I'm glad you are liking it so far. Here's the next chapter. Enjoy!

Usual disclaimer goes here.

12. The Luck of the Unlucky

Dinner that evening was an animated, yet orderly affair. The girls were excited about showing their friends what they bought today at school the next day. I was excited to start my new job, and Ricardo was excited that both Carlos and I would be joining him on his morning commute.

"It only takes about 15 minutes to get from here to the office, but it's the silence that I don't like. I think I will enjoy having you two for company."

Carlos laughed and said, "Papa, you do know that your car has a state of the art stereo. You could listen to music to fend off the silence."

Ricardo laughed and replied, "Yes I did know that Carlos. It might surprise you to know that your old man has played music in that car, but that's not the type of silence I meant."

Carlos looked at him as if he was mad, causing his mother and I to laugh at him as well. "Son, sometimes there are things going on inside your head, and when you are alone, it is difficult not to dwell on them. Now girls," he said looking at Evelyn and Isabella. "I think it's about time for you two to go have a bath or a shower while your mother and I clean up down here.

Carlos and I both offered to help clean up after dinner, but Ricardo and Maria said that they'd like to do it themselves tonight. I shrugged and followed Carlos out of the dining room and left Maria and Ricardo to their chore.

When we walked into the sitting room, Carlos turned and looked at me. I didn't want to get into a heavy conversation, so I asked, "Is there something special about today for your parents?"

Carlos nodded and sat down on the end of the sofa. He indicated that I should join him. When we were both seated and facing each other, he started to speak. "Before my parents came here from Cuba, they had a baby boy. He got very sick because of the lack of medicine available at the time and he died. Today is the anniversary of his death. Since Rico, my parents have gone on to have 6 additional children, but in the 29 years since he died, my parents have spent today together no matter what has come along."

"That's very sad, and I'm grateful that I was here to help them spend some time alone together."

Carlos smiled and said, "I'm also grateful that you were here. I find it hard to relate to my little sisters. They're so much younger than me and I never know what they like to do for fun."

I smiled and saw that Carlos was looking at me intently. I wasn't sure how to handle that, so I looked down at my hands.

Carlos spoke a few minutes later in a very soft voice, almost a whisper. "Stephanie, I'm sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable earlier in my room. I'm drawn to you for some reason, and I can't seem to think straight around you."

I looked up at the pained look on Carlos' face and said, "Carlos, I don't know about you, but I'm not ready for anything to happen between us at the moment. I'm still reeling about Ryan and Lucida, then there's my job and everything you and your family has done for me.

"Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy our time together, but right now, all I can handle is a friendship between us."

Carlos sighed and said, "Do you know that you are the first woman who has ever told me to back off? It's kind of refreshing that you see me as a person and not a fashion accessory. I think that is one of the main reasons that I like spending time with you."

"A person is the sum of all of their parts. You have a nice shell, but I wouldn't want anything to do with you if you were a jerk. You are a thoughtful and caring person, which makes your exterior a little easier on the eyes.

"I see the way girls stop in their tracks when they see you for the first time. It's like they are blinded by your beauty. The person you are on the inside allows me to see past your looks. It's like your personality acts like a pair of sunglasses."

Carlos laughed and joked, "As long as it doesn't act like a pair of beer goggles, I think I can live with that analogy."

I laughed and said, "Beer goggles make a person appear more attractive than they really are Carlos."

We both laughed at that, and when the laughter died down, Carlos had a serious look on his face again. He said, "I just want you to know that if you ever think you are ready for something more than friendship with me, I'll probably also be ready."

I looked at Carlos for a long while and finally said, "My immediate plans are for me to focus on my job with your father's firm. If that starts going well, then I promise you, I'll think about what you said."

Carlos nodded and said, "That's all I can ask, but please know, you can ask me for anything and I'll always be there to help as soon as I can."

"Thanks Carlos, I think I can say the same thing, although my 'as soon as I can' is dependent on public transportation."

Carlos and I continued to talk about work and our friends, so when I first heard my phone ringing, it didn't really register. The second time it rang, I ran upstairs and grabbed my phone. The caller id said that the number was an unknown international number. I didn't know who might be calling me from an international number, but I decided to answer it anyway.

"Hello, is this Miss Stephanie Plum?"

I confirmed my identity to a very American sounding voice.

"Miss Plum, this is Linda Morris. My husband Roger and I own the apartment building where you live."

My stomach fell at this news and my mind started reeling at the possible reasons she was calling. I decided to bit the bullet and ask, "Are you calling to ask me to move out of your building Mrs Morris?"

"No Stephanie, I'm actually calling to apologise for our hasty decision about evicting you from our building. We should have talked to some of your neighbours before we moved ahead with the eviction. We've heard from several of them since and they were all very supportive of you. I can't tell you how sorry I am for any inconvenience we caused.

"Detective Carter has filled us in this evening about what happened at your apartment yesterday. We know that this is not your fault and we don't want you to worry about not having a place to live. As a matter of fact, the detective told us that you have had to leave temporarily because they want to run some surveillance.

"He wasn't sure how long you would be expected to stay away from your apartment, but he did mention that if they could put a body double in place, it would be easier to catch the culprit. He needed our permission to run this, so I said I'd talk to you about an alternative solution that might work for everyone.

"We have an apartment building in Newark that is currently under renovations. The apartment on the top floor was finished first because it is going to be our apartment when we visit. Roger was there last week to oversee the final changes and it is now ready. We would like to offer you that apartment and since you're already paid rent on your other apartment, we'll let you stay there for the remainder of the summer rent-free."

I spluttered trying to speak and said, "How can you afford the loss of rent revenue?"

"That will be our personal apartment when we visit, and we don't plan on visiting until Christmas time this year. We don't charge ourselves rent, so we won't lose any income. Besides, if you are away from your apartment in New Brunswick, the police will be able to do a better job. The renovations start at 8AM and finish by 8 PM so you shouldn't be disturbed by the building work."

I was silent for a moment and then said, "Can I think about this for a day or two?"

"Of course Stephanie, I realise it is out of the blue, and based on what you've been through lately, scepticism is a smart move. I'll tell you what, if you stop by the building tomorrow after work, the door man can show you up to the apartment so you can look around. Take a friend or two with you so you can have a second opinion.

Once you've made a decision, just email me and let me know. I'll instruct the doorman to give you the necessary keys and information about the security systems."

"Thank you Mrs Morris. You don't know how much this means to me, especially knowing that Detective Carter will have a better chance of stopping whoever is harassing me. I really appreciate this opportunity and will email you tomorrow night after I've been by the apartment."

"There is no rush Stephanie. If you want a few additional days to think about it, I understand. I also understand your dilemma of a accepting such an offer, but let me put something on the table. If you accept my offer and you live in Newark, you can skip the daily commute on public transportation."

I laughed and said, "That is one big selling point. I don't know what I've done to warrant such faith in me, but I will do my best not to let you down."

"You can blame Detective Carter if you want. He explained how impressed he was with the way you were handling everything. He also said that you have some good friends backing you up, so he wasn't worried about anything other than your living situation. I am able to fix that, so I wanted to help."

We spoke for a few more minutes. Linda gave me the address to the apartment and her email address so I could contact her when I was ready. When I hung up, I sat on the edge of my bed for a moment simply staring at my phone. I went over the conversation in my head and realised how surreal it all seemed.

I put my phone in my pocket and went back downstairs to the sitting room that was now empty. I sat in the same spot as before and thought about what living in Newark over the summer would be like.

I had my back to the door and I was so absorbed in my thoughts that I didn't hear Carlos come back in the room. When he sat down on the other end of the sofa facing me, I snapped out of my reverie.

"What's up Steph? It smells like something is burning."

I narrowed my eyes at Carlos' comment and said, "I just had the most surreal phone call I've ever experienced."

"How so? Who was it?"

"It was the owner of my apartment building, Linda Morris."

"Was she calling to overturn the overturned eviction notice, because you can stay here as long as you'd like."

"No, that's what I thought at first too. Instead, she offered me their apartment in Newark for the remainder of the summer. In the meantime, the police will place a body double in my apartment and try to catch whoever has been harassing me. Once that is over, they'll use the time of my absence to do several small repairs that are best done when there is no tenant around.

"I can go look at the apartment tomorrow after work and decide if I want to stay there or not. Apparently, it's in a secure building and the apartment itself has a very sophisticated alarm system. I'd be safer there than I would be at my apartment back in New Brunswick."

Carlos looked at me and said, "It would also cut down on your commute and my driving time when I come for a visit." I smiled at his comment and nodded thinking that the biggest downside was the distance I would be away from Molly and Christie. We would have to plan weekend get-togethers well in advance, and there would be no more spontaneous pizza and a movie nights until classes started again in the autumn.

Carlos must have sensed some of what I was thinking because he said, "I'm sure you'll get to see your friends plenty over the summer. I go to see the guys regularly, so you're welcome to come with me. Besides, from what I've heard from Lester, both Vince and Jimmy have been pretty busy themselves. Maybe Molly and Christie will be too busy with their new boyfriends to want to spend every weekend with you."

Instead of making me feel better, his comment made me feel worse. I didn't know why, but the thought that Molly and Christie would be busy all summer with their new boyfriends was a depressing thought.

"I'm sorry Steph, I didn't mean to make it sound like your friends didn't want to spend time with you, and I was just trying to make you feel better by knowing that they weren't sitting wishing you were there too. Sometimes my mouth says the wrong thing and I'm sorry."

"It's not that Carlos, I was just struck by the fact that my two best friends are happy and I'm fighting so hard just to stay afloat on a sea of disaster and depression."

"I don't want you to feel uncomfortable Steph, so I won't hug you and hold you right now, but I can listen. Why don't you tell me what's bothering you?"

I leaned my head against the back of the sofa and looked at Carlos. He mimicked my position so we were facing each other. He started at me and waited for me to talk.

Finally, I took a deep breath and said, "I'm not really sure where to start. It's like I am living two lives and I don't know which one is really mine. There is the life where I do what is expected and there is the life where I do what I want.

"With everything that has happened over the past week, it's like my two lives are at war with each other. My mother is so angry with me that she doesn't even want to talk to me. I've seemingly been run out of my apartment, and to make matters worse, I no longer have a person to fall back on. Molly and Christie are busy with their new boyfriends and I'm just at a bit of a loss."

Carlos reached over and patted me on the arm and then said, "Molly and Christie will still be around. They are your friends and that will not change. Besides, you'll be busy with your new job and living the corporate life in Newark if you like this apartment, so you might be the one too busy to see your friends. Besides, you've always got me to lean on, and I'm the closest out of all of your friends, so that should make me your go-to option."

I smiled at Carlos and said, "Thanks for listening. I know it's silly to worry about the things I can't control, but I have been listening to my mother's rants when she's disappointed in me. It gets depressing after a while.

"Listen, I think I'm going to call it a night. Tomorrow is a big day and I want to get a good night's sleep. I'll tell your dad about the Morris' apartment in the morning and see if he wants to come check it out with me. Goodnight Carlos."

I waved at him and walked into the hallway on my way upstairs. I could hear Maria and Ricardo talking quietly in the dining room, but I didn't want to interrupt them, so I headed up the stairs. When I got ½ ways up the steps, Ricardo came into the hall and asked, "Are you heading to bed dear?"

I nodded, wished him and Maria a good night and then proceeded up to my room. After a quick wash, I curled up under the covers of my bed and fell asleep after a few minutes of quiet contemplation.

So, maybe things are looking up for Stephanie. More soon.