Chrissy was constantly seeing beautiful people coming and going from the penthouse apartment, the noises that came from there were sometimes enough to wake the dead. Tonight is no different. She had climbed into the elevator, wringing her hands, hoping she wouldn't get yelled at for her troubles.
She knew the guys fairly well, from a distanced point of view. Steve, Billy, and Eddie. Steve was the host of a popular children’s TV show ala Blues Clues. Billy was a soap actor playing a doctor by the name of Dakota Montague, and he took that role as seriously as he took everything else in his life, as in not at all. He had a girlfriend, Barb, for a while, who did not fit in with his normal image, but then Chrissy thought that had been the only time he genuinely smiled. But they broke up months ago for reasons she hadn’t heard gossiped about in the elevator.
Then there was Eddie. He was a rockstar. She’d seen a few of his shows, without telling him she would be there. She knew from Joyce down the hall that Eddie felt like he wasn’t around enough to have a place of his own to be taken care of, so he lived with his friends when he wasn’t on his tour bus. Eddie had also helped her with her groceries when the handle on her green bag broke and her produce had rolled all over the lobby. He’d collected it for her then handed it over while staring at her with wide eyes and open mouth until he withdrew his hand, offering to carry them home for her.
She agreed. Of course she’d agreed. She was already enamored with him and they hadn’t spoken. They shared the elevator up to her flat and she’d let him in, offering him water and not her hand in marriage as she wanted. They’d talked for hours and only stopped because a buzz sounded on her door, alerting her of her brother’s visit.
Eddie waited for the elevator. He got on as her brother got off. The next day, she’d found a bouquet of lilies at her door with a note from Eddie giving her his phone number if she was interested.
They’d talked on the phone every night for a month. Even if it was the middle of the night when he got done with his show, he called her to tell her some amusing anecdote about the crowd or to just hear her voice. He’d get all soft and shy when he said things like that and she wanted to fling herself off the balcony and fly into the air.
But tonight was different. Eddie, Billy, and Steve were having a party. A birthday party for Eddie, a going away party for Billy, and a chance to meet ladies for Steve. Billy was heading to the jungles of South America to film a movie. Steve had bet Eddie that Billy got abducted by a tribe. Eddie countered that he’d end up running a cartel. She honestly hoped neither of them were right. Billy was intense but he had moments where he was quite funny. Not Eddie funny but still…
She knocked on the door and Steve, with a video camera greeted her. “And here we have the delectable, the irresistible, and undeniable Chrissy Cunningham.” Steve was doing a running narration of the events as he recorded. “Everyone agrees she’s too good for Eddie. Even Eddie.”
She giggled. “Where is the birthday boy?”
