Page 2 of At Your Door

Or like every word that comes out of my mouth is going to just crumble up into dust. I feel calm, and unlike others, I like the early mornings. The cold and crisp air combined with the smell of fresh coffee beans is magic in itself.

El would much prefer to sleep in, but we both know we work better together. We keep each other on track, force each other to show up, and then when we’re done, we rehash all of our embarrassing moments from the day—usually over takeout, upstairs in my apartment.

Which is what I’m trying to convince El to do when it's finally time to clock out at noon. But I can already tell by the frown on her face that she will say no.

“Why not? Let’s watch a movie!” I whine. I try to make the sad puppy dog eyes at her as we walk out the front door towards her baby blue Subaru.

“Ugh, I wish, but my family’s in town for my nephew's birthday, and you know how my mom gets. She needs my help preparing the food and probably anything else she can think of.” Her hands are waving around in the air as she unlocks her car.

“Yikes. Well, tell Noah I said ‘Happy Birthday!’ And text me when you make it home.” I pat the hood of her car before stepping back onto the curb.

“You too!” El says jokingly. We're both laughing as we go our separate ways.

When I finally step into the small entryway of the old building, my body starts to relax as I slip into cruise control, ready to begin my end-of-the-day routine. I turn to the right and use my key to check the mailbox. Aside from a couple of coupons, it’s completely empty.

Locking it again, I glance up at the narrow spiral staircase and let out a deep sigh. The elevator's been broken since I movedin, but every day, I still glance to the left at the metal gate covering it, hoping that maybe, one day, it’ll be working again.

But for now, I turn back towards the old, creaky, wooden stairs and begin my journey all the way up to the sixth floor, which, until recently, occupied only four residents.

It's probably because the elevator is broken, and you’d have to be either crazy or desperate to want to make the journey up here. I know I’m both.

My neighbor Mary, who lives across the hall, isn’t crazy; she just really wanted a view of the water. My other neighbor, Alex—who travels the world half the time backpacking—lives an insane lifestyle, so I count him as crazy. But the one person I have yet to figure out is my new next-door neighbor.

I’ve been lucky enough to avoid her so far, but judging from the loud music and constant voices coming from her apartment these last few days, I doubt we’d get along.

She’s clearly a loud, party girl who doesn’t care about anyone else, and I’m the complete opposite—I like peace and quiet.

Maybe it’s because I don’t really have friends besides Eleanor. Sometimes I’ll playUnowith Mary, but she’s partially deaf in one ear and I’m still learning sign language, so our conversations are limited. Either way, I enjoy my alone time, and lately, that’s been ruined. Today’s no different. As I round the corner and step onto the sixth floor, I can already hear the music spilling down the hallway.

“Great.” It’s all I can mutter out as I bend over with my apron and bag in hand, barely keeping it off the ground, as I try to catch my breath.

When I finally find the strength to keep moving, my eyes lock on the apartment at the end of the hall—past mine, past Mary’s, past everyone’s. It’s the biggest one on this floor, a two-bedroom I’ve had my eye on since I moved in years ago.

Unfortunately, like many of the apartments in this building, it’s been vacant due to construction and plumbing issues. I don’t know the specifics, but if it’s anything like the maintenance needed in my place, I doubt it’ll ever be available. Not that I could afford it anyway, but that doesn’t stop me from dreaming.

I’m completely knocked out of my daze when I feel my body lurch forward after my foot gets caught on something. I’m barely able to catch myself with my hands before I crash into my front door.

When I finally regained my balance, I immediately looked down to find the culprit. I’m even more confused to find a medium-sized brown box sitting in front of my door.

“Huh?” I’m standing there with my eyebrows furrowed as I consider my past few purchases. My eyes suddenly go wide. Wait, is that what I think it is?!

I ordered it not too long ago, so it really shouldn’t be here yet, but I know it’s the only thing I’ve ordered in a while.

When I pick it up, I’m sure it’s the one. The box isn’t too heavy, but it’s definitely not filled with feathers.

I can hardly contain my excitement as I unlock the door, kick it closed behind me, and hurry to my coffee table to set everything down. Fortunately, I keep a box cutter nearby. As soon as I see apartment number444on the shipping label, I don’t hesitate before tearing open the seal.

After seeing Eleanor eyeing it in a store, I immediately started saving up to get it for her birthday coming up. I was worried it wouldn’t arrive in time, but as my hands rip open the flaps of the box and toss aside the tissue paper, I can’t contain my smile when I finally pull out a…

DILDO?!?!

CHAPTER 2

MIA

“Okay, I think that’s enough now.” At this point, I’m just annoyed and ready to hang up on El laughing her ass off at my misery.

Granted, I should’ve known this would be her reaction, but I didn’t have any other choice. Once I realized what I was holding, I immediately threw it back in the box and FaceTimed her.

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