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Chapter 39

I spent Saturday morning studying, and around noon, I decided I wanted to take a break before I cracked down on my part of the project. The weather seemed really nice, and I decided to go outside and read. 

It had rained the day before, and the showers left behind a cold front. The afternoon was chillier than I preferred, but with a cozy sweater, fuzzy socks, and the sun's rays, I could get some good reading done. I crawled out of my window to the fire escape and used an old dictionary to hold it open.

I fluffed my pillows and laid back, sipping some warm coffee, and reading my required reading for English. We had to read Grapes of Wrath. I was actually rather into it. I had only ever read of Mice and Men from Steinbeck, but his prose always impressed me. After a while, my back started hurting, so I poked my head into the apartment to grab another pillow.

Then it happened, as I came back out, my elbow hit the dictionary. I didn't notice what I had done until the window clicked shut. I looked at the window with my jaw hanging for a few seconds, my brain refusing to understand what just happened. 

I felt the tiny hairs in the back of my neck stand up as I came to a sudden realization that my dad was not going to be back until tomorrow. Ladies and gentlemen, I was stuck on my fire escape.

Crap.

Okay, first thing, I still had my phone with me, so that was good. I called my dad, and as expected, he didn't pick up. He wasn't allowed to have his cellphone during surgery and kept in a locker on silent. As I ended the call, a call from Maria came in.

"Hey, what's up?" She said.

"I just locked myself out of my house," I said, still in shock over what I had just done.

"What?"

"I locked myself out of my house on my fire escape."

"Why were you on your fire escape?"

"I was reading. I don't know what to do."

"You already tried calling your dad, I assume?"

"Yes, he didn't pick up, and I have no idea where he is today. They move him around to different hospitals."

"Can you go down the ladder and go through the lobby?"

"My building doesn't have a lobby, and you need a key to get through the front. Do you think I can just sleep here?" I asked, surveying my current dwelling.

"Lia, it's cold, and it's going to rain tonight," She said, her voice taking a motherly tone.

I pushed on the ladder, and it dropped.

"The ladder works."

"Awesome. Your building isn't a fire hazard! Just get down and get a cab to my house? You can sleep there."

"Who's going to let me in?"

"Robbie is there, and if not, I can give you the combination for the side door. It has a keyless lock."

"Okay. You're my angel or fairy godmother or like a really responsible parent," I said to her.

She giggled. "Of course. You're too funny Lia, hurry up and get down. The temperature is going to drop as the night comes in."

I went down my fire escape and landed on the sidewalk on the side of my building. As it pulled back up, it dropped gathered rainwater on my head. Great. I thought to myself as my mood became as sour as your mood can get when you have hair dripping in dirty ladder water.

My phone was also running low on battery, so I decided to turn it off and save it just in case I needed it for something else. It was already five in the afternoon, and the sun would be going down soon.

I walked in my fuzzy socks to find a taxi. The driver looked at me strangely as I got in and gave him Maria's address. I probably looked like a derelict with my dirty, fuzzy socks and my dripping hair.

When I got to Maria's house, he looked at me incredulously as if I gave him the wrong address to the soup kitchen. I gave him a tight smile and got out of the car to knock on the door. No one was opening. I knew that all her servants had the weekend off, but Robbie should be home —unless he was with Abigail. 

I hope he wasn't; the thought made me antsy; my phone would not turn back on, and he was my last hope. I walked along the side of the house and saw his window lit up. Thank goodness.

I picked up a handful of pebbles from the garden and started throwing them at his window.

Please don't be asleep, I said to myself.

Suddenly he appeared, he opened the window and peeked his head out.

"Lia?"

"Hi." I shivered; I could see my breath.

"What are you doing?"

"I locked myself out of my house, and I didn't know where to go."

"Why is your hair wet?" He asked, his lip curling with confusion.

"Robbie, can I please come in? I'm freezing."

"Oh, jeez yeah," He said, shutting his window.

Less than a minute later, he was opening the door to his house.

I came in quickly, grateful for the warmth.

I cupped my hands in front of my mouth, breathing hot hair into them; he threw a towel over my hair and rubbed my arms with his hands.

"What do you mean, you locked yourself out of the house?"

"I was reading out on my fire escape, and I went to grab another pillow and, by mistake, hit the book holding up my window."

He looked at me as if I was from another planet and then let out a sound that sounded like a cross between a snort and chuckle.

"Not funny it's so freakin cold, and I had to walk two blocks to get to where the taxis make rounds," I said, my voice sounding tired and kind of whiny.

"Aww, poor baby," He laughed.

I dried my hair with the towel and shot him a glare.

"Why didn't you call? What if I wasn't home?"

"I don't have your number. Also, my phone died."

"You don't have my number?" He asked, perplexed at the idea.

"Nope. Hey, Robbie?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you mind getting the cab? I'll pay you back on Monday."

He peered behind me to see a yellow cab waiting on his driveway.

"Yeah, of course, let me get my wallet."

I went to the kitchen, poured some water into a tea kettle, and put it to boil. Robbie came back into the kitchen.

"You couldn't get your keys from your dad? Do you want me to give you a ride to his hospital?"

"They send him to different hospitals in New York, and I don't know where he is. He doesn't come home until tomorrow night. Before my phone died, Maria told me to come over. Is it okay that I'm here? I can get a hotel for the night. I have his credit card information on my phone. I would just need to charge my phone before I go."

"Hey, relax. It doesn't bother me. I wasn't doing anything, and we have more than enough room," He said, shrugging and pulling out tea bags from the cupboard.

"Thanks, Robbie."

He nodded.

"So, you know where everything is, right?"

"Yeah, I'm good. Thanks again," I said as the tea kettle started to whistle.

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A/N

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