Page 29 of Please Don't Leave Me

I go to open the door for her, but she stops me. “Are you having company over?”

“Huh?” How could she possibly know that?

“The glasses and bottle of wine on the coffee table. I noticed them when you ran into the kitchen.”

“Oh, right. Yeah, I have a date coming over.”

“Someone you’ve met before?”

“We actually just had our first date earlier this afternoon.”

“Is B out of town again? I haven’t heard her in a few days.” I’ve gotten so used to the noise that I sometimes forget how thin the walls and floors are in this old building.

“She’s in London for a week.”

“Okay, well, if I hear shouting, I’ll assume something is either going horribly wrong or wonderfully right.” She winks at me with a smirk on her face.

Oh no. Now that’s going to be on my mind if things go there tonight. I laugh awkwardly and go to open the door again. “I’ll yell out your name if I’m getting murdered.”

She steps toward the door, rolling her eyes, that smirk still on her face. “Sounds good. Thanks again, Lou. You have fun tonight.”

As she steps out, she almost runs into a wall of muscle standing outside my door. “Jesus! Oh hello. You must be the date.” She whips around and raises her eyebrows so they’re up to her hairline and mouths, “Good job.” I think if she didn’t have eggs in her hands, she’d be giving me a thumbs up too.

Sam stands in the hallway holding brown bags full of our takeout food. “Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you. Someone let me in the front door.”

When I texted him my address, I included the apartment number so he could buzz me to let him in. “All good. Sarah was just leaving.”

“I had to borrow some eggs to feed my gremlins.”

Sam laughs at her bad joke and he steps aside for her to walk around him.

Sarah yells back at me as she takes the stairs two at atime. “See you later, Lou. And hey you—” she pauses, looking directly at Sam.

“Sam,” he tells her, assuming she’s waiting for his name.

“Sam. Please don’t murder my friend.”

“I promise.”

Sarah continues up the flight of stairs, and Sam looks at me with a sheepish grin.

“Don’t mind her. She just worries about me when I’m here alone.”

“She’s a very good neighbor for that. And it appears you are, too. I didn’t know people still did that. You know, borrow their neighbors a cup of sugar.” He says it in a teasing tone, so I know he wasn’t put off by her comment.

“I didn’t think so either until I moved in below Sarah.” Remembering that he’s still standing in the hallway, I sidestep. “Sorry, come in! You can set the bags on the coffee table as long as you don’t mind eating in the living room. This place is too small for a table, so we eat most of our meals out here.”

He walks past me, and I can smell his cologne again; it’s intoxicating. “Doesn’t bother me.” He sets the bags on the coffee table and looks around. “Hey there, Pepin.”

After initially greeting Sarah, Pepin went back to his chair, where he currently sits. I almost forgot about him and how nervous I was that he would growl at Sam. He seems quite unbothered. Sam walks over and squats down to pet him on the head. Pepin leans into his hand and starts panting.

“I’m glad he likes you.”

“Does he usually not like men?”

“He didn’t really like the last guy that was here. For good reason.”

SAM

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