Page 10 of The Jerk in Apartment 1B

I assume she means her landlord. I’ll have to get his info, but we can go over that stuff later. Jenna’s in a hurry to leave, probably to go on a date with her boyfriend. That’s what I’d be doing if Asher hadn’t dumped me.

“The movers will be here tomorrow morning,” Jenna says. “The place should be empty by noon so if you want to come by then, I’ll give you the keys and you can start moving in.”

Wow, that’s soon, but I guess it’s good. I can’t keep staying with Sara.

The three of us go out to the street. Jenna takes off in a cab while Sara and I remain on the sidewalk outside my new building. I can’t believe I’ll be living here. It’s amazing how your whole life can change within a matter of hours.

“You got an apartment!” Sara squeals. “Isn’t that great?”

“Yeah,” I say, trying to sound as happy as she does. “Thanks for letting me know about it. I’m lucky it was still available.”

“I know, right? It was perfect timing. If we hadn’t shown up when we did, the place would’ve been taken.”

“I guess it was meant to be,” I say, although it’s sad to think I was meant to live in that tiny apartment on the first floor of an old building. When I used to dream of living in New York, I imagined myself in a posh apartment on the top floor of a luxury high-rise. That dream might’ve come true if I was still withAsher. He’s already making a lot of money and will probably double his income by the end of the year.

“Let’s check out the neighborhood,” Sara says, motioning me to follow her as she heads down the street.

I’d rather go back to her apartment and put an end to this horrible day, but I guess it wouldn’t hurt to see what’s around here.

“Trina, look!” Sara stops next to the grocery store Jenna told us about.

“Yeah, it’s close. Just a block away,” I say, not sure why she’s getting so excited about it.

“No, look!” She points to a sign on the window. “They’re hiring! You could get a job.”

“At a grocery store?” I laugh, thinking she must be kidding. “I need a real job, one that pays more than minimum wage.”

“Yeah, but you also need money. Finding a job you really want could take weeks, or months. You can’t wait that long to make money.”

She’s right. It could take months for me to find a job in fashion, especially if all the jobs are being given to interns who work for free.

“Let’s go inside and you can get an application,” she says.

“I’d rather work in a clothing store. That makes more sense since I want to work in fashion.”

“But look around.” She glances down both sides of the street. “There aren’t any clothing stores here, and even if you found one, they may not be hiring.” She points to the grocery store. “This place is hiring and it’s only a block from your apartment. And I bet you’d get a discount on groceries.”

“I’ll think about it. Let me get moved into the apartment and then I’ll look for a job.” I check the time and see it’s after seven. “Why don’t we go back to your place? I can check out the neighborhood this weekend.”

“Okay, but I really think you should ask about the job. What if you go there later and it’s taken?”

I shrug. “Then it wasn’t meant to be.”

An older man comes out of the grocery store, smiling as he approaches us. “I saw you two checking out the help wanted sign. You girls looking for a job?”

“I’m not,” Sara says. She points to me. “But she is.”

“I’m really not,” I tell him. “Not right now.”

“How much does it pay?” Sara asks.

I glare at her, wishing she’d stay out of this.

“Fifteen an hour,” the man says. “And you get ten percent off anything in the store.”

“That’s pretty good,” Sara says. “Right, Trina?”

It isn’t bad, especially since I don’t have to subtract subway fare. But a grocery store? Really? I’d be a lot more comfortable folding t-shirts than stacking tomatoes, or whatever it is you do at a grocery store. I know very little about food. I’m not even sure I could tell the difference between a zucchini and a cucumber.

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