Everything (7 page)

Chapter Thirteen

Leo

Jody moved in three weeks ago...and things had been going well. I saw her a lot in that first week as I ran through her job description and showed her what I wanted. She was really receptive and listened intently. From what I could tell, she’d been following through on everything. I hadn’t had to chase her up and I knew this, because I hadn’t seen her in over a week.

I’d been stuck at my piano while inspiration flowed through me like water. It struck the day I saw her singing in the kitchen, her arms spread wide with that blissful expression on her face. She was my nightingale, my muse, and that one image of her singing about starting over and taking a leap sparked an idea so potent I hadn’t been able to escape it. Because of her, I had the start to my musical. Lyrics and compositions had been pouring out of me as I worked through Act I, confident I was onto something good.

I cleared my throat and sang the first line of “I Want The World,” my voice dipping and rising over the notes. The melody was like a roller-coaster ride, but it suited the piece. The main character’s emotions were all over the place as fear and trepidation battled it out with an excitement so strong and liberating she felt like she could fly.

My nose wrinkled as I played the next note.

“That’s not going to work, mate,” I mumbled to myself, leaning forward with my eraser and rubbing out my messy notes on the upper staff. Yes, I was old school. I liked to compose Mozart style and transfer my work to digital after it was done. It took longer, but I didn’t care. I wasn’t going to let technology hamper my creative flow.

I fiddled with the melody until I found that sweet note, matched with the perfect minor chord to let it really soar. Whoever sang that line would hold it steady, drawing in the audience with a sound that would hopefully make their spirits rise.

I could picture Jody on the stage, a yellow spotlight surrounding her as she sang about chasing down every single one of her dreams.

I played the line again, trying not to let the image force me into a mistake. It was pretty bloody distracting, that’s for sure. I closed my eyes and shook my head. Clearing my throat yet again, I went for it.

My long note was cut short by the ringing phone.

I swore and stood from the stool, hating the interruption. But when I saw the number, I couldn’t help a grin. Godfather Bobby.

“Hey, mate, how’s it going?”

“Pretty good, son. I was just ringing to check in on your new employee.”

“She’s doing great.” I shrugged, hoping I was right. This conversation was reminding me that Bobby had asked me to do weekly check-ins during the trial period. I’d been too distracted and totally forgotten. No tenants had complained, so I figured everything was running smoothly.

“How’d her last check-in go?”

“Really well,” I lied. “She’s a good little cleaner. Ms. Thornby hasn’t complained at all.”

“Wow! That’s impressive.”

I chuckled. “Tell me about it.”

“She remembering to record any financial stuff and keep a written record of everything?”

“You betchya.” Another lie. I really had no idea and needed to follow-up on that.

“And she’s coping okay with looking after her baby and staying on top of the workload?”

“Seems to be doing just fine.”

“Well, that’s good news. I’m gonna swing by next week and have a chat with her, make sure she’s still enjoying the job.”

“She is, mate. You don’t need to worry.”

“Okay. That’s cool. Listen, before you go, I’ve had something come up and I thought of you.”

“Oh, yeah? What’s that?”

“A friend of mine is selling off an old, run-down theater close to you guys. It’s been out of action for over a decade, and I want to help him out, so I’ve offered to buy it. I was wondering if you’d be interested in resurrecting it for me.”

My eyebrows rose.

“I mean, it’d be no Broadway or anything, more like a cute little local theater. You could put on a couple of productions a year, draw a small a crowd. Heck, you could even use students who are studying acting so you wouldn’t have to pay them much. I’d front the money and you’d be paid from any profits once I’d broken even...and of course, you’ll still get your current wage as building manager until the place is up and running.”

I nodded.

“I figured since Jody is basically running things for you now, you could put your time into that instead. It’d be a good way for me to make your working visa more legit, and you’d be your own boss, really run the thing the way you want to.”

My lips pursed to the side.

“So what do you think?”

“Uh, it sounds pretty good, but...I’ve still got my sights set on Broadway, mate. I’m really after the big time.”

Bobby made a tutting noise. “I understand, I just can’t guarantee you that. I still haven’t managed to pin down my contact in New York.”

“Yeah, I know, mate, but I’m not ready to give up yet. I’m working on something really good, and I feel like this could be my only shot. I want to spend my time perfecting this musical, not refurbishing a run-down theater.”

“Yeah, well, it would be a lot of work.”

I chewed my lip, those old fears surfacing. Maybe I should take it. My chances for Broadway were so pathetically slim anyway. Was I being an idiot to turn this opportunity down?

No! I’d come over here to chase my dreams. I’d regret it forever if I gave those up. I needed to fight for what
I
wanted, not what other people wanted me to do.

“All right.” Bobby sighed. “But if you change your mind...or it doesn’t work out, this could be your ticket. I’ll leave the offer open for a few months while I try to find someone else. If I have no luck, I’ll turn the building into something more sellable.”

“Thanks for understanding. I think I’ll regret it if I don’t keep shooting for the stars while I can.”

“You’re pretty determined to make Broadway, aren’t ya?”

“I don’t think anything could stop me right now.”

A scream from next door made me flinch. I jerked toward the sound, my eyes popping wide.

“Mate, I gotta go. Talk to you later.”

I hung up before Bobby even said goodbye, lurching across my apartment and yanking the door open. The scream came again, loud and terrifying. My heart was bumping like a bloody jackhammer as I banged on Jody’s door.

“Jody! You okay?”

“I can’t move right now!” she yelled.

I tried turning the handle, but it was locked. “Are you hurt?”

“No, I just—I just—” She screamed again, making my blood run cold.

Charging back into my apartment, I yanked open the top kitchen drawer and scrambled for the spare set of keys. I dropped them as I leapt back into the hallway.

“Shit!” Snatching them back into my hand, I shoved the wrong one into the lock. Jody’s scream made my belly quake. “Hang on!”

Finding the right key, I rammed it into the lock and tried to open the door, but as usual it stuck. Bloody hell! I had to get this damn door fixed! Shoving my shoulder into it, I punched it open with a loud grunt.

Jody was standing on the couch, her blue eyes wide and terrified. Angel was clutched against her chest, a crying, dribbling mess.

“What is it?” I ran toward them.

“Sp—sp—” She was out of breath, her finger shaking as she pointed to the floor. “Spider!” She screamed again.

I couldn’t help my ridiculous frown as I turned and watched a spider playing at the base of the coffee table, its long legs flirting with the wood.

“Kill it, kill it! KILL IT!”

Her shouting made me jerk and I spun to her, an incredulous look no doubt plastered on my face.

She gave me a shaky smile. “I mean, please kill it.”

Tears hovered on the edges of her lashes, her gaze darting back to the floor. She flinched, her mouth dropping open with a gasp.

I glanced back down and the spider had gone. I thought Jody might pass out. The only thing stopping her from keeling over was the screaming baby in her arms.

She bobbed Angel on her hip, absentmindedly patting her back.

“It’s okay, little one.” I ran my knuckle gently down Angel’s bright red cheek, wiping at a stream of tears. “Uncle Leo’s going to get rid of the mean old spider, okay?”

I threw Jody a reproachful frown before bending to my knees and checking under the coffee table.

“There you are, you little critter.”

Popping back up, I raised my hands and spoke slowly to the terrified woman on the couch. “It’s okay, he’s under the table. I’m just going to get a paper towel from the kitchen, and then I’ll get rid of him for ya.”

A tear popped free as she nodded. It was an effort not to tell her what I really thought. She was being bloody ridiculous! The spider could fit onto two quarters easily. It was hardly the biggest insect I’d ever seen. She’d bloody die if she came to Australia.

“Paper towels are by the—”

“Yeah, I see ‘em.” My eyes skittered over the kitchen as I reached for them. Dirty dishes were piled in the sink. A burnt piece of toast was propped up against the toaster, a half-eaten jar of baby food was sitting next to it and then sat a row of bottles, smelly formula still lining the interiors.

I forced myself not to comment as I made my way back into the lounge.

Thankfully the spider was still under the table and a slow little bugger, so I caught him easily, squishing him in the paper towel before searching the kitchen for the rubbish bin. Jody sucked in a breath as I lifted the overflowing bin lid and went to drop the remains inside. I glanced at her face and smiled.

“I’ll throw this out at my place, shall I?”

She closed her eyes and stepped down off the couch, her foot landing in a pile of laundry. Clean or dirty? I wasn’t sure.

Angel was still crying, but she was down to a hiccuping sniffle as opposed to a scream. I winked at the baby, making a clicking sound out the side of my mouth. Her eyes popped wide as she looked at me, her lips curving into a grin while a long dribble oozed from her mouth.

Jody wiped it with the back of her sleeve, then proceeded to wipe away her own tears.

“Sorry about that.” She grimaced. “I’m not—It’s a phobia I’ve had forever, and I know it’s totally insane, but I can’t control it. They just...they scare the crap out of me.”

“It’s all right.” I smiled, wishing I hadn’t given her that reprimanding glare before. “Phobias are real. My sister-in-law is absolutely petrified of heights, freezes up like a statue. It took Kev over an hour to coax her down from a high-ropes course once.”

“Why was she doing a high-ropes course?” Jody was horrified.

I shrugged. “She was trying to conquer her fear. Didn’t work.”

“Obviously.” Jody huffed out a short, dry laugh.

She still looked pretty damn pale. It made the smudges under her eyes that much darker. “Are you sure you’re okay? I can stick around if you need me to.”

“Oh, no, that’s fine.” She waved her hand in the air. “I’m just gonna put Angel down for a nap and get cleaning.” Her cheeks splashed red as she pointed to the kitchen and then over her shoulder to the living area. I think a whirlwind must have passed through. “I’m a little behind today.”

Just today? Some of the mess seemed kind of stale. How did she live like this? I’d be out of my tree trying to function in this kind of chaos.

“Yeah, yeah, no worries.” I nodded, giving her what I hoped was an encouraging smile as I said goodbye and let myself out. I turned to look at her one more time before I left.

Her shoulders were hunched, and I noticed her swipe at one more tear as Angel’s fussing increased in volume.

With a small frown, I closed the door gently and headed back to my piano.

Maybe Jody wasn’t coping as well as I thought she was. 

Chapter Fourteen

Jody

Okay, so the spider thing was freaking embarrassing. Not to mention the state of my apartment. I didn’t miss the slightly shocked expression on Leo’s face. I could have died.

I wanted to give my boss a good impression, and there I was screaming over a spider, ignoring how much my reaction was terrifying Angel...and then the mess. Aw, man, the mess!

“Seriously, Jody, you’re useless!” It’d been a week since my utter humiliation, and I still hadn’t gotten over it. I couldn’t even look at Leo when he came to do his weekly check-in the day before, and I actually chickened out this morning and just dumped his groceries outside his door so I didn’t have to face him.

It wasn’t that he was being mean or anything, but the next time I saw him, I wanted to be able to look him in the eye and know that I was in full control.

“Like that’s ever gonna happen!” I tutted, rinsing out yet another freaking baby bottle. I couldn’t wait for Angel to be past this stage. I was so over washing copious amounts of plastic!

The only thing I did have going for me was that my duties as assistant building manager were running smoothly. I was keeping up with all maintenance requests, tenants seemed to like me, and the one short-term stay we’d had since I’d been working here went really well.

I was proud of myself for that, but it did mean I was falling behind on everything else. When I lived at home with Morgan and Dad, my only responsibility had been Angel and a little laundry, so it meant that when she napped, I could put my feet up, but that
never
happened anymore. It was so tempting to call it quits and move back home, but I couldn’t do it. I’d hate myself forever.

And that look on Dad’s face. UGH! Forget it!

I was going to make this work if it killed me.

The phone rang behind me. Flicking the water off my fingers, I dried my hands, glancing at the half-finished piece of toast on the kitchen counter. I had made that over two hours ago and still hadn’t gotten back to it.

I could say one thing: this whole single parenting/working thing was definitely helping me shed my pregnancy weight. I never had time to eat; some days I’d get to lunch and realize I hadn’t had breakfast yet. I’d been too busy to even feel hungry!

Glancing at the phone screen, I let out a loud sigh before pasting on a smile.

“Hi, Ms. Thornby. How are you today?”

“Not well. The man upstairs is making a terrible racket. I can’t even hear what’s going on in
The Bold and The Beautiful
and this is a very important episode!”

“The man upstairs from you?” I cringed, squeezing my eyes shut and praying she’d say no.

“Yes, Mr. Whatever-his-name-is. His TV is up so loud I can barely hear myself think. It’s not fair! Why should I miss my show just because he’s deaf? I need you to go and tell him to be quiet.”

“Of course, Ms. Thornby. I’ll deal with it right away.”

“I should think so. Good luck, dear.”

She hung up, and I placed the phone on the counter with a heavy sigh. Mr. Kransten. Apartment 3B. “Oh, joy,” I mumbled, snatching the baby monitor and making sure it was working. I had tested it out in my first week, and thankfully it had a really good range, meaning I could leave Angel sleeping in her crib and not have to worry about missing her cries if she needed me.

Locking the door behind me, I muttered my way down the stairs, hoping Mr. Cray-Cray would go easy on me today. If he screwed up my six-week trial in any way, I’d be tempted to kill him. So far, I’d managed to keep all his annoying antics out from Leo’s radar, but going down there to tell him off? The guy had already told me exactly what he thought of me, and he was not going to take kindly to this little visit.

Pasting on a cheery expression, I knocked on the door until my knuckles stung. That TV was ridiculously loud. I held my breath, hoping he heard me...and also kind of not.

“Please be nice this time,” I whispered.

“What!” He threw back the door, barking at me like a police dog. The already-loud TV sounded a million times louder with the door ajar.

“Hello, Mr. Kransten!” I smiled. “I’ve had a concerned neighbor call me, saying there was a bit of noise coming from your apartment, and I was wondering if I could assist you in any way...like maybe helping you turn down the TV?”

“I don’t need your help.” He went to close the door in my face, but I held it open with my hand.

“Please, Mr. Kransten, part of your tenancy agreement is that you will respect your fellow neighbors, and your TV is way too loud. You need to turn it down.”

He was a tall, spindly man with hardly a hair on his head. His beady eyes narrowed as he peered down his long nose at me. “And what are you going to do if I don’t?”

“Do I really have to answer that question? I’m asking you nicely to turn it down.”

“I can’t, it’s broken!” he barked again.

“Well, maybe I could take a look at it.” I moved to step into the apartment, but he blocked my way.

“What makes you think I’m going to let a little kid into my house?”

I sighed. “Mr. Kransten, we’ve been over this before. I’m not a kid, and my job is assistant to the building manager. Please let me help you.”

“I want to deal with a grown-up!”

It was impossible not to roll my eyes. “At least let me look at it, and we can go from there.”

“Grown-up!” he yelled in my face before slamming the door shut.

I couldn’t help a grunt of frustration as I stomped my foot and turned back up the stairs. I hated disturbing Leo. I didn’t want to have to face him, yet again proving that I wasn’t cut out for this job. But if I didn’t swallow my pride, Ms. Thornby would be up my ass, and she’d make sure Leo fired me.

“Damn it.” I stopped outside Leo’s door and caught my breath, screwing up my face and knocking.

“Just a minute!”

I pinched my bottom lip as I waited for him, hating the sound of his lock clicking open.

“Hey.” He smiled at me. He was wearing his pale green Quicksilver shirt today. I liked that one. “Everything okay?”

“Oh, ah, no, not really. I’m sorry, I don’t mean to disturb you, but Mr. Cray-Cray is causing a disturbance on the third floor.”

“Mr. Cray-Cray?” Leo’s face wrinkled with confusion.

“Sorry, I mean Mr. Krantsen. I dubbed him a couple of weeks ago when he was yelling at the pigeons on his windowsill.”

Thankfully Leo grinned, his green eyes dancing. I think that shirt made them look even greener.

“So, what’s the problem today then?”

I sighed, flicking my hands in the air. “Apparently the volume on his TV is broken. The neighbors are complaining, and he’s refusing to let me look at it for him. He said he wanted to speak to a grown-up.” I lifted my eyes to the ceiling. “I should never have worn pigtails the day I went to introduce myself to everybody. I was going for sweet and friendly, like
Hey, I’m approachable.
What a total backfire,” I ended with a mumble.

Leo chuckled. His smile was adorable, his barely there dimple showing beneath his short stubble.

I couldn’t help a rueful grin as I scratched the top of my head. “I really hate bothering you over this, but he just won’t deal with me.”

“Don’t worry about it. The guy’s a sexist, old-school bastard. He treats me like a third-rate citizen, too.” Leo grabbed his key off the hook beside the door and locked it behind him. “Let’s go deal with the old grump together, aye?”

We headed downstairs, and of course Mr. K let Leo in immediately. He glared at me as I brought up the rear, probably because Leo had just reminded him that I was in charge of these matters and that I’d happily call a repairman if he wanted me to.

Mr. K just grunted and opened his door, stomping back into the living room.

His house smelled weird—old and stale. It matched him perfectly.

I wrinkled my nose and crossed my arms, resisting the urge to lean against the wall as Leo and Mr. Cray-Cray yelled at each other, competing against the insane volume of the TV. Leo started by trying to switch it off, but the TV was seriously screwed so he ended up unplugging it from the wall.

“What’d you do that for?”

“So we can hear ourselves think while we try to solve this problem.” Leo placed his hands on his hips and turned back to the TV.

The silence didn’t last long. A cry came through the baby monitor in my back pocket. I pulled it out to make sure I was hearing right. Yep, Angel was definitely up.

“I need to go, sorry.”

Leo flicked his hand. “No worries.”

Mr. K grunted in disgust, mumbling something. I didn’t hear exactly what he said, but I was pretty sure the words “fire” and “hussy” were in there somewhere.

It frickin’ stung.

I hurried out of the room, trying not to let it bother me, but I really couldn’t help it. No wonder the old man hated me. All he saw was a young kid, stupid enough to get herself knocked up.

Bolting up the stairs, I let myself into the apartment, willing the ugly feelings off me as I breezed into my baby’s room.

“Hey, cupcake.” I forced a sweet smile and lifted her from the crib, feeling those all-too-familiar tears brewing as I nestled her against me.

Damn it, Jody, not again!

Pull yourself together!