The car ride home was the most awkwardness Leah has ever had to deal with. Chris did not want to talk to her. She tried asking him where he was from, just to make conversation, and he ignored her like she hadn't even made a noise. Leah felt like a mother trying to talk to her adopted son.
Why did I do this? she thinks as she keeps an eye out for her apartment building. Why the heck would I do this? Am I that desperate for money? Maybe Riley's right. Maybe I should ask my dad...no. No. I will not ask him for money. I am a grown woman who was taught very well and knows how to take care of herself. I don't need my dad right now. I'm fine.
"What the hell is this?"
My eyes nearly pop out of my head. I glance to my right.
Chris is looking around at the houses and buildings. I guess he's never been here-- oh, wait.
"What is what?" Leah says.
"Oh, great. I get stuck with a lady with dumb-ass questions. Where do you live?"
Leah frowns, but is not hurt. Rude, much? she thinks. "Stamford," she says, keeping her attitude to somewhat positive. "I live in Stamford."
"It's a loser town, isn't it?" Chris says, tone back to being bored.
"Uh, no. It has..." Leah is ready to defend her hometown, to say something great about it, but no matter how much she thinks about it, nothing comes to mind. "Yeah, it's a loser town."
"Oh. Even better. The lady with dumb-ass questions lives in a boring-ass town. Just bring me back to the prison."
Leah runs her tongue over her teeth, officially annoyed. She has never met anyone with such a lack of manners. "Okay, look. I took this job because I need the money. It pays well. I didn't choose you, they chose you. And excuse me for the 'dumb-ass questions'. If you haven't noticed, I'm driving."
"Look, lady--"
"Excuse me, you got to talk. It's my turn. I'm sorry I can't afford an apartment in New York city. If I could, do you think I would've took this job? No, I wouldn't have. So stop being rude and deal with it, cuz it's either real food or jail food. Got it?"
Leah doesn't get a response. She doesn't pcare less if he gives her a response or not, either. Like she said, she's in it for the money. He's just going to have to put up with it; he doesn't really have a choice. She hears a few knuckle cracks and the sounds of deep, slow breaths. She forgot about his temper.
"Wow," he says, his attitude gone. "You're not as sweet as you look."
"Well, don't let looks deceive you." Leah finally sees the parking garage. She takes a left, and the sunlight is officially gone. She parks in her reserved spot and gets out of the car, keeping her purse, keys, and phone close to her.
"This is where you live?" he says.
"Now who's the one with the dumb-ass questions?" She unlocks the door with her ID and enters, Chris following behind her. The door closes by itself; it's a new automatic door they're testing, which works better than the beat-up wooden door they had before.
The two of them move through the hall, passing many closed doors of different apartments. Leah knows almost every one of them, and what goes on behind them. She jokes about being a stalker, but, in reality, the walls are just a bit thinner than people think. For instance, Room 10A has an elderly couple that yells at each other. Sometimes it's about the television, other times it's about the husband being a "lazy bastard" and the wife being a "nagging bitch". They always make Leah laugh.
