that this didn’t look right, but the sign we passed said Rose street, matching the address I gave him. The one Professor Valdez had emailed me to me when I was on my way to the airport.
And then he pulled up at a squat grey apartment building and dread pressed down on my shoulders. I searched the structure for an address, and when I found 624, disappointment settled in.
This wasn’t what I’d pictured. Professor Valdez said his assistant had had to scramble for accommodations, since the original intern had already canceled his apartment rental, then leaving it for his replacement. He’d told me it would be modest, that finding a six week, furnished rental that could be covered by the internship stipend had been unexpectedly difficult.
But modest didn’t quite cover this.
“Here we are,” the cabbie said, putting his car in park. I wanted to tell him there’d been a mistake; he should take me back to the airport, or drop me at a hotel.
But I didn’t have money for a hotel. I could cover a few days, but six weeks?
I forced myself to think of the materials I’d read on the plane. Of the trials we’d be working on in the labs.
It will be worth it, I told myself, gathering my courage to step out of the car.
The driver was already standing there with my suitcase in hand, beaming like he’d just dropped me off at a Disneyland resort. “Thanks,” I said, handing him a tip and accepting my luggage. It took everything I had not to run after his cab as it pulled away.
And then there was just silence and the oppressive heat.
I dragged my bag across the cracked asphalt drive, trudging toward the sign marked Office. It took only a few moments to explain who I was and be given a worn brass key, 309 barely legible on the head. My apartment was on an upper floor, but there was no elevator, so I had to drag my suitcase up two flights of creaking stairs, ignoring the way the paint was flaking off.
My hair was plastered to my head and I could barely breathe by the time I got to the top. I looked for a door marked 309, but I couldn’t find it. I stopped dragging my bag and walked back to 305. Following the hall, I passed 306, 307, 308, 306.
Two apartments labeled 306?
I reached out, touching the six and turning it. That seemed like a bad sign. I went back and grabbed my bag, then returned to door 309 and unlocked it, bracing myself for what I’d find.
It was clean, at least. But modest and outdated were putting it kindly. Linoleum stretched across the space, a flowery pattern that went out of style back in the 80s. A laminate counter was chipped around the edges, and one white cabinet door hung slightly askew.
I found the bedroom, tossing my bag down on the comforter. It was probably orange, once, but now it was more like a melted creamsicle.
I sunk onto the mattress, my chest growing tight. I’d given up everything to come here, and I couldn’t help the disappointment that creeping through me. This wasn’t what I’d imagined on the plane.
But I could stick it out. Things would look better in the morning. Right now, I was tired, and stressed out.
And I missed Landon. It had been twenty-four hours since I walked away from his house, and all I could think about was the idea that he and Alexa had held a little reunion for old times’ sakes. That he’d taken her to his bed, gotten tangled in the same sheets.
What if my brother was right about him? I didn’t believe Landon to be malicious. He wouldn’t set out to break my heart.
But it might become collateral damage.
I reached for my bag, unzipping the top and flipping it open. I needed something to keep me busy. Dusk was falling, and if I sat here staring at the ceiling too long, I’d probably want to call him.
I flipped on the TV and found a channel with as little static as possible. Noise to fill the room, to keep the loneliness from creeping in. Then I filled the battered dresser with my clothing, until the suit case was empty and stashed in the closet.
My toiletries were in my carry-on, so I grabbed the bag and lined them all up on the counter next to a dripping faucet.
At the bottom of my bag was a long box, wrapped in