ELECTRIC FEEL ↝ Schmidt

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  IN A SURPRISINGLY short amount of time, Elise had gotten things done, her new apartment furnished and prepared to a point where she could move in quite soon. Schmidt happily joined her on the first night in her new home, and it was like from a movie, and for the first time in forever, Elise was definitely happy with no worries in mind, and everything was fine. She was used to having something bothering her and keeping her up in the middle of the night, but now, she had friends to make her feel special, an incredible boyfriend who loved her unconditionally, a dream job that paid well and an apartment she was completely in love with — though, not as deeply as she was with Schmidt.

  There was only a single part of the day which Elise absolutely dreaded, and that was leaving her lovely apartment to go to work. She wasn't usually a fan of early mornings, but she loved even her alarm clock and after buying a yellow, adorable kettle, making her morning tea was even more fun than usual. So, waking up wasn't a problem, but stepping out of the door and saying goodbye to her amazing, new home was something she couldn't enjoy, even if she loved her little Comic Planet and working there was like a dream come true. However, Schmidt usually left for work earlier than she did, so the apartment was often empty and that made things somewhat easier.

  Elise still sometimes stopped by 4D and spent the night there, but even if she was living across the hall now, she and her friends spent plenty of time together. Winston had a habit of stopping by the store during the day, and Jess usually left around the same time as Elise did and they often shared the elevator in the mornings. In the evening, Elise occasionally stopped by Nick's bar and other nights, they had dinner in 4D together or watched one of Elise's many many movies in her adorable little living room. Her life was, frankly, going great and the happiness didn't seem to have an end.

  The day at work went quickly as always, since it didn't feel so rough when she could spend the entire day reading the comics, listening to her favorite songs and during the more peaceful hours, she had a tendency to play Candy Crush on her phone or text Schmidt, who never failed to cheer her up as if her day wasn't going well enough already. It felt like only a few minutes, not hours, had passed as Elise stood in the elevator again and waited for it to reach her floor, but today wasn't similar to every other day. Usually, she had her earphones on and secretly twirled around a couple of times in the hallway before taking out her keys, accessorized with a few Funko Pop keychains and letting herself in.

  Today, she had forgotten her earphones, and as she stepped out of the elevator, she came face to face with a man in the hallway and the sudden arrival shocked her. Stopping in her tracks, Elise froze, eyes widening while the man she was staring at pushed himself off of the wall, uncrossed his arms and smiled widely at the surprised woman.

  "Dad?"

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  Elise, sadly, could not remember the last time she saw her father — after her parents had divorced, she had spent most of her time with her mother with only a few occasional visits to her dad per month, which obviously saddened her due to the close relationship with both. And when the chance to live more with her father arrived, Elise was already packing her bags to leave Arizona for Los Angeles, and since then, the two of them had merely exchanged a few calls, some text messages but no actual meetings. Which was why Elise hugged him for minutes, even if they were standing in the hallway, but the sight of her father was just too good to be true and she had to make sure he was real, truly there.

  "Your mom sent me the instructions to your new house, and it's been too long since we saw so I decided I'd surprise you and visit. I have some work stuff in L.A anyway, so I thought, why not stop by while I'm at it?", Walden grinned, and Elise nodded at the good point he made. Chewing thoughtfully on the inner side of her cheek, Elise glanced at her front door, then at the door of 4D and decided that perhaps he'd like to meet some of her friends, and therefore, took a step towards the loft she no longer lived in, though frequently visited and still carried a key for.