Meetings at the Threshold

My roommate and I have this simple thing we unintentionally do every day. We pass each other in the living room at 6 am. He’s going to bed and I'm getting ready for work. Soon we nicknamed each other little night owl and early bird. Completely as a joke because why not.

This simple action is how we make sure we both are still alive. Seeing as we live life at opposite times of the day. I work during the day as a secretary to a random CEO of a prestigious company. 

My roommate, Jerald, is a complete night owl. He plays games all night and streams them while he does so. I don't know how big he is but he still makes quite a bit of money off it. 

When I met him, I thought I was in the wrong dorm. Me, a 5 '2 small woman walks into a beautiful cheap apartment and sees a gorgeous, fully tatted, brunette, 5' 8 man unpacking boxes in the kitchen. That man looked like he was made by Michelangelo himself. That's how beautiful he was. Well minus his height. When I learned that he was a streamer I was kind of nervous. I was afraid of how loud he would be or if he was a faceless streamer or not. Then I helped him set up his room and realized that he had acoustic paneling and I sat in for his first stream there and watched him play some random game. 

Later I learned that I couldn't hear him when he streamed and he was more quiet during the week when I was asleep so he wouldn't disturb me. How sweet of him. Honestly I learned to enjoy his company. On weekends I would stay up late with him. Soon we started meeting in the threshold between the kitchen and living room. We said a few words to each other. Simple words like: good morning or a simple hello. Other times when we felt more comfortable around each other we would have conversations while I got ready for work and him for bed. 

We had a routine. Soon even on weekends we started to meet each other there. No matter what time it was. If it was when he woke up and I was getting home from work or when I was waking up and him going to bed. We always saw each other there. No matter the weather or occasion we always talk to each other there. 

Well until Jerald started to bring over his latest fling, Veronica. She was the straw that broke the camel's back. She always had him out of the house at all hours of the day. Soon he started to bring her and her friend Clayton over. While Jerald and Veronica were doing some random couple stuff I became close to Clayton. Where he had confessed that he and Veronica weren't just close friends. He and her were messing around. He was the man that girlfriends tell their boyfriends to not worry about. 

When I heard that my heart broke for Jerald. A couple weeks later Veronica left him for some random rich dude. She also did something to Clayton. He had decided to come clean to Jerald about what had happened. After that Jerald left his room less and less. I barely saw him anymore. He even stopped meeting me at our spot. 

That had broken me. I had always looked forward to seeing him. It made me sad to see someone who was a living ball of sunshine turn so broken. I tried to cheer him up but it didn't work. So I gave him space. After a while he started to appear in our spot again. Slowly but surely he healed from her. He was happy again. And I was happy for him

That's when I realized my feelings for him. I loved him. My roommate. The dude who once tried to beat me with a frying pan because he thought I broke in. Or the man who held my hair back as I puked my guts out onto my bedroom floor. He was there when I had my heart broken by some random guy. He had been there for me more times than me to myself. He was there for me no matter what. He would always be there for me no matter the weather or time of day. 

But it all came to an abrupt stop when I was gone for a work trip and I got a call. The call that everyone dreads… I got the call from the hospital that Jerald was in their ICU. I flew home as soon as I could. But I was too late. I was whisked away into a room. 

A room that had three chairs, a table, a doctor, and a detective. I looked at his parents confused as they gave me the same look. I sat down next to them. We learned what happened.. Jerald had a psychotic episode. He attempted to kill someone. And then himself. He was in critical condition. But he was hopefully going to pull through. 

Our hearts broke when we heard what happened. We never knew he was capable of this. Or that he could have anything like this happen to him. We were for once in our lives terrified of what he could do. But our fear of what could happen was all about to come true.when the doctor told us that Jerald was coding. 

He had died that night. Right before all of our eyes. He was in between the threshold of life and death.. But death had won. The threshold between day and night. He was officially dead at 12 am on January 1st of 2020. He died on that day in between a decade and a whole year. The threshold of the entire 2010s and 2020s. That was our last meeting at any threshold. My last time seeing my little night owl.