It just shows that I never knew her to begin with.
She takes a step away from the café. She shakes her head and whispers, “You’ve become a hard man, Seth.” It looks like she’s going to leave it at that but then she adds, “It’s good actually. Life can’t hurt you then.”
~*~
Chapter Thirty-Five
Lacey~
It’s been a week. It feels as if my whole life ended a week ago. I miss Jan so much! She was my first real friend. She was more than that to me. Oh my heart, I miss her! I miss our apartment. I miss the café and smelling the eats she made every day.
I spend my days sleeping and my nights on the roof. Gemma, Kelly and Fede are awesome to let me stay with them until I can find another place. They are all so sweet and protective of me. They try to cheer me up constantly. I’m so thankful for them. I will miss this place so much. I have some money saved up, but it won’t last. I need to find another job, and soon.
~*~
The next morning I climb down the stairs just after sunrise. I stop at the window that looks into my old bedroom. I can’t recognize it anymore. The room is filled with boxes. Movement catches my eye and I see the bathroom door opening. I want to force myself to look away, but then I see Seth … in only a towel.
“Oh wow,” I whisper. He has really grown from when I last saw him without a shirt. Golden skin covers a muscled chest and I can’t stop myself from watching the water trickle down those muscles. “Lucky drops.”
My foot slips and the movement of my body jerking catches Seth’s attention. Our eyes lock and my face flushes with the embarrassment of being caught. I race down the stairs and run around the front of the building. The door to number five opens. I slow down to a speed walk, praying that it’s not Seth coming out.
“Lacey? I thought that was you I saw,” Seth calls out.
“Just great!” I whisper under my breath before I force a smile to my face and look up. “Ahh … yeah, I was up of the roof.”
He looks at his watch. “This early?”
I shrug, not knowing how to answer that.
Seth steps forward and of course he’s still in only a towel. “Do you still live in the building? I was hoping we could talk.”
There’s a nervous fluttering in my stomach. I should at least be upset with him seeing as he is the reason I lost my job and home, but deep down I know that’s not the truth. “Yeah, I’m still looking for a place to stay and work,” I take a step towards number eight. “Look, I’ll see you around. We can catch up some time. I have to get going.”
I don’t wait for his reply and have to use everything I have not to run the last piece to the apartment. Only when I close the door behind me, do I take a deep breath.
I didn’t know Seth moved in there! I thought he’d let the place go. I wonder what he’s going to do with the café.
~*~
It’s been two weeks of searching for a job, but there is nothing for someone like me, someone who didn’t finish school. I’m so screwed.
Well, there are two things I could do; either stripping down town or I can become a cleaning lady at one of the hotels around here. Not exactly what I had in mind. I hope to find something at a restaurant, something similar to what I was doing at Jan’s café.
“Are you ready for tonight?” Fede asks as she comes into the living room. I toss the newspaper aside feeling frustrated. Fede raises an eyebrow. “What did the paper ever do to you?”
I sigh and fall back onto the couch that has doubled as my bed. “It’s not making a job magically appear for me, unless I want to strip.”
“I could teach you some moves,” Fede shakes her butt, and then comes to sit next to me. “Don’t worry. You know you can stay here as long as you need to.” She pats my leg. “Now go get ready, we’re having our monthly party tonight.”
“Do I have to go?” I whine.
“Oh, come on, girl,” Fede laughs and then pulls me up from the couch. “All you have to do is walk outside the door, sit in the courtyard and get