“No, but I will find it, because if you leave, Ellis will have to deal with these psychos on his own. That means I’ll never see him, and he’ll be stressed, and then we’ll get a divorce.”
Anne smiled. “You’re not getting divorced.”
“I know. That’s why I need a million dollars,” he whined. Then he paused, eyes wide.
“Oh! What about the basement? There’s an apartment down there, right? You could move in down there!”
Anne’s brow furrowed. “You mean the laundry room?”
“It has a window,” he added, as if that helped.
The door to the small kitchen swung open before Anne could reply, and Cricket entered, mouth slack and eyes crossed like she was about to drop dead of boredom. The expression did nothing to spoil her features, though. Her lips only looked more perfectly full, and the tilt of her head somehow made her long mane of curly brown hair frame her high cheekbones perfectly.
Cricket lived in 4B, the apartment across from Bev, and she also happened to be Ellis’s younger sister. This fact was the source of the building’s last great political drama two years ago when the former tenant of 4B moved out and Cricket, who wanted to move to New York to be an actress, moved in. Bev was the first to note that the apartment, which also happened to be one of the few remaining ones in the building with rent control, had never been officially listed. By the time Cricket had moved in and Ellis hired her to work part-time at his real estate office while she auditioned for roles, half the building was ready to revolt.
But then something incredible happened: Cricket and Bev became friends. Or, at least, Cricket thought they did. Once she learned that the woman across the hall had slapped a police officer at the Stonewall Riots and slept with Iggy Pop, Cricket was enamored. Soon, all objections were dropped, and Bev hadn’t been able to shake Cricket since.
“Everything all right?” Anne asked, her voice low so it wouldn’t carry to the next room.
“It’s just soboring,” Cricket said. “All they’re talking about is, like, reserve funds? Credit scores? Who even cares.”
“You know you don’t have to come to these things, Cricks,” James said. “It’s a board meeting, not a resident meeting.”
“Tell that to your husband. He said I have to, so I understand ‘equity capital.’ As if that’s even a thing. Meanwhile, I’m missing rehearsal! The play opens next month, and I still haven’t learned the choreography for the cybernetic fairy number!”
James’s head cocked to the side, like he was choosing his words carefully. “I thought you said it was a Shakespeare retelling.”
“It is,” Cricket replied, as if that was obvious.
Anne cleared her throat to mask her laugh, while James looked at Cricket with a mix of bewilderment and awe.
Then the kitchen door swung open again and Beverly shuffled in.
“Somebody needs to remove whatever climbed up Wendy’s ass and died,” she murmured.
James put a finger on his nose. “Not it.”
Anne smiled and poured Beverly a glass of red wine, handing it to her as they all shifted to accommodate the latest arrival.
“How’s it going out there?” Anne asked.
“Looks like the sale is going through.” Beverly took a big gulp, then nodded to James. “Watch out. Ellis sounds smitten with the buyer.”
“He paid cash, so I don’t blame him,” James said with a sigh. “Though I don’t have visual confirmation of hotness yet.”
“I do,” Cricket replied. Her tone was innocent, but her smile was decidedly not.
Three sets of eyes snapped to her.
“You met him?” Anne asked, genuinely curious.
Cricket nodded. “He came by Ellis’s office the other day to go over some paperwork.”
“And?” James asked, leaning over the sliced melon to make sure he got every word.
“Imayhave introduced myself,” Cricket replied with a playful shrug. “And Imayhave taken the keys so he has to stop by my apartment to pick them up after the closing.”
“Oh my God, you’re going to sleep with someone in the building,” James’s mouth was agape. “That’s so messy. I love it.”
