Eric
When I show my ID in the lobby of Alex’s building, the guy behind the desk waves me inside. “They’re expecting you.” He peers over the edge of the desk at the bags in my hands. “What did you bring her?”
“This and that.” I basically cleaned out an entire aisle of prepared foods at Eli’s.
There are meatballs and pasta salads and olives and pickles.
And dumplings. Samosas and some tandoori chicken.
Cheeses and charcuterie. I picked up some bagels (plus toppings) and fresh juices and sparkling water. Also cookies.
And a cherry pie.
“Godspeed.” The doorman points at the elevator bank. “You want the penthouse level.”
When the elevator doors open up, I find a small lobby leading to only one door. Alex clearly has the entire floor to herself.
Duff rises from a chair parked just outside her door. “Dude. I thought you’d never get here. I’ve been fired three times tonight just for offering to help her. But it’s hard to watch her with that hammer. I’ve got 911 on speed dial just in case.”
I hand him the smaller of the take-out bags I brought. “Here. For you. It’s a bunch of samosas and some chicken. Thanks for looking out for my girl.”
Duff blinks. “You didn’t have to do that.”
“Consider it hazard pay. Now let me in so I can assess the threat level.”
He leaps to the door and places his palm on a sensor. The light winks green. “I could probably be fired for this. But that would be the fourth time tonight, so I’m kinda used to it already.”
“Have some dinner and take a load off. I’ve got this.”
Duff, looking grateful, closes the door behind me.
I’m standing in the entryway of the most beautiful apartment I’ve ever seen. The foyer is larger than some New York apartments. There’s a painting by Jasper Johns on the wall in front of me.
I give myself a mental high five for knowing who’d painted it. And then I walk on, finding myself in a chic but comfortable living space with floor to ceiling windows and big comfortable sofas. Nice pad, Alex.
There’s a ridiculously fancy kitchen off to my left. It’s sleek but approachable. The cabinets are made of a shiny red material, and upholstered stools line the broad marble counter. I set my bag on the island and leave the kitchen in search of Alex.
I pass a den with a giant TV on one wall and a desk on another. No Alex.
But then, from deeper inside the apartment, I hear the sound of banging. And then cursing. “Goddammit!”
Hastening my steps down a thickly carpeted hallway, I move toward the sound of a frustrated female. I find Alex in a room that’s painted a cheery purple-blue color. She has her back to me, but I can see that she’s using the claw end of a hammer to try to pull a nail out of the wall.
She’s dressed in sweatpants, mismatched socks, and a giant T-shirt that reads MIT Summer Nerd Patrol 2008 across the back. Her hair is half falling out of a messy ponytail.
And I have never seen anyone so beautiful in my life as this creature who’s tugging on a nail, cheeks flushed, belly bumping against the wall.
“Alex,” I say softly.
She whirls around, hammer out, ready to strike. And when she spots me, she only relaxes part way. “Where did you come from?”
“Duff let me in. Actually, he called to tell me that you might need some dinner and a hug.”
Her expression softens. “Did he mention that I’d fired him?”
“That might have come up.” I’m still parked against the doorframe because if I leave this spot, I’m probably going to take that hammer out of her hand and kiss her senseless.
“I was having a moment,” she says, pulling herself up to full height. “But I’m fine now. I’m not losing my mind, I swear.”
“Nobody said you were,” I lie.
“Maybe I was a little tense. But I’m not actually in danger. I just accidentally handed ten years of corporate secrets over to an unknown thief. It could happen to anyone.”
“It could,” I agree.
“But everything is fine now. So I’m finishing the day with something productive.”
“Uh huh. Want to take a break from…” I look around the room. There are wooden pieces in two different colors, plus hardware scattered everywhere. “What are you doing, exactly?”
“Putting up some shelves. It’s nice of you to come all the way over here, but I need to get this done. Isn’t it cute?” She moves a flap of packing paper and shows me a wooden bookshelf that’s framed in the shape of a crescent moon. And there’s another one in the shape of a star.
“Fancy. Want some help?” I ask, in spite of Duff’s warning. “Maybe you could use an extra set of hands?
“No!” Her eyes go a little wild. “I need to do this myself.” She squats awkwardly toward the floor, reaching for a molly. But her belly is in the way. Every particle of my being wants to grab it for her. But I resist, because I think she’d just fire me, too.
Eventually her fingers close around the plastic part, and then she heaves herself up again.
Now I understand Duff’s pain. “Listen,” I say gently. “At least take a five-minute breather to help me with all this food I brought from Eli’s. It’s in your kitchen right now. I could bring you a plate.”
“Food?” She perks up a little. “What kind?”
“Oh, all kinds. They had those Korean meatballs. And spicy samosas. Tandoori chicken. Bagels with smoked salmon.”
She swallows. “Maybe I could take a short break. Thank you.”
“Right this way,” I say, turning around so that the victory won’t show on my face. “There’s also a cherry pie.”
I’m only about three paces down the hall when Alex passes me, galloping toward her kitchen.
Ten minutes later, every surface of that marble kitchen is covered with open food containers. I’ve filled my own plate twice already. But Alex is like the Tasmanian devil of gourmet food, doing laps around the kitchen island, sampling everything again with each pass.
“I need to get a grip,” she says, shoving a meatball in her mouth. “But my life is a dumpster fire. Did Max tell you? Someone stole the data off my phone.”
“Yeah,” I say slowly. “I heard that.”
She shoves an olive in her mouth and sighs.
“Someone broke into my apartment, Eric. He rappelled off the roof into my kitchen window. Then he swapped my phone charger for a spy device. And did I even notice? Nope! I just plugged in my phone last night. And when it asked me if I wanted to install a new peripheral, I just clicked right on through. Then I went to sleep.”
“Okay, wow,” I say softly. “Must have been creepy to realize that someone invaded your space.”
Her cheeks are bright pink. “I screamed like a horror movie cheerleader. The guard wasn’t in his chair where I could see him, and the phone was unplugged. I was positive that the zombie apocalypse had begun without me.”
“That sounds like a fun morning.”
She nods, chewing. “And how was your day?”
The samosa I’m holding pauses on the way to my mouth.
It’s weird, but I haven’t thought about my own dumpster fire since I picked up Duff’s call.
“My day was okay, I guess.” I clear my throat.
Alex waits for me to answer, one hand on her rounded belly.
And I just want to take her straight to bed.
Is it weird that her pregnant body is making me crazy?
“I have some big decisions to make pretty soon,” I admit.
“Oh.” Her face falls. “Want to talk about it?”
“Not even a little bit.”
She regards me for a moment. Then she sets her plate down with a contented sigh. “I ate a lot. Even for me. Thank you for being a good friend.”
Ouch. Back in the friend zone again. “I did it for Duff, honestly. He’s polishing up his résumé out in the hall right now.”
She rubs that belly. “I’ll apologize to him. I apologize a lot lately.” She carries her plate to the sink and rinses it off.
I start closing up all the packages we opened. “I hope this all fits in your fridge. Where is your fridge, by the way?” Every gleaming red panel looks the same.
“Here.” She touches a panel and it slides open to reveal a giant refrigerator.
“Huh. No problem, then. Want to watch a movie or something?”
Alex dries her hands on a dish towel. “I wasn’t kidding when I said I had to hang those shelves. It’s harder than it looks, though. The nails didn’t want to stay in the walls. So I had to use screws, and a thing called…a micky?”
“A molly?”
“Right! That. But you need a drill, which I borrowed from the super. And then I drilled two holes that weren’t level.” She throws the dish towel onto the counter. “But now I think I’m on the right track. It might take me another half hour. And then maybe I could watch a movie?”
“Okay,” I say easily. She still looks strung out to me. But maybe the food will help.
“There might be beer in my fridge. I usually have some in there for when my dad stops by. Help yourself?” She pads out of the kitchen and heads back toward the baby’s room.
I go to the foyer and open the front door.
Duff looks up. He’s holding an empty take-out container. “Hey! How’s it going in there?”
“Good,” I say, taking the container from his hands. “Why don’t you take the night off? Go to the gym. Go out for a beer. I’ll hold down the fort.”
“Really?” His eyes widen. “I’ve worked a lot of hours this weekend because Max is a little freaked, too.”
“Is he now?” I don’t know why I like hearing that my brother is capable of panic. It makes him more human, I guess.
“You know. For him.” Duff shrugs. “I’ll call in and see if they would mind if I went home for a nap.”
“Good plan. I promise not to leave until you’re back.”
“I knew you were my favorite hockey player.” Duff pulls out his phone.
“Thanks, man.”
I go back inside and finish tidying up Alex’s kitchen. I brought enough food for six people and half of it is gone. It makes me weirdly happy to feed her, and I have no idea why.
Afterward, I get a beer and then take a tour of her den, turning on the TV and then looking at the magazines spread out on the coffee table. The Economist. Barron’s. I flip one of them open. The first article is “The Upcoming Currency Crisis.”
Nope. I flip it closed again.
And then there’s a loud crash in the bedroom.