Justin didn’t know whether to be happy or upset. Today was moving day and as much as he detested lugging his stuff in and out of places, he couldn’t to get settled into his new apartment. The view was great, he would have tons of space, and he’d be right in the center of all the action… above the streets of downtown Minneapolis.
But first, he had to move everything in. Thank God Colby had sent over some of his guys to help Justin with the heavier things. All in all, Colby was pleased with his work and Justin did not want that man on his bad side. He had gratefully accepted the help, promising that for the next job, he’d do another stand up performance.
“Hey, Justin,” Darrel called, snapping him out of his thoughts. “Where do you want this?”
“Um,” Justin mumbled, turning toward Darrel, who was attempting to drag the kitchen table across the floor. “It’s fine there, for now.”
Darrel and Anthony walked past him to the elevator and picked up some more boxes. Justin put his hand to his chin and surveyed the place. He had a strange feeling that he’d be happier living here.
After moving a few things around, Darrel and Anthony took off, and Justin traveled down in the elevator to return the truck. He was just about to walk into the lobby when a face caught his eye. He stood still, his hand on the doorknob as he watched her through the glass. She had shoulder length dark brown hair, and a light complexion. When she turned around from her mailbox, he saw the most strikingly brilliant blue eyes.
She stood there, flipping through her mail with a little smile on her face. He opened the door and their eyes met. She seemed to be looking him over, as though she might recognize him if she looked long enough.
“I just moved in,” he explained, gesturing to the moving truck outside the building. “Twelfth floor.”
“Eleventh,” she said, still looking at him oddly.
He wondered what he could say to get her to stop looking at him like that. “I’m Justin,” he tried. “I guess we’ll be seeing each other.” He held his hand out to her.
She took it and held on for a moment. “I’m Adelyn. It’s nice to meet you.”
He gave her a winning smile. “The pleasure is mine.”
She wouldn’t let go of his hand. “Justin…” she said, still looking at him with slightly narrowed eyes. “You remind me of someone.”
“I do?”
She finally dropped his hand and smiled. ‘Never mind. It’s nothing. You’re probably very busy with moving in and all. I’ll let you go.”
“Actually, I’m almost done. I just need to move the truck.” He took a few steps around her, toward the exit, while she moved further inside the building. “It was really nice meeting you,” he told her. “I’ll see you around.”
The way he moved… so swift and quiet, intrigued her. She watched as he pushed the door open and slid outside. He was quick on his feet as he climbed into his truck and drove off. There was just something about him…
Adelyn shook herself out of her thoughts and made her way to the elevators, but she couldn’t get his face out of her mind.
Surrounded by boxes, Justin sat at his kitchen table with his cell phone in hand. He was just about to dial Colby’s number when he heard a knock on his door. Wondering who it could be, he got up and walked to the door. Through the peephole, he saw the woman he’d met earlier in the lobby and he quickly unlatched and opened the door.
“Hey. Adelyn, right?”
She smiled at him. “That’s right. Can I come in?”
“Sure,” he answered. “Just don’t mind the mess. I’m still getting everything put away.”
She walked in and looked around. Despite what he had said about a mess, all of his boxes were stacked so neatly; she didn’t know what to think. Not sure if she was disturbed or what, she turned around to face him.
“Have a seat,” he told her.
Adelyn looked again and noticed that a lot of the boxes had been placed on top of the furniture.
“Oh, sorry,” he said, realizing his mistake. Quickly, yet carefully, he moved the boxes off the couch and stacked them neatly on top of one another. He gestured for her to sit down, and when she did, he moved the boxes away from a chair and sat down facing her. “So, what’s up?”
Adelyn held up an envelope. “Your mail was in my mailbox. I think your box is right above mine and the mailman got a little mixed up.”
“Oh!” Justin got up and took it from her, then sat back down. “Thanks.” He went to open the letter, but stopped, and looked up at her apologetically. “I have no idea where my letter opener is,” he admitted, and then went back to tearing into the letter as neatly as he could.
“I was tempted to open it and see what you were all about, but that would have been illegal, so I decided to just give it back to you,” she teased.
Justin stopped opening the letter, and once again gazed up at her. “What?”
“I was making a joke,” she explained.
Justin grinned. “Oh! I get it… illegal!” he laughed nervously, and then looked back down at the letter. “Thanks anyway, but they just want to give me yet another credit card.”
“Junk mail. Figures!”
It was silent for a moment.
“I also wanted to tell you that one of the tenants was robbed last week,” Adelyn spoke up. “She forgot to lock her door. Don’t let that happen to you.”
“Oh, I won’t,” Justin promised. “I’m very careful.”
There was something about the way he said it… or maybe it was the look in his eyes when he did, but she could tell that he wasn’t joking. She looked around the room and found many examples of this behavior. Next to the television and stereo were two rows of CDs… all arranged in perfect alphabetical order. On his kitchen counter, everything that was already out of the boxes was carefully lined up. There were two Twins bobble heads next to the salt and pepper shakers, and a picture of Twins player Kirby Pucket leaning neatly against the counter. There wasn’t any doubt about it… he was a careful man.
“Good,” she told him. “Crime in this area isn’t too bad, but we’re trying to keep it that way. If people leave their doors unlocked, it’s just inviting the thieves into our building.”
“Don’t worry about me,” Justin assured her once again. “I always lock my door.”
Adelyn didn’t doubt it. “Good,” she said.
He set the letter on top of the nearest box and moved to get up. “Would you like something to drink? The first thing I did today was restock the refrigerator.”
Adelyn smiled. “That’s the first thing every man does,” she said.
Justin walked over to the kitchen and chuckled. “A man’s gotta eat!” he reasoned. “So, what’ll it be, Miss Adelyn?”
“Anything is fine.”
“I’ve got Coke, Sprite, root beer… and grape juice, orange juice, or there’s always water.”
“Water’s good.”
“Great.” He soon returned with two tall glasses of ice water, and handed one to her.
“Thanks,” she said as he sat back down. “So, tell me about yourself, Justin.”
Justin smiled, not missing a beat. He was used to this question. “I’m a writer,” he answered truthfully. “I’ve got my own column in the Star Tribune.” And what a job it was. He got paid for doing what came naturally to him, and then he got the big bucks at night… when he worked for Colby.
“Oh! Well, now I can say I know a journalist! I just wish I actually had time to read the paper. Then maybe I’d be familiar with your column.”
“It’s no big deal. If you ask me, it’s not even that interesting. I write novels on the side that are much more interesting than that boring stuff in the paper.”
“You write novels? Any of them published?”
“No, but I’m working on it.” Justin opened his mouth to ask her what she did for a living, but the shrill ringing of his cell phone cut him off. He got up. “Excuse me.”
Adelyn watched him disappear into the kitchen. “Hello,” she heard him say. “Yep, I’m all settled in. Things went smoothly… yes, Darrel and Anthony were great. Thanks for sending them. Tonight? I’m still kinda unpacking, and- …yeah, okay. I guess that sounds easy enough. I’ll be over there around nine to go over everything with you. Okay. See you then. Bye.” She heard a few things moving around in the kitchen, and then he reappeared in front of her.
“I’m sorry, Adelyn, but that was a friend of mine on the phone and he needs some help with some stuff, so I’ve gotta get going.” She noticed him nudging a box with his foot so that it was parallel to the one next to it. “I still want to know all about you, though… we’ll just have to do it another time.”
She nodded, and was about to set her glass on the coffee table, when he grabbed it from her with a nervous smile and quickly brought it to the kitchen.
“It was nice talking to you,” she called to him. “I’ll see you later.”
He rushed out of the kitchen just in time to let her out the door and wish her a good night. The second she was in the hall, he shut the door, latched it, and went to get ready for his night.
Chapter 2
Paying the Consequences
Justin {Fiction}
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I'll Never Stop {Fiction}
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