Chapter 16
With a roar, the engine awakened and Samson instructed Esmie to drop down under the blanket again before they moved out.
Esmie huffed, wishing she could see the passing streets as they drove to her brother’s, but she did as she was told.
The car moved, resuming its same route as when it entered.
Eventually the car leveled out, and the pinpricks of fluorescent lights were replaced with sunlight.
After a while, the moment Esmie felt like she needed to stretch from the cramp in her body after being crouched for so long, the car slowed and entered another parking garage.
This one only required a key card, from the pause of motion and beep Esmie heard.
They descended again, but this time Esmie couldn’t wait until they parked.
She sat up, yanking the blanket from her head.
Neither Samson nor Leo scolded her, so she sat in the seat, glancing around at the garage, similar in appearance to the one at the Capitol building with less than half the number of cars parked in spaces.
The trek to Leo’s apartment was uneventful, as Leo chose to take the stairs to the level above the main lobby to avoid the doorman.
Esmie huffed away the disappointment at wanting to see the building and the lobby.
With Leo insisting she keep her head down to avoid anyone else seeing her eyes, she understood why but the dissatisfaction still lingered on her tongue like something bad she ate.
When they arrived at the elevator bank, Esmie noted it was similar to the Capitol building with the same gold trim on the walls reflecting on the floor, except this floor was made of cream tile, a slight upgrade.
Upon the ding and swish of the doors, the trio disembarked onto blue carpet with gold trim and a diamond shaped pattern.
“The lobby and first floor are the only floors with tile in the hallway. It’s to impress prospective renters with the staged apartments on those levels.
The rest of us peasants get the blue carpet,” Leo answered her question before she could ask.
While at first glance, the carpet appeared plush and designer, the farther they moved from the elevators, the edges along the walls were frayed with some bald spots.
Halfway down the hall, Leo stopped at a scuffed mahogany door with dull gold numbers above the peephole.
“Apartment seven-nine-two. Guess I should remember that, huh?” Esmie’s excitement didn’t phase her brother.
Leo merely nodded and practically shoved Esmie inside the door, glancing around as he did so.
He and Samson followed, cramming into the small foyer where Esmie stopped in amazement, pulling her hoodie off her head.
It wasn’t as if the apartment was very big.
While Esmie envisioned an open, urban concept with high end finishes, and sweeping floor to ceiling windows with beautiful views of the city, the window part was at least accurate.
Instead, a small tile foyer greeted her which turned into vinyl wood planks covering the rest of the apartment, worn and scuffed in places like the carpet in the hall.
At least the apartment had an open concept living room and kitchen.
The U-shaped kitchen to the right was tiny, with only a little more than enough space for one person who could move in a circle to access all of the counter space, cabinets, fridge, and stove.
The counter peeled at the edges, but was spotless along with a small sink, while the fridge and stove were an odd metal color attempting to imitate stainless steel.
Esmie moved further into the space with Leo watching her. Samson hung back, taking his time removing his shoes. To the left, a bedroom door stood ajar, showing off a low bed sporting Leo’s blue comforter from home. The room was dark with no windows.
“Where’s your headboard?” Esmie peered into the small bedroom complete with a bulky armoire, instead of a closet, tucked away against the corner of the opposing wall from the bed.
Next to the armoire, closest to the door, was a long dresser.
Both took up the entire wall leaving little room to maneuver between them and the bed.
“Didn’t want to lug it up here. Plus, there’s no point. It would only take up more space.” It was true. The room was small enough as it was. “Oh, and the bathroom is further down that hall.”
Leo pointed to her right. Esmie followed the buttercream-colored wall to find the long narrow bathroom with one sink, a lot of counter space, a mirror which was desilvering at the corners, and a toilet at the end.
“Where’s the shower?” Esmie called from the bathroom.
“Across the hall.” Leo called back. Across the hall?
Esmie exited the bathroom to find two doors facing her.
She opened the one immediately in front of her where a blue square tiled space with a glass shower stared back at her from the other side.
Someone would have just enough space to put down their clothes and enter the shower without their personal effects getting wet.
The blue was beautiful but also overwhelming in the tiny space.
“There are hooks to put your belongings on, so they don’t have to be on the floor.
” Esmie jumped at Samson’s deep voice. He pointed to the walls where she noticed the silver hooks.
Good to know. She closed the door then reached for the other door to the right of the shower.
Samson placed a hand over hers, stopping her.
“What’s in there? Something top secret?” Esmie joked, trying to cover up being flustered from the jolt she felt from Samson’s touch.
“Kind of. It’s my belongings.” A corner of Samson’s mouth quirked up.
“You’re staying here?” Esmie attempted to hide the anger from her voice. Leo wouldn’t dare let her stay here but this stranger, who he hardly knew, got to?
“Yeah. Leo’s doing me a solid since it’s hard finding affordable apartments here. He lets me crash on the couch and I let him use my car. Even trade. I also pay for food and utilities. It’s the best way to get by here.”
“I’m getting that impression from you both the more I’m here.
” Esmie skirted around him as soon as he released her hand, doing her best to avoid touching him in the tight hallway space.
She entered the living room where a lumpy beige couch and matching loveseat sat on a rug taking up most of the space.
The couch faced a dark gray wall with a mounted tv.
“Hungry?” Leo handed her a sandwich.
“Starved, thanks!” Esmie plopped onto the couch. “At least the couch is comfy,” she commented to Samson who sat on the loveseat facing the floor to ceiling windows taking up the entire back wall of the apartment. It was the best feature.
“So, what do you think of my humble abode?” Leo sat next to her, after handing a sandwich to Samson. He took a large bite out of the wrap he made for himself.
“It’s perfect. I don’t know what you guys are going on about. The space is small, but everything is sized well enough to fit the essentials. And this view, it’s spectacular,” Esmie said around bites.
“You mean the view of the high-rise next door? At night you can see into the other apartments. It’s spectacular alright.” Leo joked with her.
“Well, you can see part of the city if you look out to the left,” Esmie pointed out.
“Because having bright neon lights blinding you while you’re trying to sleep at night is a great feature.” Samson joined in, smirking at her behind his sandwich. Esmie rolled her eyes.
“Whatever. I love it here. The only feature I don’t understand is the wall. Why are the rest of the apartment walls a buttercream color, but this one wall is gray?”
“Ah, that lovely feature was supposed to be a fireplace with slate framing it from floor to ceiling. They painted it to match, then the owners decided against it to save money but never came back to repaint it.” Leo sighed, staring at the wall as if it had bumped into him.
“Well, I think it’s a good feature to have an accent wall. High end places do.” Esmie was cut off by Leo’s phone ringing.
“Crap, it’s Mamá. I forgot I turned your phone off so no one could track you.
I need to add the anti-tracking software before we can turn it back on.
Let me smooth things over with her.” Leo jumped off the couch, answering as he walked into the bedroom.
Mamá’s voice echoed in a high-pitched yell before Leo closed the door.
Esmie was horrified. Samson chuckled. “Mothers. They are the best part of us.”
“Then your mother must not be as suffocating as mine.” Esmie curled her feet under her, finishing her sandwich.
“No, I guess she wasn’t. But, where I come from, we were much more in survival mode. Being irritated with each other wasn’t something we could afford.”
“Where did you come from? I’ve never been anywhere else except here and as you can see, I’ve never even been downtown. In fact, I don’t know of anyone else who has left Andloor.”
Samson’s gaze grew distant, his sandwich left uneaten. “It’s a place very far from here, and a lot less flashy. My mother would have loved to see all of the lights on display. I was enamored too when I first came here but it quickly faded.”
“Maybe you can invite your mother to visit so she can see it for herself.” Esmie leaned forward, hanging on Samson’s every word.
“I would love to, but she is no longer with us. At least not on this side of our world.” Samson's voice held a touch of sadness.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring it up.”
“No worries, you didn’t know. Just, let it be a reminder to cherish your parents because you will miss them when they are gone.
” Esmie’s throat burned. Here she was complaining about her mother and Samson had lost his.
She didn’t want to pry, but she wanted to learn more about him and his mysterious past. He obviously had a good relationship with his mother, the way his face lit up remembering her.
What other memories would bring him joy? Would she?
Esmie rubbed her arms, trying to wipe the thought away.
Now wasn’t the time to have a crush on the man who was helping Leo get her out of the mess she made of her life.
Plus having this purple mark etched on her face was definitely not a beauty mark for admirers to obsess over.
The bedroom door burst open pulling Esmie out of her pity party.
“Ok Mamá, I promise I’ll keep you updated as soon as I learn more.
Yes. I’ll tell her. Te amo. Bendicion.” Leo sighed, hanging up the phone.
“Mamá is not happy, but I told her the Capitol wanted to have you shadow me and some other colleagues to see where your talents would best fit in. That was the only reason she let you stay, but you’re not allowed to go anywhere, except to the car, Capitol building, and back here. ”
“Mhm,” Esmie didn’t want to complain now knowing part of Samson’s story.
“I’m going to order some food for dinner. I’m too tired to cook,” Leo announced.
“Why don’t I order, and you work on putting the anti-tracking software on Esmie’s phone so she can use it,” Samson offered, getting up from the couch.
Leo agreed and Esmie smiled at him. He walked toward the kitchen as Leo went back into the bedroom.
Esmie yawned, curling up onto the couch feeling like her eyelids were holding up concrete pillars in each one.
The men’s voices were her lullaby as she drifted to sleep.