The Fighter (The High Rise, Book 1) (6 page)

I focus on
bending to touch my toes ignoring her commentary.

“He just did
ten of them! Damn! Oh! Now he looked over here!” she says.

“Stop! I don’t
want to hear any more,” I declare.

“But you
should see him, Lane. He looks really cute today wearing a navy
blue tank top that’s showing all those tattoos and muscles off.
Yowza!”

“I’m warning
you. Stop,” I protest and she does for a while. But right at a mile
and a half of our run, she comments on how tight his butt is and
I’ve had it. “That’s it. I’m done,” I announce pulling the magnet
thingy off my treadmill making it stop.

“We still have
a half mile to go!” she whines and continuing to run.

“I don’t care.
I’m heading to the shower.” I step down and wipe my face with my
towel then grab my water bottle and take a drink. I start to walk
away but turn to look back at her. “You know how mad you get when I
talk about Dwight?”

She frowns and
nods. Then the light bulb comes on. “Oh.” She stops her treadmill.
“I didn’t realize you liked him like that.” She grabs her towel and
water bottle and we start walking to the locker room.

I shake my
head. “I don’t. I don’t even know him. He doesn’t know me either
and it’s weird that he doesn’t like me.” I take another drink of
water. “I’m likeable, aren’t I?”

“Of course you
are. You have tons of friends.”

“Not that I
need his approval or anything, you know? I just find it strange
that he doesn’t know who I am but he still hates me.”

“Hate’s a
pretty strong word,” she states.

“Strongly
dislikes,” I correct. “And he keeps telling me to drop the act.
What does that mean?”

She gazes over
at me as we walk. “Maybe he’s not used to someone so pretty being
so nice.”

We’re at the
locker room door and I give her a one-armed hug because we’re
sweaty. “Best friend ever.”

“That’s me,”
she says with a chuckle when she pulls away opening the door to go
in.

I put my hand
on her arm to stop her. “Um, I couldn’t convince you to shower in
the apartment today, can I?” When she frowns I explain that I don’t
want another fun-filled elevator ride with Captain Moody.

She sighs
dramatically. “Okay, but it’ll cost me valuable time.” She plods to
the elevator like she’s been greatly put upon. “But I’ll do it
anyway ‘cause I’m awesome like that.”

“Thanks. I owe
you.” I put my card in to call the elevator down.

“You owe me
big
,” she says as the doors open. She pushes the floor
button and remarks, “So that’s it with you two then, huh?”

“Yep.” What
else is there to say? I look at her as she takes out her hair band
and shrug. “C’est la vie.”

“La vie,” she
answers with a snort. She loves that joke so I’m sure to give her
the opportunity to make it anytime I can even though it’s eye-roll
inducing.

“So Parachute
tonight?” I ask.

“You
betcha.”

Parachute is
the new dance club in the hotel across the street from The Estates
that’s having its grand opening tonight. It’s been under
construction for the past six months which has affected traffic
around the apartment building and I’ve had to hear complaints from
almost every tenant from day one. So tonight I’m thinking I might
be getting a little tipsy at the fact that I can mark that
particular gripe off my list.

Normally, Dani
and I wouldn’t even attempt going because it’ll be packed, but
yesterday Paul, the guy I flirted with in the weight room, told us
he’s one of the security guys working the door and he’ll have
vouchers to let us in so we won’t have to stand in line. Ever
since, it’s pretty much all Dani and I have talked about, which
might be a sad commentary on our social lives but whatever.

Who knows,
maybe my luck will change and I’ll meet someone who’s hot and cool
and really likes me. I hate to admit it but that leads me to
wondering if Heath will be there but I quickly zap that little
thought from my head because, news flash, he hates me. And, oh
yeah, I’m over it.

Anyway, with
my luck, afterward I’ll more than likely find myself on my knees
worshipping the porcelain god while Dani holds my hair back.

Ignore that
gust of air right then. That was just me sighing.

“Don’t ever
think I don’t love you,” she mutters as we get off on our
floor.

I mumble
another thank you and go inside our apartment to get ready for
work.

“I’m sorry,
Mrs. Lanning. I’ll definitely see if The Arches has a first floor
opening and let you know immediately. Okay. Yes. I’ll check on the
pet rule too. You said you have five cats? All right. Yes. I’ll
call them first thing tomorrow. Yes. Yes. I will. All right.
Goodbye.”

I’d stayed
late to finish some paperwork and when the phone rang a little
after eight, I’d answered it absentmindedly which I immediately
regretted. It was now after nine at night, and for the past forty
minutes I’d been listening to Mrs. Lanning’s complaints about her
current living situation at her present apartment: the wood floors
were too light, the walls were too dark, the windows were too big
and the front door was too small. The kitchen wasn’t large enough
but the bathrooms were too big. The foyer was too narrow and the
hallways were too wide.

Alrighty
then.

I love my job.
I do. It’s interesting and I get to meet all kinds of people. I
love seeing the happy looks on their faces when they’ve settled a
lease contract on an apartment they love. But it’s this part of it
that drives me nuts. When I’d shown her the apartment six months
ago, Mrs. Lanning had fallen in love with it, loved all of the
above. Well, I guess she’s changed her mind.

I open the
Uber app on my phone and request a car then shut down my computer
and stand, stretching my arms before reaching for the sweater on
the back of my chair. Grabbing my purse out of my drawer, I leave
the office and see Bert, one of the cleaning service people, in the
hallway give me a head jerk which is his signal for me to leave the
door unlocked. I smile and give him a small wave before heading to
the elevator.

“Hey, Ms.
Kyle. Your car here yet?” Julian asks from behind the front desk in
the lobby when I exit the elevator.

“Hey, Julian.
Might be a couple minutes,” I say as I walk over to him.

He comes out
from behind the desk and accompanies me outside to the front walk,
our nightly trek.

“So how’s it
going?” I inquire.

He shrugs.
“Could be better, could be worse.”

“How’s
Ally?”

Julian is the
head of night security for the building. His wife Ally is pregnant
with their first child and is due any day now.

“She’s good.
Had me bring her a jar of dill pickles this morning at six.”

I laugh. “I
guess that’s a pregnant woman’s staple, huh?”

“Maybe. But
she never wants the pickles. Just drinks the damn juice right out
of the jar.” He clamps his eyes shut and shakes his head giving a
shudder and I pretty much mirror his actions.

“Uh. That’s
kinda gross,” I remark.

“You’re
telling me. What makes it even worse is she was eating an orange at
the same time.”

“Ew,” I
mutter, scrunching up my nose as my car pulls up. “Hang in there,”
I say with a chuckle. “And thanks for walking me out. Tell Ally I’m
ready to meet little Sadie!”

“I will. Have
a good evening,” he says as he opens the car door for me to get in.
He closes it and steps away but stays on the sidewalk until I give
him a wave when my driver pulls away from the curb. I give the Uber
dude my address right as my phone rings.

“Where are
you?” Dani asks.

“Just left the
office. I’ll be there soon.”

“’Kay! Hurry!
I’m excited for the club!”

“I’ll make
sure to tell the driver to step on it,” I say dryly.

She laughs and
hangs up and before I forget, I pull up my alarm on my phone to
remind myself to call Stella at The Arches tomorrow to see if they
have anything that might make Mrs. Lanning happy. But I’m not going
to hold my breath.

“That’s hot!”
Dani says when she walks into my room.

I glance at
her from where I stand in front of my dresser mirror holding up
different earrings to my lobes. “Wow! You look amazing!” I answer
as she spins around for me to see her from every angle.

We’re both
wearing the dresses we bought last weekend just hoping an occasion
would arise so that we could wear them. Seriously. We really need
to get out more.

“That blue is
perfect on you,” she states when she turns back to me.

I guess we
are
looking good, both of us in tight dresses, hers a red
bodycon and mine a royal blue, blousy bodice type with a neck
opening so big that one side hangs off my shoulder and a shirred
mini skirt that hits me mid-thigh.

“Dangly or
hoops?” I ask, holding one of each earring to my ears.

“Dangly. No,
hoops.”

I raise an
eyebrow waiting for her to change her mind again but when she
doesn’t, I mumble, “Hoops it is,” and put them on.

“Ready to go
meet some hotties?” she asks.

“As I’ll ever
be.”

We leave the
apartment and as we walk to the elevator, I want to kick myself
when I glance back down the hallway toward Heath’s apartment.

“What’re you
looking at?” Dani teases, bending to adjust the strap on her
shoe.

“Nothing,” I
squeak out at being caught.

“You can still
be his friend, you know.”

I let out a
very unladylike snort. “And the guy who plays Jaime Lannister is
gonna ask me to dance tonight.”

The elevator
doors open and we step on.

“It really
can’t be that bad, can it?” Dani surmises.

“Oh, it’s bad.
I’ve told you, I’ve known him for, like, five minutes and can
literally feel the hate radiating off him every time we encounter
each other.”

“Maybe he’s
gay and is jealous of your high cheekbones or something.”

She does have
a point. Most of our gay guy friends are extremely hot and like to
make a big deal of coveting some of our assets which always makes
us feel fabulous about ourselves. I give her a look and shrug not
wanting to talk about it anymore.

Dani smiles.
“Well, let’s just focus on having fun tonight. Dance our hearts out
and partake in the consumption of adult beverages.”

“I can so do
that,” I say smiling back at her.

Once in the
lobby we make our way across the street and to the west a bit to
the club. When I see the crowd and limos and cabs dropping off
people, I know I’m going to be getting more calls in the morning (I
probably have several on my voicemail already) about the traffic.
Ergh.

“I heard that
Perez Hilton was gonna be here,” Dani whispers as we walk to the
front of the line feeling the begrudging glares of the people
waiting to get inside boring into our backs. Yeesh.

When I see
Paul working the door I wave after catching his eye and he motions
for us to come over. I grab Dani’s arm, pulling her along with
me.

“Hey, you two!
You guys look great,” he comments a little loudly over the music
that’s coming from inside when we make it to him then he leans down
to give us both a two-sided air kiss.

“Hey, Paul.
Thank you,” I say a bit shyly. As I said before, I can read people
pretty well, and I’m kind of sure that Paul might like me as more
than a friend.

“Tell me there
are celebrities here!” Dani gushes.

He smiles
coyly then leans down and whispers, “Madonna and Gaga are supposed
to show.”

Dani and I
gasp then start screaming in stereo as we jump up and down like
teenagers before Paul clears his throat getting our attention.

“Here are the
vouchers to get in. There’s a coat and purse check but I see that
fabulous Chanel with the chain shoulder strap you’re wearing won’t
be leaving your side.” He winks at Dani.