The Apartment: The Complete Affair Read online

  “I can’t. It’s a weeknight. I really need to get home and make dinner. Maybe some other time, though.”

  But they both knew that there would never be another time. Becky had been asking her for years to hang out, and Lily always had some reason not to.

  Chapter 2

  A few hours later, Lily was driving downtown in her massive old car toward the gym. As she watched the now familiar landmarks go by, she let her mind wander back to Becky’s invitation.

  It wasn’t that Lily didn’t like her; Becky was the sweetest person she’d met since she’d moved to town three years ago. However, almost a straight year of having no time to herself while nursing her father, George, back to health after a heart attack, combined with being a naturally shy person to begin with, had left Lily almost completely antisocial.

  The heart attack itself hadn’t been so bad; the worst part was that her father had been driving down Main Street at the time and had lost control of his car, swerving into the stupid town clock that stood right in the middle of the intersection. The impact had totaled his Chevy and shattered his hip, resulting in major surgery and months of bed rest.

  The funny thing about declining Becky’s invitation was that Lily was actually desperate for something different in her life, a change of pace. She wanted to get out and live for once. Her father had eventually healed up, and with the help of a cane he had returned to his job as the high school guidance counselor. The problem was that he was so happy to have someone at home helping him with his day-to-day activities that he tended to play up how helpless he was, knowing Lily was a sucker for helping people. It had worked for a while, but she was beginning to get annoyed with him. George got everything he wanted, while Lily disappeared deeper inside herself.

  As she pulled into a parking space, she thought about the fact that even though this time of day was precious to her, she didn’t really care about going to the gym every day. She wasn’t some vapid hardbody who lived to feel the burn, but it provided her with a few short hours of alone time and allowed her to work out her frustrations physically. Actually, there was nothing she loved more than popping in her earbuds and losing herself in the music on her iPod, but whenever she tried to do that at home George would inevitably hunt her down and need her to do something.

  Grabbing her bag from the seat next to her, Lily locked the doors and made her way toward the gym. The Aledo Fitness Center was in the middle of a long strip of businesses. To the left of the gym was an accountant’s office, its employees already working late to get ready for tax season, and to the right was a place that Lily always liked to walk by: Knight’s Dance Studio.

  The first time she’d seen it she had laughed, wondering how on earth an old-fashioned dance studio stayed in business in such a small town. Even if everyone who lived in Aledo decided to learn the foxtrot, Lily had figured that they would run out of customers within a year, but somehow it seemed to be thriving.

  From what Lily had heard from her father, Mrs. Knight used to work at the high school office a long time ago, but after she retired, she spent a year remodeling the old dance studio that hadn’t been in business since the early 80s. The rumors were that she had been quite the dancer back in her youth, and had cried when she heard about it closing. Now she spent her afternoons teaching little girls how to tap dance and elderly couples how to mambo. She was in heaven.

  Passing the storefront, Lily peeked in the window like she did every day, smiling as she watched the current class of seventy-somethings shuffle along. Right before she reached the end of the building, she saw something that made her stop in her tracks. There, smack dab in the middle of the window, was a sign that hadn’t been there yesterday.

  APARTMENT FOR RENT

  SEE INSIDE

  She blinked a few times, wondering why she couldn’t move her feet. After a full thirty seconds Lily finally forced herself to keep walking, right through the gym door and straight into the locker room.

  She changed out of her scrubs quickly, throwing on her capri-length black sport pants and one of her favorite concert tees, a dark blue shirt that said TOO MANY DICKS ON THE DANCE FLOOR across the front repeatedly in rainbow letters. Making her way across the cardio room, Lily signed for an open treadmill and popped in her earbuds, scrolling through her playlists until she found the one labeled Workout Songs. She adjusted the settings on the treadmill for her target heart rate and incline, and within seconds she was humming along with the music as she ran.

  Sadly, the first song wasn’t even over before the image of the sign in the window flashed in her mind. Lily shook her head to clear her thoughts and hit the skip button on her iPod, hoping that another tune might distract her more.

  She smiled widely and started running faster when the beats of an old hip-hop song started playing, thinking that she had finally managed to focus. She was wrong. By the second verse she was wondering what the rent might be for an apartment downtown and how fast it would go. Decent apartments were hard to come by in a town so small; people kept them until death and then willed them to their family. At least that’s how it felt to Lily. She’d wanted to get the hell out of her father’s house for a long time, but she could never find anywhere decent that she could afford.

  I wonder if they allow animals, she thought to herself. Dammit! What’s wrong with me? Why can’t I concentrate?

  Lily turned off the treadmill, knowing with absolute certainty that if both ODB and Rob Base couldn’t get her in the mood to exercise, then nothing would.

  She stomped back to the locker room and grabbed her bag, tossing the iPod in before zipping it closed and heading outside to her car. She rarely changed again before going home, and she definitely didn’t see the point of it today since she hadn’t even broken a sweat. However, she did see the point of her jacket as soon as she stepped outside and was reminded that it was late January.

  She opened the passenger door and set her bag on the seat, fishing her jacket out and throwing it on. When she glanced back over her shoulder as she slid her arm into the sleeve, her eyes caught the sign once again.

  Deciding that there was no harm in just asking about it, Lily slammed the door shut and went inside the dance studio before she lost her nerve. The office just inside the front door was empty, so she walked down the hall until she heard what sounded like Latin music combined with a French accordion. She followed the beat farther down the hall until she found a door that was propped open with a large chalkboard on the floor that read Ballroom Dance tonight, 5 to 7.

  She stuck her head in the door and peeked around the corner, surprised to find that the elderly dance troupe she’d seen earlier had been replaced by younger couples ranging from their late thirties to their early sixties. They were paired up and dancing in tight formations, arms raised high as the ladies twisted and slithered against the men. Lily was amazed to find it rather erotic. The couples were arranged around the room in a large circle, and standing in the middle was a statuesque woman with unnaturally red hair piled high on her head. She was wielding a large, elegant walking stick that she held with both hands, tapping it on the floor in time with the beat of the music and nodding her head as each couple passed.

  “Good… good… watch your frame…” She was smiling until one of the women tripped over her own feet and stumbled. CRACK! The end of her stick came crashing down so loudly that it echoed over the music. “People! May I remind you that you were the ones who begged me to teach the tango this year? I wanted to stop at the samba. You’ve shown promise so far, but at the rate you are learning, this is going to take us weeks!” She frowned at each couple, completely ignoring the exotic music in the background as she sighed deeply and continued. “This dance highlights the man’s ability to lead, as well as the woman’s ability to follow. You’ve got to give yourself over to the rhythm and the moment. Ladies, you have to let your partners have their way with you on that floor. You have to surrender yourself to your emotions and stop letting your head get in the way. We are talking v
ertical sex here, people!”

  The flustered instructor looked up just then, catching sight of Lily across the room. She held up one finger to her and addressed the couples again. “Alright, I’ll be back in a moment, class. Keep working at it.” She stepped through the circle of dancers and made her way across the floor, first stopping at the stereo to repeat the song. “If this song ends before I’m back, you’re going to start the whole thing over again.” She turned to Lily. “Come!” she barked, sweeping through the door in a grand exit.

  They walked into the hall together, far enough away from the door so they could hear each other. Lily was taken aback by how extremely tall and graceful the woman seemed, as well as how much older she appeared close-up. The thick makeup she had slathered on did nothing to hide the deep wrinkles and laugh lines on her face. Rather than being repulsed, Lily was in awe of how much living this woman must have done.

  “Sorry about that, dear.” She smiled warmly down at her and held out her hand. Lily shook it timidly. “I’m Mrs. Knight. Were you interested in signing up for a class?”

  “Uh… no. Actually, I was wondering about the sign in your window. The apartment?”

  “Oh! Yes, certainly.”

  “If it’s still available, I was hoping I might be able to schedule a time to look at it.”

  Mrs. Knight looked at her watch and thought for a moment. “Well, I’m going to be stuck here for a while. If you don’t mind viewing it by yourself, I could give you the key and you could take a look at it right now.”

  “Oh, that would be great!” Lily couldn’t keep the enthusiasm out of her voice.

  “Well, come with me back to the office for a minute. I’ll grab the key for you.” They walked together down the hall, making pleasant small talk. Lily enjoyed the steady click click click of her walking stick as she tapped it out of habit.

  Mrs. Knight motioned for Lily to follow her into the small office, sitting down at a desk against the wall. She opened the center drawer and started rifling through piles of loose papers while Lily let her eyes wander around the cluttered room, landing on the many stacks of CDs in the corner. She had music from all over the world, for every kind of dance you could imagine.

  “Where in the—?” Mrs. Knight mumbled to herself. “It was here earlier. What on earth did I do with that key?” She looked back at Lily as if she had the answer. “Wait a minute—that nice young man.”

  “Young man?”

  “Yes, there was a lovely young man who stopped in to look at it earlier. I forgot I gave him the key. But that was hours ago! I’ve been so busy that I didn’t realize he never brought it back down.”

  “Should you be concerned?” If Lily ended up taking the apartment she didn’t want some psycho out there with a key to her place.

  “Oh heavens, no! I’m sure that he just set it down up there and forgot all about it.” She glanced down at her watch with a frown. “I really must get back. Why don’t I show you the way and you can head up and take a look? If you see the key laying around up there, just be a dear and bring it back down with you. If it’s not there, don’t worry. I’ll get the locks changed if I have to.”

  “Really, if it’s too much trouble right now I can come back.”

  “Oh, don’t be silly! You’re here now. She stood to usher Lily into the hall. “You know, I really must get another spare key made. I misplaced my last one after the incident.” She emphasized the last word dramatically as if Lily was supposed to know what she was talking about.

  “Incident?” Lily asked, mainly because she could tell that Mrs. Knight wanted her to.

  “Oh yes,” she sighed. “I’m afraid the last tenant hadn’t been seen for days and he wasn’t answering his phone. When he didn’t answer the door either, I finally had to use my spare to open it up and it must have gotten lost in all the excitement. Poor thing.” She shook her head slowly and made a sign of the cross over her chest.

  Lily turned instantly pale. “You mean he died up there?”

  “Not quite.” She reached out and patted her arm. “But Mr. Douglas had a terrible stroke. When I found him, he was face down on the floor. Nobody knows how long he was there. I tried to hold onto his place for him for as long as possible, but the doctors say he won’t be coming home. He’s in hospice care now.” She looked very sad for a moment. “I used to work with him many years ago. He was a teacher at the school. It just breaks my heart to see someone so intelligent brought low like that. He can’t even talk now.”

  Now it was Lily’s turn to pat her on the arm. She couldn’t fathom what it would be like to go from being a fully functioning human being one day to being trapped inside your own mind for the rest of your life. Sometimes the human mind terrified her. That was why she could never bring herself to work at a nursing home; the thought of being around so many patients with dementia made her want to cry.

  “Well, come on. Let me show you where to go.” Mrs. Knight led her all the way down the hallway, past the door to the dance studio, until they reached the rear exit. “Now, you can access the apartment from back here,” she said, opening the large door. “There’s a parking lot on the other side of the alley behind here that all the tenants along the strip use. Most of the stores have at least one apartment upstairs, but some of them are lived in by the owners.” She pointed to another door next to them. “This door here leads upstairs. The same key will unlock it if you need it, but most tenants leave this one unlocked for visitors. Now, the room is just up at the top of the stairs. If you have any questions come and find me, okay?”

  “Thank you so much, Mrs. Knight. I really appreciate it. I’m sorry to have disturbed your class.”

  “It’s no problem, sweetie. I needed a break from those guys anyway, before I started smacking them with my stick!” They shared a final laugh before parting ways, each one going through a different door.

  Lily walked up the dark stairway. At the top of the stairs there was a long, skinny hallway, and at the end of the hall was one lonely door on the left-hand side. Lily took a deep breath and stepped forward, bringing her hand to the knob.

  The door pushed wide open as soon as she touched it. What the hell? He couldn’t even bother to shut it completely?

  She walked in slowly, looking from side to side in the empty room. It was dark and gloomy, but that could have been due to the fact that the sun had already begun to set. Lily reached over and flipped the light switch. Nothing. Mrs. Knight had failed to mention that the electricity had been cut off.

  Deciding that she needed to make the most of the dwindling sunlight so she could see the room, she wandered around looking for windows. There was a small one above the sink in the kitchen that helped brighten things a bit when she opened the blinds.

  Not bad, she thought. Not good, but not bad. There was a little bathroom with a shower and what looked to be one bedroom on the other side of the living room.

  As she walked further into the dark apartment, she instantly noticed how warm it was. Slipping her jacket off and dropping it to the floor, she stopped to flip the other light switch on the opposite wall by the bedroom as well, just to make sure. Still nothing. Frustrated, she fumbled her way through the darkness until she found the doorknob leading to what she hoped was the bedroom. Right as she started to turn the handle, it began to spin in her hand. Before she realized what was happening, the door was pulled open swiftly, causing her to stumble forward and land against a very solid chest.

  She screamed and jumped backwards.

  Right on the other side of the door she had just fallen through was a man. He made no move toward her, nor did he even blink at her outburst; he simply stared at her.

  “Who the hell are you?” Lily gasped as she stepped back a few more feet, praying that she wasn’t about to become the first in a string of brutal rape/slayings to terrorize the Midwest. She was just about to yell at him again when she actually managed to get a good look at him.

  He was leaning against the door jamb, wearing a white dres
s shirt that was unbuttoned a few times at the collar and what looked like designer jeans that had been artificially distressed. Lily knew there was no way jeans that clean could have so many holes in them. His hair, which was a rich, burnished gold, was sticking out in every direction as if he’d been shoving his hands in it repeatedly. His cheekbones and jawline were so chiseled that it almost hurt to look at them, and his thick growth of stubble only served to enhance their beauty.

  Lily moved her eyes up slowly, hovering on the most luscious pair of full, pouty lips she had ever seen in her life. They looked soft and pink, and for some reason she couldn’t help but wonder how they would feel against her own, how they might taste. Continuing upward, she took in his long, straight nose before finally landing on a sight that made her breath catch in her throat.

  Piercing jade eyes stared back at her, surrounded by longer lashes than any man had the right to possess. They were swollen and red, and it was obvious that he had been crying. She had never felt like more of an intruder than she did in that moment, but she couldn’t tear her eyes away.

  He looked tragic, and broken, and heartbreakingly beautiful.

  Lily suddenly remembered Mrs. Knight mentioning the “lovely young man” who had forgotten to return the key. If this was him, then that had been the understatement of the century.

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered after managing to find her voice. “I didn’t know anyone was still up here. Mrs. Knight said she thought you had left.” He said nothing, but continued to stare at her warily. Feeling the need to fill the awkward silence, Lily began rambling. “What do you think of the apartment?” She glanced around the empty room. “It’s a bit of a dump, to be honest, but it has potential.”

  When he still didn’t answer, she turned and walked back into the kitchen, hoping to give him a moment to collect himself. It wouldn’t stop her mouth, though, which made no sense to her because she spent most of her time avoiding people as much as possible. “These cabinets aren’t too bad,” she called out, opening and closing doors. “There’s not much counter space, though.”