AllFreeNovel
Share Us
When I arrived, disappointed to discover the entrance locked, I buzzed the intercom.
“Yes” came a sleepy voice.
“It’s Lachlan.”
“Go away. I don’t want to see you.”
“Please.”
“No.”
“Just hear me out.”
“I don’t want to see you, Lachlan. Go away.”
I buzzed again and again, but she didn’t pick up.
Leaning against the wall, I took a deep breath.
I stood under her balcony, calling her name repeatedly until finally, she appeared on her balcony.
“Go away,” she said in a loud whisper.
I’d climbed a ton of trees during my misspent youth. Only then I’d had the earth to fall on, not concrete. Overlooking that small detail, I managed to grip a ledge and hook my foot onto the first-floor balcony.
Just my luck, a dog barked, and an elderly woman drew open the drapes and glared at me.
I returned an apologetic smile.
“If you don’t get off my balcony now, I will call the police,” she said.
“Sorry, ma’am. I’ve locked myself out. I’m up there on the third floor.”
She studied me for a moment. “You don’t look too harmful, I suppose. Come on, then.”
“This is so nice of you,” I said, following her. I reached into my wallet and found a one-hundred-dollar bill. “Here. For your trouble.”
She looked at it then at me. “This is a bit too much. How can you afford this, young man?”
“Please take it. You may have saved me from falling to my death.”
She shrugged. “Why not. I’m a bit short this week.” She opened the door. “There you go.”
I saluted her and sprinted up two flights. When I found the right number, I knocked on the door.
Miranda opened it.
“Let me in, please.” I pushed past her.
I stepped into the living room, only to discover she wasn’t alone. Ethan had his arm stretched out along the top of the sofa, as though he were part of the furniture.
“Oh, you’ve got company,” I said, feeling like a dumbass.
Miranda looked shaken. Her eyes darted from me to Ethan and back.
A beautiful woman like Miranda wouldn’t stay single for long, and Ethan shouldn’t have come as a surprise, since he’d been circling for a while.
“Oh,” I said. “Are you together?”
