Drowning

Chapter 2

It was five in the morning when the alarm went off and Tally desperately wanted to know who set the sun to come up so early. She mumbled about needing coffee all the way to the bathroom to start her morning routine, minus the makeup. It was way too early for that. Tally let the warm water from the shower wake her up since there was a shortage of coffee for the time being and then dressed in a light peach sun dress. Tally brushed her long and thick brown hair into a ponytail and finally made sure she had everything packed and ready to go for the last hour or so of driving. A quick Starbucks run, and she was set to go.

It was just before seven-thirty in the morning when Tally pulled into the parking lot that was for the residents of The Seychelle. However, she was dismayed to see that there were two unfamiliar cars parked in the two spots that were designated for her unit. Part of her wanted to just park in someone else's guest spot, but there was no way she wanted to feel guilty about inconveniencing someone else they way these two boneheads were for her.

Frustrated but determined not to let this ruin her day, she wondered how the other drivers even managed to get into the lot to take her spots in the first place. You needed a key fob to get through the gates or a resident had to buzz you in. Maybe one of them had a party and the guests just took whatever spots that were open. Still kind of rude on their part.

As she walked into the foyer of the condo, Thalassa caught a glance of the concierge desk and briefly flirted with the idea of having them calling a tow truck to remove the two cars from her spot. No, she wasn't going to be petty, but it was a nice daydream, no matter how short it was. Instead she focused on how beautiful the lobby was. It looked like she just walked into a hotel. It was completely modern and industrial, but not as cold looking as one would think. To the left was a gas fireplace, why it was running in the summer was beyond crazy to Tally. Straight in front of her was the concierge desk, but since Tally knew where she was going, she bypassed it and headed right for the elevator bay.

"Ahh Miss? Can I help you?" Tally heard a voice call out to her from beside her as she made her way to the elevator bays. She turned around to see the concierge on duty approaching her.

"No, I'm good. I'm on my way to unit 1003. Thank you though." Tally started to take some steps away when he the man grabbed her wrist and prevented her from moving forward. Tally's head scrunched together in confusion. "Excuse you? I didn't catch your name." Tally made a show of looking at his name badge. "Ahh, Donald. It seems you have a problem of grabbing me when I never gave you permission to." Thalassa snatched her wrist from Donald's grip and stepped into his personal space. "You have absolutely no reason to apprehend me or stop me from going to my unit and yet your puny little brain decided to grab me? Am I understanding this correctly?"

"Is there a problem?" Another voice called out from the desk and stepped over to the side where she and Donald were conversing.

"No," Donald muttered out at the same time Tally said, "Yes."

"I was going up to unit 1003, the penthouse when Donald made the unwise decision to grab my arm and detain me for God knows what. And I want an explanation and your supervisor." Tally could see the fear of God had finally settled upon Donald as she was now threatening his position with the property management.

"Ok, here's the problem, we can't let you up there unless the tenet of the penthouse added you to the list. If he was expecting you he would have added you to the guest list for the day, which is completely empty so far. He's just doing his job." The new guy to the scene tried talking to her with a calm and direct voice, but Tally wasn't having it. Between the annoyance of the drive, the parking situation, and now the two men who were preventing her from crashing in her bed were more than enough to bring the 'bitchiness' from Tally's normally calm demeanor.