“No, I’m fine. I brought this.” She rummaged in her bag, pulling out a thermos. She set it on the wooden coffee table in front of her. “Do you want to guess what’s in there?”
I blinked, looking at the completely normal, featureless thermos. “Kombucha?”
She tipped her head. “I don’t touch that stuff. No, it’s just water!”
We shared a laugh, which led to more conversation, more laughter, more fascinating tidbits that blossomed into tangents that led deeper into conversation.
Two hours later, the coffee shop had transitioned into serving alcohol instead of caffeine. As the room grew more boisterous and my stomach panged with hunger, I was ready to make the offer.
“Do you want to come back to the apartment to see it?” I asked her. “That way you can make a fully informed decision.”
“Excellent idea.” Kendra followed me out onto the sidewalk, lugging her bag full of notes and not-Kombucha-just-water. I soaked up the waning rays of late-autumn sun as we walked the two blocks to the apartment. My phone started blaring just as we stepped into the apartment building. I fumbled with my purse to find it and silence it.
“Sorry,” I muttered, pausing at the base of the stairs. It was Damian. “I thought I had silenced it. It’s just my…” What was he to me now? “My boss calling.”
“Oh, where do you work?”
I fished my key out of my purse before leading Kendra up the staircase to my door. “Fairchild Enterprises.”
I pushed the key into the lock and the door swung open. I walked inside, though Kendra didn’t immediately follow me. She watched me with wide eyes from the hallway.
“For real?”
“Yeah, why?”
She stepped inside the apartment, drawing a deep breath. “Wow. I bet that’s interesting, huh?”
“Yeah, I’d say so,” I said, laughing nervously as she shut the door behind her. I couldn’t tell if that was a goodfor realor a bad one. “They’re interesting guys, with interesting lives.”
“So you know thempersonally?”
I swallowed, nodding. “Yeah. I actually grew up with them.”
Now Kendra’s eyes were the size of saucers. Awe shone from her. “That is so cool. Wow, I just thought of like, two hundred questions I wanted to ask.”
“Is that a good thing…?”
“I’m fascinated by them. I’ve been following all the news about them, of course. But I really love who they are, or who they seem to be, despite all the contentious shit going on. I don’t know—they’re kind of counter-culture icons in a way. I respect what they’re doing in the tech and finance worlds, because they’re representing the 99 percent. Not many people do that. You know?”
I nodded, emotion welling inside me. “Yeah. I totally agree.”
“And, of course, it doesn’t hurt that they’re all, like, painfully hot,” Kenda added with a laugh. “Any chance you could hook me up with one of them?”
“Trace might be single.” The words reverberated strangely inside me. But it was true. Axel was hopelessly in love with Cora, and I was…hopelessly in love with Damian. “I’ll see what I can do.”
I showed Kendra around the apartment—it was a laughably quick tour—and by the end of it, I could tell she was ready to sayyes.
“So what do you think, famous journalist?” I asked with a wink.
“I think you’ve got a new roomie, famous designer.” She cocked finger guns. “I’ve got to go drop this stuff off at the police station. But I’ll text you later and we can figure out details, okay?”
“Kendra, what on earth is in that bag?”
She waved off my question, clunking over to the front door. “That’s a story for another time. After we’ve lived together for at least a week. See you later, roomie!” She sent me a bright smile before pulling the door shut behind her, leaving me in a pleasant cloud of accomplishment, mingled with the scent of her floral perfume.
Kendra was fascinating and strong. Just the kind of person I needed in my life.
And I had a new roommate.