Don’t Fall for the Doctor by Lacey Bolt
Chapter 26
Ashley stood in the main living room of an empty apartment available for rent and looked around. The woman standing next to her was chewing gum loudly and focused more on her phone than on helping Ashley. She sighed and looked around again.
The carpeting was old, and the paint faded. A section of ceiling had been patched poorly after a leak, and there was a draft coming in through the small window.
She sighed and walked further into the unit. The kitchen wasn’t any better. Two cabinets with broken doors hung next to the sink, which offered little counter space. A small fridge and a stove with two burners instead of four filled the rest of the wall space. She cracked open the oven door. It was so small that she doubted she could fit a standard baking sheet in there. She’d be lucky if it actually got hot enough to roast any vegetables.
She wandered back through the empty living room, which would also have to function as the dining room. She could possibly fit a table in here that would be large enough for cooking prep, but then there would be no room for a couch.
The bedroom wasn’t much better. At least it had a small window which would give her a view of the street below. Some thick curtains might block out some of the street noise, but she’d probably have to start sleeping with a white-noise machine or earplugs.
The only thing that she almost liked about the apartment was the price. It was still more than her current rent, but it was cheaper than anything else she’d been able to find so far. At least she didn’t have to make any decisions today. The apartment would probably still be available for a few more days, so she could keep looking.
She walked back to the living room and pasted on a smile for the landlord. “Thanks for showing me the place.”
“You gonna rent it?” The woman turned to leave without taking her eyes off her phone.
“Maybe. I, umm, I’m going to think about it.”
“Don’t wait too long because I have a lot of interest in this unit. It will be off the market before you know.”
“Hmm.” Somehow, Ashley doubted that. No one would rent that apartment unless they were all out of options, like her.
She walked down the street to the bus stop, hands in her pockets. That was another perk of this apartment. It was close to the bus stop. Her car still wasn’t fixed, and with the rent of this apartment, she wouldn’t be able to afford any repairs for a few months.
She sighed. If the bus wasn’t running late, she’d still have enough time to stop by the hospital and visit Henry before going back to her apartment to meet Michael. Henry would be happy to hear about their date last night. She’d never met an old man who was as interested in gossip as him.
Was she going to mention the kiss? She’d never been the type of person to kiss-and-tell, but that kiss was amazing. It was almost good enough to make her believe that he didn’t care that she was poor and struggling while he was nearly perfect.
The bus pulled up and she got on. There was an empty seat towards the back, next to a window, so she took it. As the bus started moving, she looked around. This was a new area of the city to her. She might as well try to scope out the neighborhood from the bus in case this was to become her new home. There wasn’t anything too interesting. A small convenience store, a gas station, a small park, a billboard advertising Harvest House, featuring a large picture of Chef Jeff holding a plate of food.
She groaned and squeezed her eyes closed. Was this a sign from the universe? If it was, then the universe had better be a bit more clear. Was the billboard a sign that she should rent the apartment? Give Michael a chance? Or . . .
There was no way she could think about interviewing with Chef Jeff for a cook position.