âYou offered help without any information given as to what kind of help you were offering,â she pointed out with a sharp look that softened around the edges, because he wasnât wrong. Too many others had completely ignored her or offered help only to laugh as they walked away, leaving her confused and frustrated with the fact that she still could not get a hold of her roommate or remember the number of their apartment. âI did not know at the time that you even lived in the same building.â Technically, she still didnât.
If she believed him, then it was easier to see why he wanted to help as they would run into each other more at the building and have to face ignoring her one time with every pass they made in the future. âThen you invited me into your apartment without knowing your name,â she added with a hint of a smirk as she shook her head and glanced back down at her boxes before she moved a few around to make the pile seem smaller than it actually was. âBut you are not as weird as you might have seemed at first because you did help me.â And she appreciated it.
So she wasnât about to take advantage of that as she pulled out her phone to text Frankie where she would be, in case she was wrong about the other completely and ended up in a strangerâs apartment, never to be heard from again. It was a tendril of fear and doubt, but a small one at that considering that she wasnât completely out of her element or unable to protect herself as she slipped it away and nodded at Johnny. âItâs a good thing that you are not concerned that I might be the one lying, that these arenât even my boxes or my apartment building but that I do this to slip into strangersâ apartments and rob them blind,â she teased, feeling more at ease having been able to move her things indoors and know that Frankie would eventually see her phone. âA real good thing.â
He couldnât help but be even more amused as she kept talking. Johnny found himself hoping that she stuck around for a while. The building could use a touch of life in it and though she seemed over everything in a way, she also seemed to be just the level of vibrant everyone in the building needed. âYeah, well, Iâm not too worried about you coming into my place to rob me. If we actually got into any sort of a fight, Iâm pretty confident that I could take you down.â He was beyond confident, but that was only because he had already sized her up well before they started bringing the boxes upstairs. It was something about himself that drove him crazy, but once he had started, he couldnât turn it off.
His life had gone from something wonderful, like a scene out of a Hallmark story to a horror story. Such events had put him on edge, plain and simple. Now, it just felt natural to size up everyone he spoke to, look for exit strategies and just remain on high alert. That was his natural state.
Though he masked it with a chuckle as he pulled out his apartment keys and began walking towards the door to his own place. âForgive the bit of mess in the living room. I obviously wasnât expecting to have anyone over so I didnât really tidy up the place.â Though naturally he was a rather tidy guy, every now and then the chaos in him took over and clothes were tossed over the back of the couch and empty coffee mugs were left all over. The chaos hadnât been too bad as only three mugs were out and about â one on the coffee table in the living room, one on the small bar facing the kitchen that he used as a dining table for one, and one on an end table. He was getting better apparently.
âMake yourself at home. Do you have any food allergies I should know about?â