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He led me to the elevator and pushed the button for the fifth floor. “Where are we going?” I asked.
He smiled down at me, “You’ll see.”
When the elevator doors opened, he pulled me down the hallway, made one right turn, and stood in front of an apartment door. “Knock,” he said.
I knocked on the door, only to have Mr. Turner answer the door. “Mr. Turner!” I yelled, throwing my arms around his neck.
“Miss Sephie! I’m so happy to see you again!” he said, as he hugged me back.
“How? Why? You live here now?” I asked, confused. I hadn’t noticed that Adrik had stepped across the hallway and knocked on the door across the hall from Mr. Turner’s.
“He lives here now and so do I,” I heard a familiar voice from behind me say. I turned to find Ms. Jackson standing in her doorway. I rushed to her and gave her a hug as well. “Oh, Ms. Jackson! I’m so happy to see you!” I could feel the happy tears welling in my eyes at getting to see them both again, knowing they were both okay.
“Well, come in, child. Let me show you around,” Ms. Jackson said, grabbing my hand in hers. She looked at Adrik and Mr. Jackson. “You two might as well come too. It’ll be an open house.”
“But how, though?” I asked Ms. Jackson quietly as we walked through her apartment. Mr. Turner and Adrik chose to remain in her front room as she showed me the rest of her place.
“Do you believe me now that that man is in love with you?” she asked.
“He did this?”
She nodded her head. “He came to both of us, told us that you missed us, and asked if we would move here to be closer to you. He wants nothing more than for you to be happy, sweet girl.”
I stood still for a moment, in complete disbelief. “I can’t believe he did this for me.”
“Do you believe me now, child? He’ll give you the moon if you want it. That boy is in deep.”
I stared at her, knowing she was right, but still not able to quite believe it. She reached for my hand and patted it with her other hand. “You’re starting to believe it, but you’re also starting to feel the same for him, aren’t you?”
I nodded my head. “How could I not?”
“Smart girl. You offer him something that he’s never had before. He’ll die to protect it. To protect you. I was worried about you when you first left. I thought you’d gotten in over your head, but I couldn’t come up with a better solution. When he came to talk to me about coming here, I knew I was worrying about nothing.” She paused for a moment. “Does he know?”
I knew what she was asking. “I told him. He’s seen the scars. I even told him you stitched me up and everything you did for me. Ms. Jackson, he never looked at me differently. Not once.”
“Do you believe me now, child?” she asked, a small smile on her face.
I smiled at her, realizing she was helping me piece together everything. I hugged her. “I missed you.”
She hugged me back, “And I you, child.”
We walked back to the front of the apartment to find Adrik listening to Mr. Turner tell stories from his time at the hotel. Adrik probably knew most of the people Mr. Turner was talking about. I walked to Adrik. He opened his arm for me as I walked up. I stepped next to him, wrapping my arm around his waist as we stood listening to Mr. Turner’s story.
After he finished, Mr. Turner looked at me, smiling. “Miss Sephie, I don’t think you’ll be needing my services any longer.”
I laughed, forgetting that I used to ask Mr. Turner to find me the perfect man while he was at work. Adrik looked between me and Mr. Turner, a confused look on his face. “I used to ask Mr. Turner to please find me the perfect man while he was at work.”
Adrik’s face softened as he kissed my forehead. “Turns out I found him while I was at work,” I said, hugging him a little tighter. He looked at me, slightly surprised, but quickly masked it.
We spent more time talking to both Ms. Jackson and Mr. Turner. It was starting to get late for them, so we took our leave and went back upstairs. In the elevator, his phone buzzed in his pocket. He took it out, looking at it.
“The guys are ordering Chinese. Sound good?”
“Yes, please!”
He responded to the text, putting his phone back in his pocket. He looked at me, like he was thinking about something. Finally, he said, “The perfect man? Really?” Then he added, “I’m far from perfect, solnishko. I don’t want to disappoint you, but I’ve not been a good man for most of my life.” He looked down at the floor.
“You’re perfect for me, Adrik. You’re good to me. You’re good to the people that matter to me. I know who you are. I knew when you walked into the restaurant that night, but when I look at you I see the good in you.” He looked at me, pulling me to him. “You say I’ve brought light into your life, and maybe that’s true, I don’t know. But you’ve made me less afraid of the dark and what’s found there.”
