“You’ve got nowhere else to go, Beulah.” His demeanor turned frustrated just that quickly.
I wasn’t being stubborn. He hadn’t been here, and it was obvious the girl didn’t want me here. I decided against saying that though since this was her apartment. Or at least I assumed it was her apartment.
“I know,” I replied. Then it hit me. I had nothing. All my things were at Jasper’s. I’d been so upset over everything else and trying to focus on Heidi while my mind was turning over all the horrors I’d been told today. “I don’t,” I said glancing back inside my car for anything I might have left in there. “have my things,” I finished.
“They’re inside. I picked them up earlier,” Stone replied as if this made perfect sense.
“You did?” I asked confused.
“How else were you going to get them?” He didn’t expect an answer to that question. I couldn’t help answering him anyway.
“I don’t know.”
“This is my building. I rent out the other two apartments. Presley lives in mine,” he said as he began to walk toward the building. He expected me to follow him. I closed my car door and looked at the building more closely. Did he own the entire building? I didn’t think he worked, much less that he would own a building. He was always partying and sleeping in Stone’s pool house.
The girl was walking with more of a swing in her hips now. I was assuming she was Presley. He acted as if I knew who that was. She hadn’t told me her name.
“You’re taking me to Manhattan soon though. I want to see your new flat there. I’d rather live there with you than here in Savannah,” she said in a flirty voice as she gazed back at him.
“The top floor is mine. The rooftop is shared. Chantel and Fiona are on the second floor. And Marty and Mack—they’re on the first floor.”
He had ignored her comment. Although I was listening to him tell me about the building it was hard to miss her body had suddenly tensed. She didn’t like being ignored and I doubted men ignored her often. I was confounded because she was living in his apartment, so what did that make them? I’d seen Stone with a lot of women. Jasper had mentioned Stone getting a ring for a Margot once, but that was it. He hadn’t seemed happy about the idea.
Having a woman live in his apartment that he never stayed at seemed more Stone-like than his sudden hero act. He’d been a jerk since the day I’d met him. But today he’d been there when I thought I had no one. I was confused with my feelings for him.
“Chantel is in the Caribbean with Dameon. Luke broke up with him last night and he was having a meltdown, so she took him to the islands to get away. Luke is doing my shoot tomorrow. I’m sure I’ll get to hear his side of the story. He’s such a slut though. We all warned Dameon when he started dating him.”
Presley was telling this story so dramatically I felt like she was explaining the missed episode of a television show. Stone didn’t seem very interested in any of it. He stepped in front of Presley and opened the door. “I wanted to add a keypad for the lock so we wouldn’t need keys to the building but there are rules in the city with any structure considered to be historical. When I bought it to restore, I had to keep several things within the time period it was built. There are specific things you can’t touch to be considered a historical structure—the door for instance. It had to be restored and the original could not be replaced.” He waved his hand for us to come inside.
Presley went ahead of me quickly and leaned in to kiss Stone lingeringly on the lips. “I missed you,” she whispered.
He didn’t look pleased with the affection but he didn’t turn her away either. I noticed his hand even rested on her waist for a moment.
“There is no elevator. Again, had to stick with historical restoration code,” he said as I walked inside.
“Which is a pain when you have bags to carry upstairs,” Presley whined.
I’d been so silent I decided I should say something. “I bet carrying the groceries up can be difficult.” I figured that sounded like something she would be annoyed with. This place was beautiful and I couldn’t imagine she had any reason to complain. Telling her that wouldn’t win her over though.
She laughed. “Why would I carry groceries up the stairs? The delivery service does that when we order.”
There was a delivery service for groceries? I started to ask that out loud and decided against it. She’d just find that amusing too.
Stone started up the stairs, and Presley rushed to stay beside him. I followed them up as she whispered and giggled in his ear. He never responded, but he never pushed her away either.
I didn’t belong here. I suddenly realized that I didn’t belong anywhere and I hadn’t since my mother passed away. I was determined not to feel sorry for myself. I had a bed to sleep in tonight. My situation could be worse.
STONE HAD SAID THE BUILDING was historical. I hadn’t realized that meant the apartment would look like something from the Great Gatsby era. It was as if I’d walked into the book itself. The outside had been stunning and true to that time period. It was surprising because I’d imagined something more modern inside, and considerably less stunning.
“This is,” I said turning in circles taking in the entrance of his apartment, “amazing.” Even the furnishings, although most were newer and few were real antiques, fit the architectural style.
“You like it?” There was pride in his tone.
“Who wouldn’t?” I asked still looking at all the detail.
“You won’t be so thrilled about everything when you realize the bathrooms have those old claw-foot tubs instead of a nice big Jacuzzi,” Presley said with a sigh as if this was a real burden for her.
Stone didn’t respond. I wondered if she paid him rent. If living in this gorgeous apartment was free for her, it was incredibly rude of her to complain. I thought claw-foot tubs sounded cool.
“When did you do this? I thought you’d been at college in New Hampshire until this summer.” I knew I’d heard Jasper talk about living in New Hampshire with roommates.
“I like restoring old things. It’s a hobby. I started two years ago and finished it up this past fall. Most of the big items were completed by contractors with lots of phone calls. It was hard to travel here to check on things. Coming here instead of staying in Manhattan was nice though.”
Presley sighed dramatically. She did that a lot. “I love Manhattan. I hate your mother, but I love the city.”
Again, Stone ignored her.
“Your room will be the third door on the left,” Stone said. “There is a bathroom connected to it, and if you can suffer through the antiquated features it’s yours to use,” he said the last bit with obvious disdain. Presley’s earlier comment was not well received.
“Thank you, Stone. I appreciate this. Really, I do. And I’ll spend tomorrow finding a place to live. I won’t be a hindrance.”
He frowned. “You’ve got a lot to figure out. The room isn’t being used. It’s yours. Use it. Don’t worry about a place to live right now. Deal with the other shit first.”
I didn’t look at Presley to see her response. She wouldn’t be as agreeable as him. I’d already figured out she wasn’t crazy about me being here.
“Clover is coming to visit soon. She’ll need somewhere to sleep,” Presley said quickly. “That’s my sister,” she added as she shot a glare my way.