As I exit my apartment, a warm voice greets me. “Hey, Minerva.”
I shut the door lightning quick, afraid my neighbor, Kas, might sneak a peek inside. “H-Hi,” I say to him, smiling wider than I normally do each morning.
Kas stands outside his door dressed the way I always imagine him, which is to say, very fashionable. He wears a turquoise sweater that complements the warm tone of his acorn skin. A nice pair of shoes poke out under his dark blue bell bottoms. As always, his medium length black hair and short beard are perfectly styled. I have no idea what Kas even does for work, but whatever it is, he looks good doing it.
“Heard your lover’s quarrel last night.”
My face drops and heats up. “Oh, God…”
Kas laughs. “Did you throw his clothes out the window afterwards?”
“No, but I should have.” I mutter, and Kas laughs some more.
He leans down to whisper. “But what about theotherguy you had over?” He wiggles his brows.
“Oh good, you heard that part, too?” I roll my eyes, now really wishing I had tossed all of Alexander’s stuff out the window. Or maybe taken a swipe at his long legs when I had the chance.
“I’m not judging,” Kas promises, “but I want to know if he’s cute.”
“I guess? Cute maybe isn’t the word I’d use to describe him.”
Oh my god, what am I saying?Why didn’t I deny that I had a guy over? I should call Alexander hysterical, he’s probably saying the same thing about me to his friends.
“He’s a one night thing,” I say.
“You never struck me as a one night stand kind of woman.”
I raise a brow. “What gave you that impression?”
He’s right, though. Maybe it’s all the romance books or maybe it’s due to the fact that I was likely the result of a hookup, but I can’t get into sleeping with someone and never seeing them again. Or seeing them again and having it be awkward. I never kiss on the first date, and I never bring anyone home till the third. That’s just how I operate.
“Maybe it’s the prep school look.”
“People onGossip Girlhookup all the time,” I inform Kas.
“Really?”
I nod. “It’s, like, half the show.”
“Huh. Maybe I should watch it. Anyway, is not-cute-but-sexy still in your apartment?”
“I never said he was sexy. Are you going for sloppy seconds?” I tease. “Because he’s all yours.”
I suddenly remember Rosier is a devil and not just some guy I met at a bar. It’s easy to forget, probably because he’s so appealing as a human. That had to be intentional, the forms of devils being appealing once they were on Earth. To lure people into debauchery or whatever.
“Not sure he’s your type, though,” I say, trying to dissuade Kas. “He’s, uh… short.”
Kas lifts a brow. “Sounds like he’s notyourtype. If that Alex guy had anything going for him, it was height. And I like short kings.”
“I’ll give you his number after work.”
I wouldnotbe doing that. Even if Rosier did have a cell phone. But I need to go catch my bus, so I wave goodbye to Kas and hurry out of my apartment complex.
* * *
I really hopedonce I was in the office I’d be able to focus on anything other than the devil in my apartment. But my mind still swirls with images of the summoning circle and Rosier. I open up the editor on my computer in the hopes that familiar lines of Python will pull me out of my thoughts, but the code keeps shifting behind my eyes, turning into archaic symbols imbued with magic.
I don’t regret my decision to go into computer science, even if I always preferred history, even if being the only woman in the room sucks. But now I work in cyber security for a manufacturing company and make enough to pay rent and Grandpa’s nursing home and have enough left over for food. Okay,sometimesI go over budget–but only when shoes are on sale. And I had savings from living in my childhood home and commuting all throughout school. I’m set, really.
