this date. Was it a good idea? Was it a bad idea? Was Gabe right? It didn’t help that Alfie texted him only an hour after he left the laundry room with date details. That only made him feel worse. There Alfie was, planning out their date, and all Jake could think of was whether he should cancel it.

The pros were simple. Alfie was a really nice guy. A really hot nice guy. And he was sweet, funny, charming and genuinely seemed to like Jake. Jake hadn’t been on a date in a long time, let alone been with a guy in a long time, and this was the perfect opportunity.

The cons were huge though. Like Gabe said, you don’t shit where you eat. If something bad happened, Jake would still see Alfie around the building. If Alfie moved on, he’d see that too. And he barely knew Alfie – what if the guy was a creep? What if he murdered people in his spare time? He barely knew the guy, and Alfie barely knew him either.

So there it was, going on a coffee date with Alfie wasn’t a good idea.

The sleepless night didn’t make him feel any better about the situation, and it took him two coffees in his office to make his final decision.

So with a deep breath to calm his shaking hands, Jake pulled out his phone.

To: Alfie
From: Jake

Hey Alfie. I’m sorry to do this, but I don’t think going on a date with you would be a good idea. So I’m cancelling.

Oh God. What was that? That was so mean!

But his traitorous fingers sent it anyway. Within seconds, Alfie texted back. Jake couldn’t even look at his phone, just put it down on his desk. It buzzed twice more in the next 10 minutes, but he left it half an hour before looking at it properly, after the texts stopped. All three texts were from Alfie.

To: Jake
From: Alfie

What? Why? What’s wrong?

~

To: Jake
From: Alfie

Did I do something wrong? Was it too soon?

~

To: Jake
From: Alfie

Jake?


Jake whimpered, only feeling worse about himself. This was for the best though, right? It had to be.

“Knock knock,”

Oh God. Elliot. Jake forced a smile onto his lips, sliding his phone back into his pocket.

“Hey,” Jake said as calmly as possible.

“You look confused. Even more so than usual. What’s up?” Elliot frowned.

Was it that obvious?

“Seriously, dude, what’s wrong?” Elliot repeated.

He could tell Elliot, right?

“Alfie…the guy from Apartment 4C asked me out last night…”

“No way! That’s great!” Elliot interrupted, grinning.

“…but I texted him to cancel,” Jake finished.

“What?” Elliot said, confused.

“I cancelled the date. I’ve been weighing up the pros and cons this morning, and Gabe was right, it would’ve been a bad idea,”

“Gabe told you to cancel it?!”

“Not exactly, but he pointed out things that made sense. And I tried to think of good reasons that would outweigh the bad reasons, and I couldn’t. So I texted and cancelled this morning,” Jake explained.

Elliot just looked at him in disbelief, making Jake frown.

“What?” Jake asked.

“You’re making a mistake, Jake,” Elliot said softly.

“No I’m not,” Jake said shaking his head.

“Yes, you are. Since when does anyone listen to Gabe? Since when do you listen to Gabe? Going on a date with that guy would’ve been a good thing,” Elliot said firmly.

“But…”

“No. You shouldn't've have let Gabe get inside your head. He means well, but he was wrong,” Elliot interrupted, frowning.

“But…”

“No! Your date with 4C was none of his business! Gabe shouldn’t have got involved, he should’ve been happy for you,” Elliot said, frowning even more.

Elliot really didn’t agree with Gabe?

“I thought you would’ve agreed with him. You two are like an old married gay couple anyway,” Jake said with a weak smile.

“Oh please, if Gabe and I were married we’d kill each other within two weeks. Other than the fact we’re both straight, he’s too stubborn. Once he gets an idea in his head, he won’t stop, regardless of how anyone else feels. You know this better than anyone. Why do you think I like coming over to yours so much? It’s fun pissing him off,” Elliot mused.

“I was starting to think it’s because you’re having a secret affair behind my back,” Jake chuckled.

“I’m a screamer, sweetheart, you would have known,” Elliot smirked, winking.

Jake grimaced, making Elliot laugh. That was way too much information about his friend that he definitely didn’t need to know. At least his friends weren’t fucking though. That was a relief.

Then he remembered what they had been talking about, and his mood dropped right down.

“I don’t think cancelling the coffee date was a mistake,” Jake murmured.

“You didn’t give him a chance,” Elliot said softly.

Jake smiled weakly, shrugging.

“It’s better to disappoint him now than to disappoint him later,”

Elliot opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, trying to think of something to say, before he gave up and looked at Jake sadly. That didn’t make Jake feel any better, funny enough.

“Nothing I say is going to change your mind, is it?”

Jake just shook his head. What’s done is done. Alfie would find someone more exciting, more worth his time easily. And he’d forget about Jake. This was for the best. It had to be for the best, right?