to have a look. If I determine it needs something, I’ll go ahead and make the change.”
“You do that,” she said pedantically. “Be sure to tell Miriam it’s your work product. You wouldn’t want us to get credit for your dedication.” Or your shit work. She widened her smile. Kill her with kindness. That’s what she needed to do. Because otherwise, she would end up shoving her against the paper-towel dispenser and strangling her. On the upside, her job would be up for grabs. Something to ponder.
“Why are you looking at me that way? Do I have something in my teeth?”
“Not that I can see. My mind wandered for a minute. Anyway, have a lovely weekend.” She breezed from the bathroom, leaving behind an utterly bewildered Sarah.
Thirty minutes later, Sylvia strode down the hallway toward Hugh’s apartment. It was such a dark building—more like a dingy hotel than a home. But the inside of his apartment was white and bright and pristine. She had asked why he lived in an apartment when he could buy his own home. “I’m a minimalist,” he’d answered with a shrug. “Besides, a home is for a family and should be chosen by a husband and wife together, don’t you agree?”
The man made a solid point. She knocked and waited. How would he feel about a crib and a diaper-changing station? She closed her eyes and tried to picture it, but her mind strayed, only allowing the image of a toddler slapping a drippy red paintbrush across a favorite piece of art to play in sharp focus. Hugh wouldn’t like that.
Well, like he said, a home should be chosen together. They would find one that suited both their needs and the needs of their future family. They could find the perfect house with the white picket fence he’d mentioned.
She rapped on the door once again, this time with more force, but was met with silence. No footsteps sounded, alerting her that he’d appear in a second. Well, this was annoying.
She flipped to his last text even though she knew she hadn’t made a mistake. Five thirty was exactly what he’d written when he’d confirmed their plans that morning. It was 5:37 at the moment. Typing quickly, she wrote:
I’m here. Are you running late?
She skimmed her emails as she waited. A man dressed in running shorts and a T-shirt headed toward her. As he neared, she could see his hair was wet. So was his shirt. Good God. Who needed to exercise that hard?
“Got caught in the rain,” he said with an awkward grin as he tugged an earbud from his ear. “I guess I should’ve checked the weather.”
“I was literally outside just five minutes ago. It wasn’t raining,” Sylvia said, her brow raised.
“Yeah, I know. The clouds opened up. Freak storm. It felt like Hawaii out there.” He wore a satisfied expression, as though knowing what Hawaiian storms were like made him special and unique. “Are you new here? In the building, I mean,” he said, plowing a hand through his slick hair.
“Nope. Just visiting a friend.” She motioned to the door. “But he’s running late.”
“I didn’t know Sammy was back.”
“Sammy? This is Hugh’s place.”
“Uh, no.” He pointed to the apartment next door. “I live there. I’m pretty sure I know who my neighbor is.”
“But I’ve been in this very apartment. It’s Hugh’s.” She stood back from the door, reading the number. “Unless I got off on the wrong floor,” she said, pressing a palm to her forehead. “Idiot move on my part.”
He laughed as water dripped from his hair onto the flat carpet. “Don’t worry. It’s happened to me. What floor is your friend on?”
“Third. This is the second, isn’t it? I’m impatient that way.”
A perplexed look settled on his face. “Now I’m confused. This is the third floor.” He pinched his wet shirt away from his skin. “Unless your friend is the guy who’s been keeping an eye on his place. I just didn’t know he was using it to entertain.”
The way he said entertain was clearly meant to make Sylvia feel cheap. How rude. Hugh hadn’t said a word about this not being his apartment. It had to be his place. His clothes were hanging in the closet, for God’s sake. “Help me to understand. This apartment—number 305,” she said, slapping the door, “belongs to someone named Sammy who is currently out of town?”
The guy looked to his own place as he flicked a hand down his shirt, causing water droplets to