No Names After Midnight

Chapter 7 - Rent Free

By Friday evening, I’m exhausted.

Not normal tired.

Not I could use an early night tired.

I’m talking about the kind of tired where even taking my shoes off feels like a task that should require financial compensation.

I kick them somewhere near the front door and drop my bag onto the floor.

Home.

Finally.

I’ve survived another week at Star Industries.

Barely.

Between meetings, emails, filing, phone calls and Alex apparently discovering new ways to test my patience every twenty-four hours, I’m beginning to understand why Audrey looked so amused when she told me five assistants had come before me.

Four quit.

One got fired.

I still need to know what happened there.

But tonight, I’m refusing to think about work.

I’ve ordered takeaway.

There’s wine in the fridge.

And Sophie and Crystal are on their way over.

For once, I’m going to act like a normal twenty-one-year-old.

Whatever that means.

My phone buzzes on the kitchen counter.

CRYSTAL: OPEN THE DOOR

I frown.

No knock.

Nothing.

I walk towards the entrance and pull it open.

Crystal is standing there with two bottles of wine tucked under one arm.

Sophie stands beside her carrying a bag of snacks.

“You know,” I say, stepping aside, “normal people knock.”

Crystal walks straight past me.

“Normal people don’t make their friends wait outside.”

“You were outside for approximately three seconds.”

“Three seconds too long.”

Sophie gives me an apologetic smile as she follows her in.

“I told her to knock.”

“No, you didn’t,” Crystal calls from the living room.

Sophie shuts the door behind her.

“I thought about telling her.”

“Basically the same thing.”

I laugh.

“Take your shoes off before you destroy my carpet.”

Crystal looks down at her heels.

“These cost more than your carpet.”

I stare at her.

She slowly kicks them off.

“That’s what I thought.”

⸻

Ten minutes later, we’re spread across my sofa with takeaway containers covering the coffee table.

Crystal has already opened the first bottle of wine.

Sophie is trying to stop her from pouring enough into my glass to sedate a horse.

“She has work on Monday,” Sophie says.

Crystal looks offended.

“It’s Friday.”

“Exactly.”

“She has two full days to recover.”

I take the glass from Crystal before this turns into an argument.

“One glass.”

Crystal grins.

“Sure.”

I point at her.

“One.”

“Absolutely.”

Sophie gives me a look.

“She’s lying.”

“I know.”

Crystal grabs a spring roll from the table.

“So.”

I immediately become suspicious.

“So what?”

“How’s billionaire hell?”

I groan.

“No.”

She smiles.

“Yes.”

“We’ve been together less than fifteen minutes.”

“And I’ve been waiting all week.”

Sophie settles back against the sofa.

“I’m actually curious too.”

“Traitor.”

Crystal points at her girlfriend.

“See? She gets it.”

Sophie rolls her eyes.

“How bad has he been?”

I take a long sip of wine.

Where do I even start?

“Well, on Monday he practically interrogated me because I put one folder in the wrong section.”

Crystal stops chewing.

“One folder?”

“One.”

“What was in it?”

“Information about some multimillion-dollar acquisition.”

She stares at me.

“Oh.”

“Do not take his side.”

“I didn’t.”

“Your face did.”

Sophie laughs.

“To be fair, that does sound important.”

“I fixed it immediately.”

“Then what happened?” Crystal asks.

I set my glass down.

“Coffee.”

She blinks.

“Coffee?”

“Triple espresso.”

“Okay?”

“One sugar.”

There’s a pause.

Crystal looks at Sophie.

Sophie looks at Crystal.

Then they both look at me.

“What?” I ask.

Crystal’s mouth twitches.

“Nothing.”

“Don’t.”

She starts laughing.

“Oh, come on!”

“I’m sorry.”

“You’re not.”

“Not even a little bit.”

I grab a cushion and throw it at her.

She catches it.

“He called me into his office because I forgot the sugar.”

Sophie raises an eyebrow.

“Seriously?”

“Yes.”

Crystal looks horrified.

“You should’ve poured the coffee over him.”

“Crystal,” Sophie warns.

“What? She could’ve blamed probation stress.”

“I need this job.”

“Fine. Then accidentally pour it over him once probation ends.”

I laugh despite myself.

“I told him his sugar preference hadn’t made it into my long-term memory yet.”

Crystal’s eyes light up.

“You said that to him?”

“Yes.”

“What did he say?”

“One sugar.”

She bursts out laughing again.

I reach for my wine.

“He is the most irritating person I’ve ever met.”

“And yet,” Sophie says quietly, “you remember the entire conversation.”

I look at her.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing.”

Crystal immediately joins in.

“No, no. Sophie has a point.”

“She absolutely does not.”

“You’ve been here ten minutes and somehow we’re already discussing Alex Underwood.”

“Because you asked!”

Crystal raises both hands.

“Fair.”

I narrow my eyes.

She’s enjoying this far too much.

⸻

We eat for a while, the conversation moving onto Sophie’s work, Crystal’s latest argument with her mother and some woman from their gym who apparently keeps pretending not to recognise Crystal despite speaking to her at least four times.

Then Crystal suddenly looks at me.

“What about Lories?”

I nearly choke on my food.

Sophie closes her eyes.

“Subtle.”

“What?” Crystal asks. “I waited at least thirty minutes.”

“You didn’t.”

“Close enough.”

I put my fork down.

“What about it?”

Crystal grins.

“You know exactly what.”

“No, I don’t.”

“The masked man.”

Of course.

I reach for my wine.

“There is nothing to talk about.”

“You danced with him for nearly an hour.”

“It was not an hour.”

Sophie smiles.

“It was a while.”

I look at her.

“You’re supposed to be the reasonable one.”

“I am being reasonable.”

Crystal leans closer.

“Did you think about him this week?”

“No.”

Too fast.

Crystal’s eyebrows shoot up.

Sophie immediately notices too.

I hate both of them.

“No,” I repeat, slower this time.

Crystal grins.

“Right.”

“I haven’t.”

“Of course.”

“I’ve been busy.”

“With Alex.”

I glare at her.

“With work.”

“Same thing, apparently.”

“Crystal.”

She laughs and takes another drink.

Sophie saves me.

“Leave her alone.”

“Thank you.”

“For now.”

I stare at Sophie.

“You too?”

She smiles innocently.

I should’ve cancelled tonight.

Crystal shifts on the sofa.

“Are you going back?”

“To Lories?”

“No, Tesco.”

I give her a look.

“Yes, Lories.”

I shrug.

“I don’t know.”

Crystal immediately points at me.

“That means yes.”

“No. It means I don’t know.”

“You want to see him again.”

“I don’t even know who he is.”

“That’s kind of the point.”

I hate that she has an answer for everything.

Sophie watches me carefully.

“Did you like him?”

The question catches me slightly off guard.

I look down at my glass.

Did I?

He was easy to talk to.

He didn’t know anything about me.

Not really.

And somehow that had made it easier to tell him things I hadn’t planned on telling anyone.

Like how I feel behind everyone else.

How I want my own business.

How sometimes I look at my life and wonder what I’ve actually done with it.

Then there was the dancing.

His hand on my waist.

His voice in my ear.

You’re trouble, Grace.

Heat rises into my cheeks.

Crystal notices immediately.

“Oh my God.”

“Shut up.”

“You liked him.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“You didn’t need to.”

Sophie laughs quietly.

I pull the cushion onto my lap.

“I liked talking to him.”

Crystal nods dramatically.

“And dancing?”

“I’m ignoring you.”

“And the way he looked at you?”

“You couldn’t even see where you were standing.”

“I have eyes.”

“Barely, after the amount you drank.”

Sophie laughs so hard she nearly spills her wine.

Crystal looks personally attacked.

“I was completely coherent.”

“You tried to compliment a coat rack.”

“It was a very nice coat rack.”

I burst out laughing.

“There. Conversation over.”

Crystal points at me again.

“It is absolutely not over.”

“It is.”

“Fine.”

She pauses.

“For now.”

I know that look.

This subject will definitely return.

⸻

Sophie reaches for another spring roll.

“So, seriously.”

I look at her.

“Do you actually like the job?”

That question is harder.

Not because I don’t know the answer.

Because I do.

I sit back against the sofa.

“Yeah.”

Crystal looks surprised.

“Even with Mr One Sugar?”

I roll my eyes.

“The job. Not him.”

Sophie smiles.

“What do you like about it?”

I think about that.

“The meetings, mainly.”

“Meetings?”

“I know that sounds boring.”

“It does,” Crystal says.

Sophie nudges her.

I continue.

“I get to sit there and listen to people talk about companies worth more money than I can even imagine. Acquisitions, investments, expansion plans… I don’t understand all of it yet, but I’m learning.”

And I am.

More than I expected.

Every day, I hear something new.

Sometimes I come home and Google half the terminology people used in meetings just so I don’t feel completely clueless the next time.

“It’s weird,” I admit. “I’ve always said I wanted my own business one day, but I never really knew what that meant.”

Sophie’s expression softens.

“And now?”

“Now I can actually see how much goes into it.”

Crystal raises her glass.

“To Alice becoming a terrifying CEO.”

I laugh.

“I’ll settle for paying my rent without checking my bank account six times first.”

The joke lands slightly heavier than I intended.

Sophie notices.

She always notices.

“Things still tight?”

I shrug.

“They’ve been tight for a while.”

I pick at the edge of my takeaway box.

“The insurance money from Mum and Dad is basically gone. Olive Garden covered some things, the petrol station covered the rest, but it always felt like I was one unexpected bill away from completely screwing myself.”

Neither of them interrupts.

“My first proper pay from Star Industries should come through soon.”

Crystal smiles.

“That’s good.”

“Yeah.”

It is.

Really good.

For the first time in months, maybe even years, I might be able to breathe a little.

“I already know where most of it’s going,” I continue. “Rent. Bills. Then I want to start saving again.”

“For the business?” Sophie asks.

I nod.

“Eventually.”

Crystal gives me a look.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“That wasn’t a nothing face.”

She smiles.

“I just think you’re going to do it.”

For once, there’s no teasing in her voice.

I look away before I get weirdly emotional over takeaway.

“Maybe.”

Sophie shakes her head.

“Not maybe.”

I look at both of them.

It’s strange.

I’ve spent so long thinking:

I should’ve done more with my life.

As though twenty-one is somehow ancient.

As though every year before now has already decided what every year after it will become.

Maybe I’ve been looking at it wrong.

I take another sip of wine.

“I should do more with my life.”

The words come out quietly.

Crystal looks at me.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

But I smile.

Because for once, the sentence doesn’t feel like an accusation.

It feels like a possibility.

⸻

A few hours later, the takeaway containers are empty, the first bottle of wine is gone and Crystal is lying across Sophie’s lap as though my sofa belongs to her.

She looks at me.

“So your boss is unbearable.”

“Yes.”

“The masked man is mysterious.”

“Yes.”

“You’re finally earning decent money.”

“Hopefully.”

“And you have me.”

I stare at her.

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“Everything.”

Sophie looks down at her.

“You forgot me.”

Crystal smiles up at her.

“You’re included with me.”

“That is not how relationships work.”

“It is ours.”

Sophie shakes her head.

I laugh.

My phone buzzes on the coffee table.

I glance at it.

Work email.

At this time?

I pick it up.

From: Alex Underwood

Of course.

Crystal immediately sits up.

“Speak of the devil.”

“You’re so nosy.”

“Read it.”

“No.”

“You’re going to read it anyway.”

She has me there.

I open the email.

Alice,

The meeting originally scheduled for Tuesday morning has been moved forward to Monday. I need you in the office at 7:00 a.m. sharp to prepare beforehand. Do not be late.

A.U.

I stare at the screen.

“He’s unbelievable.”

Crystal reaches over.

“What?”

I move the phone away.

“Meeting moved to seven.”

Sophie frowns.

“That’s early.”

“Tell me about it.”

Another notification appears.

A second email.

I stare at it.

No.

Surely not.

I open it.

Coffee. One sugar.

That’s it.

Nothing else.

I slowly lower my phone.

Crystal is already staring at me.

“What?”

I show her.

She reads it.

Then starts laughing.

“Oh, I like him.”

I grab the cushion.

“Get out of my house.”

She laughs harder.

Sophie takes the phone from her.

“He really emailed separately just to say that?”

“Yes.”

Sophie bites back a smile.

“Don’t you start.”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“Your face did.”

Crystal points at her.

“See? She does that too.”

I take my phone back.

“He is doing this deliberately.”

Crystal grins.

“Maybe.”

“He knows he’s annoying.”

“Definitely.”

“I hate him.”

Another buzz.

This time, it’s only a calendar notification.

I drop the phone onto the sofa.

“I really hate him.”

Crystal takes another sip of wine.

“You’ve said that a lot tonight.”

I glare at her.

“Because he’s infuriating.”

Sophie smiles.

“And yet he’s somehow managed to become the main topic of conversation in your living room.”

“He is not the main topic.”

Crystal looks around dramatically.

“Who wants to tell her?”

I throw the cushion.

This time, she doesn’t catch it.

⸻

By midnight, they finally leave.

Crystal hugs me at the door.

“Next weekend. Lories.”

I immediately pull away.

“I never agreed to that.”

“You will.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

Sophie grabs Crystal’s arm and pulls her towards the hallway.

“Goodnight, Alice.”

“Please take her with you.”

“I’m trying.”

Crystal points at me as Sophie drags her away.

“Think about it!”

“I won’t!”

“You already are!”

The elevator doors close on her laugh.

I shake my head and lock the door.

Silence fills the apartment.

I start clearing the glasses from the coffee table.

My phone is still lying on the sofa.

I pick it up.

Coffee. One sugar.

I roll my eyes.

Alex Underwood is insufferable.

Completely, unbelievably insufferable.

And yet…

I smile.

Only slightly.

Then immediately stop when I realise what I’m doing.

“No.”

I put my phone face down.

Absolutely not.

I walk towards my bedroom.

But as I turn off the lights, another thought slips into my head.

Not Alex.

The masked stranger.

Dark eyes beneath a black mask.

A hand resting carefully at my waist.

A voice calling me Grace.

I wonder if he’ll be at Lories next weekend.

I stop walking.

Then groan.

“Great.”

Apparently Crystal was right about one thing.

Both of them are taking up far too much space in my head.

And neither of them is paying rent.