Ghost Of You (A Novella)

Chapter Thirteen (REWRITTEN)

Five days after Avery had made her decision, she stood under the scrutinizing eyes of one colossal lumberjack. His massive hand held the office door open although he seemed to be rooted in the doorway. "You're Avery Swartz?" He asked her for the third time now, refusing to believe she was indeed who she claimed to be.

"Look, Mister—"

"Keith. I'm your super."

"Right... Keith. The Super. I just need somewhere to sit my bags down, so if we could hurry this up that would be great." Her shoulders burned something fierce, with the weight of her backpack on one and Milo's carrier hanging from the other, they had surpassed their limit. She worried her back would ignite at any second.

His eyebrows shot to his hairline, "Oh! Crap! Sorry. I just expected someone older... not a lot of people your age can afford a year's worth of rent upfront, you know?" Avery did know, but at the moment she couldn't care less. It had been a long flight and she still had a lot of things to do before she could rest. "Uh, yeah, lemme get your keys." The door fell closed behind him, leaving Avery alone to readjust the extra pounds her frame was forced to support.

She had chosen this town, Eaton Heights, blindly. After living in New York for so long, she wanted somewhere a bit more quiet and laid-back. With a population barely over five thousand people, it fit the bill. It reminded her of the towns back in Indiana—large enough to host a variety of name brand department stores, restaurants, a couple parks, and a movie theater, but small enough to feel more like a close knit community.

They even had their own hospital—Avery's soon-to-be new place of employment. They had called and interviewed her in under an hour of submitting her application online. She wasn't entirely sure if she should be bothered or not by their eagerness for employment.

Eaton Heights was also only a thirty to forty-five minute drive to three major cities, so if the job didn't pan out, she could easily find another. Right now though, it would do just fine.

The super barreled out the door, his thick bear blowing in the wind. "Got it. Follow me." Avery found that easier said than done with his long legs making bigger strides than her's. He never did offer to carry anything she held.

"You got a lot of packages this week," he yelled over his shoulder as he climbed the stairs to the second floor. "I put them in your living room."

She leaned into the railing, her head far too light for comfort. "Thanks," she croaked, swallowing gulps of fresh air. Her lungs would definitely need some time to adjust to the higher elevation of Colorado.

Stopping in front of apartment 2B, Keith dangled two sets of keys in front of his enormous chest. "This one is for your car." He dropped it in her hand, "It's parked in your assigned spot, thirteen. Came just yesterday." Avery silently thanked the car gods, and Carvana by proxy. She didn't know what she would have done had they not delivered it until tomorrow. She needed it today.

"These are your apartment keys," he held them up, waiting patiently for her to pull up the polyester straps that had fallen off her protesting shoulders. "One is a spare. I do have to emphasize that if you give them to someone—roommate or whatever—they need to fill out an application for approval. We can't just be handing out extra keys all willy-nilly like. Don't need no riff-raff up in here, you know?"

How about ghosts, Keith?

Keith must have gotten tired of waiting on her as he pulled the keys back and unlocked the door himself. "Welcome to Eaton Heights," he grumbled as he skipped down the stairs and disappeared around the corner.

Avery sat her things down. Stretching, she put her hands on her hips, easing her back muscles out of their rigid position. Her eyes followed the layout of the new space, pleasantly surprised.