Page 6 of Landlord Wars
Oh, hell no. “Stay away from my baby sister!”
He grinned devilishly. “Noted. Besides, I’m damaged goods with all the baggage I’ve got going on. I’ll take the kettle corn and resume my video-game marathon with strangers in the privacy of my bedroom.”
I laughed and watched him pad down the hallway. We had the perfect setup with en suite bedrooms on opposite sides of the hall. I never heard Jack once he entered his room.
The tension from a long day of work eased from my shoulders. With Jack’s support, my sister staying the night was doable.
ChapterThree
Sophia
The next evening,I met up with Elise at our favorite dim sum restaurant to celebrate my new apartment. This was gonna work, even if I had to ass-kiss the landlord until my lips were chapped. At least Jack was willing to let Elise stay over.
I dug into my massive multipurpose bag that was function over form, carrying my laptop, shoes, and beauty essentials, and searched for a scrap of paper. I’d scribbled the reservation confirmation on it and shoved it in here, but now I couldn’t find it. The situation was made worse by the fact that I hadn’t cleaned out my bag in a week, and everything I owned was inside.
I glanced at the hostess, who was clad in a black dress and stylish glasses halfway down her nose. “I’m so sorry. I have the confirmation here somewhere.”
Nom Tea Parlor was the best dim sum in town. You booked reservations online for lunch and dinner or you didn’t get in. It was also expensive as all get-out. Moving in with Jack was a big deal for me, so I’d been skimping on other luxuries, like afternoon mochas, to celebrate the occasion. Which was also why I’d booked a table days ago. If only I could find the darn slip of paper with the confirmation code!
“Name?” the hostess asked.
I rattled off my name.
The hostess scrolled a computer screen then said, “I don’t see it here.”
Wearing a moss-green lantern dress she’d picked up off Shein for about fifteen bucks, and dressed to honor the occasion, Elise nudged me in the side with her elbow. “There’s a line behind us.”
Perspiration prickled beneath my arms as I dug around in my purse. “I know, I know.”
“Well, do something,” she said, “or we should leave. Someone just walked in, and you don’t want to see who it is.”
The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. I looked behind us, exactly what Elise had warned me not to do.
My chest constricted, closing off airflow.
“Paul just walked in,” she said needlessly, her wavy dark-brown hair partially blocking my view because Elise didn’t know personal space. But I didn’t need the full view.
Paul was making his way to the hostess, and he looked like a K-pop star, with his glossy black hair lightened to a reddish brown. He was wearing a black T-shirt that was tight on his biceps and slim at the waist. Knowing what he spent on clothing, the shirt alone must have cost as much as I earned in a day. More importantly, he was holding the hand of his new fiancée.
I’d been told his fiancée was exactly the nice Korean girl his mother had dreamed of for him. Apparently, she came from a wealthy family who was richer than Paul’s, and that was saying something. It was a wonder he ever dated me knowing I was making my way through graduate school on scholarships and student loans. Not exactly rich-girl material.
Paul’s family owned a popular café chain in town, but in graduate school we were all on a level playing field. I hadn’t wanted a boyfriend at the time; relentless financial stress will do that to you. But Paul brought me lattes before class, and even though I don’t drink lattes, I’d appreciated the effort.
Clearly, I’d been deeply deprived of male attention because there were plenty of other things I’d overlooked.
I pressed my lips together and closed my eyes, feeling my chest loosening. This was the best week. The very best week. I had my own space in a swanky apartment, and I was getting better sleep than I had in years. I would not let my ex’s presence ruin this day.
“Excuse me?” the hostess said, peering from above silver-framed glasses that matched her hair. “I can’t find your name, and if you don’t have your reservation number, I’ll have to take the next customer.”
The sound of someone clearing his throat came from behind, and I stiffly looked back.
Paul was standing right behind us now. Tension lined his eyes as he clenched his fiancée’s hand. “Sophia… Is there a problem?” He looked over his shoulder at the growing line. “Maybe you should step back and let someone else through.”
“You know her?” his fiancée murmured.
Shame swept through me, and I stepped aside in jerky movements, wishing to be smaller. I wasn’t with Paul anymore, yet somehow, I still managed to embarrass him.
I’d lost the reservation number. For most people that wasn’t the end of the world, but the truth was, I couldn’t afford this place. I’d wanted to live like thehavesinstead of thehave-nots, even for an hour, and I’d just been bitch-slapped into reality courtesy of my ex, a guy I hadn’t seen in a year.
