Sophia’s POV
The last week has been a bit weird but exciting. I
left my mooch of an ex and moved into my own
condo apartment in a really nice building downtown.
I didn’t believe the woman, Carmen, who showed
up at my beauty institute when she offered her
apartment in exchange for free classes and free
makeovers, but I was desperate and accepted. I
didn’t want to keep renting a hotel room until I found
a new place.
I’m so glad I took her up on the offer. My place is a
big two-bedroom, 2-bathroom condo fully furnished
apartment. Everything in the apartment is modern
with a light gray and white color concept with light
pink accents everywhere except for the kitchen,
which has stainless steel appliances, and the
cabinets are white with gray and white marble
countertops. All I had to bring in here were my
clothes.
My neighbors haven't been rowdy, and they greet
me whenever they see me. I was surprised by theirgreetings because I’m used to everyone just
minding their business. This city is nothing like the
small town I lived in, where everyone was friendly.
I was very close to going to a different college, but I
decided to attend Draven University in hopes of
possibly running into Valentino, which didn’t
happen. After a year of him being gone, I decided to
stop my hopes of seeing him again and started
making friends and trying to enjoy life because it
was our plan for college. Unfortunately, I
experienced heartbreak and boy troubles without
him by my side. Thankfully, I was able to get over
them quickly because I never saw them again,
which was weird, but I figured they just avoided me,
which I was grateful for.
Other than that, college went smoothly, and I
graduated with my master’s in business and opened
up my beauty institute, and it has been successful
for 5 years now.
I decided to take the day off today and go shopping
at the mall to grab some things to make my condo
feel more homey. I like reading in my free time, but
wasn’t sure what to get, so I told the Barnes and
Noble associate to have fun and select any 3 books,but they had to be in the romance genre, and I’ll buy
them. She accepted the task happily and had two of
her coworkers help her pick out the books while I
ordered myself a hot chocolate from Starbucks. All
the books they selected were from an author that I
didn’t recognize, but they told me that she was a
fairly new author and that they enjoyed her books.
After purchasing the books, I went into Hot Topic for
some Sailor Moon Funko Pops. I also brought Betty
Boop and Marilyn Monroe Funko Pops to place on a
shelf at my business. At Spencer’s, I brought a new
bullet because I left mine at my ex’s place and
haven't had the chance to order one from Amazon
or Pure Romance. There was a grand opening at a
beauty supply store that piqued my interest and
brought a couple of plush cushions for my business,
one looks like lips and the other like lipstick. After
that, I went to Target and bought some picture
frames and a cute little dog plush for my bed, and a
new bedsheet set, along with a couple of Lego
flower sets to do in my free time when I’m bored or I
need a mental break.
Now I’m regretting the decision to buy all of this
stuff because carrying it from my car to my
apartment is going to be annoying, but I know I can
do it.Once I park my car in the building’s garage, I run to
the elevator and stop the door with my bags before
stepping inside. The two men who are inside the
elevator are silent. One of the men turns his face, so
I can’t see him, and the other man gives a friendly
smile when I enter the elevator.
“Woo, that was close,” I state as I place my bags
down.
“What floor?” asks the man who has his face
turned.
“25, please.”
When he presses the button, I see that the
penthouse button has been pressed, and so is floor
49.
“Wow, you guys are going all the way to the top. I
could imagine the view from that high up.”
“Are you afraid of heights?” asks the man who
smiled at me.
“I am, but I’m starting to get a bit used to it now that
I’m living on the 25th floor.”“That’s good to hear,” states the man who turned
his face. Then he clears his throat after realizing
how weird that sounds from a stranger, and the
other man lightly laughs.
“My name is Owen. This is my friend and boss,
King. And you are?”
“My name is Sophia…that’s cool that you guys
could be close friends even though you’re an
employee and boss.”
“It is,” states King.
“So what do you guys do? If you don’t mind me
asking.”
“I own this building,” states King.
“So that makes you what, the manager, Owen?”
“I make sure what King needs done gets done, so I
guess you could say that,” he responds with a
chuckle.
The door stops and dings before stopping on the
25th floor.“This is me, guys. It was nice meeting you,” I state
as I bend to gather the bags.
“Do you need help?” They ask in unison.
“No, thank you. I got it. Thank you.”
“Goodnight,” states Owen.
“Goodnight, Soph,” states King in a low voice right
as the elevator door closes.
Once I get into my apartment, I start putting my
stuff away, replaying how weird King seemed yet
polite, while wondering why I got such a weird vibe
from him.
Owen seemed friendly, and he wasn’t bad-looking.
He was a bit taller than King, and he had that
rugged, manly, bad-ass type of look: big beard,
short hair, tattoos, stocky, most likely muscular
body frame. He had a wedding ring, so he was most
likely just a friendly person.
King was wearing a navy blue suit, so it’s hard to tell
if he had tattoos on his arms like Owen, and hisbuild didn’t look as big, but you could tell he was
still fit.
Something about King seemed familiar to me. I
don’t know if it was because he was wearing the
same cologne that Valentino used to wear, or if it
was because he kind of sounded like him too….
Maybe my mind is playing tricks on me because I
thought about him earlier today.
Whatever the reason is, I can’t help but wonder if
I’m going to see him again, and if it’ll be just as
weird.