Page 18

Mindy

The bills will have to wait. I’m not up to doing anything this morning. Maybe after walking the dogs, I’ll have some energy.

That’s such a lie. I won’t even have time to eat before work. A granola bar will have to be good enough. The unfolded laundry piled up by my dresser haunts me.

But I don’t have time for that. It’ll have to wait for another day.

Time to go. I yank on my ponytail to tighten it and head out the door.

Waiting with rollers in her hair and a cup of coffee in hand, my neighbor smiles as I step out of my apartment. “Good morning, Mindy. I have some bad news for you.”

No. I just can’t handle any more bad news. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m going to be moving in with my sister next month.”

That doesn’t sound like bad news to me. “That’s wonderful.”

“But she lives about twenty minutes from here, so I’m going to need to find another dog walker.”

Oh. That’s what she means. “Don’t you worry about that. I’m sure you’ll find someone soon.”

“But my precious baby loves you so much.”

That dog loves to poop on the steps at random for me to clean up. “I’ll miss the both of you.” But one less dog to walk sounds good right about now.

We head down a flight of stairs and stop for the next dog.

“Morning, Mindy’” Rusfis’ owner lifts his mug in acknowledgment.

“Morning.” I take Rusfis.

“Just wanted to let you know I won’t be needing your services as of next week.”

Another one. “Okay. Thanks for the notice.” It’s not odd to lose or gain clients. People move in and out all the time. But losing two in a day is.

Down another flight of stairs, Muffin wags his tail happily as he waits with his owner. “Morning, Mindy. Did you read the letter from the new owner yet?”

That sounds ominous. “Nope.”

“That may be a good choice. Reading it yesterday ruined my day.”

Not what I need to hear after the day I had on Saturday. Now’s not the time to think about more problems. “See you later.”

There’s no sign of Pretty Girl. She’s always waiting for me. Taped to the door is a note. It’s only two words, ‘you’re fired’.

Isn’t that a nice way to start the day? Whatever that letter says is really bad.

***

Diane sits down next to me with her lunch box. “Isn’t today wonderful?” She sighs.

No. No. It’s not. That letter was even worse than I thought. The new owners doubled our rent, and it’s all perfectly legal.

Doubled it.

My bank account is empty, and they doubled my rent.

“Tac and I eloped!”

WHAT?

She holds out her ring finger for me to see the two rings. Her diamond shines in the fluorescent lights.

“You got married?”

“Sure did. Tac was so old-fashioned. He insisted we get married before we moved in together.” Diane does a little dance in her chair. “So, we went to the courthouse and got married. Isn’t it amazing?”

Yeah. Totally amazing. Except, I was hoping you’d agree to get an apartment with me since I can’t afford mine now.

There’s always someone looking for a roommate around here. I’ll just check the board later.

***

Nothing. How can the board be empty? It’s never empty. There’s always someone looking for a roommate. This place doesn’t pay enough to afford an apartment on your own in Urbium.

What am I going to do?

My rent is due in two days and I’ll have half. That’s it. Half my rent and not a cent more. If I had a few weeks, the money from cleaning the snakes’ cages would be in my account again, and I could afford to pay my rent. But I can’t keep both these jobs forever.

What am I going to do?

Adonis walks by, heading to his office.

He literally knows everyone.

I log out on a break and head to his office. “You got a minute?”

Adonis smiles up at me. “Always. Come on in.”

He’ll know someone. He knows everyone. Adonis loves to do things like this. He’s a generous and kind man. “Do you, by chance, know of anyone looking for a roommate?”

“Why? Didn’t you move into your new apartment like six months ago?”

See, he’s a nice guy. “Yeah, I did. But they sold it. Then the new owners decided to double the rent.”

Adonis leans back in his chair and looks out at the people working. “How long do you have?”

“Till the end of the month.”

He swivels his chair around. “That’s just a few days away.”

What can I say? Opening my mail became a low-priority task. I shrug.

“There’s no one I know of that’s looking. But I have an idea if you’d be open to it.”

Any idea would be amazing at the moment. A snake den would work. Would Maddox notice me sleeping in one of the cages? The substrate doesn’t look that uncomfortable. “I am. What is it?”

“I have a spare bedroom.”

What did he say? Stress must be making me hear things. There’s no way the prettiest man ever born asked me to live with him.

“You could rent it for a few months until something else opens up.”

He really said that. Adonis asked me to move in with him.

Not move in with him like that, but still, it’s close. Isn’t that how people fall in love in those romcoms?

Adonis and I could be dating within six months. He could end up being my one divorce. That would certainly give me something to talk about when I’m old and grey. “That would be wonderful.”

I’m moving in with Adonis!