Inspiration struck and I started the car, heading for my old apartment. I wondered if the doorman would even recognize me.
The doorman did know my face-not surprising, I guess, since the last time he’d seen me, I nearly attacked him with the onset of the Itch.
Bobby blushed and waved me in with excitement. “Miss Brighton! I’m so glad to see you’ve returned. How was your vacation? You look so beautiful.” He nearly fell over himself, trying to open the door for me.
“It was great, Bobby.” I let him think I’d been on some sort of makeover vacation. Whatever. “How have things been here?”
“Lonely,” he blurted, then turned fiery red. “I mean, we’re busy of course. I’ve made sure that your mail is taken inside your apartment each morning, Miss Brighton. Wouldn’t want the other tenants to know you’ve been away.”
Okay, the crush had just taken a stalkerish turn. Warning bells rang in my mind, and I forced myself to reach over and pat his cheek. “You’re sweet. Do me a favor and go watch my car for me in the garage? It’s the blue Explorer and my, um, cousin is passed out in the backseat. Drinking binge.” I shook my head and tried to look tragic. “Do you think you could watch him for me?”
“Of course, Miss Brighton,” Bobby breathed, looking like he was about to blow his wad in his dress slacks. “I’ll get someone to cover the door for me right away. Don’t you worry about a thing, Miss Brighton!”
Oh, I wouldn’t. If the car was stolen with the vampire in it, that’d solve two problems at once. I just didn’t want Bobby wandering up while I was in my apartment. I smiled at him and headed for the elevator on the other side of the lobby.
Heads turned as I walked. Onlookers stared. Were they wondering who I was, or had someone recognized the old, frumpy me and now wondered who had done my amazing surgery? Either way, I was starting to get used to the overly attentive looks and I ignored them. You know you’ve got a weird life when the attention of an entire floor is focused on the way you walk, and you couldn’t give a rat’s ass.
The elevator was empty, and I made it up to my floor without event. The building was very quiet-one of the reasons I’d decided to live in such an expensive apartment complex-and it made me nervous. Given my new lifestyle, it was reasonable to be wary. After all, last night I’d rubbed elbows with angels, vampires, and a demon queen, and they all wanted to kill me right now.
I headed down the long hall to my apartment. There was nothing stacked up outside my door, which meant that any mail or packages or newspapers had indeed been thoughtfully placed inside. I put the key in the lock and turned it, pushing the door open with a flick of my wrist.
And then gasped. Wall-to-wall roses covered the living room, the cheap bouquets you’d buy at the store down the street. Some were wilted, having been here for several days. There were four sets of balloons decorated with kisses and hearts, and several cards were lined up on my table. I picked up the first one.
Creepy. I put the card down and looked at the next one.
Ew. Next card.
I tossed it aside. Just what I needed-a stalker who knew where I lived and had the key to my apartment. How had he managed to get the key, anyway?
I didn’t touch the rest of the gifts and moved to my regular mail, which had been neatly and alphabetically stacked on a coffee table. Bills, bills, bills, and lots of junk mail. Nothing personal, nothing that reminded me that I was a normal woman with a nine-to-five job. It was depressing.
My voicemail was depressing as well. Thirteen messages, and once I’d hit the sixth one from Bobby, I started deleting after the first word. Ten messages in, I recognized a different voice and rewound to listen.
“Hey, Jackie.” The voice was Noah’s, sleepy and a little unfocused. “I, uh, got your number the other day when we met at the bar. You probably don’t remember that, right? I guess you’re not home. No doubt staying with Remy again.”
He chuckled, and my heart did a little flip. “She’s a bit of a busybody, but she means well, so don’t take any of her ways to heart. She’s just excited to have another of her kind in the city. It’s been a long time since she’s had anyone to talk to but me.”
The voice in the recording paused for so long that I thought the message was over. I moved to hit Delete when Noah began to speak again. “I just … I guess … ah, hell. I’m not good with apologies. I just wanted to say that I’m sorry-for everything that you’ve been through. I would have never done it intentionally. You know that.” A huge sigh.
“You just looked so lost and alone that night in the bar, and so innocent, that I couldn’t help but be drawn to you. I hope you won’t hold it against me forever. I know it’s hard right now to adjust, and I guess I just … I just wanted to say that I’m here for you, if you ever need me for anything.”
I stood there in stunned silence.
The machine beeped. “End of message,” the computerized voice warned. “To delete this message-”
I hit the Save button, sniffing hard. I would not cry. I
Damn Noah for being so sweet and such an arrogant ass at the same time. I checked the rest of the messages, hoping for more from Noah, but the rest were just more of Bobby’s mooning.
What now? Suddenly my excursion back to my normal life didn’t seem so important. I stared at my shabby furniture, at the stalker roses, at the pictures on the wall from graduation and college roomies, and everything else. It all seemed utterly trivial, and I felt lost and alone. The life I’d led before was meaningless, and the life I had now was utterly frightening.
I wandered into my bedroom like one of the walking dead. Worn-out sneakers under the bed, frumpy work clothes in the closet; I’d even neatly made my bed.
Who was I? I didn’t know anymore.
Sitting on the bed, I contemplated my options. I couldn’t go back to the way things used to be-my boss thought I was a crazy plastic surgery junkie. I couldn’t stay with Remy; her lifestyle would never be mine. Noah was gone, perhaps forever, and I was stuck with a cigarette-smoking vampire hottie who was crashed out in the backseat of a car that wasn’t even mine.
I buried my head in my hands. When did my life get so fucked up?
Much as I wanted to run screaming from the situation, I couldn’t. I just couldn’t bury my head in the sand and continue on like nothing had ever happened. Noah needed me. I had to at least try.
I gathered a few things: some comfortable old T-shirts, my briefcase full of museum paperwork, a few research books, and a few other doodads I didn’t want to leave behind.
I had an odd feeling that I wouldn’t see my apartment, or any trace of my old life, again.
Leaving the building behind, I got into Noah’s Explorer with a half wave to Bobby, tore out of the parking garage, and coasted back onto the highway, my mind churning. A quick glance behind me confirmed that Zane was still asleep in the backseat-not that I’d expected otherwise.
There was still a good half hour until I had to pick up Remy, but I couldn’t get much done in that span of time, so I headed back to the pawnshop and idled the car, flipping through radio stations.
Remy showed up shortly, a couple of bags in tow, and slid into the passenger seat. She dumped the goods on the floorboard and grinned, looking excited. “Miss me? You look like someone died. Everything okay?”
“I suppose, considering all the bullshit that’s going down. What did you get?”
“I’ll show you when we get home and drop off our third wheel.” She thumbed a gesture at the passed-out Zane. “Deal?”
“Whatever floats your boat. Can we grab something to eat? I’m starving.”
Remy laughed. “I thought you’d never ask.”
Several hours later, the setting sun blazed through the miniblinds. Zane was stashed in Remy’s basement on an old couch, we were stuffed with milkshakes, pizzas, and burgers, and she was surfing the internet on her laptop.
