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I unbuckled my seatbelt with my injury-free hand, getting a little annoyed at him. Why the hell wouldn’t he drop it? “I said I don’t want to talk about it, okay? I don’t. Can we just drop it and go inside, please?” I pursed my lips into a pout when I met that dark stare again, seconds from getting out of the car and slamming the door to prove my point.
Creed definitely noticed the pout. He said not another word, getting out of the car, and I did the same. He walked around the front of the vehicle to reach my side, and together we headed toward what must be the elevator up into the building. I noticed security cameras everywhere as we walked.
I wouldn’t say it was an uncomfortable silence, but I knew he wasn’t happy that I didn’t want to tell him what happened between Dad and me. I mean, just because I was asking for his help didn’t mean I had to tell him if I didn’t want to, did it? I didn’t owe him that. If I wanted to keep it a secret, I should be able to.
He hit the button to call the elevator, and after a few moments, the steel doors slid open, revealing a golden inside—along with a man standing near the buttons. He wore a uniform, fitted with a hat. When he saw Creed, he nodded his head and said, “Good evening, Creed. Going up?” He looked at me, but he said nothing to me.
“Yes, thank you.” Creed sounded normal talking to him, and he guided me inside, making sure to stand between me and the worker, who hit the button to the lobby once we were in. “This is my sister,” he said. “She’ll be staying with me for a while. Inform the others for me.”
“Will do, sir.” The man once again nodded, and the exchange ended there.
The elevator doors slid open again once we reached the lobby, and Creed was the first one out. As I stepped off the elevator and into the grand lobby, my mouth fell open a bit. High ceilings, at least in this area. A big, gigantic waiting area with sofas and lounges. Marble tiled floors, chandeliers hanging from the ceilings, which had to be at least two to three stories high. It was like a grand hotel or something. I’d never seen a place like it—other than the movies.
Creed lived here? Holy crap. He must make a shit ton of money doing security.
We walked deeper into the place, towards another set of elevators further back, behind the front desk and the seating area. Every worker I saw wore the same uniform, and all, I realized, were men that looked like they belonged somewhere else.
Not that I was saying certain people didn’t belong in a fancy place like this. It was more like… they were young to middle-aged men, all of them, and they all looked intimidating, even in their uniforms.
“Do I need to get an I.D. or something to come and go?” I asked as we walked along. I didn’t know what you did in a place like this.
“No, they’ll already have your face from the cameras in the elevator,” he said. “By tomorrow morning, everyone will be aware of you.” We reached the second set of elevators, and he hit the button up.
Same deal going up. Another worker inside, operating the buttons. He knew where Creed lived, and he said not a word to either of us as he hit the button and we went up. I couldn’t hide my shock. This was weird, wasn’t it? It felt weird.
Creed led the way once the elevator opened for us, and we emerged into a hall where doors sat on either side of the long hall, spaced out pretty evenly. Four or five apartments or condos or whatever these were considered, all on the same floor. Judging by how big the place was in the lobby, I’d guess that no apartment here would be small. No stereotypical hotel rooms here.
We went to the one all the way down to the right, and Creed had to put in a key and input a code to get the door to unlock. As he held it open for me, he said, “We’ll get you your own key tomorrow, too.” Once I was in, he went to bolt the door’s lock behind us.
Looking at the place, I knew why security was tight. No poor people lived here. Only rich people could afford a big, fancy place like this in the center of downtown. My feet took me through the entryway, past the open-concept kitchen and to a giant, wide-open living room. It had a modern gray sofa sectional, along with what must be an electric fireplace beneath a big TV hanging on the only wall in the room.
Well, besides the wall of windows, I mean.
I went straight to the windows, finding that from here, you could see a lot of downtown. We were so high up… it was insane. Literally insane that Creed lived here. Turning away from the window, I looked at Creed, who was fifteen feet behind me, watching my reaction to his place.
“You live here? How can you afford it? It must be so expensive.” The place looked sprawling; I’d bet there was more than one bathroom and more than one bedroom. Nothing about this building and what I’d seen so far screamedminimalist.
“I do okay,” Creed said. “That glass is one-way. You can see out, but no one can see in.”
Oh, wow. That was pretty cool. I turned away from him, once again staring at the dark outside world. “Is there a balcony?” I’d love to step outside and—
“Balconies are a security risk,” he told me, dashing my hopes of that. But it made sense. I guess you couldn’t be too careful, although up here, we were probably high enough that a balcony would be okay.
“Come on,” Creed said, “I’ll show you what room you can have. It has its own bathroom, so you’ll have some privacy.” He turned away from me, heading across the living room, to the adjacent hallway.
I trailed after him, picking up my pace so I could catch up. We passed what must’ve been his bedroom, mechanical blinds on the windowed walls. His bed was made, dark sheets on it. It looked like he had his own private bathroom, too. I only got a quick glance, because we walked right on past it.
He stopped at the door next to his, where another bedroom sat, this one with no decorations whatsoever. Nothing hanging up, a boring light gray color on the three walls that weren’t covered in windows.
I stepped inside, surveying it. It had no heart, cold and a little sterile, but it would do.
“I can buy you whatever sheets you like tomorrow, too,” Creed said, folding his arms over his chest and watching me as he leaned against the doorframe to the room. “Towels, toothbrush, soap… all that stuff. Anything you need. For tonight, if you want to wash up, you can use mine.”
After peeking into the attached bathroom and seeing a spacious room of white marble, I turned to face him with a smile on my face. “Thank you, Creed. It’s amazing, really.” I went to sit on the edge of the bed, still holding onto that dark-eyed stare. “It’s a pretty big place for you to live here alone. No girlfriends?”
The question was innocent enough, but I probably shouldn’t have asked. It was none of my business, and he’d tell me in his own time if he did. A man like him, with a place like this… he had money, and if there was one thing women went crazy for, it was a good-looking man with money.
Creed waited a moment before saying, “No girlfriends.”
