7
emily
I’m sitting in my car outside of the new apartment while reading the latest fantasy romance book by my favorite author on my Kindle, waiting for Ben. It’s actually a split-level home, and we will rent out the second floor of the house. It boasts two bedrooms and a modest-sized kitchen, with laundry hookups in the basement, but the best part about the apartment is the four-season sunroom.
I envision myself practicing yoga all year long in the room that faces the street. I’ve seen pictures of the apartment, but today will be the first time touring the place and, hopefully, signing the lease if everything looks good.
Ben is on his way from work to meet me so we can go through everything together. Outside of discussing the details of the apartment and when we can meet, we have not really been talking.
After the tour and signing of the lease today, we made plans to go to happy hour down the street to celebrate. Our new apartment is within walking distance of the town’s trendiest bars, restaurants, and boutique shops, which makes me so excited at the prospect of having more opportunities to meet new people.
Who knows, maybe I’ll finally have my first one-night stand.
I see a car pulling up from down the street and notice that it’s Ben behind the wheel. When he notices me, he smiles brightly as our eyes connect. I’m blindsided momentarily by the sheer joy on his face as he looks at me. I smile shyly in greeting. Suddenly, I feel a flock of butterflies swarming my belly.
I’ve never had this type of response to Ben before, so it’s a little unsettling, considering we’re about to make an enormous commitment together.
We will need to establish ground rules to prevent hurt feelings when the lease ends.
I’m getting out of my car just as Ben parks his across the street. I wait for him by the sidewalk as he hurries to meet me. He shines his dazzling smile at me again before opening his arms to me.
“I’m not sure if we should hug or shake hands since we’re about to be roomies.” He chuckles.
“Um… we can hug, I guess.” Before I can even finish my sentence, I feel his arms come around me. It’s a friendly hug, but having not felt any affection in months now, it’s still a shock to my system. Logan and I had stopped being intimate months ago. I never realized that we also stopped with our casual touches, too, until this moment.
Wow. It seems I still have a lot of issues to work through.
I clear my throat and gesture to the front door.
“We should probably go inside.”
He follows closely behind me as I ring the doorbell. I feel the warmth of his body heat against my back and shiver involuntarily. Even though it’s mid-January and freezing out, I feel flushed suddenly.
The door opens, and a stout elderly woman is on the other side of the door. She has a scowl on her face as she looks us over.We must pass her visual inspection because she stands aside to let us in without saying a word.
After we shut the door and enter, she leads us up the spiral wooden staircase; a man who seems to be in his fifties is waiting in the kitchen doorway.
He greets us with a warm smile and introduces himself as the landlord’s son, Aleks. I’m assuming the elderly woman is to be our landlord. He has a thick Polish accent as he guides us through the small yet cozy apartment.
I am in love with the space and can picture myself living here. I look over at Ben, who is keenly looking over the space. Our eyes collide, and I wonder what he’s thinking.
Aleks walks us back into the kitchen, where several documents are sitting on the counter. He goes over the details of the lease, as well as the deposits required to hold the space and monthly rent costs. He reviews the utilities included and then looks up at us expectantly.
I’m reaching for the pen in Alek’s hand, ready to sign the lease when I hear Ben clear his throat.
“Actually, Aleks, I just have a few questions…”
I glance over at Ben, startled, as he asks Aleks basic questions like when rent is due, which I should have thought to ask myself. Feeling silly, I sit there quietly as I listen to their conversation.
Thank goodness Ben took over the situation.
As their conversation dies down, Aleks hands the pen over to Ben, who signs without hesitation. He then looks up at me and smirks, slowly passing the pen over to me to sign the leasing documents.
“You sure you’re ready for this?”
I swallow nervously as I grab the pen from his hand. Our fingers barely make contact, but I swear I feel an electric thrill passing between us. Judging by the lack of change in Ben’s expression, I figured it was in my head.
“As ready as I’ll ever be.”
