Chapter 10 New Keys
1151 Words
I left Adrian Vale’s penthouse with nowhere to go except a motel room I had already outgrown.
The lift carried me down in silence, floor after floor, while my reflection stared back at me from the mirrored walls. I looked the same on the outside. Tired eyes. Loose hair. The same clothes I had worn the night before.
But something inside me had shifted.
Money sat in my account.
A contract sat between a man I barely understood, yet had allowed to explore every inch of my body.
And for the first time in days, I had choices.
When I stepped outside, the morning air hit my face, cool and sharp. I stood on the pavement for a moment with my bag over my shoulder, staring at the city as it moved around me.
People hurried past with coffee cups, phones, and places to be. And, now I had somewhere to go.
I had somewhere to go too.
I just did not know where yet.
My phone buzzed again.
Noel.
I stared at his name until the call ended.
Then a message appeared.
Noel: Luna, stop this. We need to talk. I miss you.
I almost laughed.
Stop this.
As if I were the one behaving badly.
As if silence was worse than betrayal.
I locked the phone and opened the property app instead.
If Noel wanted noise, he could scream into the void, because I couldn't care less.
I wanted a front door that he had no key to.
I found a café two streets away and sat in the corner with a bitter coffee I barely touched. My fingers moved quickly over the screen, filtering flats by availability, location, and whether they could be viewed immediately.
Before, I would have worried about deposits, references, rent, bills, and whether it was sensible.
Now I only asked myself one question.
Could I breathe there?
The first flat looked good online, but smelled of damp when I arrived. The second had a landlord who spoke to me like I should be grateful he was even showing it to me. I left before he finished explaining the “strict rules” about visitors.
No.
I had enough rules now.
By the time I reached the third viewing, my feet ached, and my head was pounding, but something in me refused to stop.
The estate agent met me outside a modern building with glass balconies and pale brickwork.
“Miss Carter?” she asked brightly.
“Yes.”
“This one has had quite a lot of interest.”
Of course it had.
I followed her inside anyway.
The moment the door opened, I went still.
The flat was not huge, but it was bright. Clean. Quiet.
The living room opened into a small modern kitchen, with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking a tree-lined street below. The walls were plain, the floors polished, the air faintly scented with fresh paint. But here, there was no Noel or Mira. No lingering of betrayal in the corners.
My throat tightened.
The agent kept talking about the boiler, council tax, parking, and tenancy terms, but her voice faded slightly as I walked from room to room.
Bedroom.
Bathroom.
Living room.
Kitchen.
Each room was empty, but for the first time, that did not feel lonely.
It felt possible.
“What do you think?” she eventually asked.
I looked around one more time before answering her. “I will take it.” My eyes widened with excitement.
She blinked, surprised. “You do not want to think about it?”
“Nope. I have thought enough. I want this one.”
The words came out before I could soften them.
She smiled politely. “Well, we would need to process references and the holding deposit first.”
“I can transfer it now.” Those words felt strange to say, but also powerful.
The agent’s smile brightened. “Certainly.”
By early afternoon, paperwork had been completed, the payment had gone through, and a key was placed into my palm.
I stared down at it for longer than I should have.
The estate agent laughed softly. “First place on your own?”
I closed my fingers around the key.
“Yes,” I said. “Something like that.”
“Well, I wish you all the best in your new home.”
When she left, the door clicked shut behind her, and silence filled the flat.
Real silence.
Not the heavy kind from the motel.
Not the poisoned quiet from the house I had shared with Noel.
This silence belonged to me.
I set my bag down and slowly turned in the middle of the room when my phone rang, forcing me out of my bubble.
Noel. Of course, it was him. Again. He needed to get a grip. He really thought that I would just come running back to him after he had been f*****g my so-called best friend. He was deluded.
I just muted him again and opened my work emails instead. Thirty-two unread messages waited for me.
Campaign updates. Client requests. As well as a reminder about next Monday’s review and an email from my boss.
Hope everything’s okay. Need you focused next week.
Three years of campaigns, impossible clients, late nights, and fixing other people’s disasters.
Half an hour later, my phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
I frowned, then answered. “Hello? Who is this?”
“I see you have a place now.”
I sat up straighter without meaning to. “Adrian?”
“Last time I checked, yep.” He said, I almost smiled at his weird sense of humour.
I rolled my eyes. “What do you want?”
“To confirm you found somewhere.”
I glanced around the flat.
“How did you know?”
“I have my ways.” Something in his voice sounded almost amused.
“You are unbearable,” I said.
“And yet you signed, remember?” My pulse gave one irritating kick.
“This changes nothing.”
“It changes logistics.”
Before I could answer, he continued. “There is a dinner on Thursday evening. Formal. You will attend with me.”
“That sounded like an instruction.”
“It was an invitation.”
“You need to work on your invitations.”
“You are free to decline.”
I looked around my new flat. My empty, untouched, entirely mine flat.
Then I looked down at the key in my palm.
“What time?” I asked.
“My assistant will send the details.”
Then he ended the call.
I stared at the screen in disbelief.
Rude.
Efficient.
Infuriating.
And somehow grounding.
I lowered the phone and looked around the empty room again.
Noel wanted access to me.
Adrian wanted structure from me.
But for the first time in a long time, neither mattered more than what I wanted.
- Writer
