Chapter 1 - Alana
I nearly bowed out of habit and had to straighten myself before I went through with it, probably much to the confusion of my new landlord. The landlord was a tall beauty by the name of Ms. Dazzlefire, who was giving me a small, polite smile, as if she’d already come to the conclusion that I’m some kind of loon. For a moment, I thought she was going to turn on me and say “The deal’s off, here’s your deposit back, get the hell out of my sight.”
Fortunately, that didn’t happen. Ms. Dazzlefire simply maintained her captivating smile and unlocked the door in the hallway.
“This is the apartment,” she said, “I keep one spare key for each room in case the the tenant loses it once - after that, you’re on your own.”
She smiled, though I’m pretty sure it wasn’t a joke, and I smiled back. I took the key from her outstretched palm, and stepped back inside the apartment.
The inside looked exactly as I saw it in the ad - some furniture was already there like a coffee table, TV stand with no TV, empty bookshelf, twin-sized bed, couch, fridge, stove and oven. It was all exactly as I expected it to look like.
“What do you think?” Ms. Dazzlefire asked.
“It’s… perfect,” I said as I set down the bag I had insisted on carrying myself up several flights of stairs.
“Well, that’s good to hear, otherwise I’d be out of a job.” Ms. Dazzlefire said.
I chuckled.
“Well, is there anything else you need?” Ms. Dazzlefire asked.
“No, no that will be all Ms. Dazzlefire. Thank you again, I really appreciate the little tour you’re giving me of this… studio apartment.”
“It’s all well and good, Ms. Robeson. And please, just call me Nelly.”
“Only if you just call me Alana.” I said in response. That got me a smile from the tall woman.
“Touché.” Nelly said, “As you wish, Alana. I hope you feel at home here. And also-”
“Oh, Nelly?”
The deep voice from the doorway caused me to gasp. When Nelly and I turned, there was a man in the doorway. He was tall and broad, wearing a button-up that only went up halfway revealing solid pecs. His eyes were dark, and they seemed to be looking at everything while only being fixated on me.
“Oh, and who is this pretty young thing?” the man asked in his deep, sultry voice. I found a section of the wall to focus on so I wouldn’t start shaking.
“Oh Ozzie, this is Alana, the new tenant,” said Nelly, “She’s just new to the place. Alana, this is Ozzie, he lives across the hall from you.”
“U-uh… n-nice to meet you.” I said, trying to sound casual. Based on the curl of Nelly and Ozzie, I had not succeeded.
“Well Alana, it’s nice to meet you, and if you ever need anything, you can always knock on my door.” Ozzie said.
“Will do.” I said, trying to ease the tension in my shoulders, “Thank you Ozzie, I’ll keep that in mind.”
Ozzie nodded.
It made my heart leap.
“Anyway, I didn’t mean to intrude, but I needed to ask Nelly a few things in private, if you don’t mind?” Ozzie asked, glancing over at Nelly a few times.
“Oh, that’s fine, I got this, don’t worry.” I said a little too quickly and not at all casually as I leaned against one of the walls.
“If you say so, Alana.” said Nelly. She gave me a nod like she didn’t believe a word I had said, but was going along with it to spare me the embarrassment. She side-stepped Ozzie and went into the hallway.
Ozzie took one last look at me.
Then he smiled.
Then he followed Nelly out.
I tried to ignore the fluttering in my chest.
