Haze - By Andrea Wolfe Page 0,106

my cheek, I took a deep breath and moved on. There was no reason to assume the worst about this. I hadn't done anything yet, and as far as the landlord was concerned, I had always paid on time. This wasn't about to become a habit.

When I got into the office, the landlord was seated at his desk, staring at a computer screen that was facing away from me.

"Hi, Mr. Hunter" I said meekly.

He looked away from the screen, somewhat surprised by my appearance. Mr. Hunter was an older man—I think he was fast-approaching eighty, per Jesse's insider info—who had lived in this building his whole life. I had talked to him a little bit when I first signed the amended lease, learning about his daughter that lived in Seattle and his dog, Terri, an aptly named Yorkshire terrier.

The dog's bed was empty at that moment. "I'm sorry," he said, scrunching up his features and squinting through his glasses. "What was your name again? I definitely remember you. I'm sorry."

"I'm Effie. From 317 with Jesse Carver."

"Oh, yes, yes, Jesse. I was expecting to see him today. I always like our monthly chats."

Great decision, Effie. Now you're depriving him of his favorite encounter of the month.

"I'm sorry. I decided to give him a break this month. He's been working longer hours than usual."

"Aren't you just the sweetest, then, huh?" He smiled at me and moved his hands from the keyboard and mouse to the middle of the desk. "Jesse's a real hard worker, I can tell. And you can call me Edwin."

I continued to awkwardly hold the checks in my hand, not sure if I should hand them over before asking him for the extension or not. "I can take those," he said, clearing up my confusion immediately. I leaned forward and breathed slowly as I handed him the checks.

"Listen, Edwin," I said, swallowing a lump in my throat. "Is it possible to wait a couple of days to cash my check? The money should be in my account by tomorrow or the day after."

He laughed. "I can always tell when someone's nervous about something." Edwin didn't say anything after that, but clicked away at his computer again.

I stood in an awkward silence, waiting for something to happen. I fake laughed. "Yeah, I just hate inconveniencing people. I always feel bad even when people say it's no problem."

"Let me check the records." A concerned look broke out across his face, further contributing to my growing horror. I felt wobbly and disoriented, so I discreetly—and calmly—sat down in the chair next to me. He eyed the checks carefully, looking over the antiquated frames of his glasses as he attempted to identify some apparently minute detail.

"Is everything all right?" I asked, my voice hoarse, barely above a whisper. I suddenly doubted my ability to pay rent at all. Had I forgotten to pay for the last few months or something?

"I can't accept this, miss," he said, sliding my check back toward me.

A whole macabre chorus of alarms went off inside of me. I didn't know what this was, but it sounded fucking scary as hell.

"What's the matter?" I stammered. "Is everything okay?"

Edwin seemed to freeze up as if confused. "There's no trouble. Your account is in the black. For the rest of the year. I'm not going to keep taking money. It'd make me a greedy landlord." He smirked.

I took in a huge gulp of air, as my mind struggled to come to terms with this development. In a way, it felt like I was at some awards ceremony, receiving something that literally made no sense for me to receive. "I don't understand." I said it at the exact moment I thought it.

"Your, uh, brother, came by yesterday. Paid me cash. Real nice fella."

"My brother?" Had I stumbled into a sci-fi movie by mistake? Was this identity theft or something? My eyes stared at the floor. "I'm an only child."

"Miss, that's between you and God. Or whatever you subscribe to. Money's there, nothing you can do about now. Jack convinced me to take it. And he said he was your brother."

That sneaky little fucker! A devious smile broke out across my lips when I heard him say it, but I fought it, trying not to be too obvious about it. God, and what a creep. My brother?

Just play along, even if it's gross.

"Wow!" I said. "What a surprise. I can't believe it." It sounded like I had read it off a teleprompter. Edwin