Outside the Box (4 page)

“Okay, how can I help you?”

“Well there’s a waiting list for the Accounting class and I mentioned to her that I had started cosmetology before I moved.  Sherry told me to get in contact with you about resuming so I can finish the classes and hopefully do hair and nails while I’m waiting to get into the college.”

“Oh that sounds GREAT!  Can you come to the shop
so we can visit some more about it?  Say tomorrow around ten or a little after?”

“Sure that sounds great, Thank You!”

She gave me the address of the beauty salon and we exchanged phone numbers.  I switched the laundry from the washer to the dryer, started another load, and decided to call Carol and Harold.

When Carol answered she sounded so happy to hear from me, “How are you doing sweet heart?”

“I’m doing good, this apartment building is AMAZING, it’s so beautiful.  We live on the twentieth floor so we have the best views ever.” I told her. 

I told her that I had been to the college and about the waiting list, then I told her that I was meeting with a lady the following day about finishing my cosmetology classes.

“That sounds wonderful, please keep me posted I will put off getting my hair done just to come have you do it.”

“It’s going to be another few months so you might not want to wait, plus I’ll have to find a salon to rent a space from.”

“Well you just let me know when you are finished and settled into a salon, Harold and I both will come see you.”

We visited for about another twenty minutes, I told her about the amazing salad (yes I was officially in LOVE with a salad) and about my shopping spree.  After we hung up I text
Destiney that I was back at the apartment.  I sat down with my laptop and started searching for jobs, there were a few close by so I decided I would just print the applications off and take them to the stores tomorrow before I met with Julie.  When I pressed the ‘Print’ button I realized that I couldn’t hear the printer or even find the printer. So I text Destiney.

L
: 
Do you have a printer?  I’m trying to print job apps.

D:
 
Yep, where are you at in the apartment.

L
:
 
Living room on the couch.
  (Such a weird question to ask.)

D:
 
Walk towards the kitchen, open the door to the left just as you step onto the tile.

I stepped into the kitchen looked to my left, opened the door.  “Seriously?” I said out loud.

L:
 
That’s a broom closet, why is the printer in there?

D:
 
Doesn’t match the décor duh!

L
:
 
O.M.G

D:
 
Gotta get bk to class. Luv u .. Muah
!


L
:
 
Luv you!

I printed off the job applications and filled them out, the dryer buzzed so I went and switched the last load of clothes around.  After I hung up and folded the clothes
, I shook the bags out to make sure that I hadn’t missed anything.  The black post card that the guy had shoved into one of the bags fell onto the comforter.  I picked it up and looked at it, it was a glossy black post card on the front it had a what appeared to be a 3D square with the word ‘Live faded into the top of the box like it was a glowing sign in a recording studio so people wouldn’t interrupt during a session.  On the back of the post card it had nothing besides and address on it.   “Well that’s a little more weird than the printer in the broom closet.” I said.  Frank had jumped up on the bed and made herself comfortable inside one of the large shopping bags. I put the postcard on my desk so I could ask Destiney about it when she got home.  It was getting close to five thirty so I decided I would make supper for us.  Destiney’s all-time favorite meal was chicken alfredo, I rummaged through the overly large pantry and found some noodles and the ingredients to make the sauce.  Just as I was finishing up mixing everything together and put it in the oven, a rattling bag and a screeching Frank came barreling down the hallway.  “You’ve lost your mind since we moved!” I said as I chased her down.  I stepped on the bag causing her to flip back.  The apartment door swung open and Destiney walked in. 

“What’s going on here?  Is that Alfredo I smell?” She asked and looked from me to the bag to the kitchen.

“It is!  This crazy cat had the string of the handle stuck around her neck and was darting around the apartment!”

Destiney
just shook her head and laughed, “I’m loving that cat more and more, she’s great entertainment!  I’m starving how much longer until supper is ready?”

“About thirty minutes.”

She looked at the bag I was now holding, “Did you actually go SHOPPING?” she asked with big eyes and a smile.

“I DID!” I exclaimed and motioned for her to follow me to the bedroom so I could show her everything I had purchased. 

“NICE!  These are adorable and HOT!” She told me as she flipped through the clothes hanging up.  I showed her the shoes and jewelry, “Wow, I’m impressed!  How much did you spend?”

I smiled, “Not even three hundred dollars!”

Her eyes got big, “Seriously?”

“Dead serious!” I told her with a nod and a smile.  Then told her all about the boutique I had bought everything at. 

“I’m so going there this weekend, I’ve seen it but never had a chance to go in there.”

We walked back out of the room and into the kitchen.  I checked the alfredo, then leaned against the counter as
Destiney and I talked about her day.  I showed her the job applications I had filled out, “All of the places are really reputable, you’ll have to let me know how the meeting goes with that Julie gal.  You’ll make a great beautician, you’re such a people person and get along with everybody.”

I smiled, “I really want to do it, hopefully I can do that AND go to school for accounting.”

“I know you THINK you need to hurry and find a job but honestly just chill, you’ve had so much happen recently I don’t want you to overdo it.”

“If I DON’T get a job I’ll lose my mind, I miss mom and dad so much, it’s when I have time to stop and think about it all that I start to question my decision on moving.”

We sat down and ate supper, we visited more about how her parents were doing, how the law firm was growing, and reminisced about my parents.

“Have you ever thought about your biological parents?  I know you know who your bio mom was but did you ever find your dad?”

I shook my head ‘No’, “Nope, he wasn’t on the birth certificate.  I didn’t want to go ask her family a million and one questions either.  From my understanding she was an only child and her parents were deceased anyways.  Finding aunts and uncles would be almost impossible.  I’m better off with who raised me.”

“I understand, at least you had the most amazing family adopt you!” She smiled.

“I’m VERY thankful for them I just wish time with them wasn’t cut short.”

She nodded her head and wiped a tear away, “You’re an amazing person
, they did an excellent job raising you.  If you ever decide to hunt down your biological dad let me know I’m sure I’ll be able to help.”

I pondered the idea, “Maybe someday but not any time soon.”

Destiney nodded her head, “God this alfredo is SO good, you are NEVER.EVER. moving out just so you know.”

We finished supper, “Oh I wanted to show you the postcard I was handed today.  A guy shoved it in one of my shopping bags and told me “Job lady, JOB!” I ran back to my room and grabbed it off the desk. 

I handed it to Destiney that was now lounging on the couch with her laptop, she looked at the postcard front then flipped it over and looked at the back.  “Only an address nothing else?  That’s weird, I’ll Google the addy and see what comes up with.”  A few minutes later, “It shows it’s a warehouse about six blocks away.  Probably just some boxing company because there’s no business profile or anything.  You’ll have so many of these kind of strange things given to you.  I just toss them in the nearest trash can.” She tossed it onto the coffee table and started typing away.   My Facebook pinged with a new notification, ‘Destiney Lancaster wants to confirm your relationship’.

I looked up at her, she was trying to hide her smile. “Really?!” I said and shook my head then hit the confirm button.  ‘You and
Destiney Lancaster are now in a relationship’ the notification read. 

Destiney
started laughing, “Let’s see how long it takes before William calls or text me confused as to why that’s on there.”

William was her on again off again boyfriend, I had talked to him on the phone a couple of times but had yet to meet him.  He sounded like a very fun, loving, and caring guy. 
Destiney was afraid of commitment since she wasn’t sure if she would be living in Morningside Heights after college.   Ten minutes later her phone rang, “That took longer than expected.” She said with a laugh then answered her phone.  I continued to scroll through my news feed  I was staring at a picture of one of the male tattooed fitness models and his tattooed friends when Destiney threw a piece of paper at me.  “Earth to Lexi, William is coming over he said he’ll take us out for drinks.  What are you staring at that had you so distracted?”

I turned my laptop around and showed her the picture of the guys, “I think we need to move to Arizona, these guys are HOT HOT HOT!” I told her.

“Whoa!  I need to follow him, who is he?”

“Matty Boy Inked!  Look at his other friends too, Paul Blake, Steve Gehrke, holy hell!”

She typed in the names, “Totally lickable, all of those tattoos, holy shit!  You’re a virgin you shouldn’t be obsessing over the tattooed bad boys.” She told me with a wink.

I raised an eyebrow at her, “I can drool, obsess, and fantasize about them if I want to!”

“Okay okay!  Jeez!” she said with a laugh. 

The intercom buzzed, “Ladies, William is here.” Clancy said.

Destiney jumped up and ran over to the intercom, “Send him on up sir!”

“Yes ma’am and quit calling me SIR!”

“Never!” she replied.  I could hear Clancy laugh over the buzz of him letting William past the front desk.

A few minutes later William rang the doorbell,
Destiney pulled the door open and jumped into his arms and kissed him with a loud ‘Smack’.  His deep grumbly laugh filled the apartment, “Glad to see me?” he asked her in his deep baritone voice.

“Not really.” She said and shrugged a shoulder.

“Liar.” He told her and followed her into the living room where I was still sitting on the couch.

“Lexi, William.  William, Lexi.”
Destiney said with a big smile and looked from William then back at me.

I stood up from the couch, “Nice to finally meet you.” I said and shook his hand.

“Pleasures all mine.”  He said.

William stood about six foot tall, his blonde hair had that just crawled out of bed look, his eyes were a dark shade of green.  He wasn’t overly muscular but I could tell that he worked out and stayed in shape. 
Destiney and I grabbed our purses and slipped back into our heels. 

“I’m not a fan of these by the way.” I told her and pointed at the shoes.

“You’ll get use to them, they make your legs look AMAZING so suck it up buttercup.” She smiled then grabbed Williams hand.

We made small talk in the elevator as
it descended to the main lobby, we exited the building and started to walk towards the taxi that was waiting for us.  When suddenly somebody literally ran into me and almost knocked me over.  I felt sweat on my arm, “Holy shit!” I screamed as I felt two strong hands grab me around the waist.

“I’m so fucking sorry, are y
ou okay?” the deep throaty male voice apologized.  I grabbed onto the sweaty thick forearms and steadied myself.

“I’m okay.” I smiled and looked up to find Derrick was the one that had run into me. 

“I thought I could get around you but I couldn’t, and I couldn’t stop in time either are you sure you’re okay?” He asked with a very concerned look.

I smiled, “I’m fine, I should have been paying attention.”

“Lexi come on!” Destiney waved her hand from the back seat of the taxi.

I stepped out of Derrick’s grip, “Have a great evening…”

“Derrick, my name is Derrick.  It’s was great to finally meet you Lexi.” He said and stepped away from me.

I smiled then hurried to the cab.

Once I was inside the cab the driver jerked the car into the heavy traffic.

“Well now you’ve met Derrick.”
Destiney said with a laugh.

“He’s pretty cute.” I told her.

Destiney rolled her eyes, “I told you the building is full of hotties.  He’s one of them!”

William cleared his throat and looked down at her, “What? I was just telling her!”

He shook his head and laughed, “You women are crazy creatures you know that?”