Page 19 of Downfall

I have a few hours until I need to get ready, so I’m spending my Sunday morning doing a bit of self-care. With my hair in a messy bun and a bright green face mask on, I get into my apartment building’s elevator and head down to the lobby to get my mail, hoping the recent issue of Dance Magazine has arrived.

My mailbox is overflowing with flyers and bills, so I take it all back upstairs to sort through. The magazine is in the stack, but what really catches my eye is a flyer for a new luxury apartment building a few blocks over, and I’ve been considering an upgrade. I like my apartment, but I’ve never loved it. And now I have the means to do something about it.

The advertisement shows a modern kitchen with top-of-the-line appliances and a spacious balcony overlooking a community garden. It doesn’t show a price, but I’ll go see it, anyway.

When I call, the lovely woman who answers tells me to come by anytime, so I wash the goop off my face right away. I still have time before my date, so I pull on some jeans and a hoodie and walk the five blocks. I pass the Fox Hole on the way; moving to this building would actually make my walk to work shorter, so that’s already a plus.

I walk inside and am greeted by Hannah, who I had spoken to on the phone earlier. She’s about my age, and we hit it off right away. She’s taller than me, maybe five foot seven, and has beautiful platinum blonde hair that waves down her back perfectly. Her bright blue eyes are gorgeous, and I tell her so, assuming she gets that compliment a lot.

“So, how many bedrooms are you thinking?” she asks.

“I have one now, but two would be great. I could turn one into a dance room.” At her raised brow, I add, “Don’t worry; I don’t tap dance.”

She laughs. “Made me nervous to put you on one of the higher floors. Speaking of, the building is twenty stories. This first floor is the lobby and there are a couple of shops facing the sidewalk as you saw; the coffee shop makes an amazing latte. Floors two through fifteen are apartments, and the top five floors are office space. The lobby can be a little busy in the morning, but the elevators are separate and you need a keycard to access them, so apartment tenants can’t access office floors and office tenants can’t access apartment floors.”

“That sounds great. It would be amazing to be able to get good coffee right in my own building.”

“It really is! Let’s go up and see a couple of floor plans. The construction was only completed two weeks ago, so you would have your pick. How did you hear about us?”

Pulling the flyer from my purse, I hand it to Hannah. Her eyes go wide for a moment as she stares at the flyer, then looks back at me, a bright smile on her face.

“Um, actually, I have the perfect apartment for you. Come on.”

She leads me to the bank of elevators, explaining which elevators go to which floors. She swipes a keycard and selects the button marked ‘fifteen’, the highest apartment floor.

On the fifteenth floor, there are only two doors—1501 and 1502. Hannah leads me to apartment 1502 and unlocks the door, ushering me inside.

My jaw drops to the floor the second I step into the apartment. An entryway the size of Vince’s record store opens to a spacious, U-shaped kitchen with a quartz bar top that opens to the dining and living rooms. To the left of the front door, a short hallway leads to a bedroom and a full bathroom. On the right is a closet with a full-sized washer and dryer and the master suite just beyond. The master bathroom is complete with a glass-enclosed walk-in shower and a jacuzzi tub. I swear I’m never leaving.

“Hannah, this is gorgeous. It’s easily three times the size of my current apartment, but how much does this cost? It has to be astronomical, and the ad didn’t mention a price.”

“This unit has special pricing,” she tells me. And I have a hard time believing that this luxurious apartment costs only one hundred dollars more per month than my current place.

“What makes this unit special?” I ask, curious why the owner would rent it for such a reasonable amount when they could definitely get double.

“Between you and me,” she says conspiratorially, leaning closer, “the manager told us that if someone brought in that specific flyer, they were to receive the ‘Fifteenth Floor Special’. It’s like a secret promotion, and no one knows how many of those flyers went out. I think it’s just your lucky day!”

My eyebrows shoot up. “Wow. Maybe that luck will carry through to my date tonight,” I tell her, excited by the possibility of having sex for the first time in a year to top off my great day. “I’ll take it. How could I not?”

“Yay! I am thrilled to have you in the building!”

“Do you live here?” I ask, the prospect of girls' nights in with my new friend in my new place making me grin.

“I’m on the fourth floor. My apartment is nothing like this unit, but they let employees live here for pennies compared to other places around here, and it’s a beautiful, brand-new apartment in this amazing location.”

“That’s amazing! We will definitely need to break this place in with a wine night once I’m settled.”

“Absolutely! Let’s go downstairs and get the paperwork started.”

I will officially move into my new apartment in two weeks, just after the new year. This afternoon was full of paperwork and decisions. I paid to break my current lease early, booked movers, and I even found a service to pack and unpack for me. Having money is new for me, and I don’t always plan to be so extravagant, but moving is an art I have not mastered.

My self-care Sunday was cut short, but I give myself plenty of time to get ready for my date. I take the extra-long shower—the one where you wash your hair, do the extra conditioning mask, and scrub and shave every inch of your body. Because Iamhaving sex tonight.

The only other dates I’ve been on this year ghosted me before the third date. I wasn’t trying to marry them; that’s never been my goal. But some casual sex would be nice, so I simply don’t care if tonight is a first date. I’m bringing him home.

I even thought those other dates had gone well, and I was sure we would go out again both times. But it was like they just disappeared. Their profiles from the dating site we met on were gone, no social media accounts, and when I tried to text and call, both of their phones had been disconnected. The dates were four months apart, and it had to be coincidence.

With my smokey eye and favorite, smudge-proof dark red lipstick in place, I curl my hair and pin it back, out of my face. Walking into my closet, which feels tiny now that I’ve seen the massive walk-in I’ll have at my new apartment, I choose a form-fitting mini-dress in a deep red. The dress has thin straps, ends at mid-thigh and the back dips low, so I can’t wear a bra with it. It’s definitely too much for a first date, especially since we plan to go ice skating after dinner, but I don’t care.

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