ADDICTED

6

LEAH

This apartment was basically a shoebox. I collapsed into a dining chair with a sigh and glanced around.

I could see the entire kitchen, living room, and bedroom door from my dining table. Filled with my decor and furniture, the place felt cramped and stuffy, even though I downsized my possessions after renting out my house in Decatur.

I'd hung a few things on the walls to make it feel less like a prison cell, but I wanted to wait to move the big things until I found a more permanent place.

Foxy wandered around, sniffing and looking at things in disdain. I hoped she remembered how to use her litter box here because getting her mess out of the carpet would be a real pain in the ass.

A pound of lead settled in my stomach. What if this was all a mistake? What if I just uprooted my entire life for nothing? I rented out my house, gave up my position at Seasons, and left my friends. What if James made my life a living hell here?

Given how he'd treated me thus far, hell seemed to be a very likely possibility.

I took a deep breath. My mind was made.

I'd give things a month and decide. The least I could do was give it a chance. I wanted this change to work for me.

After spending Sunday afternoon unpacking and organizing my clothes, I walked a block down to a Chinese restaurant and picked up takeout. Foxy curled up beside me on the couch while I ate and figured out how to use my television on the new wifi. I went to bed early so I could get plenty of rest for my big first day tomorrow.

All too soon, my morning alarm rang shrilly through the thin walls of my room.

The sound of bed springs squeaking reached
through the wall. Man, if I could hear the neighbor turn over in their sleep, I hoped they weren't a nymphomaniac.

I silenced the alarm and dragged myself out of the chair to start the coffee pot. While the coffee brewed, I fed Foxy and then headed to the bathroom for my morning routine.

The full bathroom felt older than most of the apartment with a peeling laminate countertop and discolored sink. The tub wasn't much better but I already knew I wouldn't be taking baths here.

Nostalgia lanced through my chest. My old house was so cute and clean. It may not have been new, but at least parts of it were upgraded. This place was a disenchanting shit hole.

But it was a roof over my head for now and I could keep my miserable cat.

"You are going to be happy," I commanded the reflection in the mirror, my toothbrush hanging out of my mouth. "Yeah, that's right, bitch. You are changing your life for good."

I tried to carry that optimistic spirit with me as I readied for work.

After I dressed in a pleated skirt and a blue silk blouse. I lightly applied my makeup and straightened my hair. These were familiar, routine things to me, things I would have been doing even back in Georgia. I found some comfort in realizing that at least my work schedule wouldn't change.

Thirty minutes til eight, I patted Foxy's soft head goodbye and strutted out the door to my car, travel coffee mug in hand. My commute to his house was twenty-two minutes. I almost hoped there would be eight minutes of surprise traffic so I wouldn't have to awkwardly knock on his door early.

I thought it was interesting that we were working out of his house, to begin with. How could they pay a banker's salary to a PA but not rent office space?