Chapter Twenty Eight
DIANE
My sister groaned, lacing her arm with mine as we walked through the apartment.
Frankly, calling this an apartment was a bit of a stretch.
It was more of a cubicle with two windows.
It was just one room, which wouldn't be a problem.
The bathroom was separate—sort of. It only had a wall.
It didn't seem to have any ventilation, and I was certain there were mold issues.
"You can’t move here." There were five other people here to see it, which was why Celia and I were whispering under our breaths.
"The price is great," I said.
"But the place sucks."
"Let's try to put a positive spin on it."
She cocked a brow. "The view outside is of trash cans."
She was right. It was on the ground floor, and the bins were right in front of the window.
"I can put some flowers on the windowsill, and then I won't see them."
"I bet that when you open the window, a fantastic aroma will filter in."
I nearly gagged. Shit, I didn't think about that, but she was right.
"I can use the other window too. As a plus, it has a fully equipped kitchen," I said.
"That's true," Celia conceded, "but you'll have, like, zero space to put a bed and a couch."
"I'll just buy a pullout."
"They're terrible to sleep on."
"Hey, I didn't bring you here to be a grinch.”
"No, I'm just being the voice of reason," she said.
"Can you be my champion?"
She smiled, and I was certain she'd say yes, but then her smile fell. "No, because that right there is black mold, and over my dead body will you move in here."
I sighed, turning around and inspecting the crack in the ceiling she was pointing at. Yep, that was definitely black mold. "Fine. Let's go to the next appointment.”
I'd texted Gabe with pictures of the earlier apartment we saw and this one, but he hadn't said a word.
"Let me know what you guys decide," the realtor said. "We’ve got another group coming to see the place in five minutes." His smile was polite, but his words clearly indicated he wanted us to vacate the premises.
"Sure, we'll be out of your hair," I said.
I glanced around a bit at the others looking to rent here. No one seemed impressed with the place, but I bet they were still considering it because the rent really was great.
As we stepped out, my sister said, "Hit me with what you've got."
I showed her the rest. "Two more." The next one was in the same neighborhood.
"The next place isn't far away." She pinched her nose, looking around.
"Please stop being like that."
"I'm trying, but this is a depressing neighborhood."
That’s because it wasn't really a residential area, more of a commercial one with only a few units used for apartments.
“I’d only be here for a short while till I get back on my feet."
She sighed, taking my arm. We arrived at the next apartment twenty minutes later. My palms were sweaty as we walked to the front door. This one was on the ground floor too. I discovered they were the cheapest options, probably because there were always problems with the view or the lighting.
I knocked, but there was no answer. I put my ear to the door. There were no voices inside.
"The realtor isn't here yet," I said.
"Uh-huh."
I glanced at my sister. She was typing on her phone. "Shit, you need to go already?"
"No, no," she said a bit too quickly.
"Okay." I peered through the window. There wasn't much to see because there were bars on it. "From what I can tell, the place isn't too bad. I wonder if I can get the landlord to take out the bars."
"I think they're there for protection," she said, "which doesn't bode well for the neighborhood, if I'm honest. But let's see. Maybe the inside will win me over."
I smiled. "You finally decided not to be a grinch anymore."
She smiled, and it seemed almost a bit guilty. I took some more pictures and sent them to Gabe.
"I don't know why he's not answering," I said as I stood on my tiptoes, trying to make out what that huge shadow next to the fridge was. Just a trick of the light?
"Well, you did say he was busy," Celia said.
"I know."
I'd actually wanted to wait and talk about this with him tonight, but I got ahead of myself.
A small part of me was hoping that I'd send him this and he'd be like "Are you crazy?
We're moving in together." But he hadn't said that at all, which just reinforced my belief that I’d done a good thing by not bringing it up myself.
I wasn't sure I'd recover if he told me to my face that he didn't want to move in with me.
I startled when my phone rang. I took it out, holding my breath. This has to be Gabe.
It wasn't.
"Oh crap. I think this is the realtor." I immediately answered. "Hello?"
"Hi. I'm so sorry I forgot to call. I've been meaning to cancel the appointment."
My stomach sank. "But we're already here."
"I'm very sorry you wasted your time. Listen, the reason I've wanted to cancel is because there’s water damage. A pipe broke near the fridge, I'm told."
I groaned. "That would explain that dark shadow next to it."
"Between you and me, I wouldn't advise you to take the place right now. Let's wait and see if the landlord fixes it."
"Right," I said through gritted teeth. "Thank you for calling me."
After hanging up, I turned to my sister. She was smiling from ear to ear.
I narrowed my eyes at her. "All right. I know I told you not to be a grinch, but this is plain weird."
"Nah, I'm just happy that you don't have to live in this shithole. This is me being very, very supportive. Come on, let's go get ice cream."
I laughed. I didn't have anything else planned, so why not?
Her phone beeped again.
"Who keeps texting you?" I asked.
"No one."
I chuckled to myself. Right. I was betting she was seeing someone. My sister was always a bit secretive with her relationships in the beginning.
"All right, change of plans," Celia said. "I actually need to go already."
"Oh, okay. I can have ice cream by myself."
"Or… why don't you buy your favorite Ben and Jerry's and eat it at home?"
I stared at her. "Is there a reason you're trying to get me home?"
"Well, yeah. I need to get out of this neighborhood. It's depressing. And besides, I have a feeling you'll get good news soon."
"Well, I did write to a few more realtors, so maybe something will pan out."
"Exactly," Celia said, but she looked distracted. She was definitely seeing someone new.
I was thrilled for her. My sister was going on a date, and I was going to have one as well with Ben and Jerry.
GABE
My first stop was at Target. I needed some markers and huge sheets of paper.
Thirty minutes later, I turned onto my street, parking a few feet ahead of the gate as I didn't want Diane to see me. This had to be a surprise. I’d already written on the posters in the parking lot at Target, so I had everything prepped and ready to go.
Here goes nothing.
I kept the paper rolls under my arm, and as I entered the foyer, I checked the downstairs rooms. They were empty.
She must be in the attic.
I jogged up the staircase, feeling ridiculous with the awkward posterboard.
I realized I'd been too quick to judge that dude in her favorite movie—I totally forgot the name. I'd called him a coward for writing stuff on the paper instead of telling her how he felt, but now I understood. Somehow, it was easier to write things down.
I knocked at the door, and she immediately opened it. Her jaw dropped, and then it closed again when I put my finger in front of my lips. I took the sheets of poster from under my arm and held up the first one.
It said I love you.
She covered her mouth with one hand.
I put that one down.
I don't want you to move away to an apartment or anywhere.
The next one said Unless it's with me in our new home where you can… The paper hadn't been big enough for the whole message, so I lowered it, revealing the final one.
Bring in your reading chair and anything else you want.
She put both hands on her cheeks, splaying her fingers wide as she smiled from ear to ear. I put the papers down.
"I can't believe you did this,” she exclaimed.
“I can't believe you want to move away," I said, my voice almost a growl.
I stepped forward, putting an arm around her waist. She immediately laced her hands behind my neck. I loved that her instinct when I brought her closer was to pull me even closer still.
"Your house is almost ready," she murmured. "And we never…"
"I know that, but I love you, and I want you to move in with me."
She smiled before hiding her face in my neck. "I kind of got that from the posters. That was so amazing. You did like the movie. I will forever remember this moment."
"Good, because so will I. I wasn't kidding, Diane.
I not only don't want you to move away—" I pulled back because I wanted to look at her.
"—I want us to live together. I know we're not good at talking, but we’ll deal with that in due course.
We need to talk in detail about what we want from each other, what we expect, what we dream about. But we'll do that together."
"Together," she agreed, nodding. "Gabe, I can't believe this. I’m so in love with you, I didn't even know what to do with myself. And I tried to gauge where this was going.”
"Yeah, babe. One thing about me? I'm not good with hints—picking up on them, giving them, none of that. So one of the first things," I said, taking her hand and kissing the back of it before putting it back on my neck, "is that when you want us to talk about something, don't beat around the bush."
"Be direct. Got it," she replied.
"That sounds great."
She pressed her hands into my shoulders and lifted herself onto her toes. I smiled when she brought her lips to mine, and I captured her mouth. This kiss was exactly what I needed.
She pulled back. "Oh wait, we didn't talk. How was that property you saw?"
"It was amazing, but I can fill you in later. Right now, I need you to surrender to me completely, Diane."
She bit her lower lip and sucked in her breath, then simply nodded.