'This is nice, El. You can see the Mondriaantoren building from here.'

Roan pointed out the window to the line of skyscrapers. Elke fixed themselves a bottle of water as her boyfriend wandered around her apartment for the first time.

He had finally driven over while saying he was taking her out. It made her rush to get ready and excitedly showed him the few touches she had done to the place. Some boxes still sat here and there, but ultimately, Elke was moved in and was pleasantly surprised by Roan's interest.

'The street is quiet, too. It's so convenient to get to work that I could walk if it's a nice day,' she said and stood waiting. Roan turned, showed her a smile, before putting a hand against her back to steer her towards the door.

'You've got a prize, for sure. I'm so proud of you,' he said. Elke paused in locking the door to look up at him, eyes wide and twinkling.

'Really?'

'Of course!'

Her heart swelled and she stood on her toes to kiss his lips. Roan reacted a moment too late but it didn't matter. He was finally showing some interest in her again and Elke was hoping it would continue. She didn't mind riding in his loud car that was parked in the underground carpark if Roan smiled, kissed her and took her to places other than car meets and his garage.

While waiting for the lift, Elke talked about how her new job role was going. It felt good to say that she was running her own division. It also felt good to know that Roan was listening, his eyes only on her and his hand holding hers tightly. Maybe things were falling into place and she felt like she didn't need to consider being single again.

The ding sounded and they went to step inside. But two bodies prepared to step out, making them pause.

'Joost!' Elke chimed, tugging Roan out of the way.

'Hey, Elke.'

Her blonde neighbour and his friend stepped out of the lift. Turning to face the couple, the two men matched the height of Roan while Elke broke the trend.

'Roan, this is my neighbour, Joost,' she gestured between the two with a smile. 'Joost, this is my boyfriend.'

'Nice to meet you, man,' Joost held out a hand to shake even though he didn't want to. He tried his best to not look at the girl who looked so pretty. Instead, Joost kept eye contact with the man who struggled to smile politely.

'Likewise.'

Roan shook Joost's hand without the friendliness he once had. In a jumper, gilet and yellow glasses, the man who Elke said was her neighbour was already in Roan's bad books. Being on the same floor as his girlfriend was one thing, already knowing each other was another. Roan made sure to shake Joost's hand firmly, almost painfully, before letting his hand fall back by his side.

'This is Tantu. We were just heading out for a drive, actually,' Joost used the hand that Roan shook to gesture to his friend beside him. He was slender and wore a hat, his dark eyes emitting a friendliness that Roan severly lacked.

'Drive? You race?'

'Yeah, man,' Tantu nodded. 'Do you?'

Elke's smile was slowly slipping at the mention. She squeezed Roan's hand but he took no notice.

'Yeah.'

'Is yours the WRX downstairs-'

'Let's leave them, Tantu. They're going out,' Joost intervened and his friend turned to him with raised eyebrows. It was unlike Joost Klein to cut off any talk about cars and racing, especially when someone like the frowning man in front of them was acting the way he was. Joost was one to take any opportunity to put a cocky man in his place.

Elke squeezed Roan's hand again and pressed the button for the lift to come back. It tore her boyfriend's attention down to her. She thought that she had lost him almost as quick as he had come, but when his hazel eyes softened, Elke relaxed.

'See you later, Joost,' she said and the blonde raised one hand as a goodbye. It was enough to get Roan into the lift and the couple disappeared.

Joost knew what was coming but tried to prolong it. He turned towards his apartment and fiddled with his key. The heavy presence of his friend behind him made his heart race almost as fast as it had done when the lift doors opened a few minutes ago. But with its race came the same dive that he felt when he saw the man that Elke had complained about over champagne.

'What was that?'

'What was what?'

'Um, the pretty thing with the cocky bastard?'

Joost opened his apartment door while glaring over his shoulder. His friend threw up his hands and sighed,

'Sorry. Pretty girl with the cocky bastard.'

Rolling his eyes, they stepped into his apartment to grab what they needed. Joost continued being quiet as he knew the worst was yet to come. The only thing that would make it worse was if they heard the revving of a Suburu WRX as it obnoxiously exited out into the street. And just like that, Tantu was at the window watching it skid around a corner.

'What a tool,' he scoffed before looking back to his friend. 'She's your neighbour and she's got a WRX boyfriend.'

'Yeah, what about it? Why are you so interested?'

'Because there's no way he's going to be letting you live anywhere near his girlfriend with your Impreza and your panty-dropping smile.'

'Why should I care about what he thinks?'

Joost was agitated as he grabbed his cigarettes off the table. He flipped the packet open to see if he needed anymore and heard the rattle of bottles as his fridge was pulled open.

'And why do you have champagne in here?'

He groaned. A week ago, Joost liked having his friends over. They kept him company and he was able to have a laugh with the only people he trusted with all his heart. But as soon as apartment 408 went up for sale and a moving truck came and went, Joost knew there were going to be changes with whose house they had gatherings at.

'You had her over, didn't you?' Tantu closed the fridge, having forgotten why he had originally opened it. He stepped out of the kitchen and around the sofa. Joost shoved his cigarettes into his pocket and took his time in looking to where Tantu was waiting. Without a smile or an objection, Joost silently answered the question.

'You are unbelievable.'

'It's not what you think-'

'Oh, really?' Tantu laughed in bewilderment. 'You just shook hands with your neighbour's boyfriend. I would have kicked his teeth in regardless of who he was, but with the way he was acting, I'm surprised you held yourself back.'

'She came over because he didn't come around when she got promoted at work. She brought the champagne and introduced herself. That's it. That's all that happened. Can we go now?'

'Sure-'

'And we're not catching up with them. You see a WRX, you turn the other way. Got it?'

Tantu's shoulders sagged and Joost's accusing finger stayed pointing. He knew his friend well so he had to shut down any of his ludicrous ideas. Although Tantu was the more reserved of their group, he was just like the rest of them when behind the wheel. Joost couldn't guarantee that more speeding tickets wouldn't be added to their pile if Tantu saw the unsmiling man and his girlfriend at a red light. Joost also wasn't sure if Elke would speak to him again, either.

'Let's go,' Joost said and headed for the door. 'Stunts is already there.'

Tantu said nothing but wore a smirk that Joost despised.

---

Roan mentioned Elke's neighbour four times on their date.

Whenever she thought she was getting away from the topic, Roan would absently stare at her as she talked. It made the lunch difficult but at least he wasn't going on about the modifications he's been wanting to make.

The hardest part was keeping that Friday night a secret. Elke didn't want to say that she had gone to Joost's apartment. She knew it would set him off. It would be the perfect opportunity to bring up the fact that she only did it because Roan hadn't come around. But it wasn't worth the argument. Roan was good at turning things around, or as Arabella liked to call it, gaslighting.

Roan's jealousy seemed to bring out the gentlemen in him. Elke was used to being dropped off and walking up to her door on her own. But for the first time in a while, Roan parked his beloved WRX and walked with Elke to the lift. His shoulders were squared for the entire ride up to the 4th floor and even more so when they stepped into the hallway.

When Elke saw him glance towards 406, she stopped with a sigh.

'This is ridiculous, Roan. He's not even home!'

'I know. His car wasn't downstairs.'

She wanted to scream out. Roan couldn't remember her favourite colour, her mother's name or her birthday, but he already knew what car Joost drove. Elke was bitter at knowing Roan had eyed the car that morning unaware of who drove it.

If she was one of his friends, he would have voiced some jabber about the rims or modifications. But now, Roan was going to make a thing of seeing the Impreza every time he came to her apartment, which at one point, she begged for him to do. Elke was sure that he was going to be around much more often and this time, she wasn't sure if she liked that.

'You know what?' he finally looked at her from the green door.

'What-'

'Tell him to come on Saturday. There's someone I want him to meet.'

He didn't even kiss her goodbye. He headed back into the lift and Elke watched him go with her jaw hanging open. The ounce of chivalry Roan had shown was long gone as was the excitement that Elke had been feeling.

When they first met, Roan was sweet, kind and charming. His job on the construction site was respectable and he made Elke feel special. His friends were nice, clapped him on the shoulder when introducing her, and made gatherings an inclusive affair.

His car was something that Elke liked at first. He drove it modestly and she felt good knowing that other people envied them in the black WRX. But when his friends got bored of their polite chats with her and he was let go from the construction site, Elke noticed the changes in Roan's behaviour.

Dates were few and far between. He wanted people to see her by his side but not group him with her. That was unless a good-looking man looked their way, then Elke was suddenly under his arm. He got another job at a factory but Elke didn't know how often he was actually there. From what she gathered, Roan was in his car more than he was on the assembly line.

Standing outside her apartment, Elke needed to make a decision. She had her job, she had her apartment, could she do without the company? Was it even company worth keeping?

But as always, Elke pushed the thoughts aside. It was too depressing to think about. It made her feel even worse when her mind drifted to her neighbour.

When she next saw him, she would be able to have a conversation with the preemption of Roan's 'invite'. Joost was probably already going to the meet considering he had been at the last. Elke noticed that the same people usually went to the events but she would ask him anyway.

Just so Roan knew she had listened, she thought to herself. Definitely not because she would be able to interact with Joost.

With a sigh, she headed into her apartment.