The Roommate, Kiersten Modglin [best books for 20 year olds .txt] 📗

“No, I think we’re good.” The stale stench of cigarette still permeated my nose. “Thanks again.”

He nodded at Elias. “Call me if you need anything. I’m going back to bed.” With that, he shook Elias’ hand loosely, saluted me, and sulked out of the room. The door closed behind him with a loud thud, and Elias looked at me.

“Well, it’s not perfect, but it’ll do.”

“It’s amazing. I can’t believe you actually had an in with a venue. I underestimated you, Elias.” I laughed.

“It happens.” He pushed up his sleeves. “Should we get started cleaning?”

I looked around, trying to decide where to start first. “You don’t have to help. I know you probably have work to do. I’m going to leave the cleaning to the experts, but I want to get the rotten tables hauled off and everything else put away. We’re renting tables, so I may just put these in the storage closet Garth was talking about. It’s over there, right?” I looked toward the back corner where Garth had pointed.

“I’m not sure,” Elias said. “Somewhere back there, yeah.”

There were doors on every wall, though I had no idea where most of them led, and I had no desire to call the owner back and ask him. Instead, I’d get to exploring, but first things first, I needed to get to the office to get the check and give the updated information to Rodney.

“Okay, cool. Well, I’m going to run across town and get things situated at the office, and then I’ll be back to meet the cleaners. Thank you again, man.”

“Are you sure you don’t need help with anything?”

“You’ve done more than enough,” I told him, patting his shoulder as I walked from the room. “See you tonight.”

By the time seven that evening rolled around, I was actually starting to think I’d be able to pull the miracle off. The room had been scrubbed from top to bottom, rotting tables and chairs replaced with brand-new ones, and though I hadn’t seen it before, I felt confident saying the room had been brought back to its former glory.

The caterers were due to arrive at any moment, and I was jittery with excitement that it had actually worked. When I’d spoken with Stewart in the early afternoon, he’d been positively chipper at the news, overjoyed that I’d found a space and handled everything so efficiently. We’d heard back from about seventy percent of the guest list that they’d still be able to make it to the new location.

I didn’t want to jinx anything just yet, but things were certainly starting to feel okay.

When I heard a knock on the door, I looked back, expecting to see the caterers. Instead, Elias walked in the room, looking around with wide eyes.

“Wow. This place really is incredible. I can’t believe all of this was under such a thick layer of dust.”

“Yeah, it cleaned up well, don’t you think?”

He inhaled deeply through his nose. “It doesn’t even smell musty anymore.”

“Yeah, they’ve had the exterior doors open most of the day, which seems to have helped.”

He smiled, approaching the tables and running his finger over them as if he was checking for more dust.

“Those are all new tables we rented out, so they’re perfectly clean.”

“Yeah, I thought so.”

I had no idea why I was explaining anything to him, but I also had no idea what he wanted. He continued to pace the room, examining everything thoroughly. Finally, he spun around on his heels, his hands clasped in front of his waist.

“So, when does the food get here? I’m starving.”

My jaw dropped, and I tried to quickly recover. “Oh, um…” The cheerful, innocent grin on his face made it harder for me to tell him what I needed to. “Well, they’ll be here any minute.”

“Good,” he said quickly, rubbing his hands together hungrily. “I haven’t eaten all day. What are we having?”

“We…I’m not sure, actually. My boss approved the menu.”

“Ahh, well, something good, I’m sure.”

“Listen, Elias, I know you did me such a solid by making sure I found this place on extremely short notice. I can’t thank you enough for that. And, while it’s no problem for you to grab a plate and take it back upstairs, I’m sure you understand that the party is guest list only, and I don’t have a way to bring any guests.”

He nodded along as I spoke but stopped when he seemed to understand what I was saying. “Oh, I didn’t realize it was so exclusive.”

I winced. “Yeah, I mean, I’d love to have you here, trust me. But you know how celebrities are. They want things their way, and we have to keep them happy to keep getting paid, so…” I trailed off. “I’m really sorry.”

“You really think they’d mind if just one more person came?”

“I’m sorry, I really do. I just can’t control it. I wish I could.”

“Oh, okay then. Not a problem. I understand. It’s not like you can control it, like you said.”

I breathed a sigh of relief, my hand on my chest. “I wish I could. Trust me. Any other time, you’d be the first one I invited.”

“Yeah, I guess I was just thinking since I found you the place, it would be okay, but… I get it.”

“I’m really sorry.”

“Not a problem,” he said. “I get it.” His response was curt, and I knew I’d upset him. “Well, let me live vicariously through you anyway. Who’s the party for?”

I shouldn’t tell him, I knew, but I wanted him to be happy with me again. “Layla O’Neil,” I said, regretting it the moment the answer left my lips.

“Oh, wow.” He tucked his hands behind his back.

“Yeah…”

“So, she’s the one that would approve me to stay, then?”

“Yeah, but she wouldn’t,” I warned.

“How do you know? Couldn’t you just ask her?”

“Elias, it’s not like that. These celebrities…they don’t really like for strangers to attend their parties.”

“But what if you told her I’m a fan?”

“She still wouldn’t like it. I’m sorry. I have to follow the