I put a name to the unidentified number who had been texting me this evening and made a quick call to Luisa to tell her what happened before I went back inside the building. My legs shook a little as I climbed the steps to the third floor and my palms grew sweaty as soon as I reached my door but I forced myself to calm down and gingerly twisted the knob to assess the damage in my apartment.
There was no electricity but the moonlight was enough to illuminate the inside. I let out a huge breath as relief washed over me when I saw that apart from the broken window, nothing seemed to have been affected by the fire. I was about to get the broom to sweep the pieces of glass on the floor when I heard a loud knock.
"Good evening, Miss Conway," Mr. Richards, the stubby building manager, greeted as soon as I opened the door. "I'd like to speak to you for a minute."
I gestured for him to come in but he shook his head in response. I stepped out into the hallway to hear what he had to say instead.
"You see, the upper floors were heavily damaged and I was told by the fire department that it's unsafe for everyone to stay here until they have thoroughly checked the place," he said in a slightly rushed tone. "I would like to ask you to move out immediately - just for a few weeks - so we could proceed with the inspection and the renovation."
Did he just say a few weeks?
I opened my mouth to say that I couldn't move out, that I had nowhere else to go and I didn't have extra money to spare so I could rent somewhere else for a few weeks, but I saw the impatience in his eyes, it was like he felt that the task of informing everyone about the situation was too troublesome, so I just nodded at him in reply. I was pretty sure he had his own problems to deal with; I didn't need to burden him with mine.
He smiled slightly and tapped me on the arm. "Good, good. Thank you for your cooperation. I'll notify you as soon as everything's done."
I watched him go before I went back inside. The shattered glass scattered on the floor were calling out to me to clean them up but I slumped against the closed front door instead, the relief I felt earlier had dissipated into a thick cloud of dejection.
The only family I had that mattered were my Aunt Carol and her daughter Luisa but both of them wouldn't be able to take me in. Not only did Aunt Carol lived in a one-bedroom apartment, she was also thousands of miles away from here. Luisa was nearby but her dorm wouldn't allow me to stay with her for weeks.
I didn't have a boyfriend, or even an ex-boyfriend, that could take care of me. I didn't have any friends. There were people around me who would talk to me occasionally but I was never really close enough with them that they would let me stay at their place for the time being.
I literally had no one.
I felt the tears brimming in my eyes but I held them in. Crying wouldn't help me think of a solution, it would only make me feel worse than I already did. That was why when I noticed my phone, which I left near the rubble, lighting up I decided that it would be better to divert my attention somewhere else, anywhere else, even for a little while instead of wallowing in misery.
That time, if I had known that I was going to make a decision that would turn my life upside down, I probably wouldn't have been in a rush to grab the first sign of hope that lit my world. Maybe then, I could have save myself from the overwhelming pain and heartaches that was about to come.