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“Do you have a key or something?”
I pause for a moment after we enter the building. I do, but I can’t remember where I put the thing. They gave it to me forever ago when they got the place.
A man behind a desk pops his bald head up to look at Erika and me. “Oh, shit,” I mumble. Busted. I know it for sure when the man says my name.
“Olivia,” he says. It’s my given name but no one calls me that. How does he know my name?
“That’s me,” I chirp, trying to play it cool. “Just popping in to grab something.” I pretend I’ve been here before.
“Of course.” He nods. I walk over to the elevator and hit the button that I notice also has a keyhole, but it opens instantly. Maybe you only need the key when the doorman isn’t here. I wonder if that’s the key I was given?
I pull Erika in with me and hit the button for the top floor. Nothing happens. The doors don’t even close. I hit it over and over, but the button only blinks red at me. Dang it. I don’t see a spot for another key. Not that I have one. This mission is failing miserably.
“Ma’am, you have to enter your code.” The man behind the desk stands. It’s then I notice a keypad. My mind blanks for a moment. Then, I type in the date we met. My birthday would be too easy for people to guess. Zeke would have picked something we remember but others wouldn’t know.
The doors close and I let out a long sigh. “We are really on a time crunch now.” I look over at Erika.
“Yeah, he’s totally going to call them.”
I nod in agreement. Moments later the elevator doors open to the top floor, revealing an entryway that opens into the living room and kitchen. My jaw drops in awe at the size of this place. Of course, they have the penthouse condo. I don’t know why I expected anything less.
I’ve seen the place a million times on FaceTime. I wish I could stop and inspect everything, but I know I need to get a move on it. I also know I made a mistake coming here. Seeing it in pictures and through a phone is one thing, but being here is another. I never want to leave this place now. It feels like home. The whole place smells of them. My eyes linger on pictures of me and pictures of the three of us all together. I don’t live here but I’m everywhere. My heart explodes with love at the thought of them picking each of these photos out and then hanging them in their home. I know in this moment that no matter where we all are, they will always be my home.
“Come on.” Erika nudges me, reminding me of our timetable.
“Right.” I head down the hallway and stop at the first room. Instantly, I recognize it as Levi’s with the athletic gear in the corner. I stand there, taking it in, but Erika nudges me again to remind me that I need to move. I head to the closet but find nothing. Erika looks under the bed and comes up with nothing. We head back into the hallway and into Zeke’s room. Computer screens line one wall. They are on sleep mode, but the combined screensavers form one giant picture of me. Even Erika stops to look at it.
“No wonder you didn’t give a second thought to them being over at Hope’s.”
I nod in agreement. God, I love them so much. My eyes start to sting.
“Nothing here either,” Erika sighs. “Maybe they stored them in the other room.” She grabs my elbow this time, leading me out of Zeke’s room towards the door at the end of the hallway.
I’d seen both Levi’s and Zeke’s rooms before, but I’ve never seen this room and I have no idea what’s in it. I push open the door and freeze, knowing instantly whose room it is.
“It’s our room,” I gasp. I stand there, unable to move when I see the oversized bed. This room was meant for the three of us to share. The beauty and simplicity of the space takes my breath away. I can feel the love in this room.
“BROWNIES!” Erika screams, jerking my attention away from the massive bed and the possibilities it holds.
“What is that?” I yell back at her. She scared the crap out of me. Why the fuck is she screaming about food again? She picks the strangest times to get hungry.
“It’s our code word! What else would it be?!” She looks at me like I’m the crazy one when she was the one who yelled “Brownies!” at the top of her lungs. She obviously doesn’t realize that we actually have to agree to a code word before using it.
“You can’t just call out some random not-agreed-upon word as a code word,” I say admonishingly. “Why are you screaming it to begin with?” I turn my head to see what she’s looking at.
I see movement out of the corner of my eye and I glance down the hallway to see Levi and Zeke blocking our exit.
“Ohhhh,” I whisper.
“Yeah.” She lets out a snort. “Put that doorman on the list.”
I nod my head in agreement. It looks like I’m in trouble if I’m reading Levi’s and Zeke’s faces right. I lick my lips, not sure how I’m going to get out of this one.
So I say the only thing I can think of.
“I heard you were at Hope's place.” I put my hands on my hips, trying to pretend to be mad. “Were you there for her brownies?” I add that little jab to give an extra reminder that I never got these brownies.
“We’re going to need a new code word. ‘Brownies’ will never work,” Erika mutters beside me. I don’t know what she’s talking about. Brownies always work.
