SADIE
“Holy shit!”Charli yelled from the top of the stairs as she stood at the open door of my renovated apartment.
I’d given her my key to go ahead of me as I lugged Achoo up the steps in her carrier, which was made even slower with Eeyore waddling up beside me.
“What?” I asked, wondering if the property management company had been mistaken and the bakery was ready to be occupied, but the apartment wasn’t habitable yet. The company had explained that Mr. Wilcox had accepted an offer for the space and the new developer had fast-tracked the rebuild. Maybe they hadn’t quite tracked as fast as the management thought.
The outside of the building looked gorgeous. It was a bright white with black windowsills and adorable awnings. Everything looked fresh and new and I was really dying to go down and look at the bakery, but first I wanted to get Achoo and Eeyore settled in.
It felt so strange walking up these brand-new iron steps. This had been my home for almost a year. I’d moved in a few months before I’d been able to open up my retail space downstairs. From the first time I’d walked inside, it had felt cozy and homey. And it had retained that feeling for the eleven months I’d lived there. But now… as I walked up the steps, it didn’t feel like home. I was sure it was just because it looked so different. That had to be it. It had nothing to do with the fact that I’d just spent a month living in a high-rise penthouse with Lexi and Alex and that had started to feel like home. Nope. Nothing to do with that at all.
“I don’t think you’re gonna need this.” Charli held up the bag containing the blow-up mattress we’d bought on our Target run.
We’d taken a trip to the store to get essentials that I’d need to move back in, including an air mattress since all of my furniture, which consisted of a hand me down couch and a queen bed that I’d found on Craigslist—after my last boyfriend stole all of my furniture—had been destroyed either by the fire, smoke, or the water from the sprinklers.
“Why?” I asked as I reached the top step.
“Look!” She stepped inside and fanned her arms out as she spun around.
When I stepped inside, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Not only was it habitable, it looked like a Pinterest page or like a page out of a magazine. The wall that had defined the entryway was gone, and so was the wall between the dining space and the kitchen. The entire space was wide open, giving it the appearance of being double or triple the size. There were wide plank hardwood floors which replaced the old dingy carpet.
The kitchen was no longer the size of a closet. It took up most of the far wall. There were stainless steel appliances, a butcher block countertop, white subway tile backsplash, and there was a stainless-steel vent hood over a six-burner double oven.
But the pièce de résistance, was that there was a kitchen island. I’d always wanted my own kitchen island. And now, it appeared I had one.
Charli dropped the Target bags and closed the front door as I set Achoo’s carrier down and opened it. She remained inside and E flopped down beside the couch with a loud sigh, totally unimpressed by our spaces glow up.
“There’s a barn door!” Charli pointed.
I looked up and saw that there was in fact a barn door beside the refrigerator. I hadn’t even noticed it. There was so much to take in. Like the island, I’d always wanted a barn door.
“Does it go to the bathroom?”
Charli shrugged as her lips curled in a smile. “Let’s find out.”
We both giggled like we were back in middle school as we rushed across the apartment and opened it.
“What the actual hell?” Charli asked as we walked in.
If my jaw hadn’t been hinged at the corners it would have dropped to the floor as I took in my surroundings. There was what had to be a king-sized bed in the center of the room, a large standing mirror leaning against one wall, a chair in the right corner and there was another barn door.
Charlie opened it and revealed a bathroom that could easily be in any high-end spa. The tiled floor looked hand painted. There was a two-sink vanity with large round black-rimmed mirrors, marble countertops, a shower with the same white subway tile and a free-standing bath.
I have a bathtub!
“Did you do this from the insurance money?”
“No!” I’d received the check in the mail, which was much larger than I’d expected, and had planned on putting most of it in savings. I’d planned on asking Mrs. Flores if she’d received such a substantial amount.
Then a thought hit me, if I wasn’t mistaken, I was standing where Mrs. Flores’ apartment used to be. My apartment had to take up the entire second floor of the building. I pulled my phone out of my back pocket.
“Who are you calling?” Charli asked from inside the bathtub she’d climbed into.
“Mrs. Flores.”
The phone rang twice before she picked it up. “Hello!” she screamed.
I held the phone slightly away from my ear. “Mrs. Flores, this is Sadie. I was just calling to…” I was scared to tell her that my apartment had eaten her apartment so instead I said, “I was calling to see how you are.”
