He was kind of cute when he squirmed.
“Do you have any plans tonight?” he finally asked after I’d been staring at him for a hot minute.
“I don’t know if a bottle of wine counts asplans. Not that I need any more alcohol. I met up with my agent for mojitos when I got the callback.”
“Oh, is he your…” Kirk let the phrase hang out there between us.
“No, oh my gosh, no. Brice is gay—very, very gay. We’re more like siblings than anything, except I pay him a lot to be my sibling. So, I guess we’re not like siblings at all.”
“Pizza?” Kirk asked, holding up the boxes. “I have meat and vegetarian.”
I considered it for a moment. Part of me wanted to head into my apartment, close the door, and take a long, hot bath. Instead, I heard the words “Sure, sounds like fun,” slip out of my mouth before I could stop them. “But first, I want to change. Get out of these clothes.”
“No problem. We’ll be waiting for you.”
Kirk headed to his door as I opened mine. I pulled out the key, went inside, and made my way through the living room. After setting down my bag, I went into the bedroom and removed my clothes to throw on something more comfortable. I went with a pair of jeans, a gray sweatshirt that readIowa Stateon it, and a pair of fuzzy house slippers. Hey, I was only going next door, and I wasn’t trying to impress this guy.
On the way out of the apartment, I looked at myself once in the mirror. I didn’t look half bad. I wasn’t the super-hot Broadway actor from that afternoon, but I was still the gorgeous girl next door from Iowa. I grabbed my keys and headed to the adjacent apartment.
I knocked twice on the door and heard a voice from inside yell, “It’s open,” so I pushed and found that it had been left open enough to not latch shut.
“It’s me, Erika,” I said as I walked into the apartment. I’d never seen inside this specific apartment. Still, I’d been enough of the building’s apartments to know all the general apartment layouts. To the right, I found an empty kitchen. There was an open hole between the kitchen and the living room area beyond the entryway wall. I could see the open pizza boxes sitting on the ledge between the two rooms, but I couldn’t see the dining room area.
“We’re in the living room,” Kirk called to me.
I stepped further into the apartment and found Carissra and Kirk sitting at a small, circular folding table, already digging into their pizza.
“Sorry we didn’t wait for you. I didn’t know how long you’d be, and frankly, I was starving.”
“No worries,” I replied. “I would have done the same thing.”
Kirk gestured toward the empty folding chair, and I sat down.
“So, Kirk told me you had a bit of an adventure this afternoon,” Carissra said.
“Yes. Yes, I did.”
I spent the next 25 minutes retelling my story. Admittedly, I got the story better and knew where people would laugh with each retelling. I was getting the hang of this humor thing. I’d never imagined myself a comedienne, but maybe I had some comedic chops after all.
When I finished my story, Carissra and Kirk told me more about themselves and their lives before moving in next to me. They were lucky to get into the building because it was within walking distance of Kirk’s and Carissra’s schools, the place was affordable, and the apartment had two rooms.
“Her parents were pretty well off,” Kirk said, “But I didn’t want to use any of Carissra’s inheritance until she turned eighteen. I want to make sure she has enough money to go to any college or university she wants to go to. And still have enough to help her get established in a career once she has a degree.”
“Uncle Kirk is kind of amazing, isn’t he?” Carissra said absently.
“He sure seems like it,” I admitted.
I looked around the apartment and it was quite sparse. “When are the rest of your belongings supposed to get here?” I asked.
“In two days,” Kirk almost growled. “Sorry, it’s a sore subject. They were supposed to unload my old apartment out in Queens, which was too small for both of us, and move us here in one day, but that isn’t what happened. We’re both going to sleep on the ground tonight, unfortunately.”
“I have a blowup bed in my apartment you can borrow?”
“I couldn’t possibly accept,” Kirk said.
“You invited me over for pizza. I insist you let me return your generosity. Besides, it’s just sitting in a closet right now.”
“Are you sure?” Kirk questioned.
