She replied: So damn soon? Jesus.
I laughed at my phone screen and then tucked it away into my pocket. I wondered how my brother and Rose would take the news that I had moved in so quickly with some random billionaire’s son. I would have to wait until a few weeks had passed to tell them that we lived together, I thought. For now, they would just know that I had a boyfriend, which would be just as odd to them, unfortunately.
“Let me get changed and pack up a few things,” I called back to Nora’s open window as I went to cross the street. The slow wind that blew around the tall buildings was chilly, and my breath fogged in the late morning air, clouding around me. “I’ll just be a minute in there.”
I sighed at the sad sight of my ramshackle apartment building, sitting there on the side of the street as if it were waiting for me to come back. It had so much potential and yet the whole thing sat there like a blight on the city. I wondered if the landlord knew how much of a waste it was, letting it rot away and fall apart like this.
I made my way up to my apartment and all but tossed myself onto my bed, wrapping myself up into a threadbare plaid blanket that my dad had given me before I left. I stared at the popcorn ceiling in a daze, feeling as if my world had shifted on its axis. I couldn’t believe that I wouldn't be here in my apartment anymore. I would miss my little hole-in-the-wall in the five months I would be gone. Emily had told me that the show would pay my meager rent while I was away, and I was glad it would be taken care of. I would have to come and water my little window plants and dust every month, though there wasn’t much in my apartment that couldn’t be left by itself for a good long while. I sat up after a minute or so and grabbed a duffle out of my closet, tucking clothes into it as quickly as I could. I unfolded three boxes from my bare pantry and began packing piles of toiletries, pillows, blankets, and shoes. I stuffed more clothes and things into the boxes and pushed a carton of my favorite cereal and my brother’s brand of coffee, and then on second thought, my coffee maker as well, in right beside them. I wasn’t sure what kind of food Connor ate but I wasn’t about to give up my coffee, even if he didn’t need it as I did.
A horn honked loudly from outside and I ran to the window to see a short moving truck waiting by the door. I looked back at my little half-empty boxes and almost laughed. I was almost sure Connor expected me to come back with a truck full of odds and ends. I shrugged to myself, folding the boxes closed.
I shouldered my duffle, walked out the door, and nearly ran into a man dressed in a bright red plaid shirt and a tattered baseball cap. He was tall and lanky, and his hair was fluffy and dark, tousled in the wind. He shoved out his hand for me to shake, and his dark brown eyes were bright, twinkling happily. “Jack Everly, my lady. Mover extraordinaire,” he exclaimed, grinning widely with a bow and shaking my hand vigorously. “You must be the new squeeze.”
“Uh,” I said, letting his hand go. “That’s me, I guess. Sadie Harlow, it’s nice to meet you.”
He took my duffle and slung it over his shoulder, and I realized he was waiting for me to open the door. I opened the door to my apartment and Jack stepped in, his gaze zeroing in on the small pile of boxes beside me. “Is that it for you?”
“That’s all I need for a few months, yeah.” I nodded, feeling a little self-conscious at his gaze. To my surprise, he scooped up all three of my boxes and held them in his arms, looking around them at me with his eyebrows raised in question. I nodded and walked ahead of him as we headed down the stairs, showing him the way down, and I turned back to him at the bottom of the staircase.
“So, you’re friends with Connor, right? Like best friends?”
“Yeah, for sure. Since grade school,” Jack nodded at me, walking through the doors I opened for him. “I’m actually not a mover either. I’m a tech developer and I work from home. I really just like to keep people on their toes and what-not.”
I let out a surprised laugh at that, watching him pack the little boxes neatly into the back of the truck he was driving. I would never have expected that, though I supposed that would teach me not to judge people by their appearance. He slid the door closed firmly behind himself and shook my hand once again before handing me my duffle bag and jumping into the front seat with a warm smile still on his face. He waved at me happily as he left, his old truck sputtering jauntily down the nearly empty street.