“Alright, well if that’s all, then I’ll see you tomorrow night,” I said, closing the door.
It clicked shut. I faced the door, shaking my head. What in the world did I ever seen in that girl? I wondered if I should mention it to Charlie or just see how things played out.
“As I said,” Harper chimed in, clearing her throat. “She likes you.”
I scratched my head. “Yeah, maybe you’re right,” I said more to myself than to Harper. “I don’t get it. I’ve chased her for years, practically drooling at her feet and now, all of a sudden, she acts like she wants me? So frustrating.” I didn’t think I’d ever been less attracted to a girl once I knew she possessed that quality and I found myself almost feeling sorry for Charlie rather than my usual jealous.
I look up at Harper but she averted her gaze.
“Um, yeah,” she said at the wall. “Well, shall we, um, look through the listings?”
The paper held several affordable options in Washington Heights but we agreed that Manhattan was not a requirement and by the looks of the prices, neither was a two bedroom. We searched around the city and visited a few options near campus but found nothing really worth anything. Our last stop was in Queens, an Astoria one bedroom.
I rang the buzzer to gain entry to the building.
“Yes?”
“Uh,” I said, “we’re here to view the one bedroom.”
There was a distinct buzz and an audible click before I opened the door for Harper. She squeezed past me, her front brushing mine, her hair floating beneath my nose. Warmth flushed over me. We both smiled at one another before footsteps interrupted us.
“Hi, I’m Kenny. I’ll be showing you the apartment,” the stranger said, before holding out his hand.
I shook it firmly. “Pleasure, Kenny. I’m Callum and this is Harper,” I said, gesturing to her at my side. I loved to see her there, at my side.
“You two look awfully young to be interested in an apartment,” he said, eyeing us skeptically.
For some reason, Harper took massive offense to this for some reason. “Yeah, seeing as neither of us have parents and all, we don’t really have a choice now do we?”
“Oh, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have..,” Kenny stuttered.
“It’s okay,” I interrupted the man, before shooting Harper a ‘what’s wrong with you?’ look.
“What? He was the busy body who started making assumptions.”
“Harper,” I admonished under my breath.
“Uh, right this way,” Kenny said pointing to the elevator.
It was a long ride up to the top floor, the enclosed space felt stifling thanks to Harper’s defensiveness.
“It’s, uh, right here,” he said quietly, pointing to thirteen-oh-seven, the last door on our left. He removed keys from his pocket and opened the door. “I’ll leave you two to look around. I’ll be on the first floor if you have any questions.” He closed the door behind him and we just stood there looking at each other, listening as he stepped onto the elevator.
I broke the silence. “Even if we wanted this apartment, I doubt he’d rent it to us.”
“Uh! Why?” She asked, looking confused.
“Maybe because you were rude to him, Harper?”
“What?”
“Harper, he may have overstepped his boundaries a bit but he meant no harm by it.”
She sighed audibly, opened her mouth, but snapped it shut instead, releasing a hard breath through her nose. She walked off toward the bedroom, examined the plaster ceilings and walls. I followed her as she inspected the size, before she moved on to the bathroom.
“It’s nice,” she said to me, failing to meet my eyes.
“I agree,” I said in a hushed tone.
She stopped, examined the white hexagon tile beneath her feet. She ran her toe over the black grout. “Do you really think I botched our chances?”
“I don’t know, Harper,” I sighed loudly, running both hands through my hair and leaning against the marble countertop of the bathroom sink.
She sat on the toilet seat, burying her face in her hands. After awhile, I notice salty tears dripping from the sides of her hands. Oh, God. You were too harsh, Callum. I hastily grabbed some toilet tissue from the roll next to her and handed her a few squares, moving to sit on the edge of the pedestal tub beside her.
“I’m such an idiot and I’m sorry. Please stop crying. I don’t know why I was so short with you.” I paused for a second. “Well, it was probably because Sam came over today and anyway, please forgive me.”
She sniffed loudly and wiped at her nose. “No, I’m sorry. I’m just in a horrible mood. I’ll apologize to the guy.”
“Why? Have I upset you?”
“No! No. I mean, of course not. You’ve been nothing but kind to me. It’s just, well...”
But before she could continue, Kenny opened the front door.
“Hello!” He called out.
I squeezed my eyes shut. “We’re in here!” I yelled, wishing we could have had just five more minutes. It felt like the world didn’t want us to talk about anything of substance.
Harper quickly wiped her tears away in front of the mirror, attempting to erase all signs that she was upset. I could tell it was something she was practiced at because when we met Kenny in the ancient wood floored bedroom there was no trace that she had been crying less than two minutes before.
“Kenny?” She asked, humility seeping from her pores.
“Yeah,” Kenny said, trying hard to be light hearted but failing miserably.
“I’m really sorry about downstairs. I’m having a crap day and I took it out on you.”
“Oh, that’s cool,” he said but I could tell it made him feel a lot better because his face brightened a bit. “So, are you guys interested?”
“What’s the rent?” Harper asked, a slight grin tugging at her lips.
“Um, this unit is nine seventy-five. We’ve had difficulty letting it.”
I could barely contain the excitement in my voice. “What do you say, Harper? It is the best one we’ve seen all day and we don’t have much time before school starts.”
She took a deep, cleansing breath and her eyes sparkled a bit before she answered, “I think it’s amazing. We’ll take it.”
An hour worth of paperwork later, Harper and I were ready to sign the dotted line.
“I’ll just need the first and last month’s rent and a five hundred dollar deposit,” Kenny says.
Harper reached for her bag to pull out our cash but Kenny stopped her.
“Not yet. I’ll need to see if you’re approved first but as soon as we get the thumbs up, you can swing by and we’ll take care of it then. Do you guys have a number I can reach you at?”
“Do we?” Harper asked.
“Uh, sure. I’ll give you Cherry’s cell.” I grabbed a sheet of paper and jotted the number down. “Just let her know who you are and why you’re calling and she’ll take the message.”
“Alright, I’ll let you know in a few hours,” Kenny said.
Harper
Before Callum and I boarded the packed train back to Charlie’s to put all the sheets back on his bed and put up a few things, Callum found a nearby pay phone and rung Cherry to let her know to expect a call from Kenny.
“So, where should we go after Charlie’s?” I asked as I plopped next to Callum on the subway.
“I’m not sure, sweet. I haven’t gotten a chance to think it through yet.”
I could tell he was sort of sweating it. He kept rubbing the palm of his hand against the back of his neck, running his long fingers through his hair, and scrubbing his face.
“Dude, if you’re getting cold feet about moving in with me, remember that you don’t have to do it. I understand if I scared you with that crap I pulled back there. I don’t blame you if you want out.”
“What? Shut up, goof. I’m stressed about Sam.”
My stomach plummeted toward my feet. “Oh, I understand.”
When he revealed that he liked her back at Charlie’s, I wanted to burst into idiotic tears which was so unlike me. As I was fighting the urge, the burn subsided a bit because I realized that Callum had softened me like a stick of butter left in the sun. It scared the shit out of me, actually. The last thing I wanted was to feel weak in a vulnerable situation and here I’d gone and let him do it without my knowledge. I wanted to clobber him and kiss him all at once. The fact that he liked Sam was like a punch to my gut.
“Really? Well then what do you think I should do about it?” He asked me.
“I think you should, well, listen to what your heart says.”
His brows furrowed. “That’s vague and not at all helpful,” he teased with his glorious, slightly crooked smile. “It doesn’t matter anyway because I don’t think Charlie cares for her that much,” he stated.
So, he for sure likes her, then. Why would he say that otherwise? Is he worried that Charlie will be offended if he asks Sam out? God, I am such a dweeb. He was never interested in me. He’s just a master flirt.
I promised myself that I’d stop liking him, move on. I turned my head toward him and actually watched him think about her. I wanted to kick my laughable ass all the way back to social services. I wondered if he thought about her hair the way I wanted him to think about mine. I wondered if he fantasized about the way she smelled or memorized her lips. Just the thought of him wanting her the way I wanted him made me nauseous. I was so pissed at myself for thinking that he was starting to become mine.
I opened my mouth to let him know that I was the one who was going to bail on our deal because I’d started to fall in love with him and I just couldn’t deal when a man tripped over my bag and sprawled face first into the floor of the train.
“Shit! Are you okay?” I asked him, standing up.
Callum stood and helped the guy to his feet but he just walked to the end of the car without so much as an acknowledgement.
“Weird,” I said.
“Yeah,” Callum said, sitting back down.
The walk to Charlie’s was quiet and uncomfortable. Callum was preoccupied with, I’m sure, thoughts of Sam but he surprised me when he said, “Our appointment with Sylvia is on Monday.”
“I know. What made you say that?”
“Just wanted to remind you is all, can’t have you bailing on me,” he teased down at me through a gleaming smile.
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” I said. Are you flirting with him? Ugh! You are such an idiot.
He grabbed my hand and practically dragged me to Charlie’s floor. I could feel his muscles bunch and strain through the back of his t-shirt, sending me spiraling down an imaginary tunnel. Good God, Harper! Get a hold of yourself.
When we reached the door, an unexpected sight greeted us. Sam and an unbelievably gorgeous man I could only assume was Charlie were sitting and talking on the couch.
“Charlie!” Callum said.
Charlie stood. “In the flesh!” He said, dramatically extending his arms from his sides. Charlie had the thickest English accent I’d ever heard and was tall, probably six foot three. He was blonde with clear blue eyes and longish hair that stuck out at strange angles. It would most likely look ridiculous on anyone else but it seemed to fit Charlie to a T. “And who is this lovely?” He asked, walking toward me, his stride long and confident.