Page 13 of Finding Alexei
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By the time I get back home, it’s raining. I worked the lunchtime shift and would have stayed through the evening shift too, but it was slow and my manager sent me home. Luckily, I made it to the auto-repair shop before they closed, and though I’m several hundred dollars poorer, at least I have my own car back and won’t have to rely on ride-share services.
It never bothered me before, but coming back to the dumpy apartment complex I call home after having spent the night in Alexei’s multi-million-dollar condo is a bit more depressing than usual. It doesn’t help that the sky is gray and overcast, and dumping what feels like buckets of cold water down on me.
I stopped at the grocery store on the way and am finally arriving home. Carrying two heavy grocery bags, I trudge up the front steps. I’ll pick up Ella from the neighbor’s after I drop off the groceries inside. That’s my last thought before the bottom of my paper bags give out, sending everything tumbling to the sopping-wet ground.
Shit.
Heaving out a sigh, I bend down and begin gathering the wet, muddy groceries, piling as much into my arms as I can hold. Shuffling to my door, I see there’s a lockbox fixed around my doorknob. That wasn’t there last night. I look up to find a yellow sheet of paper taped to the door, an eviction notice. Apparently, the locks have been changed, and I have to pay my back rent before I’ll be allowed inside to retrieve my things. The landlord said I had another week.
Fucking hell. Can this day get any worse?
Before I can begin to process all of this, before I can start to cry, I hear the crunch of tires and a car stopping beside the curb. Somehow, I know without looking up who just pulled up behind me, which makes me want to cry even more. Tears burn the back of my eyelids and my nose tingles.
Alexei hops out into the rain wearing a hoodie and comes over to retrieve the canned goods, bananas, and various cartons and containers that I’m juggling. “You okay?” he asks in that same rich tone that I’ve come to both love and hate in a matter of two short days.
Why is he here? Why does he even care? Why does he always have to see me at my absolute worst? The universe hates me—that’s the only explanation for this horrendous karma.
“I’m fine, Alexei. I told you that.”
He cocks one eyebrow. “You don’t look fine.”
I’m sure I look like absolute hell with stringy wet hair plastered to my forehead, food scattered at my feet, and the eviction notice shining from my door like a gigantic beacon, announcing what a loser I am. Hit by another sudden wave of emotion, I pinch my lips together.
Alexei looks behind me, and I can see his brain registering the predicament I’m in right now.
“Come on. Let’s get Ella. You’re both coming with me.”
My embarrassment may be through the roof, and there’s no denying I need help. But somehow the anger and utter helplessness at my situation is projecting into my tone.
“I’m not your problem, or your little outreach project. You don’t have to worry about me.”
He nods. “Yeah, I know. Just like you didn’t need to take in Ella when your roommate split. But it was the right thing to do, so you did it without a second thought. Come stay with me until things calm down for you and Ella.”
In that moment, I realize that this is all I am to him. An obligation. His latest charity contribution. If he walked away now and the media got wind of it, it could irreparably tarnish his image. So, he has to do ‘the right thing’.
“I don’t know you, Alexei, and I can’t just come live with you. I can’t bring someone else’s baby into your house and expect you to put up with everything that comes with taking care of a two-month-old, no matter how long this situation lasts.” My voice is as strong as I can make it, but I swear even I can hear the lack of conviction in it.
“Ryleigh, this is no place for a baby. It’s raining, and by the looks of it, you’re homeless. All I’m asking is for you to let me be your Plan B.”
I nod in defeat, the enormity of my situation weighing me down so heavily that I’m not even sure which way is up. What I do know is that Alexei is here, and he wants to help us. I can’t turn him away, even if I wanted to.
“Fine. Let me get Ella.”
Alexei grabs the groceries from me to load into his car while I go to my neighbor’s door to pay her for babysitting. After flipping up the cover on Ella’s infant carrier to shield her from the rain, I hurry back to the car and place the carrier in the back seat. Alexei takes over, buckling her seat in place.
