Light Bulb

Jenny felt around in the darkness, looking for the bathroom switch. Her fingers finally brushed against it. Click. The room stayed dark.

She tried again. Click. Nothing. Click. Click. 

“You’re gonna break that thing if you keep flipping it like that,” Greg commented.

“It would have to work first before I could break it, Greg,” she snapped.

“I told you, the switch is fine. I just need to replace the light bulb,” he sighed.

“Then why don’t you change the light bulb, Greg?!” She asked angrily.

“Hey, calm your ass down. I’ll get to it later,” he grumbled.

“Later?!” She said incredulously. “No, you told me you’d ‘get to it later’ three weeks ago when I first told you this thing was broken. You said you’d ‘get to it later’ last week and the week before when I reminded you about it. You said you’d ‘get to it later’ yesterday when I mentioned it. I’m done with ‘later’ fix it now!”

“Christ, Jen, it’s a light bulb,” he said angrily. “Honestly, why does it even matter? You sit down to piss. If anything I should be the one upset by it.”

“I get it, Greg, you’re more important than me,” she snapped. “Then why don’t you fix it for yourself, if nothing else. You’re good at doing things for yourself.”

“Oh God, here we go again,” he said, throwing his hands up in defeat. “Yet again, Greg is the selfish asshole. You know, Jen you’re just as capable of changing a light bulb as I am. Why don't you do it yourself instead of expecting me to do it?”

Jenny shook her head and scoffed. Fine, if he wanted to be that way, then she would be too. She marched down the hall to the closet.

“What, you’re just gonna leave now?” He called after her.

She opened the closet and pulled out the stepstool. She stretched on her tiptoes to reach the small box on the shelf. She grabbed it and the stepstool and walked back to the bathroom. He glared at her as she did. 

“What the hell are you doing?” He asked.

“Changing the light bulb,” she said, shaking the box in his face.

His face flashed with anger, but she ignored it. She set up the stepstool and climbed it. Even in the dark it only took her a minute to take out the old bulb and replace it with the new one. She stepped off the stool and went over to the switch. Click.

The bathroom flooded with light. Greg covered his eyes with his arm as it blinded him. When he finally uncovered them again Jen was smirking at him with her arms crossed.

“Wow, that was easy,” she said, waving the old bulb. “You’re right, I should do more things myself. A hell of a lot quicker than waiting for you to do it. Remind me, what do I keep you around for exactly?”

“Glad you can always find a new way to make me look like shit, Jen,” he snapped, stomping down the hallway.

“Oh, no, no, no. We are not done with this conversation,” she said, following him. “I didn’t make you look shitty, Greg. You did that to yourself. I’ve been asking for three weeks for you to change the damn light. You told me to do it myself. So I did. Now I’m the bad guy because it turns out I don’t need you to do something? Because I’m not helpless and dependent on you?”

“Well, if it was such a simple task, why did you wait three weeks to do it yourself?” He asked, whipping around to face her.

“Because you said you would!” She shouted. “That’s the way it always is. You tell me not to do something, that you’ll ‘get to it,’ then when you never do it I’m the bad guy for nagging you about it. If I didn’t nag you about things then you’d never do them. This makes it more than obvious.”

She waved the light bulb at him again before tossing it into the bedroom trashcan. He scoffed and rolled his eyes. He hated it when she got like this. All this drama over a stupid light bulb. He laid on the bed, trying to ignore her. It wobbled unsteadily. He’d used a book to prop up the broken leg a couple months back. She smirked at him.

“My, my, is something wrong with the bed I keep telling you to fix?” She asked sarcastically.

“Alright, that’s it!” He said, jumping up. “What the hell is your problem today, Jen? Picking fights over light bulbs and bedframes? Why are you being like this? Why are you being so damn petty about furniture?”

“It’s not about the furniture, Greg!” She shouted. “Damn the furniture! It can all shatter into a million pieces, the lights can all burst, I don’t care about that. What I care about is you never do what you say you’re going to. ‘I’ll get to it, I’ll get to it.’ Well, when does ‘it’ finally come?”

“Hey, I deal with things when they’re important,” he snapped. “Sorry, I don’t waste all my time with stupid shit. Tell me when I have something important to do, then I’ll do it right away.”

Jenny just stared at him silently. He wasn’t sure why, but the air seemed to change. Any anger he felt cooled off with the icy aura that now filled the room. Jen didn’t look angry anymore either, her face was blank. The silence filled the air.

“So, you’ll do something immediately if it’s important?” She said coldly.

“Well... yeah,” he muttered, still thrown off by her sudden change.

“Am I not important then?” She asked.

“Huh?”

“Where’s the ring, Greg?” Her voice stayed flat, but tears filled her eyes.

He looked at the ground guiltily. This again. Couldn't she try to be more understanding about it? He was doing his best.

He sighed. “I’m working on it, Jen. You know that. Things are a little tough now but-”

“You’ll get to it?” She finished.

“Wait a minute. That’s not fair,” he said defensively.

“Do you know what today is?” She asked.

“Umm, Friday. Right?” He said, confused.

Tears slid down her cheeks silently. She smiled sadly and wiped them away. She shook her head and turned away a moment. When she finally looked at him again her eyes were empty.

“I guess I should have known you wouldn’t remember. After all, it’s not important. Right?” She said, giving a dry laugh.

She waited. Whether it was for a response or him to remember he wasn't sure. What was special about today? She answered that question for him.

“Three years ago today you asked me to marry you,” she said quietly. “You said you wanted to do things right though. That you weren't the kind of guy to do something half-assed. That when you got me a ring, then we could get married. It’s been three years, and I still don’t have a ring, Greg.”

He felt a pit in his stomach. “Jenny, I-”

“Don’t,” she said, shaking her head, “just don’t, Greg. You were right.”

She went over to the closet and opened it. She pulled out a suitcase. It was already packed. He felt frozen in place.

“I-I was right about what?” He asked numbly.

“If I want something done, then I should just do it myself,” she said, pulling the suitcase towards the door. “I want to get married, I want to be someone’s wife, I want a family, and I’m not getting any younger. Three years, Greg. I gave you three years. I waited patiently, I didn’t nag you about it. Just like you wanted. I guess it’s time I did something about it now.”

Jenny walked past him, he followed her out silently. When she got to the front door she paused. Neither of them moved. They stayed that way a moment. Greg waited. Maybe she changed her mind. A shaky sigh finally escaped her lips. 

“Now would be the time if you were going to stop me. If you were going to try to change my mind,” she said softly. “I guess you’ll get to that eventually too.”

She opened the door and walked out. She slammed it behind her as she did. Greg stood frozen in place. He stared at the door as if she might walk back in at any moment. That she would cry, tell him she loved him, and that she wanted to make things work. That she wanted to wait a little longer. 

But he knew she wouldn’t. She’d waited on him long enough. The realization finally hit him. He meant what he told her, he would get to it later. It looks like "later" just came too late.