Page 19 of The Fifth Avenue Apartment

Tessa and Caroline immediately offered their condolences. “Does that mean you have to move?” Tessa asked.

Sophie shook her head. “No, actually I’m staying. My aunt left the apartment to me.”

Tessa and Caroline both looked shocked. “She left you the apartment? The one on Fifth Avenue?” Caroline asked.

“She did.”

“Well, you’ll sell it of course. You can get a lot of money for that property,” Tessa said.

“I’m not selling. I wanted to stay in New York and my aunt knew that.”

“It’s such a huge place though, isn’t it? If you sold it, you could get something much smaller, still nicer and put money in the bank,” Caroline said practically.

“I could. But I’m not in a hurry to sell it. It’s a great location and my aunt loved living there. I think I will, too.”

“Well, I have to admit, I’m a little jealous,” Tessa said. “I still need to figure out what I’m going to do. Our rent is going way up and I’m not sure I want to stay there.”

“I’m in the same situation. But I’ll probably re-sign the new lease. It’s too hard to find something else and prices are high everywhere,” Caroline said.

The conversation shifted to what they were doing for the rest of the weekend. Both Caroline and Tessa had boyfriends and they were seeing them later that evening and had fun plans for the weekend.

“Ed is taking me out on his boat. He lives on Long Island,” Caroline said.

“We have tickets to a show tomorrow night, I don’t remember which one it is, but Cody is all excited about it,” Tessa said.

They decided to order another round of drinks and at Tessa’s urging, they all got the smash burger. And it really was good. Sophie wasn’t a big red meat eater but occasionally she enjoyed a burger.

And even though they were full, they decided to share a dessert, a chocolate peanut butter blondie with vanilla ice cream.

Sophie was having such a good time, that over dessert she impulsively invited Tessa and Caroline to move in with her.

“I have extra bedrooms and I could use the money to pay the monthly maintenance fees. You could pay me what you’re paying now.”

Caroline’s eyes lit up. “Are you sure? That doesn’t seem enough for a Fifth Avenue location.”

But Tessa didn’t hesitate. “If you’re serious, I’m in. I don’t even need to see it.”

“I’m in too. I would love to see it though, if that’s possible, just so I’ll know what to bring and what to leave behind,” Caroline said.

Sophie felt a rush of happiness. “I’ll be around tomorrow afternoon, if you want to come by and see the place.”

They both agreed to stop over around two and Tessa insisted on paying the bill instead of splitting it three ways when it came.

“I don’t want to take the chance that you might change your mind about us moving in,” she teased.

Sophie smiled. “I won’t change my mind. I’ll see you both tomorrow afternoon.”

Caroline and Tessa arrived at two o’clock sharp the next day and they both loved the apartment.

“It’s even bigger than I imagined,” Caroline said. “Seriously, Sophie, this place is gorgeous. And I wouldn’t even have to bring much, mostly just clothing.”

Tessa seemed happy with it too. “I didn’t like my furniture much anyway. I’ll either sell it to my roommates or put an ad online to get rid of it. Do you care which bedroom we take?”

“My aunt’s was the front room and I’m leaving that as is. I have the back room and that leaves the other two. They’re the same size, so you can decide between yourselves which one you want,” Sophie said.

Caroline didn’t have a preference and told Tessa she’d be happy with either room.

“So, we’ll move in first of the month? November first?” Caroline asked.

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