Her Big City Neighbor - Jackie Lau Page 0,3
write in her new notebook: positive affirmations.
On the cover of the notebook was an illustration of a fluffy white puppy, a red cherry on its head. It was sitting on an ice cream cone. Amy hadn’t been able to help herself from buying it yesterday, even though she had no idea what to do with it.
But she’d figured it out this morning over Cheerios and lots of coffee. She’d struggled to sleep last night thanks to her excitement and the unfamiliar noise of the city.
I will make friends in Toronto.
I love myself.
I am beautiful and...
Her phone beeped, and Amy nearly spilled her coffee.
Ooh, it was someone replying to the ad she’d posted for a roommate, just an hour ago.
Aunt Frances’s—Amy’s—house was more than big enough for one person, and the income from renting out a room would help pay the bills and property tax. She probably could have advertised for two or three roommates, given the size of the house, but she’d thought one would be enough. She’d looked at several ads the other day and determined a reasonable cost for a room in a shared house. Vacancies in Toronto weren’t high, and the location was great, so she’d figured it wouldn’t take long to find a roommate.
But an hour? She hadn’t expected that.
She checked the e-mail to see who her potential roommate was. Would it be a man or a woman? A fellow grad student, perhaps? That could be fun.
She stilled when she saw the person’s name.
Sierra Wu.
And she wanted to move in today.
Chapter 2
Of course, Amy knew that Sierra Wu wouldn’t show up in tight jeans and a tight tank top, brandishing a sword and fighting off demons.
She knew that.
But her new roommate had the same name as her favorite fictional character. What were the odds? They were definitely going to be best friends.
Slow down, Amy.
This whole thing was not going slowly, though. Her potential roommate had contacted her three hours ago by email. They hadn’t even talked on the phone, and now it was one o’clock, and she was supposed to be here any minute.
Sierra had told Amy that her plans had fallen through at the last minute. She had to be out of her old apartment today, but she had nowhere to go, and the movers were coming soon, and she would be ever so grateful.
Amy had said yes.
She sat on a chair on her tiny front porch—there was only room for one chair—and waited for Sierra to arrive.
At precisely one o’clock, a slight Asian woman in jeans, a blue T-shirt, and a bouncy ponytail approached the house.
Amy jumped up. “You must be Sierra!” she said, careful to sound enthusiastic, but not too enthusiastic. “I’m Amy.”
She held out her hand, and Sierra shook it.
“Nice to meet you. Roomie,” Sierra added with a smile.
She looked like she was no older than twenty-five.
“You’re an engineer?” Sierra asked, nodding at the iron ring on Amy’s hand.
“Yep,” Amy said. “Civil engineer. I’m going back to school to do my master’s.”
“I have an engineering degree, too.” Sierra’s face clouded over. “Not that I use it.”
“What do you do now?”
“I own a greeting card shop in Baldwin Village.”
“That’s so cool,” Amy said, though she had no idea where Baldwin Village was. “Where did you go to school?”
“Queen’s.”
“Me, too!”
See? Toronto wasn’t really that big after all.
“What year?” Amy asked.
It turned out that Amy had finished two years after Sierra, which was surprising—Sierra was clearly older than she looked. They discussed a couple of profs, Sierra handed over a check for first and last month’s rent, and then the small moving truck showed up.
“I have a good amount of stuff,” Sierra said. “I’m used to living alone. Ever since...Well, anyway.” She shook her head. “I’m sure you have furniture of your own, so if we don’t need it all and it doesn’t fit in the basement, I’ll arrange to put it in storage.”
“What happened to the place you were going to move to?”
“It burned down last night.”
“It...burned down?”
“Yup. Small apartment building, whole thing went up in flames. No one was seriously injured, fortunately, but it left me without a place to live. I mean, my parents would be willing to have me back, but...” Sierra shuddered. “Not happening.”
“Oh, I understand. I’m not living with my parents again, either.”
“So, thank you. For letting me move in today.”
It took over an hour for the men, who were nowhere near as attractive as the Rebel look-alike next door, to move everything in. It was a little tough