Finding Home: A Club Dark Novel (3 page)

Packing was easy. I got lucky that the apartment I would be renting is coming fully furnished. That means I can fit all of my belongings in two suitcases and a small box. One suitcase full of clothes with a few of my all-time favorite books. The other suitcase with my toiletries and the few hair products I actually use. The small box is filled with all that I have left of my parents.

I don’t contact anyone to let them know I’m leaving. There’ll be no heartfelt goodbyes coming from me. I load up my car and I’m all set to make my twelve-hour drive to my new home. Part of me still can’t believe I am doing this, but the other part is telling me to shut up and embrace this new journey. So that’s what I do. I pop in my old 80’s rock mp3 disc and set out for my new life.

Heading out on US-12, I’m seriously dreading this drive. I need to make a

quick stop at ole Henry’s food mart to load up on fuel, for both my beat up ‘93 Corolla and my body.

“Good morning, Ms. Lacey, what brings you in so early?”

“Morning, Mr. Henry. Just grabbing a few sandwiches and gonna fill her up on pump 10. I have a long drive ahead of me.”

“Oh yea? Where are you headed?” he asks in a friendly voice with his usual smile in place.

“Seattle, Washington.”

He lets out a slow whistle. “That’s a nice drive. Are you taking a vacation?” This, I will not miss. There’s zero privacy and everyone knows everything about everyone…no secrets in this town.

“No sir, I’m relocating and starting over.” I can hear the slight annoyance in my voice and I try to calm it. 

“Guy troubles?” Everyone in this damn town is always looking for the drama and the gossip. I can’t wait to finally be in a big city where I don’t have to deal with this anymore.

“Something like that. I best get going, see you around!” I nod and give him a kind smile. It’s not his fault he’s so damn curious; it’s a product of living in a small town where everybody knows everyone else.

“You drive safe out there now,” he says, sounding all country. Mr. Henry might reside in Montana, but the ol’ man is a Georgian at heart.

“Yes sir, Mr. Henry.” Heading back out to my car, I have a feeling it won’t be long before the entire town knows I have tucked tail and left. Probably should have left Seattle out of that conversation. Oh well, I’ll miss that ol’ man anyway.

I’m almost to Seattle, and the nerves have start to set in again. It’s not every day you drive over 700 miles to meet a perfect stranger whom you get to spend the unforeseen future with. I have a million thoughts running through my mind, and most of them involve what my new roommate will be like.  Coming into Seattle, I can’t help but be in awe. This place is impressive, to say the least, it is so much different than what I’m used to seeing. I can’t wait to go exploring and see all the incredible things this city has to offer. The Space Needle will definitely be first on my to-do list.

The directions she sent me are leading me to a place called Cortia. It’s supposed to house apartments or something; I didn’t have time to research it. I can only hope I’m not being led to the backstreets of some drug house since she only texted me the address and said someone would check me in and show me up once I got there. It’s about six in the evening when I pull up, and I’m blown away by the view. She never told me this place was a high-rise, and I certainly didn’t expect it to look so fancy especially for what she’s charging for the room. I was expecting a small one-level, maybe three at most, building in a somewhat dingy neighborhood. Nothing like this. There must be close to forty floors,              and I can only hope she is somewhere close to the bottom.

Now, I’m curious as to what kind of work she does to afford a place like this. I’m not sure I can afford this! As I pull in, I notice there’s a line for valet, so that’s where I enter. I’m kind of excited about that because I’ve never had anyone park my car for me before. The guy who opens my door looks to be in his late teens. He appears to be over six feet tall and really skinny. He’s wearing a red pullover with Cor-tia and a picture of a tall building embroidered to the front.

“Good evening, Miss. Welcome to Cortia. Will you be visiting for a while?” I think I might really like it here; the people already seem friendly.

“Oh, yes sir. I’ll be moving in,” I say excitedly as I exit the car.

“Well, in that case, welcome home. They should be expecting you inside. We’ll make sure your belongings make it up,” he says with a gentle smile on his face, effectively settling some of the nerves pooling in my stomach.

“Thank you, sir.” He nods and gets in the car.

As I make my way to the building, I’m stunned by its eloquent beauty. It’s all sleek silvers and glass as far as the eye can see. Walking inside, I see it has a very modern look and feel to it. The lobby has the most inviting lounge I’ve ever seen. Set in the center of the room is a group of comfy black and gray bucket chairs with wooden end pieces adorned with long silver lamps. Just past the seating area is the main reception. This area is an L-shaped counter that stands up to my shoulders. It appears to be granite and gray in color and free of decorations. Behind the counter is a young woman with red hair cut in a cute little pixie-like style. Beside her, I assume is the hotel security, although the guy looks like he’s eaten one too many donuts.

Smiling to myself, I head over to pixie. “May I help you?” she asks, looking down at me.

“Hi, I’m Lacey Carter, I’m going to be co-renting an apartment with Amber…” I’m a bit nervous still, and I don’t know what I’m supposed to do. I really hope they were expecting me or this could be awkward. 

“Ah, yes. We have been expecting you, Ms. Carter,” she says while cutting me off. Which is all the same to me since I don’t even know Amber’s last name. “Here’s your key. Ms. Morris informed us that she was called into work, so Mr. Bailey, our security guard on duty for the day, will be showing you to your apartment.” Ms. Morris? Oh, right. That must be Amber. Glad to have her last name now, and thrilled I get to actually explore the place on my own.

Mr. Bailey leads me over to the elevators, and we climb inside. He sticks a keycard into the panel and punches in the numbers three and two. Oh no! That can’t be good. “This will be your keycard. It must be used to access any floor above 30. Those are our more private floors with only two apartments per level. There’s a penthouse on the top floor which you will not be able to access.” As he says all of this, I just stare at him completely dazed. Not only is this not some grungy apartment like I was expecting, but it has a penthouse and keycards and elevator men. My internal rambling stops as he continues on with his speech.  “However, there is a state of the art gym, as well as a heated indoor pool on the ground level. You may come down whenever you like for a tour,” he says as I’m still silently going insane. Private floor…Penthouse…just who are these people and did I read the ad wrong? Maybe Amber forgot to put a zero in the price somewhere?

“Well here we are,” he says just as the elevator opens up to a very plain foyer. There’s not even a single picture on the wall, with a door to the left and the right. Above the doors read 32A and 32B. “32B is yours. Mrs. Alder is in 32A. She’s an elder lady and usually keeps to herself. Your key should work from here. This is your keycard so you may access the elevators. Ms. Morris should be home soon enough to show you the ropes. So if I can be of no further assistance, I have work I need to finish up.”

“Thank you, Mr. Bailey, I think I can manage from here.” He gives me a tight smile and begins to head back toward the elevators.

I’m just getting ready to slide my card into the door when I hear him call out, “Oh, Ms. Carter, you should know, we have security on watch 24 hours a day. Each floor, room, and elevator are equipped with a panic button should you ever feel the need of using it. Enjoy your evening,” he says, and I watch as he steps back into the elevator before opening the door to my new home. I let his words wash over me, suddenly feeling an overwhelming amount of joy at the fact that this place has an excellent security system in place.

Stepping inside, I’m once again amazed and a bit intimidated by what I see. This place is massive, bigger than any apartment than I’ve ever been in let alone lived. I first walk into a grand, open kitchen-what I would call a chef’s kitchen. There’s an island made up of the same black and gray granite that was out in the lobby. In the center of the island is a beautiful stainless steel double sink. Each looks like you could put an entire dishwasher full of dishes inside of them. Just behind the island is a wall, and along that wall stretches a long counter made up from the same black and gray counter tops as the island. In the center of the counter sits a stove that’ll make any chef’s dreams come true. It’s all stainless steel with a smooth flat surface. The cabinets are solid black which blends perfectly with the gray and granite in the room. Everything has that “No touch” feel to it. I can see myself spending endless hours cooking up a feast in here.

To the left of the kitchen appears to be a doorway, looking inside, I notice a large buffet style table with eight chairs. Does she entertain a lot? Going further into the apartment, the kitchen opens up to what to what I would take as the living room. This room is just as large and just as impressive as the kitchen. In the center is a huge cubed shape, leather backed couch with big fluffy black cushions. In the center, at the opening, is a black oversized ottoman. I’m started to notice the dark vibe around here, and oddly, I like it. And the carpet? One look and I’m instantly a child again, rushing to slip my shoes off to sink my feet into the plushest carpet I’ve ever felt. After pulling my shoes off, I turn back toward the couch to see that it’s facing floor to ceiling windows with the curtains pulled back. How I missed that before is beyond me because the view is breathtaking! Gone is my fear of heights as I feel myself gliding toward the windows. The sun has already started to set, yet it feels like the city is just starting to wake up.

What catches my attention most is the beautiful Space Needle. I have dreamt of seeing it in person my entire life, never did imagine that I’d be living in a place where I was able to stare out my window anytime I’d like just to get a glimpse of it. This place is overwhelming and so much more than I ever expected. I can feel my pulse start to rise as the panic starts to set in. What have I done? Who in their right mind would just drop everything and up and move twelve hours away without even knowing who they are moving in with? Without doing a background search or even stalking their Facebook page to make sure they aren’t crazy? Oh, that’s right. Someone who’s had their heart ripped to shreds by the one person they thought they loved and could trust completely.

So here I am. Like a fool, running from my problems. But it beats the hell out of wallowing in them. Before I can dwell too much on it, I hear the sound of a key in the door moments before it opens up to a beautiful woman about six-feet tall— most of that length coming from her legs. Her skin is just the right shade of tan, and it’s clearly all natural. She has long black hair that is currently styled in large curls flowing down her back. It’s her clothes that grab my attention, though. She has on the shortest pair of shorts that I think I’ve ever seen, and a black midriff top that reads Club Dark across the chest. She’s gorgeous, but she looks completely out of place in a swanky building like this. She is nothing at all what I was expecting. She walks toward me with a blank stare splayed across her face; apparently, I wasn’t what she was expecting either.

I’m just about to grab my things and walk out when she finally speaks, “You must be Lacey!” She says this like a statement not like a question.

“I am. Are you Amber?” I ask raising my eyebrow in question.

“The one and only,” she says as she walks into the kitchen, clicking her heels across the tile floor. I watch as she walks over to the fridge and pulls out what looks to be a bottle of wine. “Would you like some?” she asks politely.

“No thanks,” I answer in a low voice, walking a little closer to her.

“So, I take it you’ve had a look around? Have you found the place to your liking?”

Now I’m looking at her like she’s crazy because honestly, she would have to be if she thought I wouldn’t love this place. “Are you kidding? This place is breathtaking. I’m honestly not even sure I can afford it,” I tell her, wanting to be completely honest.

“Well, I kinda assumed you would be coming here without a job. We can work on that later. First, let’s get you settled in.” She doesn’t even seem concerned that I have no source of income. Weird! “Have you found your room yet?” she asks after a moment.

“No, actually I haven’t been here long. I was really just admiring the view.” I point my fingers toward the window like she doesn’t already know the view she has is stunning. 

“You looked pretty lost when I walked in,” she says with a smile on her face.

“It’s just all a little overwhelming.” No way am I about to tell her the real reason for being out of it.

“I’m sure you’d like to get settled in, it’s probably been a pretty long trip. I’ll show you to your room and order us some take-out; once you’ve unpacked maybe we can get to know each other a bit,” she suggests and I nod.

“I’d like that.” And it’s the truth I would like that.

She walks down a hallway that I didn’t even notice before. I assume I am to follow her so that’s exactly what I do. The hallway is pretty bare, apart from a couple of paintings on the wall. There isn’t anything that stands out as she leads the way to what will be my room, nothing unique or personal. The hall opens up to a small room that only holds a spiral staircase. It’s probably one of the weirdest things I’ve ever seen, and I hesitate as I follow her through. Stepping off of the stairs, I’m floored at what I see. The room is wide open, floor to ceiling windows cover one side of the room, and there are two doors on the opposite side. “Your room is this way.” She walks to the left of the stairs.