To The Rude Guy in Apartment Five - J. S. Cooper Page 0,8
brother, but I only have an older sister.”
“Aw, I always wished I had another sister.” Jane laughed. “What do you think of the other girls?”
“They all seem nice. Millie seems quite cheeky, but I love it. Birdy seems quite shy, and Olivia seems really smart.” I nodded. “Tate’s got himself quite the team.”
“Yes, he does.” Jane rubbed her stomach. “I’m so hungry.”
“Me too,” I agreed. “I found a place on Broadway. It’s only about a ten-minute walk. Is that okay?”
“Yeah, that’s good.” She nodded. “So, do you live in the city?”
“Yes, I’m actually quite close to here. I’m on Bush Street in the Tendernob, between Taylor and Mason.”
“Oh wow, that’s close to Union Square, right?”
“Yeah. Where are you?”
“I’m near Duboce Park, near Stanyan Street.”
“Aww, cool.” I smiled at her. “How long have you been in the city?”
“I’m new, like you.” She smiled. “I was done with all the wannabes and plastics in LA. I thought SF would be a good change.”
“And now we have all the Silicon Valley people,” I groaned. “I’ve never met so many people in tech in my life.”
“What made you move here all the way from the East Coast?”
“Honestly, I needed a change.” I sighed as I thought about my life back home. “I still lived with my parents. My best friend and I kinda drifted apart. My love life sucked. I wanted to be somewhere new, and it was between Seattle, Portland, and San Francisco.”
“What made you pick San Francisco?”
“Honestly?” I tilted my head to the side. “I’m embarrassed to say.”
“Don’t tell me it was for a man?”
“Ha ha, trust me, no.” I shook my head.
“A woman?”
“No, I'm straight.” I shook my head. “Fine, I’ll tell you. I choose SF because it’s close to Napa.”
“No way.” She laughed and linked her arm through mine. “You’re a girl after my own heart. I love wine.”
“You don’t know how great that makes me feel.” I giggled. “I figured you would judge me for being an alcoholic or something.”
“No judgments here. We should have a bar night with the other girls. That would be fun!”
I nodded eagerly. “That would be amazing!”
“Awesome!” She grinned. “Quien con la esperanza vive, alegre muere.”
“Huh?”
“Oops!” She giggled. “Sorry. Basically, he who lives with hope dies happy. I’m so happy we’re working together. You’ve already made this job so much better for me. After yesterday, I wanted to quit, but now I think I’ll stick it out for a bit.”
“Yes, let’s make sure we’ve got each other’s backs.” I was practically skipping along the road and five seconds later, I slammed into someone. “Oh, I’m so sorr—” I broke off as I looked up at the person I’d bumped into. “You!” I pointed at the man in front of me. “Are you following me, Jagger?”
“Do you wish I was?” His emerald green eyes sparkled as they stared at me. “Do you have some sort of stalker fetish like the girl in that creepy Netflix show?”
“No, I don’t,” I growled at him. “Do you?”
“I wouldn’t mind it if you stalked me and then tripped and fell on my ...” He stopped and winked before turning to Jane, who was staring at us with open curiosity. “Hi, I’m Jagger Scott, Magnolia’s secret lover, and you are?”
“I’m Jane, her new coworker,” Jane squeaked out as I glared at him.
“Jagger is not my lover. He’s my neighbor who seems to be trying to make it into comedy, but I’m afraid he’s in for a horrible shock because he’s not funny. At all.”
“I’m a little bit funny.”
“No, you’re not.”
“Yes, I am.” He reached his hand up to brush some strands of hair from my face. “Magnolia Allen, you know that I’ve had you laughing so hard your clothes fell off.”
“No, you didn’t, and no, they have not!” I almost shouted, my face red. “You’re so inappropriate, Jagger!”
“I’m the inappropriate one?” He tilted his head to the side. “Hmmm.”
“I don’t want to be nosey, but I’m so curious as to what the story is here.” Jane glanced between us. “How long have you guys been neighbors?”
“Three weeks.” I blushed as her eyes widened. I could see her trying to figure out what could have happened in three weeks to have us acting like this.
“But we’ve known each other longer than that, haven’t we, Magnolia?”
“Not really.” I looked at my watch. “Oh, look at the time. We really should be going. We need to eat and get back to work. Nice seeing you, Jagger.”
“I’d love to join you for lunch.” He