Page 133 of Loved

Chapter 33

Wednesday

I’d told the real estate agent that we needed a place that was cozy. But maybe the concept was as new to her as it was to me. Because the first apartment she brought us to was more rundown than cozy. And the abandoned couch in the center of the room did not look comfortable at all. It looked like it was filled with…

My train of thought ended when a cockroach ran across the floor and Penny jumped. Yup. The couch was definitely filled with cockroaches.

“No,” I said firmly. “Next.”

“But we haven’t even seen the bedroom yet,” Penny said.

Was she serious right now? She was glued to my side like she was worried the cockroaches would carry her away. “I know you saw that cockroach,” I said.

She shrugged. “Isn’t New York City filled with those? I figured I just had to get used to it. Like when you go to Disney World and there’s all those little lizard things. Although…those are kind of cute.”

Getusedto cockroaches?Fuck no.“No, Penny. You don’t have to get used to mouse-sized bugs. Or…lizards.”

Rob tried to push the curtains to the side and the curtain rod fell and almost hit his head. He dodged it right in time and Ian laughed.

“Not funny,” Rob said. “I was almost impaled! I don’t think I’ve ever been on this side of town, and I’m always down for something shady. Where the fuck are we right now?”

That was a great question. I turned toward the real estate agent. “Evelyn, I’m so confused,” I said. “You know my budget. There’s no way that this place is anywhere close to that. And you sent me a couple listings.Thisis nothing like the ones you sent over.”

“Oh. Well, Penny and I got to talking on our way to the car. She wanted something rent-controlled. And I kinda had to scramble because you can’t really buy something rent-controlled if you don’t have a family member already living there. And my boss said she probably meant a place like…this. I’m sorry.”

I’d left them alone for literally one minute when we picked Evelyn up from her office. I turned to Penny. “Where did you even hear about rent-control?”

“Isn’t that what all the best places have? Like in Friends?”

I just stared at her. What was she talking about? “Which one of your friends?” I didn’t realize she knew anyone else in the city.

“TheshowFriends,” she said with a laugh. “Monica has a rent-controlled apartment because it was her grandmother’s. And it was so nice. I was kind of picturing a place like that.”

Ian handed me his phone to show me a picture of the apartment from Friends. This apartment looked nothing like that.

I shook my head. “I think maybe we should stick to the list Evelyn put together in advance.”

“I know this one was a bust, but let’s try one more,” Penny said. “Evelyn, can you take us to the nicest one you found for me?”

“Um…” She scanned her phone. “Yes?”

I didn’t love the way she said it as a question. This next place was definitely not going to be better. But Pennywas moving here for me. The least I could do was let her choose a few places to look at. Besides, she still wasn’t yelling at me about the fact that I’d been recording her for weeks without her permission.

We all headed back to the car.

“No need to drive,” Evelyn said. “The next place is in walking distance. Right this way.”

Yeah, this next place was going to be shit too. I stared at the rat hanging out the side of a dumpster. Seriously…where the fuck were we?

“Penny,” I said and grabbed her hand as we turned down a side street filled with more trash. “We don’t need a rent-controlled apartment. Or whatever it is we’re about to look at.”

“I know you can afford anything you want.”

“So…what are we doing here?” We were probably going to catch some kind of bug just standing here.

“If I’m going to pitch in with rent…”

“You’re not.”

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