code, then I CRUISE, but he didn’t answer—after four rings, the call went to voice mail. “Hey, Cary,” I said. “It’s, um, Stevie, Mallory’s stepsister? We met earlier. Just checking to see if you had an ETA on your uncle. Thanks!” I hung up, then realized that when Cary heard my voice mail, he might call me back at my old number—which would not be helpful at all. I pressed his number again—it went to voice mail after only two rings this time, and as soon as it did, I said quickly, “Hi, Cary, it’s Stevie again. Sorry. But can you call this number when you hear anything? Not the other one. Okay. Thanks. Bye.” I hung up and handed the phone back to Mateo, who looked thoughtful.
“Be right back,” he said, taking his phone and heading into one of the bedrooms. I watched him go, not sure what I was supposed to do now.
“If you’re free later,” Archie said, “you should come out with us! We’ve got big plans, with Ukrainian food on the Lower East Side, and then an infused vodka bar in Soho that’s Russian themed. It’s a real Iron Curtain kind of evening.”
“Yeah, you should come!” Alyssa said, settling into the couch with her phone and glancing up at me over the screen. “And you should bring the dog!”
They both started to sell me on the night, even reading out pieces of Yelp reviews for the Ukrainian place—which really wasn’t necessary, just hearing the word “pierogi” was enough to remind me that I was getting hungry—when Mateo came back in.
“Okay,” he said, holding up his phone. “I just talked to Margaux. She has Mallory’s keys.”
“Really?” I asked, hope flaring in my chest. Margaux, the middle of my stepsiblings, was the one I knew the least—she traveled a lot, always seemingly on a trip or just having returned from one. “She’s sure?”
“I asked her to double-check—you know what she’s like—and she swore they were labeled and everything.”
“Oh my god,” I said, starting to smile. For the first time all night, it felt like there was a light at the end of this tunnel—that I could actually get the keys, get back into the apartment, drop off Brad, get my stuff, and go home. “That’s amazing.”
“She told me she has them with her—they’re on her key ring. The only thing is, she’s at work right now.”
“Ah,” I said. I wasn’t entirely sure what this meant. Margaux was a freelance stylist/designer/photographer, bouncing from one thing to the next with seemingly no larger plan. Even hearing secondhand about Margaux’s freewheeling career and utter lack of structure was enough to make me feel like I was going to break out in hives.
“She’s on a shoot,” Mateo said, maybe sensing I needed more clarification. “She gave me the address, though.”
“Great,” I said, giving him a quick, tight smile. I certainly hadn’t planned on seeing all my stepsiblings in one night, but that was apparently what was going to happen. “Well, if you could just write down the address? And maybe text her I’m coming?”
Mateo gave me a skeptical look that plainly said Come on, then got to his feet and headed into one of the bedrooms, emerging a second later with a black motorcycle jacket. “Of course I’m coming with you,” he said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “You’re only in this situation because of my sister. I’m not going to leave you to figure this out with no phone.”
“Oh,” I said, feeling a wave of relief wash over me. It wasn’t that I wanted to do this with Mateo, exactly, but the fact I wouldn’t have to do it all alone, and stand outside another door hoping someone would let me in, was hitting me harder than I realized it would. I knew I didn’t deserve this—not at all—and the fact that he was willing to help me took my breath away for a moment. “Thank you.”
Alyssa jumped up and cuddled Brad’s face in her hands. “Goodbye, my love,” she said to him seriously. “You’re the cutest and goodest boy that there ever was, and I want to make sure you know that.” Brad licked her hand, and she beamed, then looked at Mateo. “We’re still going out later, right?”
“Of course,” Mateo said. “In Russia, bar crawls you.”
“Exactly,” she agreed with a nod.
“Nice to meet you,” I said, waving at Archie and Alyssa.
“You as well,” Archie said. “I think you’ve saved us from any more inspections