Page 34 of Time Stops With You

If the first floor is becoming an office space, will the rent go up? Will they renovate the other floors too? Are we being kicked out?

With each step up the flight of stairs, my worry increases. I’ve been putting up with the broken heater, rickety steps, lack of lighting and general weary appearance of this building preciselybecausethe rent was so reasonable.

What do we do if the rent increases? Where will we go if they kick us out?

The thought of going apartment shopping all over again with my measly budget makes me want to curl up in a fetal position and cry.

My mind so occupied with fresh worries, I forget that I’m supposed to be on the lookout for Cullen. It’s not until I get inside that I realize I was to be on alert and checking around the premises.

Oh well.What’s important is that Josiah is safe. I’ll continue to drive him to and from home after school until Ronan Cullen finds some other tech prodigy to leave all his money to.

Eyes locked on his phone, Josiah opens the door.

I stop him with a hand on his shoulder. “I have to get back to work. Remember not to open the door for anyone.”

“Yeah.”

“Anyone,” I stress. “Including Mr. Cullen. I don’t care if he’s your hero. He’s not allowed to meet with you alone.”

“I know.”

“There’s leftover pizza in the fridge.”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll be back in a few hours.”

“Yeah.” Without a backward glance at me, Josiah walks inside. His eyes are on his phone the entire way. I have no idea how he avoids ramming into the sofa.

With a sigh, I close the door, lock it and then test it by jangling the knob.

It’s secure.

On my way back down the flight of stairs, I tune back into the apartment group chat.

Big T is online.

He types:I just checked with my boys. They heard some fancy new owner bought the building.

I type back:Who’d want this ugly building?

The rest of the group chat agrees and everyone starts sharing all the things that are wrong with this place. Altogether, our list of complaints could wrap around the block.

The dimness of the stairwell dissipates, becoming brighter and brighter the closer I get to the side entrance. I put away my phone, fish my keys out of my purse, and mentally prepare to go back to work.

It’s going to be a long night. The company supervisor allowed me to leave early to pick up Josiah from school and drop him home, but I’ll have to make it up in overtime.

As I advance to my car, I spot a man wearing a beanie climbing out of a vehicle parked on the curb. It’s only for a split second, but I’d recognize that fashion disaster of a head coveringanywhere.

Changing directions, I turn the corner and spot Ronan Cullen talking to the surly construction worker from earlier.

He’s wearing the same outfit as when I saw him at Josiah’s school earlier—black polo shirt and slim tailored pants. The pieces are so simple that they don’t make much of an impression but, because he’s so tall and lean, he wears them well.

What is hedoinghere?

I stomp toward him, ready to go to war. But when I get closer, I overhear his conversation with the contractor.

“I’ll need air conditioning in every room. Computers tend to run hot, so it’s very important to have that cooling system in place,” Cullen says.

---