It Had to Be You

Move-In Day

Two days later, Nina and Janet were calling their last round of boxes up the five flights of stairs into Nina's new apartment. True to his word, Bert executed the lease in record time and Nina was pleasantly surprised to no longer have to sleep on Janey's couch for another week or two.

"Just think of how good your butt is gonna look after you climb these steps every day." Janet wheezed, hands on her knees after they had made it to the top. Nina had her hands on her waist, also gasping for air.

"Right, assuming the stairs don't kill me first." She tried to take deep inhales but air was limited.

"There's always the elevator." The elevator dinged at that exact moment, opening to reveal the last of Nina's boxes and her coffee table.

"Considering how long it took it to get up here, the stairs are probably the safer bet." Nina propped her body in the elevator to prevent it from closing and began reaching for boxes chucking them in Janey's general direction.

"Hey listen, at least you have a home and it's beautiful and clean and there are no rats, human or animal." Nina ignored Janey's not so subtle dig at Ian. She hated him as much as Janey did but she was trying to adopt a Zen attitude about the entire situation.

"I know I know. Here help me with this." Nina gestured towards the coffee table she needed help getting out of the elevator. Janey stepped in and they hoisted it out, trying to avoid scraping it or the elevator bank in the process.

"Holy shit this ways a ton." Janey almost buckled under the weight of the table.

"Remind me why you thought a stone stopped coffee table was the way to go?"

"Blame Ian's mom. She pushed hard for the West Elm look. I'm not even sure if I like it." The women waddled from the elevator, down the hallway to Nina's apartment where they encountered a shut door.

"Do you have the keys?" Nina looked at Janey who looked back at her with a look of horror.

"No, do you have them?" Nina shook her head. She couldn't reach her pockets without putting down the table and if they put it down she wouldn't be able to pick it back up.

"No, I thought I gave them to you."

"You did but I put them on the kitchen counter for you on the last run."

"Fuck. No. I didn't pick them up. I thought you had them!"

"Nooo what do we do?" Nina looked around. The hallway was desolate and she didn't have Bert's cell phone number. She'd left the post-it with his info at the office.

"Well first we put this godforsaken table down and then we figure it out." Janey set her side down, dragging Nina's side down with it. The women took a seat and tried to game plan.

"Could you call Miriam and ask for Bert's number?"

"No she's in Florida visiting her daughter and she turns her phone off when she's down there."

"Shit, you could try the neighbor?" Nina had yet to meet her neighbor but now was as good a time as any to do so.

"Looks like it's our only option." Nina stood up and brushed her hands on her overalls. She marched herself over to her neighbor's front door and knocked.

"Hello? Is anyone home?" She knocked again but didn't hear a response.

"Hello? If you're there I'm sorry to bother you but I really need your help. I'm locked out of my apartment and was wondering if you could let me in." Still no answer. Nina turned around to look at Janey who looked hopeless and disheartened. Butt that could also be her blood sugar crashing after the bacon, egg and cheeses they had inhaled earlier in the morning along with double-espressos.