Welcome to Envy Park by Mina V. Esguerra Page B

understand. It’s
okay."
    I wondered how much Kuya Alan knew about me. Or him.
Or everyone. If he wasn’t at the door, he’d be at the reception
desk where the CCTV monitors were, or maybe the security staff
talked about us on their breaks or something. Even with the dozens
of people living in the building, everyone had a routine, and it
was easy to spot when the routine had changed. Like when people
stopped being seen at the gym together, or coming in at midnight
after a really late dinner.
    Not that it would be ethical to gossip, but we were
all human. We all wanted to know.
    "Do you know if he’s been making
plans to move out?" I asked, not even pretending to be
casual.
    "He hasn’t requested for anything,
no."
    "Okay. Great." Two more weeks
then, at least. Maybe. Sometimes I would try to listen for telltale
noises coming from the unit below mine, but he was either super
quiet or the walls were that thick.
    Liam pulled at my pant leg and I noticed that the
hour and a half that Sarah usually asked for, it was up. I had
never had to remind her before, but I sent her a text then.
    "On my way," was her
reply.
    When she appeared fifteen minutes later, she looked
frazzled and annoyed, not rested like previous times.
    "Did you fight with the husband
again?" I said as a greeting. "I told you not to do stressful stuff
on your ‘me time.’ You have ninety minutes to
yourself..."
    She sighed. "I know. It’s my
fault. I attract stress, I guess. Thank you so much, Moira,
really." Then Sarah surprised me by giving me a tight, long hug,
the kind that nearly cut off my breath. When she pulled away she
had tears in her eyes, but she didn’t tell me anything about
it.
    I recognized the smell that was on her, though.
     
    -/\/\/\-
    SARAH
    I. CAREER AND FINANCES
    + Doesn’t have to work or worry about money
    + Can afford NV Park
     
    II. FAMILY AND FRIENDSHIPS
    + Adorable son
    + Relatively near family and friends support
system
    - No time to socialize because of toddler
     
    III. LOVE AND RELATIONSHIPS
    + Married, shouldn’t worry about finding someone
    - Distance not so fun
    - Distracting oneself with attractive neighbor, not
so smart
     
    IV. PERSONAL FULFILLMENT
    + She wanted to be a stay-at-home mom, and she is
one
    - Seems like it’s not enough
     
    -/\/\/\-
     
    JM was the kind of guy who wore men’s cologne, and
you could tell from just being around him. Sometimes when it was a
hot day and you were in an elevator with sweaty people it was a
blessing just to sniff something pleasant. Other times it ruined
the moment, introducing itself as an artificial thing in the
environment and then overwhelming everything else.
    So it freaked me out a little that I might have been
enabling an affair by watching the toddler. Every time I watched
the toddler, freaky stuff might have been happening.
    Ugh. Eeeh. Bleach, for my brain.
    He invited me to dinner that night and told me about
the show. They just shot the pilot, and it seemed to have gone
well.
    "Do you still need me?" I said, as
I ate my mozzarella-stuffed burger, trying to get the thoughts of
where he was just hours ago and what he was likely doing out of my
mind.
    "I think so," he said earnestly,
because he was nothing but earnest. "They might want me to do an
interview next time, so I can’t do as many takes."
    "Why are you so nervous? You sound
fine when you talk to me."
    "I go blank with other people.
Strangers."
    "You chose a funny career for
someone who does that."
    JM shook his head. "I didn’t
choose this, but it was offered, and people need me to do well
here."
    Oh finally, something to talk
about other than the possibly hooking up with a married woman.
"Does your family live here?"
    "We’re everywhere. My dad’s in
Australia. My mom is here. They’re not together
anymore."
    "Sorry about that."
    "It’s not a big deal. But my mom
really needs her own money, so... well."
    "Does she work?"
    "Yes, but there’s a lot of debt.
This isn’t the most secure job, but at