Fate Has a Cruel Sense of Humor

New Fresh Start

A week later, my sister and Aaron's funeral had come and gone and Benji and I were settling into the New York penthouse apartment. I couldn't say it was new, because this was the home he was brought up in and I'd been here before. 

 As soon as I got into the apartment though, I suddenly wanted to run back to Chicago.It was exacly like I remembered it. Deep teal walls, family photos scattered about, insanely huge, but that's not why I wanted to run. I wanted to run because they were everywhere in here, Layla and Aaron were.

     I stood there in the middle of the foyer,memories hitting me hard, like a sack of bricks, bearly knocking the breath out of my lungs. But it wasn't just the memories. Photos, scents, messages on the machine. Hell, there were dishes still in the sink! This was the only place that was left unchanged, the only place time forgot to restart. And as the rest of the world went on without my sister and Aaron, this was the only place where they still existed physically.

It was late at night when we got there and Benji was asleep in my arms. The unpacking would have to wait until tomorrow, I was tired. I couldn't bare to put him in his room by himself and the master bedroom was a big no-no. I settled for the pull out couch in the living room. 

I was just closing my eyes when there was I heard knocking on the door. I moaned, why couldn't I be left alone? I wanted sleep, I needed it! But despite my mental complains, I dragged myself up and trudged to the door. I pressed the camera button on the intercom and sighed audibly, pressing the intercom button and picking up the handheld, leaning against the door frame.

     "Luce, what are you doing here?" I whispered into it. She looked around and when she spotted the camera she gave it a big cheesy grin. Then she moved aside to reveal another, darker skinned friend of mine. I grinned, though she couldn't see it. "Hello Leslie." In hindsight, I wondered how in the hell was she able to hide behind Luce. Leslie was not short at all. She actually towered over us both and by no means was I short, but she still had a good two or three inches on me.

     "Are you going to let us in or what?" She asked in her soft voice that always seemed to sound seductive.

     "What." I said sarcastically. "This house is closed, come back during daylight hours." Luce rolled her eyes and Leslie laughed. "What are you doing here in the first place?" I asked. Luce was supposed to be in Chicago and last I heard, Leslie was doing some photo-shoot in London. Only then did I notice the bags surrounding them.

     "Oh no, no, no, no, you guys are not staying here." I was shaking my head, force of habit.

     "Come on Cassie it's after midnight." Leslie reasoned, always the smart one. I sighed unlocking the door and giving them a glare and hugging Leslie. 

     "How's your brother?" I whispered, helping them with their bags. Leslie smiled.

     "A lot happier now that you broke it off with Marcus." She gave me a cheesy grin and I rolled my eyes. 

Her brother, Michael Anderson was my first boyfriend. If you could count kissing behind his house secretly when we were freshman. (Well I was a freshman, he was a senior.) a relationship. He also took me to his senior prom. Things were pretty good with him until Marcus came into the picture and we decided to give it a go, since we were going to end up together anyway. Despite, me supposedly breaking his heart, Michael was my closest male friend. Although Leslie seemed to believe that her brother was still hung up on me, but I seriously doubted that. 

Leaving their bags in the foyer, I showed them where they could stay. This place had eight bedrooms. A complete waste of space. That's what I said when they bought it, and my opinion still stood. There was only three of them. They didn't need all the extra room.

     "Hey, where's Ben-Ben?" Leslie asked a little excited. I shushed her, giving her a glare and led them to where Benji was sleeping soundly. I resisted the urge to climb in beside him and instead I folded my arms, turning to them.

     "Why are you guys here again?" I asked. They looked at each other for a second then back and me and smiled these cheeky smiles.

     "We're moving in."

My mouth fell open with a popping sound as I stared at them incredulously. 

     "Oh come on, Cassie, we're not that bad. It's more help with Benjamin. But, I'll be gone most of the time so it'll just be you and Luce." Leslie explained. I pursed my lips, but I couldn't ignore her logic. I didn't even think about where Benji would go when I worked. And I very well couldn't take him with me could I? Plus I didn't trust a nanny around him, who better than to watch him than my two best friends?

     "Fine." grunted, trying not to smile. I slid into the pullout bed with Benji. "Now I'm tired, can I go to bed now?" I was sarcastic and they still nodded like they were giving me permission. Suddenly a thought occurred to me. I shot up.

     "Wait." They stopped in their tracks and I stuck out my left hand, fingers splayed. "I have five conditions. These are deal breakers and if you can't agree to them... "I pointed to the door.

     "Just tell us." Leslie said moaning, rubbing her eyes.

     "First rule, no one goes into the master bedroom." I paused and they nodded. I was going to be following that rule myself. "The only person who cooks in the kitchen is me." That rule had to be enforced because these two couldn't cook to save their lives. I got another nod. "You have to help keep this house clean because although, I'm going to hire a housekeeper, she's only going to be coming once a week. Also the dishes are yours. If I'm cooking then, you're cleaning it's only fair." Luce rolled her eyes, but Leslie smiled.

     "We take turns grocery shopping, and the most important rule... There will be no men besides family in this house."

That one actually caused Leslie to groan. "I mean it." I implied. "I'm following these rules also and the most important person here is Benjamin and technically this is his house, so if you can't understand that, then you can hit the road."  I knew I was being a bit of an bitch, but Benji came first. I couldn't have him getting attached to one of Leslie's flings only to be heartbroken when she got bored of them.

     "Fine." She sighed. I nodded giving them both a smile and laying back down on the bed. This might actually be fun, living with my two best friends.