To The Rude Guy in Apartment Five - J. S. Cooper Page 0,34
it himself. He was strumming the guitar and singing. I giggled as I heard him cursing as he played some notes wrong, but then he started singing again. I finally recognized the song as “Someone You Loved” by Lewis Capaldi.
Jagger had a nice timbre to his voice, and I smiled as he sang. It was quite nice listening to him, but then he changed the song and I heard him singing about liking big butts.
“I hope you like my serenade, Magnolia,” he said through the wall and I froze. “I know you’re listening.” How the hell did he know? Was there a camera in my apartment? Was he spying on me? “I know you, Magnolia, don’t look so shocked.” And then he chuckled and started singing again. I wanted to walk away from the wall, but I couldn’t stop listening as he started singing “Good as Hell” by Lizzo.
“Oh, no, he didn’t,” I whispered to myself, a huge grin on my face as I giggled. He was still my funny Jagger. He could still make me laugh.
“If you want to see me dancing to the song, feel free to come over,” he said when he stopped singing. “I got your note, Dr. Watson, and while I have no idea what you’re talking about just yet, I’m going to figure it out.”
He tapped the wall, a series of short taps and longer ones. I frowned, trying to figure out what he was doing. “Once more for the lady in the back!” he yelled. I listened carefully as he tapped again.
It sounded like, “ditdit,” “ditdahditdit,” “dahdahdah,” “ditditditdah,” “dit,” “dahditdahdah,” “dahdahdah,” and “ditditdah”. I made up my mind to look online and try and figure out this Morse code thing. I was about to take the glass away when Jagger spoke once more. “Feel free to think of me tonight as you pleasure yourself. I’ll make sure to think of you too.”
Ugh. I stepped away from the wall and glared at it. “Pig,” I muttered as I walked back to the kitchen. It always came back to sex with him … though I had to admit that it did warm my blood to know that he would be thinking about me.
I woke up to my phone ringing, and I groaned. My head was pounding, and I hadn’t gotten much sleep. “Hello?”
“Magnolia?” Anna’s voice sounded too loud in my ear. “Are you still in bed?”
“Yes, I’m still in bed.”
“Still sleeping?”
“Obviously not.” I yawned. “You just woke me up.”
“How’s the new job going?” She paused. “Did you quit already?”
“No, I didn’t quit. I’ve got a doctor’s appointment today, so I'm not going into the office.”
“Everything okay?”
“Yeah, it’s just my annual.” I sat up and stretched. “I guess I should get up anyway. How’s it going in New York?”
“Same old, same new.” She paused. “Guess who I saw yesterday at a comedy show in the Village?”
“I don’t know. Jim Carrey?”
“Jim Carrey?”
“Jennifer Anniston?”
“Magnolia!” Anna giggled. “Not anyone famous.”
“Then how am I supposed to know?”
“I saw Doug.” She paused. “As in, your ex-friend and ex-lover.”
“He was never my lover.”
“I know, but it sounds more dramatic to say that.” She giggled. “I mean, platonic boyfriend doesn’t exactly sound scandalous.”
“We weren’t completely platonic. We did kiss. What was he doing in the Village? I thought he moved?”
“I guess he was in town for business and was there with a colleague from work. This cute guy called Brandon. I was kinda hoping for an introduction, but he wasn’t exactly trying to help hook me up.”
“Oh, Anna.” I laughed. “You’re too much.”
“What? I have needs.”
“I have needs too,” I pointed out. “Get a toy.”
“I have many toys. How’s your dating going?”
“Meh, my date from the other day canceled, and I haven’t been on the app since.” I got out of bed and headed to the kitchen to make some cereal. “Anyways, how is Doug? I assume you called to tell me about him?”
“Well, I called to talk to my best friend, but yeah, he’s doing well. He looked good, seemed happy, showed me some pics of his wife and kids.”
“Nice.”
“He mentioned you …” Her voice trailed off. “He knows that Jagger lives next door to you.”
“You told him?” I stood still as I held the box of Frosted Flakes in my hand. “Anna!”
“No, I didn’t tell him. He already knew. I guess Jagger told him.”
“Oh, wow.” I licked my lips nervously. “What did he say?”
“Not much.” She paused. “Well, that’s not completely the truth. He said something that I thought was interesting.”
“Oh?”