A/N: Back to Bella now!
I've never included visual aids with my stories before, but I have two for this chapter - I tried to add links on my profile but it doesn't seem to want to work for some reason...I'm probably doing something wrong. So...if you can't see the links on the profile but want the pictures, send me a message and I'll send you the links. I have a floor plan for the apartment and an actual layout for the apartment community itself.
Thanks as always for your support! I love to know what you all think!
Chapter 3
"It's fucking hot." I complained from the backseat of the Rover. It was Wednesday morning meaning we had been on the road for four days since leaving New York City and I was glad we had reached the destination determined suitable by Rose and Alice. I was mainly happy because it was cramped as hell in the car with all of our shit that we grabbed from the apartment in NYC. We took only the personal affects and left the place spotless. Rose's idea to clean – even removing the trash bags and getting rid of those after we left the city, actually after we had left the state. Well out of the state. We had left the city early Sunday morning and drove all day until we reached Indianapolis, Indiana. It was our first stop and also when we tossed the trash bags in a dumpster outside of a random restaurant, far away from the hotel we were staying in. Again Rose's idea.
I had suspicions that she had either watched too many crime dramas on TV or she had personal experience in such moves. I didn't question her on any of it though, because I figured if she wanted me to know, I would know. I didn't want to go prying into Rose's past, especially since she seemed less than willing to share it.
I figured no matter how hard we tried though, the cops would make it to the abandoned apartment and we would be suspects in the murders. Because I had watched too many crime dramas, I knew the police usually got what they wanted and I grew up with a cop so I had suspicions and worries about the whole damn situation. I knew even though the IDs we left in the apartment were not us, our finger prints were on them. It was honestly only a matter of time. We should have probably stayed in NYC and went to the cops, but it was two against one and since they had become what I considered sisters, I followed.
They problem was that they were worried about this Jay guy finding us and I was only worried about the authorities. It was probably why they hadn't thought about the whole finger print thing or the fact that the cops would somehow trace us to our new location. No matter the size of the city we were in.
Knowing we would be suspects, I left a note behind hoping a cop who had some sense of investigative ability would find it. I knew that Rose and Alice would probably be upset with me if they knew I left the note, but I had to do something to help my nerves and worries. I regretted leaving it to an extent but the feeling of relief, satisfaction in knowing it was the right thing to do, and happiness in my decision was greater than the regret.
I was not happy, however; that it was hotter than the damn sun where we were. I assumed we were going to a big city, some place easy to hide in and blend in, but I wasn't thinking Los Angeles.
I should have known better with Alice at the wheel.
"I'm going to fucking die." I whined. According to the bank we had passed earlier, it was 102 and it sure as shit felt like it. It was no secret I was less than a fan of hot weather. I guess it could have been worse – they could have decided to go back to their home town of Phoenix.
"I think she really might die, Ali." Rose laughed looking back at me through the side mirror.
"She just needs a damn Snickers bar or something." Alice laughed at her own joke, which was not funny to anyone else but her.
"No I need the damn A/C turned on in this bitch." I grumbled.
"It's gorgeous and we need to cruise with the windows down to tell everyone we're here and we're gonna stay." Alice smiled. It was the same argument we had been having since we entered the city limits. And I was all for the whole cruising with the windows down thing, but since we were at a dead stand still on Hollywood Boulevard, I was in favor of turning the A/C on.
Finally after what seemed like an eternity we started moving again and headed toward an apartment building Rose had searched out using her laptop and the numerous free wireless networks she found at the hotels we stayed out while traveling.
She was being pretty quiet about the apartment but had confirmed the neighborhood as West Los Angeles between Santa Monica and Beverly Hills, just a block off of Santa Monica Boulevard.
Alice was ecstatic to say the least about the location. She was even more on cloud nine when we parked and walked through the lobby to the leasing office at Eleven950 Apartments.
Even I was in awe of the place Rose had managed to locate; four stories of ultra-modern, ultra sleek beautiful apartments. The lobby itself was gorgeous. One thing I wasn't too thrilled about though was that it appeared the mailboxes for the entire community were right there in the lobby…and it wasn't just one apartment building with four or five units. Nope. It had 90 some odd units. Honestly it looked more like a hotel then apartments. I was willing to sacrifice the possible long walk though simply because I was so in awe of the lobby, the fountain in the courtyard between the lobby and the leasing office, and the leasing office itself.
The staff left a little to be desire though. After a few minutes of trying to get past the "valley girl" act the leasing staff put on, we decided on a three bedroom, three bath, 1300 square foot, fourth floor unit. It was of course pretty far from the mailboxes, but it was close to an elevator, stairs, trash, the pool, the spa, and it actually shared a building with the fitness center.
Since we had no place to live, we asked if we could expedite the move-in process and they agreed. We had to open a checking account though first and then provide a money order or cashier's check for the deposit and first month's rent. Since we all agreed previously to start over using our own names, all three of us opened our own accounts at the bank across the street then provided the cashier's check in the amount of $2,700.
After everything was signed and paid, the leasing staff took us on a walk-through of the apartment. In order to get to our apartment, we left the leasing office through the back door and took a right down a hallway. We passed the clubhouse which we could rent for a fee of course and then turned left where our indoor path suddenly turned to an outdoor path and we proceeded to pass the pool and spa area. The pool was spectacular and even had private cabanas set up along one side.
The leasing agent pointed up as we stood admiring the pool to single out our unit and the building we would be in.
"Your unit is #418. You have a view of the pool and then from the master bedroom which is your corner you can actually see the Hollywood Sign. Every room has a view of the pool. That's your balcony overlooking the pool right there." She smiled.
"Holy shit you guys." I laughed as we continued walking with the leasing agent.
"Here's where it gets kinda tricky. From our current location, we have to continue on the path we were on, it will turn back into an indoor hallway that will lead us to the elevators. We'll take it up to the 4th floor and then double back towards the pool. Your door will be the second on the right from that direction. This is the same way you'll come if you've parked in the underground garage. The garage spans the entire property so you'll want to make sure you park all the way back here so you take elevator #2 to your floor." She said as we stepped into the elevator.
"This is insane." Alice laughed.
"Now…to get your mail, you can walk out your door and turn right, the opposite direction of the elevators. It is the same path we just took from the leasing office except it is four stories in the air. It will go from being indoor to outdoor but will take you all the way back to the front of the building to get your mail. There is an elevator in the lobby that will take you down to ground level where the mailboxes are."
"Right." All three of said as we stepped off the elevator.
"I'm so gonna get lost." I laughed.
"It's pretty easy once you get the hang of everything. Your guests have to park on the street or we have guest parking in the underground garage…one spot per unit. Your unit has 4 designated spots since it's a three bedroom unit. If you don't have 3 cars among yourselves, then you have extra guest spots. The guest will need a pass which you can provide. It's just a printed piece of paper. I usually print a few off and give them to everyone who visits the most and they can just keep them in their car."
As she finished up her speech about the guests and parking, she unlocked our apartment for us.
And I forgot everything she had just told us because the apartment was outstanding.
The entry was a light tan colored ceramic tile and led directly into an open concept dining room and living area. There was a bathroom immediately to the left of the entry way and was shared by guests and the third bedroom. The kitchen was to the right and through the dining room.
The kitchen was beautiful. The same ceramic tile in the entry way was in the kitchen as well and we also had granite countertops, maple kitchen cabinets, stainless steel appliances, and a large pantry.
There was a corner bar which allowed whoever was in the kitchen to mingle with the people in the living room and then off the living room was the balcony.
Down a hall off the living room, we had our washer and dryer and across the hall was the second bedroom. The bath there was not an ensuite but across the hall so available for guests to use as well. At the end of the hallway was the door to the master.
All of the three bathrooms had the same ceramic tile as well as the granite counter tops. The only bathroom that didn't have a bathtub/shower combo was the master, which I found to be strange, but the shower was enormous; glass frameless doors and multiple shower heads. Of course it had the largest closet, a walk-in with more room than any of us needed, even Alice didn't have enough clothes to fill the thing.
All the closets came with built-in organizers already in them. The windows already had sheer fabric window shades. And the carpet was that expensive plush stuff which was super soft.
It was absolutely perfect.
"This is perfect!" Rose exclaimed echoing my thought.
"I love it!" Alice said while clapping and jumping up and down. "And now we get to go shopping for decorations and furniture. Yay!"
"You're the first to live in this specific unit so everything is brand new. Please contact the leasing office if you have any questions or if any problems arise." The leasing agent said then left us alone in our new apartment.
Before we did anything though, we went and moved the car to the parking garage and carried what stuff we did have upstairs.
I figured I was going to take the second bedroom, which was the smallest of the three but to my surprise, Rose took that one saying she didn't need the space but wanted a bathtub.
And then Alice claimed the third bedroom on the opposite side of the apartment due to the larger closest and bathtub.
That left me the master bedroom with the largest closet just because I couldn't have cared less if I had a bathtub or not. I had the kick ass shower and I was definitely happy with that – plus it was a private bathroom. I also had the view to die for out the side window.
After deciding on who was taking what rooms, we headed out shopping and shop we did. Alice coordinated everything making sure everything flowed from room to room.
Everything in the common area had a modern flare to it. For the living room we decided on a tan long square sofa with two square end tables in a maple to match the kitchen. A lounge angled to where the TV would be placed on the wall across from the sofa. Alice went with different shades of blues for accents that she carried into the dining room for the wall accents.
The only stipulation I added for the dining room was the table be a tall table that matched the wood in the kitchen. It had to have a leaf so we could extend it to seat at least six and since it was pretty much my only demand for the common area, they agreed.
Alice decided she wanted her room to have a romantic feel so she painted the walls a soft greyish-blue color and found a white headboard for her queen sized bed. She got creative and hung four wrought iron curtain rods from the ceiling to provide support for white linen bed curtains that she could close around her bed. Her bedspread was a soft gold with grey Victorian designs. To contrast with the walls and the white already in her room, the bedside tables she chose were a cream color.
It was pretty, but not for Rose or I.
Rose chose to go more modern for her room, she painted her walls a light grey but her accents and design elements were combinations of black and white. Her furniture was all black wood; her bed linens were white to contrast.
I told her it was dull and monotone so she added a few pillows to her bed that were red and a couple of candles that also brought red into the room.
Of course when I chose green as the main color concept in my room, they both questioned me. They understood a little better when I told them the walls would all be a light beige (almost white) color except for the wall behind my bed which would be pale green. I fell in love with a sleigh bed in a dark mahogany wood that worked well with the green. And since I had the extra room in the bedroom, I added a reading chair with the beige and green concept continued. I also had room for a desk in a corner by the largest window, which excited me to no end.
After we were finished with the shopping and we had unpacked everything we could, Rose and Alice decided we needed to venture out into the neighborhood.
I really would have preferred to stay in but since we had absolutely no furniture in the apartment due to having to have it all delivered, there really wasn't any point in staying home. We didn't even have our TV yet because Rose had to have the biggest one possible and the 64" flat screen wouldn't fit in the car with all the other stuff we had grabbed.
Since it was already 9 o'clock we didn't spend the normal hour or longer getting ready so we weren't by any means going for glamorous. We were all in shorts; Rose and I in short jean shorts, Alice in black cotton. I had just a plain white tank top on and I was more than okay with it ending there and putting on flip flops, but Alice insisted I dress it all up with pink hoop earrings and pink wedge sandals. After the tiring day it just wasn't worth arguing with her on it so I just did it.
Rose threw on a black tube top and accessorized with yellow but kept the shoes black basic stiletto pumps. And then Alice…she pulled out one of her teal blue backless halter tops, paired white jewelry and a pair of her favorite white sandals that had teal swirls in them.
At least they decided to keep their hair pulled back in ponytails so I wasn't the only with "messy move-in day hair."
We had no idea where we were going or what we were looking for so after we headed out of the garage we just went towards Santa Monica Boulevard and then took a right back towards Beverly Hills.
We came to Wilshire and Alice took a right because it was really all we knew at that point and didn't want to get lost. We didn't really expect to find a bar in that area of town but not long after turning onto Wilshire, Rose found a club.
"Hey look there…Club Noir just off of Wilshire. Gotta be an upscale place. Let's check it out." She said pointing towards a relatively new looking building. It was black with a red awning. The name of the club was written in silver paint on the side of the building in elegant script.
She was right it definitely looked upscale so Alice parked curb side a block down and we headed to check it out.
The door man eyeballed us before asking for ID. After he eyeballed us a little more, he ushered us inside.
"On the house tonight ladies." He said in a deep voice.
"Thank you." Alice chirped before we continued down the dark hallway towards the pulsing music.
When we turned the corner we came face to face with the last thing we expected to find in the middle of Beverly Hills.
No one was currently on the stage but the waitresses were walking around in barely there outfits and the bartenders were giant sized men – probably hired as additional security guards but I doubted they were ever really needed to protect the girls.
Alice was laughing too hard to say anything so I did.
"Of all places, you find a fucking strip joint in Beverly Hills Rosalie."
"How the fuck was I supposed to know what this place was! Nothing on the outside screamed strip club!" She laughed.
"I ought to wash your mouth out with soap young lady." A very obviously gay guy said from behind the three of us causing us to jump before slowly turning around.
If he hadn't been gay we probably would have been fighting over him because he was damn hot. Tight black pants, black suit vest with no shirt on underneath, muscles galore, chiseled to the tenth degree. "Welcome to Club Noir ladies. My name is Laurent. And this is anything but a strip club. Our ladies never get naked darling. This is what we call a burlesque club. And you three would be adored by the owner, James. I think you'll need introductions later tonight when he gets here." He said with a wink before sashaying across the room.
And yes he really did sashay.