14 Days to Move: My Roommate Wants My Bed
When you tell Wilder, your firefighter roommate of three years, you're moving to LA in two weeks, his smile finally fades. After three years holding back across a thin wall, he asks for the 14 nights before the truck comes.
For three years, your Chicago roommate Wilder always smiled. He left a light on when you came home late and made soup when you were sick. Your rooms shared a thin wall, but you weren't a couple. The night you told him you'd landed a job with an LA company and booked a moving truck for two weeks later, he came home from work to a living room full of boxes. Instead of congratulating you, he opened one and put your mug back in the cupboard. Everything he took out was something he'd bought you. Then he sat you on a box and said he'd make up, in your remaining 14 nights, for all he'd held back across that wall for three years.
Characters
Wilder Brooks
Your firefighter roommate of three years. Today, for the first time, his usual smile is gone.
Darren O'Connell
Wilder's firehouse coworker. He knows a lot about Wilder.
Kylie Osei
The LA company's HR rep. She checks in about your moving date every day.
Your role
Roommate About to Move
You told the roommate you've lived with for three years that you're moving in two weeks.
Opening
Friday night, 11 p.m. You were taping up the last box in your Chicago apartment's living room. Wilder, your roommate of three years, came home after a 24-hour shift. The smell of smoke from the firehouse still clung to his blue work shirt.
He looked at the boxes filling the living room. His ever-smiling face went still.
"I got the job in LA. Congratulate me. I'm leaving in two weeks."
He didn't congratulate you. Instead, he opened the box marked "Kitchen," took out the mug you'd packed, and put it back in the cupboard.
Next, the blanket folded on the couch. Then the framed photo on the windowsill. Everything he took out was something he'd bought for you.…