The Hockey Star’s Remorse

Chapter 32

The drive downtown had been hectic alongside the morning work rush. Cars were honking and cutting others off, making me slightly weary of the possible commute should we commit to anything.

to park

We eventually reached the apartment complex and found a lot beside it to p the car. There was a nice breeze as we approached the gates.

On the other side of the gate, a woman approached with a smile. When she got close enough, she entered a code into the keypad on the nearby pillar. With a wail, the steel gates cracked open and she stepped forward with a wave.

“Hello, ladies! I’m Georgia, the one you spoke to on the phone” the woman said. “Are you ready to see your possible future?”

Aria nodded rapidly. “Of course!” Then she looped an arm around mine and pulled me along as we followed Georgia toward the apartments.

93

When we reached the entrance, Georgia began her spiel. “I’m so glad you decided. to check out one of our apartments. We believe style and comfort should go hand in hand,”

She pushed open the door and let us walk into the lobby before her. At the very front was the reception desk where an employee was making calls. On each side of the round desk were elevators dinging as they reached different floors. Everything around us had a glossy sheen, almost futuristic in its appearance.

| leaned toward Aria and grumbled, “This place looks like it’s outside both of our budgets. “Hush!” Aria elbowed me in the ribs, and | grunted at the blow. “You said we could see it, so no turning back now.”

Georgia led us to one of the elevators and sent us up to the 5th floor. When the doors opened, | was awestruck by how clean it was. There were no grubby pizza boxes scattered along a grease-stained floor, nor were there random splashes of soda on the walls.

We walked to the end of the hall and stopped at apartment 6D. Georgia then pulled out a keycard and held it to the scanner before it let out an approving beep and flashed green. The door clicked open, and Georgia walked inside to hold the

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door open.

| was nearly blinded by the glamour of it all. Upon entering the space, | was greeted with slick countertops and twinkling ceiling lights. There was a nice flow of air, which was expected in such a wide-open space.

Side by side, Aria and | hurried from room to room, hardly listening as Georgia. offered information about the features. | did manage to catch it when she mentioned the fireplace in the living room area, which would make cold, winter nights far less torturous. Aria seemed far more occupied with the porcelain toilet, which flushed without any awkward bubbling.

“I'm sensing some enthusiasm. Enjoying the space?” Georgia poked her head in as we were observing one of the bedrooms. Both were fortunately the same size, so we wouldn't be fighting to the death over that of all things. If we made such a rash decision, that is.

“It's absolutely gorgeous in here,” Aria gushed. “I knew this would be the one, from the moment | saw it.”

| raised an eyebrow at her. She was making it sound like we were certain we'd take the place. As much as | hated wasting the woman’s time, | wasn’t going to affirm anything Aria told her.

“I'm so glad. You know, the current property owner is pretty generous to who we rent out the spaces to, so that fact that he personally requested you take a look-”

“Wait!” | cut her off, and out of the corner of my eyes as | saw Aria’s eyes grow large. “He requested? You’re not the owner?

Georgia started to laugh, “Oh, no! I’m just here for marketing purposes, especially when the landlord is away, but he seemed especially interested when your friend. here mentioned you, Evie.”

| shot Aria a glare, growing more furious as the pieces started fitting together. Whatever her little scheme was, | refused to be involved. “You told the landlord

about me?”

“H-He would've found out anyway,” Aria stuttered, waving her hands. “But that’s not how it happened. You see, uh, Timothy knows the landlord. Yeah, | ran into him at the sports center and | mentioned how we were looking for a place.

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My head started spinning. | couldn't believe was | was hearing, or how much both Aria and Timtohy hadn't mentioned to me. Aria continued, “I guess he put in a good word for you because the landlord felt inclined to offer us one of his luxury rooms.” “At a lower price!” Georgia added, and this seemed to add fuel to Aria’s fire.

“Oh, | almost forgot about that, but yeah! | think he mentioned lowering it to around $800.”

Irritated, | marched past them and left the room. The space didn’t feel as open as it had before. Knowing Aria was out making deals behind my back made me uncomfortable.

Specifically, making deals with Timothy was a whole other level. Part of me was suspicious about how often they had been talking to each other. My proximity to Timothy seemed to offer Aria that same level of exposure, and she was taking full advantage of it.

Aria finally came out of the room and latched onto my arm. “Evie, please. Just think it through, okay? | was trying to help!” she said, her voice high-pitched.

| rolled my eyes. “I already told you my answer. “But you said you'd reconsider!” “Well, that was before finding out you were working behind the scenes. Since when were you and Timothy close?”

Her mouth fell open, and she looked me up and down for a moment. Then, as if a realization dawned on her, she started to nod. “Oh, this is about something else.”

“And what would that be?”

“Don’t worry about it,” she said, although her face was still skeptical. “But you must at least think this through. Don’t throw this away because of some weird thing between you and Timothy.”

| started to argue back, but then | held back and thought about it. The more |

pushed back, the more she seemed to be suspecting something between Timothy and I. While it hurt to consider, and I. While it hurt to consider, | was going to have to hold back on my

convictions.

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“Fine,” | muttered through gritted teeth, but this didn’t seem to cheer her up like before. “I'll consider it.” She finally released me and stood back, awkwardly wringing her hands together. “Good.”

Georgia walked out, likely deciding that any private conversation between us had come to a comfortable close. She smiled and raised her eyebrows expectantly.

“We'll think about it,” Aria said, leering over at me. “Although we are very convinced.”

Georgia cheered and said she would let the landlord know about our interest. That was about as far as | was going to let it go. And Timothy would certainly hear about this!