As Beverly and Payton watched the movers take the last box out of her room, Payton looked over at Beverly with sadness in her eyes and said, "You know, it just seemed like yesterday that you came here, how am I supposed to live without you? Are you really sure about this?"
Beverly smiled, she knew her friend had been having second thoughts about her moving away. If it were up to her, she would never let Beverly out of her sight, but Beverly knew that if she had to make a responsible life, she needed to be o her own. Besides, her new job was far away from here and it would have been very stressful if she left from here everyday.
She leaned in for a hug and said, "Come on, Payton, you know how much I need this move. Look, I'll text you everyday and call you everyday. And you can always come visit, you know."
Payton signed and said, "I know, but can I just hug you for the last time?"
Beverly gave in and they held each other for a while till Payton's phone buzzed and she excused herself to take the call.
As Payton left, Beverly checked her purse—she was still wearing the purse she had on for the party last night. That's when she noticed five hundred dollars in them. She knew it didn't belong to her but she suspected that it probably belonged to Payton. Payton was known to keep cash around the house. She also thought that Payton must have slipped it in there when they were hugging. She knows how Payton liked to be sneaky about money. She wondered if she should ask Payton about it but living with Payton all these months had thought her never to bring up the money that Payton left for her. The last time Payton had left money by her bedside, Beverly asked her about it and she told her she'd rather not discuss the money she leaves for her, and that she knew Beverly would be embarrassed getting the money, and might even insist on paying back—which is usually also very embarrassing so she preferred this method since it saved them both from embarrassing each other. She smiled and closed off her purse.
She tried to remember what had happened last night but her memory was very hazy. She felt like she needed to rest. She even thought that if she slept, she might remember what happened at this party. Crossing her fingers, she went back into Payton's apartment to finish her breakfast and get on the road, the landlord to her new place has already called her to find out when she was coming because he wanted to know when he should be coming to the building with the key to her new place.
...
Moving had been peaceful, the ride felt very peaceful. Beverly had taken a cross-state bus and she made sure not to sit behind or in front of any passenger with a child—not that she hated children, she loved them, but she'd rather not be around them when she was going on a trip or ride longer than thirty minutes because they would get bored and turn their frustrations to the next adult.
When she got to her building, she checked her phone again to make sure it was the right address that the landlord had given to her and it was. She looked at the five storey building and felt a rush of contentment. The apartment had been a little bit above her budget but she knew with her salary from her new job, she would meet up with the rent—also because the rent was quarterly, not monthly.
She called the landlord and he told her that he was some blocks away from the building but told her the code to get into the building. When she got in, she saw the doorman just sitting in his duty post, on his counter. He looked like he was in his last thirties. He smiled when he saw her and it made it easier for her to approach him.
"Welcome, Miss..." he began
"Charles. Payton Charles" she replied with a polite smile.
"Well, Miss Charles, welcome. My name is Felix, how may I be of service to you? Do you have an appointment with anyone here?"
"Um, not really, I am—"
"She's here for the vacant apartment on the second floor." A short orange-haired man interrupted as he came up from the entrance door.
Felix nodded and said, "Okay then, you are welcome"
"Thank you Felix"
The landlord took a glance at Beverly and said, "Come, come, let me take you to your new place"
Beverly followed him and when they got to the elevator, he murmured something to himself and pressed the button.
"Sorry?"
He turned to her and looked confused by her comment but he waved it off and just then, the elevator door opened. Then he turned back at her, smiled and said, "It was broken this morning and I called the guy that fix, to come fix it"
"Uh huh"
"Yeah. If anything spoil at your place, just let me know. Handyman in this town are fast and do a good job" He was proud of himself and his accent was interesting to Beverly. She liked his accent.
"Thank you very much, Mr Ernesto"
"Please, call me Ernesto. Mr Ernesto is my father."
Then, the elevator door opened and they both got out.
Beverly could not tell if he was being serious or if he was just saying the cliche line. Either ways, she didn't care. She was still very tired and just wanted to sleep. Just then, her phone rang and when she checked, it was the movers. They called to tell her that they had arrived at the location. She wondered why she arrived before them even though they left Payton's before her.
When the landlord opened the door to her apartment, they both got in and he started showing her around the apartment. It was a studio apartment —not the fancy one, but one big enough and good enough for her.
He took her to the kitchen, turned on the water to show her everything works.
"There's even hot water. We always have hot water." he said proudly
She smiled and nodded politely.
Next, he took her to show her the pantry, then the bathroom, and finally her room. As soon as she walked in, she smiled, the room was as big as she wanted, and the window hung from the top to the bottom of the room, that was a red flag for her but she decided that she could use drapes or make out something when she'd fully move in.
They walked back out to the living room and then Ernesto asked her, "Do you want to change anything?"
"Not really, I might, eventually but not anytime soon."
He frowned and said, "Well, what don't you like?"
"Just the window in my room, it's all the way to the floor. it's not private, you know, I don't think—"
"Bonita, it's not that bad—look, I'll show you something" he took her to the window in the living room and said, "Look at everyone in this neighborhood, they all have the same kind of window, nobody here really cares about your apartment or what you have going there, it's an urban design. Plus, you are a beautiful woman, why would you even be afraid to show off ."
As soon as the last sentence came out of his mouth, Beverly frowned and said, "mm—hm, I don't like it."
She could not fathom the idea that people could watch your every move, is urban and trendy. It was stalker-ish and she was not going to deal to with. In fact, that made her decide that the first time she was going to do was to block the view with something, maybe her bed stand or a cupboard, but that window would not be left unattended to.
Ernesto felt defeated that he could not convince her.
"Okay, so, do you want me to take the window down? That will cost you extra money."
"No, I'll just block the view with something, like maybe a cupboard or so."
Ernesto then nodded, he was glad it was going to be her own problem. He really didn't want to alter the design of the apartment, everyone else who had seen the place did not care about the window, but her. The last person who lived here, loved it too much that he used to walk around his house naked because the apartment opposite their building has a bunch of attractive girls in it. A few months later, some of the girls became frequent visitors in their building, everyone could tell that he was sleeping with the girls from the other building, till he moved out two months ago. Ernesto did not like Loiu—the nude tenant, but was okay with him because he was very unproblematic. He hoped Beverly would be the same, he did not like tenants that stressed him more than he could take.
He headed to the door and said, "It looks like everything is great here."
"Yeah, thank you Ernesto"
"You're welcome. And, you're also welcome to the building. We don't have much rules here, just basic hygiene rules and the door code changes every month. So, ensure that you get the new code from Felix every month."
"Alright"
"Here's your keys" He handed over her key and asked, "The people moving your things, when they get here, just let me know."
"They are already downstairs"
"Great! Let's go let them in then"
They both went out of her apartment, as she came out, she saw a familiar face. She did not know why the face looked familiar, especially since she had never seen that man before but he just looked like a face she had seen before.
"Ethan!"
"Ernesto, how are you?"
"I'm good, how are you doing?"
"Very well"
"Alright then" Ethan replied and took a quick glance at Beverly before walking into his apartment. He looked like he was in a hurry and couldn't stop for any chitchat, but Beverly saw an unimpressed expression sweep across his face when he looked at her.
Ethan looked like he was in his forties, very late forties. With his features, it was obvious that he had always been a showstopper. He looked really good and his choice of outfit was both classy and simple. He had tints of grey hair in his hair but it still looked really good in his low fade. He was gently spoken, his perfume eluded class as well. He had a stud on one ear but even Beverly could tell that it was a diamond stud. He looked like a busy person but also someone who didn't care about being friendly if he didn't want to.
As if Ernesto could read Beverly's mind, he said, "Ethan is a fine gentleman, you will not have any issue with him."
Issue? I don't plan on having anything with him, but why the fuck does he look familiar? Also, what was that look he gave me? Does he know me too? Did he see that we probably know each other? If I know him, where do I know him from? She thought.
"Of course" She replied
"He has been in this building for almost five years, he pays his rent on time, he is unproblematic, he rarely ever has guests over, I don't think I have seen him with any woman—or man, you never know what gentlemen are into these days, you know?" Ernesto smiled at Beverly, hoping she would be interested in what he was saying.
She played along and nodded politely.
"He does not have any criminal records, he is always just alone with his dog, Ralph whom Mrs Potts and her granddaughter help him babysit if he has to go out and get back late."
"Mrs Potts"
"She's the apartment beside yours, she's a lovely woman, you will like her, she is so friendly, some might say she's too friendly but she somehow reminds me of my mama, so I like her. Her lasagna is the best" He made a smooch sound and added, "You have to try it"
No way this man wants me to eat a stranger's lasagna, she thought buy she nodded with a smile.
They finally got downstairs and she saw the movers. She took them in to show them the apartment while Ernesto stayed in the lobby, beside Felix's desk, chatting with him until the movers were done.