Accidental Roommate Read online

  I glimpsed one of my fellow trainers checking his schedule and asked him, “John, you moved into a new apartment not long ago. What site do you recommend I use to find a place?”

  “I went through Rentals in the City. It’s a legit site.”

  “Thanks, man.” It sounded safe and secure. Last thing I wanted was a psychopathic roommate. I’d look when I got home since I had a full schedule. With my background and references, I should be able to get a new place in no time. I wasn’t too worried about it.

  I went over to the cologne shoot and spent my afternoon there. Since it wasn’t too far from Times Square and it was a beautiful spring morning, I decided to walk from the studio to where my billboard looked down on the Square below. I had never had one in such a prominent place before and I was thrilled. I enjoyed the double takes, too, as I walked around near the oversized image of myself hanging above. Prices were too expensive for food, but I grabbed a cup of coffee to celebrate.

  I caught a cab over to Twist. I had called Steven earlier, so he knew I had a gig going on and might be a little bit late coming to work. With New York full of model and actor hopefuls who worked at bars, he was good about going the extra mile for us. The rumor mill had it that he had been a B actor back in the day, and he’d decided that he didn’t like the uncertainty of where the next meal was coming from so he went into business.

  When I finally got home at the end of the night, exhausted knowing I had another daunting day tomorrow before the bachelor’s party, I pulled up the site John told me about. It looked decent and the places listed on there were expensive but within my range and in nice areas. While I was signing up, Shane came out and sat next to me at the dining room table.

  “I didn’t want to ask you to leave,” he finally said.

  “I know that, but then you really should have the place for Becky and you. You’re getting married for God’s sake.”

  “You don’t mind?”

  “Of course, I mind, asshole, but it’s not a big thing.”

  “There’ve been quite a few changes for you this year.”

  I clenched my jaw. I had an idea where he was going with his line of thought and I wasn’t ready to talk about it. I steered the conversation back to him. “I know that Becky and you are starting your life together. It’ll be a lot easier for me to find a place than for the two of you to go find a place, especially in the housing market today.”

  “I appreciate it.”

  “I make really good money and I’ll be able to find someplace adequate. Not as nice as this, but okay.”

  He laughed. The apartment was fine, dated but it was still going strong and we had a good landlord.

  I brought up my personal concern. “Looks like I’ve been relegated to cologne ads now.”

  “Oh, shit,” he said with a grimace on his face. “Isn’t that what you said is the death knell of a model?”

  “Between that and car ads – unless you’re Matthew McConaughey.”

  He laughed. Then sobering, he said, “I know you probably don’t want my opinion, but you always wanted to go back to your master’s degree before you started working all these jobs. Maybe it’s something to revisit. Sports medicine or psychology, maybe?

  I leaned back in my chair, sighing. “All I’ve been thinking about since you told me about Becky and you getting married is the fact that here I am at twenty-seven, no real job, no real future, and I look at you, getting on with your life. Granted, you just met Becky and I really don’t understand that, but it’s a hell of a lot better than what I have going on right now.” I sighed and shook my head. “But you seem good for each other and on track for what life’s supposed to bring. Here I am struggling the same way I did once we got out of college, hand to mouth.”

  “Not quite hand to mouth anymore. You’re bringing in a quite a bit of money as a model and trainer, and you work security for the hottest night club in town.”

  “I am, but it’s life in general. How am I going to get through all this without my wingman?”

  He slugged me in the arm. “Don’t think too deeply into it. Just enjoy the journey. I am.”

  He left the room, and I shook my head in puzzlement. People in love always saw life through rosy glasses. I never thought I would see Shane like that. Life was full of changes.

  I thought about what he said about going back to school. I had the money for it but I was sure that if I needed to, I could talk to my uncles. I wasn’t desperate, not by a long shot, but heading back to live with my uncles seemed like a step back instead of forward.

  It was funny. People would see my face up on a billboard and think that I’d made it. The billboard’s image didn’t show the insecurity that I feel. It portrayed a confidence that isn’t always there. It was just the package they’re buying. Once you were no longer in their face anymore, people would forget you.

  As I sat at the computer and knew sleep would still elude me for a bit, I searched the internet for master’s programs at New York University. It wasn’t cheap, but I could look forward to going back to school. The more I thought about it, the more excited I became. I thought about the opportunities—I could get steady work instead of waiting for the next phone call for a gig. Security was beginning to seem like it might not be such a bad thing.

  I also didn’t see myself at thirty still being able to do the same things I was doing now. I needed to be able get out there and make things happen. To help people to be the best they could be. Wasn’t that the whole point?

  I continued at the computer, emailing about a dozen places from the rental site about meeting them tomorrow. I wanted to make sure I was out of this apartment before Shane and Becky came back. I called and double-checked with the strip club for tomorrow’s bachelor party, as they were still open, and everything was all set.

  Before I closed my computer and got ready for bed, I noticed I had emails back from about six of the different places I had contacted. I was looking forward to being in a new place for the first time in six years. It was both scary and rejuvenating. Feeling sure of myself, I headed to bed. I had this.

  Chapter 5

  Grayce

  “I’m so not in control right now,” I said as I paced the floor of my law office the next day.

  I had arrived floating on a cloud from getting my first real apartment and having a good night with Ella. I had cleaners coming over to get it all ready for me for the following day. I hadn’t felt this good since I’d seen that hot-looking guy at the gym. That one small moment was so much better than sex with Carter. And that little revelation said it all.

  Coming back from lunch, I grinned to myself as I stopped outside the office to admire the Grayce Gladden, Lawyer sign written in gold on the office window. I opened the door to find Ella inside pacing the floor, cell phone in hand. If she were a cat, her agitated tail would have been whipping back and forth. I hoped it didn’t have to do with the new account we had just landed.

  “I didn’t know if I should call you or not. They weren’t irate or angry and I figured it could wait until you got back. I’m so angry, I could just spit.”

  She wasn’t in tears, but she was close to it. She always cried when she was pissed. I grabbed some Kleenex and gave them to her.

  “Tell me slowly.”

  “The Gregory account and his son’s account have just been pulled.”

  “What?”

  “They didn’t give a reason but said they needed to change lawyers.”

  I gave Ella my purse and coat and went into my office. This can’t freaking be happening, not today. I grabbed the phone and called the receptionist. The Gregorys were the first clients I had picked up when I went out on my own after I had decided to start my own law practice. I could no longer deal with having to see Carter every day, chatting up the other associates and patting Kay’s ass whenever he walked by her, making sure, of course, that I saw it.

  I dialed up the number and got their gatekeeper, Renee. I always tried to get to know the executive assista
nts, first and foremost. They could make or break you when it came to reaching their bosses. I had a good relationship with her and she recognized my voice when I called.

  “Renee, is Gregory Senior in?”

  I heard her take a deep breath. “He is, but I don’t think it’s going to change anything.”

  “I still want to talk with him.”

  “Let me see if he’ll talk with you.”

  A few minutes later after being on hold, I reached the patriarch of the Gregory Enterprises.

  “Good morning, Grayce,” said Bob Gregory in his baritone voice. “Before you say anything, our decision to leave your practice has nothing to do with you personally or the service you have provided to us for the last three months.”

  “I’m confused, Bob. What does it have to do with?”

  “As you are aware, our retainer was for three months, which ended yesterday.”

  I put my fingers on the bridge of my nose. “So, you’re ending our relationship because our contract has run out?”

  I heard the pause.

  “Come on, Bob. If I’ve done something, I need to know so I don’t repeat it.”

  I could almost hear the gears turning in there. Bob was known for thinking before speaking, which I had always appreciated.

  “You’re right. You deserve a straight answer. The fact is I thought with you starting your own law firm, that your husband would be joining you as well. I know people who have worked with him before and found him to be a wonderful attorney. I thought I would be working with him in the future and wanted to snag him out of the gate. When I realized that you are not—”

  “Going to be working together in the foreseeable future,” I interrupted.

  “Exactly. I’m sorry, Grayce, but with the changes going on in our companies this upcoming year, I really need someone of Mr. Gladden’s caliber.”

  I felt the rabbit hole open under my feet. “Bob, I appreciate your candor. If you change your mind, you know my number.”

  “Thank you, Grayce. I hope this doesn’t ruin your day.”

  Why did men always think they can disrupt someone’s day just by their actions? Though in this case, he was right, it had.

  I hung up and leaned back on my chair. One tear and then another began flowing down my face. This was a nightmare. Like a ton of rocks, it hit me that I had no idea how the hell I was going to pay for the beautiful apartment I had just rented. The lease was solid, no way to break it without monetary consequences.

  The door to my office opened and Ella came in with a cup of coffee.

  “How did it go?”

  I gave her a sideways look. “He thought Carter was going to be joining us and he wanted a head start on his competition.”

  She sat down hard on the chair in front of me and handed me the coffee. “You’re shitting me?”

  I shook my head.

  “Typical man,” she said in a hard voice. “Does he realize that you graduated from the same law school as Carter, with honors, and the only reason Carter is a partner and not you is because his dad went to school with the Craig Thomas? Assholes.”

  “Bob was honest with me. He didn’t have to tell me. I just never thought I would lose clients because I don’t have a dick.”

  Ella snorted. “You said dick.”

  We laughed until we cried.

  She sighed. “You know you can stay with me until we get another client.”

  I just looked at her.

  “You didn’t sign something,” she said.

  I nodded.

  She threw her head back and closed her eyes. “You laid down first and last?”

  “Yep.”

  “Oh crap.”

  I looked out my office door where I could see my name inversed on the outside.

  “Maybe it’s time I changed my name,” I said.

  Ella shook her head.

  “Your last name is Hooker. I’m not working for a hooker.”

  I spit my coffee out, laughing. I grabbed some Kleenex and started dabbing at the new stain.

  Ella sighed and went into the other room and came back out with one of her shirts, which was quite a bit bigger in the chest than mine. “How did you end up getting coffee on the other one?”

  I told her about the guy at the gym running into me.

  “Is he a one-nighter or a keeper?” she asked.

  I thought about those huge arms wrapped around me and squirmed on my seat.

  “Really, Grayce?” Ella smirked.

  I rid myself of the thought. “He’s just a very good-looking man. I don’t know him.”

  “You do know where to find him if you want to more information, don’t you?”

  My cheeks flamed. “I have other problems on my mind, like how to afford my new gorgeous, furnished apartment.”

  She got up and leaned over my desk. “Where is it located?”

  “Astoria.”

  “Oh, hip. Not cheap.” She thought for a minute. Ella slid in front of the computer and began typing. “Here, maybe this is what you need.” She pointed at the screen. At the top on the left, it will show you a roommates needed tab. Put out an ad there. Maybe you’ll get lucky.”

  I gave her a look.

  “What?” she asked in an innocent voice.

  “Do you use this as a dating site?”

  She sipped her coffee and got up and walked out of the room.

  Chuckling to myself, I ran through the site and listed what I was looking for in a roommate. “From on top of the world to the depths of hell in twenty-four hours,” I whispered to myself. “Here goes nothing.” I clicked the button and read the message that my listing was live.

  I handled the rest of the clients we had booked for the afternoon. Ella wrapped up and headed back to the apartment.

  About two hours later, I got back to Ella’s place. She was on the computer while Noah was crashed on the couch.

  “Tomorrow will be a bitch without you to help me,” she said.

  “I guess this is you telling me you’re going to miss me.”

  She shrugged and pointed to a box of pizza on the counter. “I got some pizza and salad for us tonight.”

  I packed my clothes and toiletries in my suitcase, the only things I’d taken when I left Carter. I grabbed a slice and a huge portion of the salad and walked over to Ella, who was on her dating site looking at the eligible guys. I noticed that the tab for roommate website was on her browser, too.

  “You can do better, Ella.”

  She rolled her shoulders in response, her way of telling me to mind my own business. Ella closed the dating site and flipped over the roommate website. “Let’s look at any potential new best friends for you.”

  I leaned over her. “They have nothing on you.”

  We pulled up a good dozen women and a few men.

  “See, maybe I need to do this and get some nice guy to couch surf,” she said as she waggled her eyebrows.

  “No men. That’s a complication I don’t want.”

  She turned to me. “Soon, you’ll need to get out there and start dating again. It’s not a bad thing.”

  I got up and went over the couch and sat next to Noah.

  “I’m not sure I’m ready to trust another man. I don’t know I need a relationship.” Carter handled everything so badly, and even after I moved out, he made it clear he had moved on and I was an afterthought.

  I groaned as I leaned back on the couch, the tension of the day still hard in my shoulders.

  Ella came over and sat next to me on the couch, moving Noah’s legs so they were in her lap. He snored, just a little, as he moved around and readjusted.

  “You’re better than Carter any day. You’ll meet someone awesome soon. I know it. And he’ll be great for you.”

  “I don’t know,” I said.

  “I do. If you saw yourself like I do, confident, strong, and beautiful, you wouldn’t have doubts, either. Carter never deserved you. Remember I broke the yellow crayon in kindergarten,” she said, paraph
rasing a Buffy quote.

  I laughed. We had known each other since kindergarten. Her mom worked with mine at the hair salon before our moms each started their own businesses. Ella’s mom was a sight to behold. She was single Irish mom, no nonsense and gaga about her daughter and grandson. However, it wasn’t a yellow crayon that bound us together. Our bond began when we cut each other’s hair. Thank God, it grew back. Our moms had just stood there with their hands on their mouths as we’d shown off our new haircuts minus the bangs.

  I hugged her. “I’ll get through this.”

  “If not, you can always move back in with Carter.”

  Giving her a dirty look was the best I could do given the hour, and I heard her laugh as I headed into the bathroom.

  Chapter 6

  Tyler

  This was it. I took the whole day off my jobs so I could apartment hunt or roommate hunt, in this case. I hoped the rain forecast didn’t foreshadow how the day was going shape up. The first apartment on my circuit was in one of the new condos, and it had a great view of the waterfront. It was on the second floor and I tromped up the stairs. Why take the elevator if I’m only going to the second floor? I knocked at the door. The distance between doorways meant this was a pretty small apartment.

  A young hipster opened the door and ogled me.

  “You must be Taylor.”

  “Tyler. Looks like a small place. I thought you stated this was a two-bedroom?”

  “I did, but it’s a one bedroom with a living room.”

  “So where would I sleep?” I asked, growing cautious.

  The hipster ogled me again and lifted an eyebrow. “Wherever you want.”

  The next interview was across town through honking, pissed-off people who had to drive in the rain and made it miserable. I saw a bodega clerk chuck someone out of the store as I drove by in my Ford Escape. I liked my little SUV. I didn’t like big cars in the city, and not being a small man, a car would be too small or hard to park.