Happily Never Forever

by Sarah Peis

  Freddie was laughing so hard I was petrified she’d fall off. Gunner was grinning, but thankfully stuck to his no talking vow. I ignored them both and ushered Freddie into the car.

  “It’s not funny.”

  “Oh but it was,” she said between more giggling.

  “You should respect your elders.”

  “I do. I let you go first.”

  “Whatever,” I grumbled and ruffled her hair in retribution. She swatted my hand away and grinned at me.

  “Let’s never do that again,” I said.

  At least the rest of the night was quiet. I managed to get a whole four hours of sleep before Josie decided four thirty was an amazing time to be awake.

  “Stop being so stubborn.”

  “Stop being such a jerk.”

  “Just find the report and make the changes you hopefully recorded during the meeting.”

  “I didn’t record anything.”

  “Of course you didn’t,” Rhett said, sounding exasperated but not at all surprised.

  Needless to say, Rhett figured out about an hour into my first day that I was an absolutely useless programmer and assistant.

  We were currently facing off inside his office; me with my hands on my hips, him leaning over his desk in what I was sure would be an imposing gesture to anyone else. But I had no interest in working here and stopped caring about manners around the third time he told me off for not doing something that I could never have worked on in the first place. Like coding a damn add-on. It had been a nightmare driving into the city this morning and from the moment I walked into the office, I felt the air get about fifty degrees cooler. Rhett’s staff wanted me there about as much as I wanted to be there. It was safe to say the day did not improve and it was now two hours past my finish time and I was still here. Everyone else had left. Even super Lexie.

  I wanted to go back to whatever apartment Rhett had organized for me and call Freddie and Oma. Josie would already be in bed since it was eight o’clock. I didn’t even get a chance to sneak a quick phone call to tell her good night. I always told her good night. I also had grand plans to fall face first into bed. At the moment, my plans were thwarted by yet another argument.

  The empty office was mostly a good thing since nobody was there to witness our fourth stand-off for the day. The first time I yelled back at him everyone stopped what they were doing and stared. It was incredibly awkward. Apparently you didn’t talk back to your boss, even if he was the most frustrating human being you ever encountered. By the third time, nobody cared anymore and Lexie just closed the office door to give us some privacy during our shouting match.

  I ignored his quip and stepped forward to get my laptop off his desk. “I’m going home,” I declared. His giant hand came down on top of the device before I had a chance to grab it. I tried yanking it. I tried threatening him with my death glare, perfected through many hours of practicing on Freddie. I gave up after he raised an eyebrow at my efforts and a smirk appeared on his face. He. Made. Me. So. Angry.

  “Did I say we were finished?” he asked.

  “No, you did not, your majesty,” I said, putting emphasis on the majesty part.

  “Then why are you trying to leave?”

  “Because it’s time to go. I’m tired. I want to call my girls and make sure Josie’s doctor’s appointment went well. I want to talk to Freddie about the math test she had today. She hates math. It’s probably going to be barely a pass. I want to make sure Oma managed to get on the bus with Josie without problems. And I really just want to get out of here. It’s eight o’clock, Rhett. It’s late. None of this stuff needs to be done straight away.”

  His face softened at my babbling and he relinquished the laptop. “Oma doesn’t drive anymore? I remember her running over Mr. Hacket’s bin with her old Ford Explorer.”

  “She’s almost blind in one eye. It’s not safe for her to drive anymore. And since I’m not there, she had to take Josie to her appointment on the bus.”

  “What’s wrong with Josie?”

  “Nothing. She was due for her annual check-up.”

  He nodded, looking relieved. “That’s good. And you’re right. Let’s go home.”

  “I’d love to go home if someone didn’t make me drive into the damn city for work,” I mumbled under my breath.

  Rhett was closer than I thought and must have heard me because he replied, “You used to love coming to Denver. That’s all you would ever talk about. Moving to a big city. Breaking the cycle.”

  I studied the laptop in my hand as we walked to the elevators. “Things don’t always work out the way we planned. Dreams change. So do plans. Nothing wrong with that.”

  “Not as long as you’re happy, Emmi. But you don’t look like you are where you want to be.”

  I had nothing to say in return. When life threw you a bowling ball, you had to make sure it didn’t hit you in the head. And I was neither quick nor coordinated. Things just didn’t bode well for me.

  The elevator was silent on the way to the parking garage, the awkward silence only broken when we got to my car and Rhett handed out instructions. I was surprised he hadn’t made Lexie type it all up. “The apartment building is on the same street as the office, it’s the building with the little courtyard in front. You can pull into the parking garage around the right side. This will get you through the gate,” Rhett said and handed me an access pass. “You’re on the fortieth floor, number 42. The code for the door is your birth date. If you need anything, just knock on the other door on your floor.”

  I nodded at him. “Thanks. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “Good night, Emmi.” He looked like he wanted to say more but instead he shook his head and headed to his own car. I watched him walk away, thinking of all that could have been. Rhett had always been there for me. Until he wasn’t. Add to that, I had been an emotional sixteen-year-old who thought she knew everything there was to know.

  Turned out I couldn’t have been more wrong.

  The drive to the apartment took three minutes, a distance I could easily walk. I accessed the building without any issues and made my way to the fortieth floor. The mirrored walls of the elevator, combined with the bright lights, showed just how exhausted I was. The dark rings under my eyes and my wrinkled clothes did not make for a pretty sight.

  My steps faltered when I exited the elevator. I had come straight up from where I parked my car and didn’t realize how out of this world the building was. The floors were marble. The walls were painted a spotless white. No fingerprints, no dust bunnies, no mismatched furniture. There were only two doors, both huge oak monstrosities.

  The building looked massive from the outside. Two doors meant I had half the floor as my temporary accommodation. Which begged the question as to how rich Rhett really was. I knew he had money. Apparently it was more like a shit ton of money, judging by the amount that it would take to own a spare apartment in a building like this.

  I was careful not to touch anything on my way to the front door. The paint they used probably cost more than my salary for the entire year. After I entered the code three times with the same negative result, I swore loudly. There were only so many ways you could enter a birth date and I had tried them all.

  Sighing, I went to the other door, knocking. Rhett did say that I could go to the other apartment if I had any issues. I heard footsteps and the door opened.

  And why the hell was I looking at Rhett?

  I blinked, willing him to go away. It didn’t work and I tried closing my eyes for a few seconds, then opening them again. He was still there. “You are still there,” I blurted out.

  “I am. Are you feeling alright? You look confused.”

  “You live here?”

  “I own the building.”

  Stupid me, of course he did.

  “I can’t figure out the door code. It’s not working.”

  I was so confused. Maybe I was already asleep and this was one of my fantasies. I had one in particular that include
d Rhett and a midnight visit. Maybe I had fallen asleep in my car. I pinched my arm but it hurt too much to be a dream.

  He smirked and ushered me back to my door. Not letting go of my arm, he entered the code and the green light came on immediately. “Did you enter the code followed by the pound key?” he asked.

  I threw up my hands and put some distance between us. I was afraid I would kick him in his shin. And that was the nicest of my thoughts. “You never told me about a pound key.”

  “Sorry, I thought I did.”

  “Clearly, you didn’t.” I pushed the door open and turned back around, remembering that I had at least some manners left. “Thanks for opening the door.”

  “No problem.”

  He put a foot in the door and stopped me from closing it. “If you need anything else just come over.”

  All that came out of my mouth was, “Huh?”

  “You should get some sleep,” he—not very helpfully—suggested.

  “That’s what I’d been trying to do all along if only I hadn’t been detoured by the cyborg door that didn’t open with a normal key.”

  I dropped my bag and turned back, pushing the door open wider to give my hands room to flap around in front of Rhett. “Not once did you mention that you would be right next door.”

  “What difference does it make?”

  Gah, I gave up. “None at all, Rhett. See you tomorrow.”

  I stepped inside the apartment and closed the door.

  If I didn’t need the money so badly, this would be the moment I would walk away. But his offer was generous to say the least. Maybe I could work something out with Cassie.

  I just had to stay away from any shared apartment walls and I’d be good. I don’t think I’d survive hearing Rhett and his fiancée. With that thought, I called Oma and Freddie, at the same time kicking off my shoes and skirt and face planting into the bed. I told them about my day and Rhett living next door, hoping for some sympathy but Freddie declared I just made her day before she started cackling and Oma told me I should be thankful he put me up in such a nice apartment.

  “Now get some sleep. And don’t worry about us, we have everything under control,” Oma reassured me. “Gute nacht, Schatz.”

  Oma’s parting words made tears pool in my eyes. God, how I missed them already. “Gute nacht, Oma.” We hung up and after I flung the phone across the bed, I pulled the covers over my head and promptly passed out.

  “Are you dead?”

  This was uttered in a stage whisper by Freddie. It was Saturday morning after I had survived two days as Rhett’s doormat. I refused to stay in the apartment another night and drove back late Friday.

  I hated the arrangement and wished it was done. Only three more years to go. I didn’t want to stay in the apartment ever again and risk running into Rhett and his fiancée, Violet, whose name I found out after some more online stalking. Screw him and screw his perfect-looking fiancée. Her size zero body and annoyingly shiny black hair were mocking me in every photo I scrolled through. Of course she was also tall, had perfect teeth and skin. They could go and have their perfect babies in a land far, far away.

  I was jumpy and irritable all day Friday. There were no more arguments with Rhett since I decided to stop caring. If he wanted me to type up a list of compatible programs even though I had no idea what those programs were, I pretended to do it. Right after I sent a desperate message to Claire who was all too willing to help. The girl needed a pay raise after doing all my work for the past two days.

  Whenever Rhett asked me a question, I made up answers, sick of having to tell him time and time again that I wasn’t a programmer and had no idea what he was talking about. The only one who seemed to have warmed up to me slightly was Lexie, of all people. When she found me staring at the copy machine, she didn’t turn on her heels like she had done the day before, much to both our surprise. Instead, she helped me figure out how to make bound copies of the blasted report Rhett wanted on his desk, like yesterday. We bonded over our mutual distaste of paper jams and The Notebook.

  She even brought me coffee later during the day when I was trying to look busy. “You have no idea what you’re supposed to do, do you?” she asked when she caught me reading my horoscope on a small window on my computer screen and handed me the paper cup.

  “Nope. And I don’t intend on figuring it out either.”

  She grinned, the action transforming her face from stern secretary to girl next door. “Fair enough. As long as you don’t mess up my files, I won’t tell.” She winked at me, and I gave her a thumbs up. I left at five on the dot, not telling Rhett I was leaving since I knew he’d have some ridiculous task for me to complete. It was quite clear that he didn’t need me there. He could direct all his questions to our office. At least he would get someone qualified to sort it out. But if he insisted on wasting his money and my precious time, then so be it.

  Which brought me to creepy Freddie, who was now blowing at my ear to get me off the couch where I’d passed out after getting in last night. I swatted at her, but she was too quick for my sluggish movements.

  “Go away. I’m sleeping,” I said, my voice muffled by the pillow my head was currently buried in.

  “It’s ten in the morning. You never sleep this long. Are you sick?”

  I shot up off the couch, bowling Freddie over and landing on top of her with a loud grunt. “Forking no. I was supposed to be at the football field giving out those ridiculous hats for the neighborhood watch.” They nominated me for this weekend even though I told them numerous times that I couldn’t do it. The meetings were a waste of my time, and I tried to skip as many as I could, but for every one I missed they assigned some ridiculous task to me. This time it was selling hats to raise money. The hats were the worst idea the committee had ever had. They looked absolutely hideous. But since I tried not to show up to meetings, I wasn’t there when they voted on it.

  I jumped up and ignored Freddie’s cursing, too busy trying not to trip on my pants that I was trying to take off while walking to the shower. “Find my keys. Make coffee. Where is my bag? I’ll give you ten bucks if you can do all that by the time I get out of the shower.”

  Freddie stopped cursing and crossed her arms. “Make it fifteen and you got a deal.”

  “Fifteen it is,” I called out and stepped under the cold spray of water. It took at least ten minutes for the water to heat up. Ten minutes I didn’t have. I suppressed the shiver and quickly soaped myself up. No time to wash my hair so I braided it instead. I was sort of dry and wearing clothes when I emerged from the bathroom. Freddie was ready, holding out my bag, keys and a travel mug.

  “Thank you, pumpkin.”

  “Don’t call me that,” she grumbled and handed everything over.

  I kissed her cheek and rushed out the door. “See you at the game.”

  “Highly unlikely,” she called out.

  I grinned and put the car into gear, praying the neighborhood committee wasn’t thinking up possible punishments for not being there on time. I was only an hour late. The game didn’t start for another two hours. How long could the set up really take? I was careful not to go over the speed limit despite every cell in my body telling me to just step on it. But Silas, our local Sheriff, was determined to win the next election. One of the things on his list was the reduction of speeding. The whole town was peppered with speed cameras and rookie cops thanks to his overzealousness.

  Pain in my ass was what it was.

  I made it into the stadium and spotted the table where I was supposed to be. There were boxes stacked on each side, but nothing had been set up yet. Instead, Zelda and Craig were busy arguing. I bet it was about the color of the annual street party banner.

  “I told you green is a color that signifies serenity and peace. Why would you mess with a good thing?”

  And jackpot. I was getting good at this. Also helped that they had the same argument every year.

  “We had green last year. We can’t recycle old banners. We
need a new one.”

  “I’m not having a pink banner Zelda. The end.”

  “But have you looked at-”

  As soon as I got within earshot, their heads swiveled around like lemmings and they focused their anger at me.

  “Where have you been, young lady?” Zelda said, her stare disapproving, her arms crossed, her foot impatiently tapping the floor.

  She wasn’t even thirty yet. I didn’t know where she got the idea that she could treat me like a child. It was infuriating. Instead of arguing, I ignored her and put my bag down, still clutching my coffee. I needed to be awake to deal with her brand of annoying.

  “I’m sorry, long day at work yesterday. But I’m here now. Where can I start?”

  I got to work setting up the table, suppressing a grimace every time I had to look at the ridiculous hats.

  “This one’s for you,” Zelda said and pushed one of the frilly monstrosities into my hand. Oh no, so not going to happen.

  “I have a headache. I can’t wear a hat. It’s just going to make it worse,” I said, refusing to take it.

  She went on to demonstrate the elasticity of said hat by pulling it ever which way. “You’ll be fine. It’s going to be lose on your head anyway since everything on you is so small.”

  Was that an insult? Did she think I was too short? I thought five two was an acceptable height. I was on the slender side but not tiny. I still had curves, damn her. They were just subtler than her double-Ds and J-Lo butt and not stuffed into a dress that was at least a size too small and about three shades too bright.

  I relented, too tired to continue arguing, and put on the hat. At least I didn’t have to look at myself. The set up didn’t take long, and I was soon sitting on one of the boxes, watching people walk past. There were a lot of smiles, some snickers and a few comments that I could have done without. But they had a point. Who sells hats—that have nothing to do with football—at a football game?