Page 134 of Loved

“I might,” she said.

“You’re not,” I said more firmly. This really wasn’t up for negotiation. “You’re going back to school. You can’t have a job at the same time. I’d never get to see you.”

“Well, I’m not supposed to start until the spring semester. What am I going to do all day until then?”

“Whatever you want.”

“Except work?”

I smiled down at her. She was impossible. “I was kind of hoping to spend the fall hanging out just the two of us. Exploring the city together.”

“What about your new business? I thought you wanted to move here to get things rolling?”

“Yeah, I’ll be doing it on the side. Just like I’ve been doing now. But that doesn’t take up much time. Spending time with you is my priority.”

Her cheeks flushed. “Well, I’ll still need something to do when you’re working.”

“I have an idea. Maybe you could sit in on a few classes? Get the feel for the campus.”

“Hmm. Yeah, I guess that could work. I don’t know though…you probably wouldn’t be comfortable with me going to NYCU yet because you haven’t had a chance to install any cameras.” She tried to raise her eyebrow at me, like I so often did to her. But she wasn’t very good at it.

I tried to hide my smile. “Don’t worry. I can get Ian to install cameras there any time.”

“Ian helps with the cameras?” She nervously glanced at him and then back at me.

Oh shit.I knew telling her the truth about Ian a little later was the right move. But I needed to be a little more careful about it.

“I thought you said he was your driver?” she asked.

“Yeah, but he’s also kind of…an assistant. He helps with whatever I need.”

“Why did you never mention him to me before?”

I shrugged. “It didn’t come up.” I was trying not to freak you out. I’mstilltrying not to freak you out.

She leaned a little closer to me. “Do we really need a driver though, James? I really can take the subway.”

She was trying to make me live in a disgusting apartment with cockroaches and now she was trying to fire Ian? “He’s been with me for years,” I said. “Ellen and him are both like family.”

“Oh, I didn’t realize.” She smiled up at me. “Okay. He seems nice.”

“He is.”

“I might still ride the subway sometimes though.”

“You’re going to be the death of me,” I said as Evelyn opened up the door of the next apartment complex. Just like the last one, there was no doorman and no concierge. And the elevator was broken.

The five of us walked up eight flights of stairs.

“Why is it so hot?” Rob asked as he pulled on the collar of his shirt.

“The heat is definitely on full blast for some reason,” Evelyn said. “I’m sure that’s not an all-the-time thing though.”

Was she sure about that?

She opened up the door to the unit she wanted to show us and stepped to the side. This one was a lot nicer than the last. Although the view out the one window was of a graffitied wall. And it was even hotter in here than it was in the hallway. It was a pretty nice autumn day. There was no reason to have the heat on so high.

I wanted to love it for Penny’s sake. But I couldn’t live here. It wasn’t cozy, it was fucking claustrophobic.

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