Greeting Cards For Exes

Chapter Twenty-Two

P IPER

Three Months Later...

I sat on my couch with my legs tucked under me, sipping a cup of hot cocoa. Work had been busy due to us trying to get all our last-minute ideas put together for a new line of cards we were going to put out this winter. Mr. Dancy had been really pushing everyone this week like he was a drill sergeant rather than our frugal old boss.

Maude wondered if he had something up his sleeve he wanted us to all be freed up for, which could mean anything at All For You Greeting Cards. As long as it wasn’t another “spa weekend,” I was sure I’d be fine.

But it wasn’t just work I had on my mind. For the last couple of months, I’d really been considering my stepdad’s offer to help me find another apartment. Even though I’d only run into Minho a handful of times, I realized now, more than ever, I was ready for a change. Kind of an out with the old, in with the new mentality. With a sigh, I stood and stared through my balcony windows to Lake Michigan. God, I’d miss the view, but it was time to start working on the new and improved Piper. Someone who was stronger, wiser, and hopefully not as apt at getting their heart broken.

Turning, I went over to the kitchen counter and grabbed my cell phone. Okay, it was now or never. I dialed my stepdad’s number, hoping he was in town.

“Hey, kiddo,” he answered after a few rings. “How are things going?”

“They’re going well. Busy, you know, the usual stuff.” I laughed, leaning against the wall. “So, I wondered if your offer was still open about helping me find another apartment?”

“Of course. I can get ahold of a few of my building managers to see what we have open, then send you the links with addresses.” David paused. “Would you want to go look at them tonight yet or tomorrow?”

“Either or is fine with me.” Although, I’d have to put real clothes back on, since I’d slipped into a pair of sweatpants when I’d gotten home earlier.

“Alright, let me call you back once I’ve made arrangements,” he said.

After he hung up, I went into my room and threw on a pair of jeans and a nice sweater. I had no idea what area he’d have me looking at places, but I didn’t want to look like a slob.

About twenty minutes later, David called back. “Alright, I’ve got four lined up for you to go see. They’re kind of spread out in various areas, but all within walking distance to your work. I’m out of town right now, otherwise I’d offer to go with you.”

“No, that’s fine. I can call Maude or Kerrie to see if one of them might want to tag along. Do you know the price range?”

“Let’s not worry about that just yet,” David said. “If you find one you like or want, I’ll work with you on it.”

My eyes welled. “You don’t have to do that, you know?”

He chuckled. “I know, but you’re still my daughter and I want to make sure you’ve got a nice, safe place to live. I just sent over the links to your phone, so keep me posted on what you think. I let the managers know you’d be around tonight, so stop at the front desks and they’ll have keys for you. Well, other than the brownstone. They’ll leave the key in the mailbox with a number four on it.”

“Perfect, thank you, and I love you, Dad.”

“Love you, too. I’ll talk to you soon.”

Once he let me go again, I decided to call Maude, remembering Kerrie’s son was supposed to start karate tonight. Hopefully, Maude could go with me. She was pretty no nonsense, but also observant and could easily point out pros and cons of each of the places.

I brought up her contact information and hit the Call button.

“Hello, this Maude.”

“Hey, it’s Piper. Are you busy for the next couple of hours?”

“Not really, just sitting at the house watching the boob-tube,” she said.

I laughed. “Okay, well, I wondered if you might be able to go look at a few apartments with me?”

“Hot diggity damn, are you really going to finally move?”

“Maybe. I’m weighing my options.”

“Just let me get my shoes on and grab my purse. Did you want me to pick you up or did you want meet somewhere?”

Since I’d let Minho keep our vehicle at the time of our breakup, I didn’t have one any longer. Not that I normally needed one since I was like two seconds from the various modes of public transportation. Although, maybe next year I’d purchase myself a new car, but I decided to tackle one thing at a time, and first up was an apartment.

“If you could pick me up, I’d appreciate it. I can give you some gas money for running me around,” I offered.

“Sounds good. I’ll be there shortly,” Maude said before letting me go.

I snatched my purse and jacket, then headed down to the main lobby to wait for Maude. While standing there, I scrolled through the listings David had sent me. The first was an old brownstone that’d been converted into apartments. The next was a large apartment building further away from the shoreline, but it had a lot of great amenities like a gym, a parking garage, a restaurant on the lower level, and a rooftop bar. The other two were also away from the shoreline, but with great views of the cityscape.

When Maude pulled up, I rushed to her parked car and slipped into the passenger side. “Hi, thank you for coming on such short notice.”

“Ah, that’s what friends are for. Besides, you might need a second opinion, and you can’t trust just anyone.” She smiled, her bright pink lipstick practically glowing. “So, where to first?”

I gave her directions to the apartment furthest away. “This one has some great amenities, so hopefully the apartment itself is nice.”

When we got to the building, the one nice thing I could say was it was tall and kind of close to some of the other apartment buildings or offices. We found parking in a side lot, which David had given me the code to get into, so we wouldn’t have to pay a fee, which was great.

Maude and I made our way into the lobby, filled with dark marble, a small fountain, and a main desk area.

I made a beeline for the desk, finding a tall blonde lady dressed in a dark suit jacket and matching pants. “Hi, I’m Piper Mishner. I’m here to look at an apartment.”

“Hi, and welcome. I have the key right here. It’s for room 506 on the fifth floor. You’ll take a right out of the elevator. Let me know if you have any questions after you look at it, or would like any other information.”

“Thank you, I will.” I took the key from her, and Maude and I made our way to the elevators.

“I hate elevators,” Maude said when we got inside. “One time, during a storm, Mr. Dancy and I got stuck in one together. You know how slowly time goes by when that man gets to talking about his gout?” She crossed herself as if to ward off evil.

“Well, the good news is, it isn’t storming, and I don’t have gout.” I chuckled, pressing the button for the fifth floor.

We arrived at the right floor, and we headed in the direction of the apartment. I unlocked the door, and we walked into an open area which included a nice sized living room, attached directly to a kitchen that had white granite countertops. There were two stools pushed in under the island. I realized right away there was nowhere to put my dining table.

“Let’s open the windows and check out the view.” Maude moved to the shades and tugged on the strings to pull them up. She gasped. “Jesus H. Christ. You’ve got a nice view of the moon from here.”

“The moon? It’s still light out how can you see...”

Holy shit. There, standing in the window in the apartment complex right across from this one, was a naked man, his ass cheeks pressed against the glass, and a woman right in front of him, doing God only knew what.

“Oh, geez. I can’t unsee that.”

“Well, I guess you can have dinner and a show after work every night.” She let the shades fall back into place with a resounding thud.

“So, I’m guessing I know why the previous tenant moved.” My face warmed.

“Do you want to go look at the bedroom?” Maude turned to me, her brows raised.

“I’ll have to say no. I think this place is a little too close to the neighbors. And that city view in the photos does not match our view here.”

Maude snorted. “Yeah, I doubt anything will match that view. Are we onto the next, then?”

“Most definitely,” I said, clutching my purse to my chest as we relocked the room and headed back downstairs.

“I should tell Griff about this place. Maybe he’ll move,” Maude said from beside me as we drove toward the next listing.

“Eww, I think I just threw up in my mouth.” My nose wrinkled.

She laughed at me. “Now you know how I feel.”

The brownstone apartment was our next stop. We parked in the narrow driveway, and I went to fish the key out of the mailbox like David had instructed.

“This one is on the fourth floor.”

“Hmm, I love these old brownstones. It’s kind of sad the majority of them have been turned into multi-units.” She peered around, her eyes resting on the flower boxes on the porch.

We went inside, then followed the steep stairs to the top floor. When we opened the door, we found ourselves in a narrow hallway, which led into a kitchen the size of the backseat of Maude’s car. The fridge was more of a mini fridge, and the stove looked like someone had taken it out of an RV or something.

“Yikes, this is kind of tiny. Maybe the rest of the house will make up for it.” I tried to remain optimistic.

“Well, the good news is you can fit a bed in the bedroom. The bad news is that’s all you can fit in there. But you can probably sit on your bed and go through your closet at the same time, so I guess there’s that.” Maude glanced at me.

“I’m not really feeling this place. For the sheer and simple fact it’s as big as a doll house.”

“Alright, then let’s move onto another one.”

Maude led me back outside, and I slipped the key into the mailbox where I’d found it.

The next two apartments weren’t bad, but they definitely didn’t feel like home to me. Not that I was being picky, but I wanted to love the place I lived in. Kind of like I did now. When we arrived back at my place, we sat in Maude’s car for a few minutes.

“Thanks for coming along tonight. I appreciate it.”

“No problem. It was good to get out for a bit. Don’t get down about not finding something yet, the right place will come along.” She patted my arm before I climbed from her vehicle.

“I know. Oh, and before I forget, here’s some money for gas.” I slipped some bills from my purse to give to her.

“Nah, don’t worry about it. We got a good show out of this trip. Consider me paid in full.” She laughed, waving me off.

“Are you sure?”

“Positive. See you tomorrow at work.”

I watched her pull away and headed toward my building.

Right then, my phone went off. David had sent me one last listing, with a message that said, This might be more to your liking .

Shoot. I could call Maude to come back, but I didn’t want her to have to be out driving after dark, which I knew she hated. So instead, I called a cab, and headed toward the next apartment.

I was surprised to find it nestled near Navy Pier. This was an expensive area. Taking a deep breath, I ambled into the tall building, which boasted lots of windows. The lobby was gorgeous, done in white marbles and beautiful dark leather furniture. Large chandeliers made of anchors, rope, and crystal hung from the ceilings.

Gripping tight to my purse strap, I went to get the key from the receptionist and headed up to the eighth floor. Hopefully, the elevators never went out as I’d hate to trudge up that many flights of stairs.

When I got to the right floor, I followed the shiny white tiles to a large door. As soon as it swung open, I knew this apartment was the one I wanted. My gaze immediately went to the floor to ceiling windows overlooking both Navy Pier and the Riverwalk.

“Oh, my.” I hurried over the dark hardwood, past a kitchen with gray granite countertops and shiny blue and white tile backsplash. The living room was huge, and had a balcony that expanded the whole length of the room. A fireplace made of river rock was nestled against one of the side walls, a mantel of solid cherry above it.

This was it. What I’d been looking for. Even now, I felt at ease as I moved onto the deck overlooking Lake Michigan. Boats were anchored in the distance, bobbing up and down.

I could imagine myself sitting out here in the mornings with a cup of coffee. I looked around me, and it was nice to find no other balconies next to mine. There were some further up, but nothing too close. And, most importantly, none of those decks would have Minho sitting on them.

Finally, I’d be able to move on.