TWO

After my dad left — and almost started crying for leaving me alone for the first time — I settled into the room.

Mr. Walker mentioned that he had to go to work that afternoon and that his wife and son were out of town. They wouldn’t be back until the next morning, so for now, I had the whole huge apartment all to myself.

What to do? I was dying to try the living room TV. It was so big it practically covered the entire wall. I rummaged through the kitchen cabinets and made myself some popcorn. If I was going to break in that screen, I was going to do it right.

When I turned on the TV, they were playing Till the Dawn. I left it on. I’d seen it before, but two minutes in, I was hooked again. Then, in one of the scenes, he appeared.

Archie Garland.

I hadn’t remembered! It was one of his early movies, and he had a supporting role.

And then, I also remembered Maddie.

God.

I had to tell her I met him. That he was my neighbor. She was going to flip!

I called her immediately. She answered on the second ring.

“Sofi! I was waiting for you to call. How’s work going?”

In two minutes, I caught her up on everything related to work, skipping the small talk. And then I dropped the bomb:

“I met my neighbor.”

“Uh-huh. And? Is he hot? Did you already hook up with him?”

I rolled my eyes, laughing.

“You know I didn’t. But you know him.”

“Know him how?”

“Well, you know who he is.”

“Sofi, I swear, if you make me play this guessing game, I’m hanging up.”

I pressed my lips together, holding back a laugh.

“Archie Garland.”

Silence.

“Maddie?”

Nothing.

“Hello? Did the call—?”

A scream pierced my eardrums.

“TELL ME YOU’RE NOT KIDDING! I SWEAR TO GOD, SOFI, IF THIS IS A JOKE, I WILL KILL YOU! ARCHIE GARLAND! HOW THE HELL IS ARCHIE GARLAND YOUR NEIGHBOR?”

I pulled the phone away from my ear before I went deaf.

“What you hear.”

“God, I’m going to have a heart attack. Sofi, listen to me: send me your location. No joke. Please. I need to see with my own eyes where this man breathes.”

“You’re crazy.”

“Don’t do this to me. Don’t deny me. I need this. Send me the damn location.”

I laughed so hard I almost dropped the phone. Until a strange smell made me frown.

Smoke.

The kitchen.

Shit, the popcorn!

I pulled the pan off the heat, and as I lifted the lid, another wave of smoke poured into the air. Then, a deafening beep pierced my ears.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

A red light blinked on the ceiling.

The fire alarm.

“No, no, no, no!” I yelled, waving my hands as if that would magically make the smoke go away.

I ran to open all the windows and the apartment door, trying to ventilate the disaster. But the alarm kept screaming like the building was about to explode.

And then, a male voice startled me.

“Hello? Everything okay in here?”

I jumped and quickly turned around.

“Archie.”

He walked over to the kitchen, turned on the exhaust fan, and I wanted to smack myself. How had I not thought of that sooner? I was so nervous I forgot the obvious. The smoke started to clear, and finally, the alarm stopped blaring.

He looked at me, raised an eyebrow, and said, amused:

“What did you do here? Were you planning to burn down the building?”

“No.” I lowered my head, feeling dumb. “I got distracted.”

“With what?”

At that moment, Maddie’s voice came through my phone, still on the call.

“Sofi. Sofi? Hello?”

“Maddie.” I grabbed the phone quickly. “Sorry, I’ll call you back. I almost burned the house down.”

“But you still need to send me the address!”

“I’ll call you later, promise.”

I hung up quickly and looked up at Archie, who was still watching me.

“I was talking to my friend.”

“I see.”

“Sorry to bother you. I guess the noise got to your place... I didn’t wake you, did I?” It was really late, almost two in the morning.

“Were you talking about me?”

“What?”

“You and your friend.” He smiled, suddenly turning cocky with a sideways grin. “Were you talking about me?”

I looked at him, not quite understanding.

He pointed at the TV, which was showing his face again.

I looked at him again, this time a little more surprised.

“It’s the movie they were playing, you know?” I didn’t want to admit we were talking about him, so I got defensive. “Ego trip.”

He raised his hands in an innocent gesture.

“Hey, it’s not that bad. A lot of girls think I’m irresistible.”

I raised an eyebrow.

“Uh-huh, and any of those girls here right now, between us?”

Archie frowned.

“Came to help you, and you’re being rude.”

“Relax, I just knocked you down a peg or two. It’s not like I insulted your mom.” I laughed, brushing it off. “Don’t take it personally.”

Archie squinted, clearly annoyed.

“Whatever. I’m leaving. Next time, I’ll let you burn your boss’s house down,” he said dryly before turning around and walking away.

Really? Did I offend him? Wow, those celebs sure had thin skin.

I stepped out into the hall and saw him just as he was about to go into his apartment.

“Hey, what about the autograph for my mom?”

“Forget it,” he snapped without even looking at me, slamming the door behind him.

I went back inside. Should I feel bad? I hadn’t said anything that bad, right?

I started cleaning up, and by the time Mr. Walker came back from work, there was no trace left of the disaster I’d made in the kitchen. Mom had called me a couple of times, but I chose not to answer. I was sure Dad had already told her about Archie, and now she was calling for the autograph. And how was I going to tell her I wasn’t going to get it? She might disown me over it.

The next day, the phone ringing pulled me out of my deep sleep. Maddie kept calling. By the fifth try, I was fed up and answered. I looked at the screen: seven in the morning!

“You’ve got a lot to explain.”

“Does it have to be now?” I answered, still hoarse from sleep.

“You said you start work at ten, so send me the address, and we’ll meet in a few minutes,” she said in an authoritative tone.

I frowned, half asleep, but finally sighed. Without saying anything else, I hung up and sent the address. Not five seconds passed before her reply came through:

There’s a café next door, see you there.

I got out of bed, searching for strength in my morning exhaustion. I dressed quickly and left the house as quietly as possible. If the chat was short, maybe I could get another hour of sleep when I got back.

Oh no! There he was, coming out of his apartment too.

My first instinct was to turn around and pretend I’d forgotten something at home. But no. If there was one thing life had taught me, it was that running away didn’t do any good. I took a deep breath, squared my shoulders, and walked forward with the best attitude I could muster.

“Good morning,” I said casually, forcing a smile.

Silence.

Not a single gesture, grunt, or nod. He just kept walking, looking straight ahead, as if the air had spoken to him.

I pressed my lips together. Fine, Your Majesty, ignoring me won’t win you a prize.

I followed him to the elevator and stepped in behind him. The doors closed with a metallic chime, trapping us in awkward silence.

Out of the corner of my eye, I watched him. Tense jaw, arms crossed, back stiff. Yeah, he was definitely still mad about last night.

Fine. No big deal. I could pretend he didn’t exist too.

But after a few seconds, the discomfort started eating away at me. Because yeah, maybe I shouldn’t have insulted him.

I cleared my throat.

“Hey…” I tried, measuring his reaction. Nothing. Not even a blink. “About last night… I’m sorry for what happened, really. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

Archie pulled out his phone and started scrolling, as if he hadn’t heard me.

My eye twitched.

“Seriously?” I huffed. “You’re going to ignore me like that?”

He sighed, barely tilting his head.

“Look, neighbor…” His voice dragged the words with the patience of someone who’s had enough. “I don’t like being woken up at midnight over something stupid, and then being insulted. So, please, save your apologies and don’t bother me.”

I opened my mouth, but the indignation stunned me, and I took a moment to find a response.

“Neighbor?” I repeated, incredulously. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means you’re my neighbor. And I’m not interested in having unnecessary conversations with you.”

I let out a dry laugh.

“Yeah, right. Because it’s completely unnecessary to act like a decent person and accept an apology.”

He shot me a quick look, raising an eyebrow.

“And now I’m the rude one?”

“You said it.”

Archie sighed again, running a hand through his neck like he had a headache.

“I’m not going to argue about this.”

“Oh, but you have time to insult me condescendingly.”

“I didn’t insult you.”

“‘Neighbor,’ said with that tone, sounds like an insult.”

He pressed his lips into a tight line and stared at the elevator door like he wished it would open and swallow him whole.

“Can we drop it already?” he muttered.

“Fine.”

The doors opened just then. Archie stepped out without saying anything else, not even a look back, leaving me frowning with a strange mix of anger and confusion.

I left the building with a twisted stomach and crossed the street to the café. Maddie was already sitting by the window, a cup of coffee in her hands and a mischievous smile on her face.

“So? Is he as hot as in the movies?”

I rolled my eyes and plopped down in the chair across from her.

“He’s a jerk and rude. And no, he’s not that hot.”

Maddie squinted at me, sizing me up like she could read my mind.

“Uh-huh. Sounds like he is.”

I huffed, stirring my coffee with more force than necessary.

“He’s just not my type.”