Happy (10 page)

watched their approach. After finding the superintendent, they were escorted

to a corner unit on the fourth floor. The apartment itself was large and

spacious, completely renovated, and painted recently enough for the smell

to still be lingering. The windows had been opened to help air it out, but as

Louie stopped to check out the view, all he got was a whiff of pot drifting in

from next door. His jaw dropped as he watched two burly cops haul a guy in

handcuffs out of the building down the block and into their cruiser.

“I’ve had a ton of interest in this place, so if you want it, you need to

act fast,” the super said.

Peter coughed. It sounded suspiciously like “bullshit.”

“I’ll, uh, let you know,” Louie replied politely and beat a hasty retreat

with Peter in tow.

“What? Don’t you want to leave a deposit?” Peter asked once they

were back outside. Right on cue, the wail of sirens pierced the quiet. Peter

immediately dissolved into giggles.

Louie gave him a friendly shove. “Shut up. I think I’ll pass, thank you.”

The next building they headed to was in a better neighborhood, but

in need of an update. Speckles of black mold crawled up the corner tiles of

the shower, and there were some questionable flecks on the kitchen counters

and in the cupboards. He and Peter shared a look and wordlessly agreed to

move on.

He had higher hopes for the third place on his list: the main floor of a

suburban house, sandwiched between an upper unit and a lower one in the

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56

basement. It was a lot more space, but he’d be expected to take care of the

front yard and shovel snow in winter too, and he didn’t think he was ready

for that. It was also farther away from work.

It appeared as though his search was going to be as fruitless as it had

been two weeks ago.

They took a break before heading to the final viewing. He had more

than an hour to kill before the appointed time, so they stopped at a local

bistro for a quick bite.

“I had no idea it would be so hard,” Peter mused as they took a seat.

“Bet the basement doesn’t seem so bad now, right?” Louie teased.

Peter looked embarrassed.

As Louie perused the menu, he couldn’t help notice how Peter kept

squirming in his chair and craning his neck to peer over his shoulder. “What

are you looking at?” he finally asked.

“Checking out the place. I like the way the chairs are mismatched.

And the tables too.”

Now Louie had to look. “I didn’t even notice.”

“It’s casual and homey. Makes it feel like you’re a guest at somebody’s

house. I’d love to do something like that at the restaurant.”

“So do it.”

Peter shook his head. “Pop would never go for it.”

They were interrupted by the waiter, who took their order. Louie opted

for a salad and Peter a burger. Once they were alone again, Louie returned

to the conversation.

“Do you like working with your dad?”

Peter made a face he couldn’t quite interpret. “It’s complicated.”

“Most family stuff is.”

“True.” He took a breath. “When I was a kid, I used to love working

there—it was the only time we spent together. I guess I thought that working

side by side we’d grow closer, that I’d finally get to know the man.”

“And you’d earn his approval,” Louie added without thinking, his

mind turned to the father he hadn’t seen in nearly three years.

Peter blinked in surprise. The look on his face said he’d guessed

rightly.“I do know a thing or two about family complications,” Louie said

with a touch of sarcasm.

“Do you think it’s something you ever outgrow?”

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57

“I doubt it.” He certainly hadn’t. He’d settled for this uneasy truce

with his family, but deep down inside he missed them terribly. Missed the

way things used to be. “Somewhere along the way, though, I decided if I

couldn’t earn
his
respect, I needed to at least respect myself.” He laughed

self-consciously. “That sounded awfully pretentious, didn’t it?”

“No. I’ve just never heard it put quite like that. You know, I still don’t

think I really know my father. Or that he knows me.” Peter shook his head

and stared down at his tableware. “Maybe it would be different if I had more

authority. Sometimes I feel like I’m still just a busboy. Sometimes I think,

‘Is this it? Is this all there is?’”

Their food arrived, and Peter dug into his burger as if ashamed of his

confession.

“So what else would you like to do at the restaurant?” Louie asked in

between bites of organic greens and kale.

“It doesn’t matter. Pop’s not too big on change. He still thinks as long

as the food is decent and the prices low, he’ll get customers.”

“But you’ve got ideas. Come on. Tell me.”

“Well, it’s not like I want to change the character of the place,” Peter

began hesitantly. “But I’d love to put a few more healthy options on the

menu—something other than Greek salad—and some more home-style

food. And expand the wine list beyond the two we’ve got.

“And the whole place needs a facelift. You’ve seen it—it’s no longer

retro, it’s bordering on dive status. We can’t survive on the takeout business

much longer, and we can’t compete with the other joints on the block

anymore. There’s a half dozen others serving the same stuff. We probably

would have closed long ago, but Pop owns the building.”

Louie smiled to himself as the words tumbled out of Peter in a rush.

He’d clearly given this some thought. Louie didn’t know much about the

restaurant business, but the ideas sounded solid to him. Although right now,

with his eyes lit up and excitement written across his face, Peter could have

convinced him of almost anything.

I could so fall for this guy
, he thought. Now he understood what

had drawn Demetra to Peter—that hint of vulnerability beneath the Greek

machismo. “Why don’t you share all this with your dad?”

“Do you think I haven’t tried? Right after his heart attack when I went

back to work there, I did up a whole business plan and everything.” Peter

shook his head. “He didn’t want to hear it.”

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58

“You could try again,” Louie suggested.

“It’ll never happen,” Peter finished. Just like that the life went out

of him. The transformation was so quick it left Louie startled. It was like

someone had flipped a switch.

“You don’t know that.”

Peter opened his mouth to argue, but apparently thought better of it.

“What I
do
know is you’d better finish that totally unappealing salad or

we’ll never find you an apartment.”

“This is more like it,” Peter said admiringly as they circled the block for

the third time searching for parking. Louie’s final appointment of the day

was a sublet in a newer glass tower downtown. The owner was a friend of

his new co-worker Tammy.

“It’s also at the top of my budget,” Louie replied, finally nabbing a

spot in the limited visitor parking. “It’s a condo. The owner is relocating for

work and wants to rent it out rather than sell it. She probably has a list of

applicants a mile long.”

“Maybe you’ll get lucky.”

“I could do with some luck about now.”

“Somehow I doubt you have a problem getting lucky,” Peter mumbled

under his breath.

Louie blinked. Was Peter flirting with him? He suddenly grew flustered

and couldn’t think of a snappy comeback. But when he locked the car, he

thought he saw Peter grinning.

They buzzed in and took the elevator to the twentieth floor. The owner

was waiting for them as they stepped off: a tiny, perky blonde with a pixie

haircut. “Hi, Louie. I’m Sandra. It’s nice to meet you.”

Louie introduced Peter as Sandra ushered them into the unit. A small

foyer opened onto one high-ceilinged room. There wasn’t a lot of space, but

the open kitchen and exposed ductwork were loft-like. Directly in front of

them, a wall of floor-to-ceiling windows overlooked the expressway and

beyond that, Lake Ontario.

“Wow,” Peter gasped, heading straight for the balcony. “Look at

that view.”

Was the man crazy? It was a freeway. Who wanted to look at bumper-

to-bumper cars?

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59

“Go ahead and have a look,” Sandra urged. Peter slid open the patio

doors and stepped out onto the narrow balcony.

Louie followed, overwhelmed by the hum of traffic soaring up twenty

stories as soon as he set foot outside. “Yeah, great view.”

Peter said something that was immediately drowned out by the horn

of a passing semitruck.

“What?” Louie shouted.

“Not that one.
That
one.” With a heavy hand, Peter turned Louie’s head to

the right, showing him a sliver of downtown through two nearby towers.

“Oh, yeah. Not bad. But the noise….” Louie felt dizzy when he leaned

over the railing and realized how far the drop was.

Toronto was so… frenetic. It was like being caught up in a tidal wave.

Everyone was in their own bubble, eyes down, intent on getting somewhere

fast, and if you didn’t keep up, you were run over. It was so different from

the relaxed, laid-back vibe of the West Coast.

It hit him then.

This was really it. He was here. He was starting over. Alone.

Vancouver, his friends, Aaron—they were three thousand miles away.

A surge of sudden homesickness threatened to choke him. His eyes

stung, and Louie was relieved to find himself alone on the balcony with no

one to witness this brief meltdown.

“It’s a little noisy,” Sandra admitted when he ventured back inside a

few minutes later. “But with the windows closed, you don’t hear any of it.”

“Hey, Louie, this kitchen is amazing.” Peter was ensconced behind

the kitchen peninsula. He ran his hand lovingly over the granite countertops

of the breakfast bar. “Stainless steel appliances. Look, a gas range. I could

do some serious cooking on this.”

His grin of excitement was contagious, and Louie found himself

warming to the place too. Did Peter even know he was acting as if
he
was

the one moving in?

“So,” Sandra explained, “as I told you in my e-mail, it’s a one-bed,

one-bath unit. There’s a pool downstairs, and I’ll show you the gym and the

media room later if you’re interested. No parking, though.”

“I don’t have a car,” Louie said.

“Perfect, then. You won’t need it anyway if you work downtown. I’m

looking for someone willing to sign a ten-month lease immediately.”

“Immediately?”

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60

“Well, starting next month. Is that a problem?”

“No. Actually… that’s great. I’m just surprised you don’t have

someone lined up.”

“Oh I did. She backed out at the last minute. Which is why I’m now

freaking out. I leave in two weeks. It’s hard to find someone willing to sign

a short-term lease. Most people want at least a year. When Tammy said she

knew someone who was looking for a place, I was so relieved.”

“A wine fridge,” Peter exclaimed, still in the kitchen. “This place is

awesome.”

Did Peter know nothing about apartment hunting? You weren’t

supposed to let them know you were interested. Sandra dimpled. “You guys

are too cute. I have such a good vibe about you.”

Oh, no. Did she think they were together? Before Louie could

correct her, she began talking again. “This is a fun building. Lots of young

professionals. And most people are pretty cool. You guys won’t have

to worry about fitting in.” She turned away. “Come on, the bedroom’s

through here.”

“Why would she worry about us fitting in?” Peter, who had finally

emerged from the kitchen, whispered in his ear as they followed.

“She thinks we’re a couple, Peter.”

The look on his face was priceless: like he couldn’t decide whether to

be shocked, amused, or flattered.

Louie grinned. He gave Peter a shove. “Don’t get all worked up. You

should be so lucky.”

He felt a slight warmth in his face as he followed Sandra down a short

hallway and into the sole bedroom. It was definitely a shoebox. “It’s a little

tight in here,” he pointed out.

“All we need is a bed. And you like to cuddle, so a queen is fine.”

We?
Cuddle? Louie whirled around, but Peter was already moving

into the en suite bathroom. “Oh my God. Check out the size of the shower,”

he exclaimed, voice echoing off the tile. “We’d both fit in here, Louie. And

the tub has jets. This place is great, babe.”

Sandra made an “aw, isn’t that sweet” face, and Louie decided he had

a pretend boyfriend to kill. “Excuse me a minute.”

He marched into the bathroom, ignoring the sleek gray tile and chrome

fixtures. “Babe?” he hissed, poking Peter in the chest. “Really?”

“Do you like ‘honey’ better? Sweetie?”

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Louie narrowed his eyes. The bastard was enjoying this, judging by

his smirk.

“So, what do you think?” Sandra asked, poking her head through