Seth laughed. “Ok, ok,” he said. “I’ll stay out of it. But if anything goes wrong—”
“Nothing’s going to go wrong,” I insisted. “You worry too much.”
“Part and parcel of being a big brother.”
“It must be exhausting.”
“It can be,” I nodded.
I heard the door to Seth’s room open, and I gulped down the rest of my coffee and grabbed my bag. “I better head out,” I said, wanting to avoid Cory. “I’ll see you tonight.”
“Ok,” Seth nodded. “Let me know how it goes.”
“Wish me luck,” I said, heading towards the door.
“Yeah ok,” Seth said.
I laughed. “That was really heartfelt.”
I closed the door on Seth’s laughter and headed towards Pentrieve Lane. I was actually really hoping this would work out. I passed Pentrieve Lane often, and I had always liked the apartment blocks there. They were modest, but they looked clean and sturdy and well kept.
The building was obviously an old one, but I kind of liked that. It had character and a certain old-world charm about it. I had to walk up four floors because the elevator didn’t seem to want to co-operate with me but I finally made it to apartment number four-oh-five. I crossed my fingers and knocked twice.
“Hang on,” a deep voice said from inside.
“Please let this guy be normal,” I prayed under my breath.
I heard footsteps approaching the door, and a second later I found myself staring at a handsome blue-eyed man that I had met before.
“Oh my God,” I breathed.
“Zoey?”
It was Devlin… the guy I had met at Seth’s station. This was the weirdest coincidence ever. I felt a little blindsided, and by the looks of it, he was too.
“Hi,” I said awkwardly.
“You’re Z-Lark?” Devlin asked.
“I am,” I nodded. “And you’re Angelo two-point-oh?”
Devlin smiled in embarrassment. “Uh, I’m a fan of Michelangelo.”
“This is so weird,” I said.
“I know,” Devlin nodded. “I did not expect this… come in… sorry, I didn’t mean to keep you out in the hall.”
“Don’t worry about it,” I said, as he moved aside a little so I could walk in.
I didn’t immediately register anything about the apartment because I was so taken aback by this twist of fate. I hesitated for a moment realizing that this might be a glaring sign that the universe was sending down to me. It had to be, right? Why would I meet Devlin almost two weeks prior only to end up interviewing to rent out the spare room in his apartment? Did that mean that perhaps moving in here was the right decision for me to make?
I turned around and saw that Devlin was watching me closely. He seemed to be processing the fact that I was standing in his apartment.
He smiled. “I’m sorry… I don’t mean to be such a weirdo about this but—”
“It’s weird,” I said. “Trust me, I get it. I guess we can only laugh about it. It’s some coincidence huh?”
“It is,” Devlin nodded. “I mean… I was hoping to see you again, but I didn’t expect to see you under these circumstances.”