One
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“Here she comes again,”?I said, holding off on making any sudden movements.
“Who are we talking about?” Mia asked from the other end of the phone.
“The princess.” My neighbour wandered out onto the rooftop of our apartment building in Ivanhoe, Melbourne, a graceful blonde in black bike shorts and a formfitting tank.
Before I could even think about calling out to her, she pulled her headphones from around her neck and positioned them over her ears.
Not a single glance in my direction—and she had to know I was here.
“Why do you call her that?” Mia asked.
I sank down further on the vinyl couch and rested my ankle on my opposite knee. “Because the only two words she’s ever said to me areexcuseandmewhenever we pass each other. She treats me like a peasant.”
An exaggeration, but still.
“Hmm,” Mia said. “Does she treat you like a peasant, or do you just feel like one around her?”
My sister loved deep diving into other people’s psyches, but the sun had only been up for an hour, and it was too early for a therapy session. “What difference does it make?”
“One says more about her, and the other says more about you. Did you upset her somehow? You can be a bit of a shit sometimes.”?
“Me? We’ve never had a single conversation—and we’ve been neighbours for almost two years. Don’t you think that’s weird?”
“I think it’s a shock to your ego,” she said. “You’re not used to working this hard to get a woman’s attention,” Mia said, a smile in her voice. “Why don’t you tell me her actual name?”?
I lowered my voice as the woman in question headed straight for?the treadmill that Tim and Varesh, the husbands from level two, had brought up here for everyone to use. “It’s Sadie. Sadie Wentworth.”??
Mia laughed. “Your voice changed when you said her name. That’s cute.”?
I released a slow, patient breath. “You’d better calm down, Sissy. You read too many romance novels—and you’re reading too much into this situation.”?
“Whatever you need to tell yourself,” she teased. ?
I blew out a sigh. “I’m gonna go now.”
“Nooo, don’t go. I’m bored. I need company.”
“Where’s Ruby?” I asked.
“She fell asleep on the couch.” Mia’s voice turned serious. “I think we’re about done with remote learning. Most of the kids in her class don’t even show up anymore. It’s depressing logging in for each lesson.”?
I twirled a bead on the friendship bracelet my nine-year-old niece had sent me a couple of months ago, with the wordfuncleflanked by two pink love hearts. “I don’t blame you,” I said, “andI wouldn’t stress. If we make it through this shitshow, it won’t take her long to catch up on whatever she’s missing.”?
“You’re probably right—so, tell me more,” she cut in, apparently eager to get back to a more lighthearted topic. “What’s she doing now?”?
“Who?”?
“Princess Sadie.”?
“I regret ever mentioning her to you,” I said. “She’s on the treadmill, running like she’s escaping demons.”?
The rooftop was open on two sides, with a full ceiling and a TV mounted to the brick wall where the exercise equipment was set up. A twenty-four-hour news channel played on the screen, and Sadie faced the rolling coverage, shoulders relaxed and elbows bent at ninety-degree angles.
Her strides lengthened as she upped the speed, footsteps pounding, glutes… tensing.
