red herring [h.s.]

11. (*)

Harry.

"No, not this one." I spoke flatly the second I set foot into the apartment.

Matt fisted his hair as he groaned out in frustration, "Are you kidding me?! Harry, this is the sixth apartment we're seeing today. I've only got one more after this and it's a shithole."

"That's good!" I exclaimed, "Matt, you have to try and imagine what someone my age who works at a gym earns in a month. And what I could afford with that." I spoke as I walked around the three bedroom Chelsea apartment that was way too fancy. It was nice though and if I wasn't keeping up the façade of not being wealthy, I'd like this.

"Yeah, dad," Mike agreed as he spoke to Matt, "imagine being poor."

"I can't believe you won't be living in your house anymore." Liam muttered as he also looked around.

"Can't really bring her there, can I?" I sighed and he nodded, "That's true."

"Alright," I turned to Matt, "let's see the next one."

The broker looked about ready to have a nervous breakdown when I once again didn't like any of the apartments she had showed us today.

It was a Saturday and I was apartment-hunting with Matt and Liam. And of course Mike had to tag along. It was quite fun actually, I had never done this. It was fun to see what a certain price could get you in a nice neighbourhood in New York. Renting was fucking expensive, which was why I was glad I had a bought house.

We all got into a cab again and Cheryl, the broker, guided us to the next place which was just a few streets away. The building was... less nice than all the others we had seen so far and Liam scrunched his nose up, "Seriously? You're going to be living like this?"

I shrugged, "Yeah." I thought back of Stella's apartment and how cosy that felt. Even if it was just one room, it felt more homy than my house ever did. Matt, Liam, Mike, me and Cheryl being in the apartment felt like a tight squeeze, but I critically looked around and nodded, "This one's the one."

Cheryl adjusted the glasses on her nose, "It's a one bedroom and you have a partial doorman. There's 26 people in this building and the lease is for a year."

"A year?!" Matt barked before flipping his head to me, "I'm going to have to pay for this shit for a year?"

I crossed my arms, "Weren't you the one reminding me last week how important this is?"

He chewed the inside of his cheek as he glared at me, "Fine." He then turned to Cheryl, "Cheryl, make it happen. He needs to move in as soon as possible."

I stood next to Matt by the window, "Can you get guys on it to furnish this? It needs to look live I've lived here. So I need like... worn-out furniture, clutter, pictures, random shit, books and stuff." I listed as I tried to remember everything about Stella's apartment.

Matt rubbed his forehead, "Yeah. Fine. It'll be done in a few days."

"What about the neighbours?" Liam piped up and I glanced at Matt, who rolled his eyes, "Fucking 25 neighbours... We'll pay all of them to keep up the façade that you've lived here for years. So when Stella's here and you run into someone, they don't blow your cover."

I grinned, "Nice." It was actually quite fun being the main man in this assignment. Even Matt did all my bidding for me and I had so many minions taking care of everything.

I was still pissed at him though. He had called me the night before when I was at Stella's, disturbing me even though he knew I was there. He was really fucking careless with the communication and the contact even if we had agreed that I would always be the one contacting him. He had called me multiple times now when I was with her and I knew it was starting to look suspicious.