The kitchen had a little island that jutted out and there were four bar stools there, so I assumed that was the dining area. Behind the stool was a white sofa that faced the fireplace, above which a TV was mounted. There were twinkle lights on the mantle that wove between candles and little decorative pumpkins.
“Your place is really cute,” I said as Sonia led me across the plush white rug on the living-room floor and down the hall to the bedrooms. Well, hall was generous. It was more like a three-by-three-foot cut-out where each wall held a door that led to bedroom A, bedroom B, and the bathroom.
Sonia pushed open the door on the right. “This would be your room. It has morning sunshine that lasts until about three in the afternoon this time of year but six in the summertime. You can use the furniture or I can find a way to move it out if you have your own.”
“I don’t have anything,” I said. “I moved out here the other day and only brought bags of clothes with me.”
“Ah, well if this works out, consider all this yours.”
I marveled at the white dresser, silver-trimmed mirror that rested upon it, and the matching nightstand and queen-sized bed with powder-blue bedding and too many pillows than I would know what to do with. It was the sort of room I’d dreamed about sleeping in but never believed I would ever have—especially not in New York where something like this seemed so out of reach.
Sonia showed me her room next. It wasn’t big, none of the rooms were, but it was nicely appointed. Her walls were yellow and all her bedding and carpets were royal blue, red, orange, and green. It felt Moroccan and vibrant and it smelled like sage and pumpkin.
The bathroom was simple. A candle was burning, naturally, and the shower curtain was forest green with white painted pine trees across three quarters of it. Everything was squeaky clean and the shower wasn’t overflowing with shampoo bottles or other hygiene items like my old shower had been when I lived with Madison and Riley.
Sonia had her shit together. It was obvious.
That was the kind of energy I needed in my life.
We left the bathroom and Sonia sat me down on her sofa. “So, what do you think? I know it’s a bit small, and it might feel like we’d be on top of each other all the time, but with proper boundaries, it’s not too bad. I like to cook and clean and I would expect you to clean up after yourself as well. A messy living environment gets under my skin and makes me anxious, so I can be a bit of a pain in the ass about it. But if you can look past that, we can make it work, I’m sure.”
I looked around the living room and imagined what it would be like to wake up in the morning and sit here basking in the morning sun with a cup of coffee in hand.
“I think your home is really lovely,” I said.
Sonia grinned. “Thank you.”
“I understand if you need some time to think about this but I don’t. I want to live here.”
Sonia blinked at me. “You do? Just like that? What won you over, the candles?”
I laughed. “I like the candles. But mostly I like you. You seem really down to earth and I think we would do well living together. I respect my surroundings and I don’t like messes either. I’m pretty quiet and low key. I like to read. I can be a bit of a homebody when I feel drained, so it’s not out of the norm for me to spend a full week at home only leaving the house for groceries. If that’s tedious for you, I understand.”
“Not at all, so long as we can do movie marathons together.”
“Where do I sign a lease agreement?”
Sonia laughed again and rocked back against the cushions on the sofa. “Oh, I’m relieved you like it. I’m really sick and tired of meeting oddballs and weirdos who want to live with me. When can you move in?”
“As soon as possible.”
“Today?”
“Seriously?”
Sonia nodded excitedly. “Absolutely. I’m sick of living by myself, and to be perfectly honest, I can’t afford the rent here on my own. You seem really awesome and I think you’re right. We’ll get along swimmingly.”
“Wow, um, yeah, okay. Let’s do it. I don’t have much stuff to move. Just three large suitcases. I can head back to my motel and collect them now and make my way back.”
“Do you have a car?”
I shook my head.
Sonia popped up off the sofa. “Let me drive. We’ll grab pizza on our way home and make a day of it. I can help you unpack or stay out of your hair. Whatever you want. Do you need anything else?”
I shook my head and looked away as I started to sniffle. “No, this is perfect.”
Sonia sat back down. “Are you crying? Did I say something wrong?”
“No, you didn’t do anything.” I ran a thumb under my eyes to wipe away tears that I desperately wished I could control. “It’s just a relief to have found a place and a good person who’s willing to take a chance on me. I just moved to the city, and my first day here was really rough. I thought I wasn’t going to be able to stick it out long enough to make it work here. But some good fortune has fallen into my lap, and coming across your ad online was the icing on the cake.”
For the first time since leaving Waynesville, I could see a glimmer of what my future might be like. And so far, it looked like I had a promising job and a roommate who I was convinced would become a close friend in no time.
Sonia put her hand on my shoulder. “I know the feeling. But whatever is supposed to happen will happen. I’m just as relieved to have you move in. Now let’s go, girl. We don’t have time to waste!”
Sonia pulled me to my feet and we hurried out the door like giggling schoolgirls. She told me all about the neighbors and the building on the way down, explaining that the only person to watch out for was Mr. Carruthers, who lived on the first floor and whose unit was right beside the mailboxes. Apparently, he had a tendency to try to debate politics with anyone and everyone, and his opinions were, as Sonia put it, quite polarizing.
She took me down to the parking garage where she had a little white car parked. It was called a Colt and it was old as hell. The passenger window shook in its track whenever we exceeded a speed of forty miles per hour and the radio only played one station while the rest were fuzzy.
So we drove with my hand on the window to keep it from vibrating, listened to French music, and played twenty-one questions.
And it wasn’t bad at all.
Chapter 12
Wes
My phone buzzed in my pocket on Thursday night while I was sitting across that table from Walker at a new cigar lounge in the city. Normally, I would never check my phone at dinner, and I still resisted the urge to do it now, but I was definitely tempted.
So when Walker got up to use the bathroom, I pulled my phone out of my jean pocket and opened the message. It was from Briar. We’d exchanged numbers after Thai food so I wouldn’t have to aimlessly drive around hoping I’d find her walking the street. Had that not worked, I would have popped into her new work at the cafe, but she didn’t start there until Monday, and that seemed like an awfully long time to have to wait before I could see her again.
The text message was only pictures. Four of them, to be exact. The first three were random shots of the apartment she and I had looked at online over Thai food. And the last was her and another young woman standing in the living room with their arms wrapped around each other grinning at the camera.