Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 65862 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 329(@200wpm)___ 263(@250wpm)___ 220(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65862 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 329(@200wpm)___ 263(@250wpm)___ 220(@300wpm)
I put my phone back in my purse thinking I’ll text him when I get home. Standing up, I grab my food and start to exit the bus. When I get to the door, a woman steps on, frantically looking through her purse.
“I can’t find my pass,” she pleads, a look of panic on her face.
“Sorry, ma’am. You’ll have to get off,” I hear the bus driver say to her.
I watch the dark-haired woman’s eyes water. I shake my head at how dismissive the bus driver is to her. She’s in a waitress uniform, and from the looks of her she’s heading in for her evening shift.
“I can’t be late. Plea—”
“Off now. You’re blocking other passengers,” the driver snaps, cutting her off.
The woman turns, and I dig into my purse and pull out a five-dollar bill.
“Wait.” I place my hand on her shoulder. She turns to look at me. She’s probably my age and she looks as tired as I feel. “Here.” I slip the money into her hand.
She looks down and I can tell she’s not sure if she should take it or not.
“Just pay it forward,” I tell her, giving her hand a squeeze before stepping off the bus.
“Thank you,” I hear from behind me. I give her a smile over my shoulder before continuing on towards my apartment. I never understand how people can be so mean to one another.
I really hope my roommate Roxy isn’t home tonight, but I have a feeling I’m not going to be that lucky.
I really should have met Roxy before I moved into the apartment. Then maybe I would have known that Roxy is a man and not a woman like I thought.
When I found the apartment online I thought I’d struck gold. The price was affordable and close to my work. Not to mention it had a small gym and even a pool. The pictures of the place looked amazing and I knew I could never afford a place like this on my own. Not to mention it was in a safe gated community.
The ad said that Roxy played violin and would sometimes practice at home and was in a band that traveled often for gigs. I thought hearing a little violin wouldn’t be so bad. And as a bonus, I’d have the place to myself from time to time.
I was oh-so wrong. I should have looked them up first. Roxy plays the violin in a death metal band. I didn’t even know that such a thing existed, but apparently it does. And let’s not forget the singing he does with it, or as most people would call it, screaming. Also, he hasn’t traveled once since I moved in. Which is not shocking, because who would book his band for a show? They’re terrible. Or at least to my ears. It also doesn’t help that I can’t stand Roxy. He’s a jerk and rude most of the time. It doesn’t help that he’s a slob. I thank the heavens that he at least hires a cleaning person to come in every other week to clean up after him.
“Johnny,” I call out to the guy who is always sitting on the bench outside of my apartment gates. “I got us dinner at some fancy place,” I tell him as I make my way over to where he’s sitting.
Johnny is probably in his late sixties if I’m to guess from the gray hair and wrinkles on his face. He’s the only friend I’ve made since I moved into my new place. I bring him food at least once a day. I love cooking when I have the extra time, it’s not a problem. This is the first time I’ve ever really had a kitchen that’s actually stocked. I may have gone overboard a few times, but Johnny seems to enjoy it.
“One day at that art studio and already too fancy for fast food?” he teases me.
I laugh. “To be honest there wasn't a fast food place close enough for me to walk to. My feet are dead.” I drop down onto the bench next to him. He gives me an easy smile. Johnny is always smiling, and it lights up his whole face. It’s contagious. It helps that he’s so easy to talk to. I spend more time with him than I do with my own boyfriend.
“I’ll eat anything.”
“Okay. Well, the place might be fancy, but I can’t understand their menu, so I acted like I was ordering for children and got us stuff off the kids menu. I think it was a French place. It was crazy busy and I thought if it was so busy it must be good. All those thoughts disappeared when I saw the menu.”
Johnny bursts out laughing and I pull out the containers. “Chicken fingers or cheeseburger?” I give them a little shake.