She poked her tongue out at me before reaching over and pinching my arm. “Ouch! What’d you do that for?”
“Because you’re being a twat.”
“A twat?”
“Yes. A twat.”
“Never been called a twat before.”
“Well, first time for everything. Now, drive.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Doing as I was told, I backed out of the driveway and pumped up the music. We’d been driving for twenty minutes, and Claire was getting fidgety when I turned off the main road and onto the esplanade that ran the length of the beach.
“It’s so beautiful,” Claire murmured to herself, staring out the window.
She wasn’t wrong. It was stunning. The sand was white, the water clear, and the boardwalk that wrapped around the edge was dotted with people enjoying the late afternoon sun. But if she thought it looked amazing from here, I couldn’t wait to hear what she thought when she saw it from my balcony, twelve stories up.
Turning away from the beach and into the underground car park, I could feel Claire’s eyes boring a hole into the side of my head. “Wh-where are you taking me?”
“Trust me,” I offered, winding down the window and swiping my fob against the sensor.
It was too late to turn back now. I just hoped I’d made the right call.
It’s amazing how fast things can move when you throw money at them. I only put the offer in on Saturday night and had it accepted. Sunday morning, I was signing contacts and depositing a chunk of cash into a bank account. By Tuesday afternoon, we had licence arrangements in place, and I was collecting keys.
After running into Claire on the beach earlier, I’d got my butt in gear and gone on a shopping spree. I couldn’t very well move in without at least the bare essentials. A bed, fridge, and TV were a must-have. The only thing I couldn’t buy was faster delivery. It was all arriving here on Friday and nothing I could do could hurry it along. Unfortunately.
Pulling into the middle of my parking spot, I came to a stop and unbuckled my belt before looking over at Claire. She was trying to put on a brave face, but it was all bullshit. Her eyes were wide, her breathing heavy, and tiny dots of sweat had broken out along her forehead.
“Don’t stress. I got you,” I attempted to reassure her which only earned me a strained smile which gave her a slightly crazy look.
It may have been a shiny new apartment complex, but the basement car park was still dark and dingy. Jumping out, I opened the back door and grabbed the esky I’d borrowed from Luca before rounding the car and taking Claire’s hand, leading her towards the elevator.
“Can you press twelve for me please?” I asked. The last thing I wanted to do was let go of Claire’s hand.
She hit the button, and we started moving while Claire stared at me with such intensity I felt my cheeks burn. I couldn’t figure out what she was seeing, but I hoped she wasn’t contemplating running. Having her ghost on me once was bad enough, I’d be more than pissed if she did it again, even if she had a damn good reason.
Announcing our arrival with a loud ding, we stepped off the elevator and headed the short way down the hall before coming to a stop in front of my door. Setting the esky down on the tiles, I reached into my pocket.
“Aren’t you going to knock?” Claire questioned.
“Nope. I have the key.”
Jabbing the key in the lock, I opened the door and held it wide, encouraging her to pass before picking up the esky and following her.
After setting the esky down on the kitchen bench, I found Claire standing in the living room, her arms spread wide. “It smells brand new.”
“Because it is.”
“Seth…where are we? Whose place is this? And why do you have a key?”
“This is my place.”
“Your place?”
“Yeah.”
