The Study

I peaked around to see where he was, but no one was there. I was alone again. I sighed with relief, collapsing onto my side. Exhaustion overwhelmed me, pushing my eyes closed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ah!" I screamed, jutting up like Frankenstein's monster coming to life. My hand instantly flew to my throat. There was no tenderness, no pain, nothing. As a matter of fact, I was no longer in some clinical nightmare. Instead, I was tangled in the rumpled comforter back in the hotel who's name I never got a chance to see. I looked around, no signs of anything else but the elegant hotel room.

My hand slowly slid down my face, wiping away a sheen of sweat. Could it have all been a dream? Some random, sci-fi dream? I pondered this — dreams and nightmares — while I walked to the bathroom. Speaking of which, when had I gotten out of the tub? Its water was already drained, not even a trace of soap remained. I figure I was just so damn tired that I went into auto pilot just to get into bed. I turned the handle on the sink, cold water rushing from the faucet.

I splashed the cool water against my face, a calm washing over me. Once the water was out of my eyes, I looked in the mirror to see if I looked as unrested as I felt. Contrary to what I expected, there were no dark circles or bags under my eyes. Then I lifted my chin, my eyes widened at the dark red marks wrapping around my neck. I slowly held my right hand up to my neck, the marks fit perfectly with a hand that was much bigger than my own.

As I packed up my few things, I was only barely holding it together. Part of it was the dream, all too real and resulting in actual physical bruises. The other part was that I should've been back on the road almost two hours ago. With the lost time, I'd probably hit traffic, setting me back even more. It was a rush as I snatched the room key and slammed the door shut. For such a beautiful room, it gave me one shitty night.

Without another word, I dropped the key at the desk and sped off out the front door.

Four hours passed, two more to go before I actually hit the city. I fumbled with the tab of my second energy drink, popping it open with a snap. My phone buzzed in the cup holder.

"Hello," I answered.

"Hello, Mira? This is David Santos, from Wellsville Complex," my new landlord sounded chipper and kind — the opposite of how I felt.

"Yes, David how are you? I'm on my way into town as we speak," I pressed on the gas a little harder.

"Well Mira," I heard shuffling pages in the background. "Due to the error of some sub contractors, there may be a slight delay in your getting into the apartment."

My shoulders fell, "And just how much of a delay, Dave?" I held back my anger.

"Oh, not much. At most, two hours," he continued explaining that the work was near completion. "But," he started again. "Since this obviously hinders your moving in on time, I would like to extend to you one month free." I almost pulled over to digest it. Not only had the universe lined up perfectly to make my apartment available around when I'd be in the city, but on top of that I would get a month without rent!

"Dave, that's unbelievably kind of you," I was still in shock. We exchanged a few more thank you's and hung up. My smile reached ear to ear as I let my foot off the gas pedal just a bit. Without having to rush, I just cruised down the long road sipping my energy drink.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Thank you, I'll do my best to be an easy tenant," I joked earning a laugh from Dave.

"I'm looking forward to it," he smiled kindly. "Here's your key, and as we discussed you're rent free for the first month." He handed me my copy of the lease, my keys and a map of the surrounding city blocks. We shook hands one more time, then I pulled my cart of boxes to the elevator.

My apartment was at the end of the hall on the fourth floor. I walked in and took a look around, it was reasonably bigger than my last place. Dave had kindly placed the new bed I ordered in my room, I couldn't get over how nice he had been in such a short period of time. I threw my duffle bag onto the unmade bed, turning on every light as I familiarized myself with the layout. I stepped into the kitchen, dragging my hand across the smooth granite counter top until accidentally pushed a folded paper to the floor. I picked it up and unfolded it so I could read it.

"Miss Alpin,

I anticipate working along side you, and am excitedly looking forward to when we finally meet." There was no name other than mine, and the handwriting was surprisingly straight and precise. Since my employer found the apartment, it was clearly a note from them. Shrugging, I set the note back down when a noise came from the bedroom. I hugged the wall all the way down the hallway, barely peeking around the corner into the room. Nothing was out of place.

I shook my head while looking at my watch. It was almost eleven thirty, and my first day at this location was tomorrow. I dug in boxes until I found a few blankets, then proceeded to make myself a little nest. I needed at least one good night of sleep this week.