Chapter 11
SAGE
I hesitantly open the door, hoping beyond reasonable hope that the apartment has magically changed into something far better than I remembered.
I won’t admit it, but I’m glad they’re all here with Rosie and me.
If it were just Rosie and me, she’d sense that I was as nervous about this place as she was, and I wouldn’t be able to hide it.
There are so many people here to distract her now—even though I could have done without Brett being here, getting on my nerves, acting like some big, brash protector.
The way Rosie has been acting is beyond obvious, and I’ll have to get her to focus.
The last thing she needs is a man like Brett, as he seems like he’s far too moody and far too quiet.
Just like the last thing I need is a single dad like Dalton, who is just as alpha as Brett.
Like I can’t take care of myself. I’ve been in worse situations and gotten out of them. Though, for once, it is nice to not have to be the strong one.
I push the door open and step in, switching on the light as everyone makes their way inside.
I can tell by the expressions on everyone’s faces that they aren’t impressed, but they’re trying to be nice.
The apartment looks and smells worse than I remember.
There seems to be an odd scent of rotten eggs and spoiled chicken, and I hurry over to the kitchen and open the fridge to make sure that nothing has been left inside.
I sniff again, trying to locate the source of the disgusting aroma, and I attempt not to shudder when I see a bunch of fruit flies hovering over the sink.
“Well, this is certainly unique,” Izzy says as she heads toward me in the kitchen.
She looks around, her blue eyes kind, but I can tell she doesn’t love what she sees. But who can blame her? The place is a dump. Even I can see that. I may not want to take their charity, but I’m not delusional.
“Show me the bedrooms,” she says, plastering a fake smile on her face so she can appear positive.
“Maybe they’ll be better. I know, in apartments, they sometimes put less money into the shared areas so they can make the bedrooms and bathrooms more special.
Maybe they have a marble bathtub and real wood floors in those rooms.”
I can’t help but notice that she’s staring at the sticky linoleum floor, and I want to laugh. Like, does she really think there’s hardwood in the bedroom?
“There are no bedrooms,” I tell her.
I bite down on my lower lip as I shrug nonchalantly.
Acting like I don’t care. Like I want to share a studio apartment with my sister in this horrible place.
Like the sticky floor doesn’t bother me.
Like I’m not thinking about what made them sticky—honey, snot, or cum.
I shudder as I start to gross myself out.
You have to live here, Sage. Get it together.
“It’s a studio,” I say. “It’s all we can afford, but once we save more money, we’ll be able to move someplace better and bigger.”
“That’s why we’re looking for husbands,” Rosie says, stepping forward.
Then she looks at me, her mouth going into an O shape when she realizes that maybe she said something she shouldn’t have.
She knows as well as I do that we may come across as gold diggers if we tell people we moved here for rich husbands.
Izzy leans forward with a conspiratorial smile and laughs. “I get it. Trust me.” Her voice is warm.
I’m so grateful we met her. She’s the least judgmental person I’ve ever met.
“Sorry, Sage. I didn’t mean to say that in front of everyone.” Rosie looks around to see if the others heard her.
Luckily for us, Lucia, Roman, and Brett are still standing by the front door, whispering furtively about something. I frown when I notice Dalton is not there. I wonder if he had a call about Toby. I hope everything is okay.
“It’s not that bad, sis,” Rosie says at my frown and interprets it to mean something else. “Once we start to decorate and—oh my gosh! Arrghhhh, a cockroach!”
She runs quickly toward the front door with a little scream, almost tripping as she reaches the others.
“Sorry.” She stops as Brett, Roman, and Lucia look at her in concern. “I saw a cockroach.”
She whines loudly and shivers, and Brett shifts closer to her in concern.
I look around, hoping what she saw was a piece of dirt, but right by the oven, sitting there like it owns the place, is a huge cockroach. I want to cry as it walks slowly toward me. Izzy and I jump back and head to the front of the apartment.
“I guess I’ll put cockroach spray and traps on the list,” I try to joke as I look over at everyone.
I catch Izzy’s eye, and she nods. But what can she say? Your place is a dump, and a few traps won’t change that.
“I don’t think that …” Lucia starts, but then she pauses. She lowers her eyes and starts playing with her phone.
It’s awkward, and I don’t know what to say. We all know the place is far from the Ritz. I’m surprised when Roman heads over to me and stops by my side. His eyes are kind, and there’s a wry smile on his face.
“You’ve got your own place, and that’s a good thing. We all start somewhere.”
“Yeah.” I don’t know what else to say because, obviously, he’s super rich, and I’m super poor. I’m sure when he goes home tonight, he’ll be thanking God that he doesn’t have to live in a place like this. Or he’ll stare at his Rolex watch. Or count his money. Or clean his Mercedes.
“So, what’s the plan?” Lucia says finally. “What do we do first? Let us help you make this your home.”
“I think maybe I can get cleaning supplies and some furniture. I did speak to someone on Facebook Marketplace about a free sofa, but I can see if I can go tomorrow and …”
“What’s going on?” Dalton walks into the apartment, looking tall and muscular.
I wonder why he was so far behind the rest of us, but I don’t ask. His eyes sweep across the room, and he presses his lips together as his nose sniffs the horrid smell. He looks at me, and his eyes narrow. My heart thuds as he walks over to me.
“So, this is your new home?”
“Yes,” I say, tilting my chin upward in defiance, staring into his eyes, daring him to tell me that my home is not acceptable.
“This is where you want to live?”
I can tell he wants to say something else, but he doesn’t. Maybe because he knows it’s not his place to tell me off or convince me to leave. He’s acting like he has power over my actions, and it’s just not true.
“Mom and Dad wanted me to FaceTime them when we got here,” Rosie says softly as she pulls out her phone. “I guess I can do it now and introduce them to everyone.”
“No,” I say quickly, giving her a look.
Our parents would be horrified to see where we were.
While we never stayed in one place for too long, and we never lived in the best neighborhoods or in fancy houses, we were always in places better than this.
I feel like a failure. I feel like maybe I made the wrong decision.
Maybe I am being too stubborn. Maybe I am putting myself and Rosie in danger.
Because not only is the apartment dingy and small, there are roaches and unsavory characters at the front of the building.
And we don’t even live in Santa Capinari.
“So, have we decided on a plan?” Brett asks while looking at his watch like he wants to be anywhere but here.
I want to tell him to leave, but I realize he arrived with Roman. And so, unless he gets an Uber or a cab, it’s unlikely that he can go.
“Maybe we can split up,” I say. “I can give a list to Rosie and then …” And that’s when I see a rat stalking near the front door, peeking in and then hurrying toward the back of the apartment. I scream louder than I’ve ever screamed in my life and run like my life is in danger.
I run outside of the apartment, and Rosie follows me until I stop. I’m close to crying, and I think she senses that because she grabs my shoulders and looks me in the eyes.
“Hey, you okay?” Her voice is soft. And even though I know more than anything that she doesn’t want to be here, she’s still being strong for me.
“It’ll be okay, Sage.” The way her voice softens makes me feel even worse because I can sense that she doesn’t want to live here, and I love her and hate it at the same time that she’s sucking it up to comfort me.
I know her almost better than I know myself.
Her every feeling, even when she doesn’t say it.
“I’m sorry I let you down. We should have stayed in Coconut Beach. We could have stayed with Juniper, and we could have found jobs and—”
“No, this is an adventure. This is fun.” She touches the side of my face and brushes my hair back. “It’ll be fine. We never would have experienced any of this if we’d stayed in Coconut Beach.” She looks back to the apartment, and her face lights up slightly.
I have a feeling what’s got her so excited is Brett, and not just being here, but I’m not going to say anything.
“This place is a dump,” I whisper to her.
She pulls me into her, and I rest my head on her shoulder and breathe, trying my darndest not to cry.
When I finally look back up, I see that Dalton, Izzy, Lucia, and Roman are all standing there, watching us.
It doesn’t surprise me that Brett is not there.
In fact, I’m glad he’s not. I don’t know what it is about the man that annoys me.
Maybe it’s because of the spark I see between Rosie and him.
It’s invisible to others, but I see it. The others are nice enough to give us space.
Nice enough to understand that, right now, we need each other.
There’s concern on all their faces, and I feel embarrassed.
“I don’t know what to do. Should we leave?” I chew on my lower lip. My head is pounding, and I know a stress headache is not far away.
“We just got here.” She grins. “And we spent most of our money getting here and on this dumpy place. Where would we go?”
“We could go back to Coconut Beach.”
“We could, but I don’t want to go back to Coconut Beach. Plus, I just met Brett.”