Chapter 24: Officially homeless

Zoe's POV

I stood in front of Alexander's front door, clenching onto my suitcase.

"I can do this," I muttered, pep-talking myself. "It's only for tonight."

I took in a deep breath before pressing the doorbell.

The sound of the doorbell brought me back to the reality of what I was about to do.

"There's no turning back now," I muttered, managing to convince myself.

Minutes later I noticed the door knob slowly turn.

The door opened revealing a distorted-looking Alexander.

"Zoe!" he exclaimed, his eyebrow raised in confusion. "What are you doing here?"  He asked.

I took another deep breath before answering.

"I'm moving in,"  I answered.

༻❁༺

*EARLIER THAT DAY*

The neighbour's dog woke me up from my sleep. The dog belonged to the owner in the next apartment block, it had been a while since I last heard the door bark this loud.

I groaned as the dog continued to bark. I pulled the cushion over my head trying to block the noise.

Last night I ended up falling asleep on the couch, Reina and Abby tucked me to sleep. I refused to move to my bedroom after my outburst.

I opened my eyes to the dark room, with the curtains closed, the lighting was always bad in the living room.

Yesterday's memories flooded over me like a bucket of ice.

'This was what I wanted,' I reminded myself. I just didn't think it would suck this much.

I groaned again trying to forget everything.

After a few minutes, I finally registered that I wouldn't be able to fall asleep again. I'm sure I heard a couple of my neighbours swear at the dog owner.

I pushed the blanket away from my face and stared at the empty ceiling. I started thinking about what I'd spent the rest of my day doing. I had spent so much time watching TV that if I watched anymore, I'd become depressed.

I had no idea staying at home would be this boring. I miss how my life was before everything when I still had a job and I'd watch the happy faces of customers buy baked goods for their loved ones. Most of all, I miss coffee.

My phone rang on my coffee table. I sat up and reached for my phone in the darkroom.

The numbers 10: 15 on the corner of my screen hit me along with my mom's name, I can't believe I had slept that much.

"Mom," I exclaimed answering the phone.

"Morning honey," Mom answered enthusiastically.

"Tell her I said morning," Dad yelled in the background.

"Why do the two of you sound so happy?" I asked. Mornings are usually not my moms' favourites, or mine.

"Your dad and I are going out to the cabin till the weekend. We haven't been there in so long, we just needed to spend some time together." Mom continued.

So they'll be gone for the next five days!

I suddenly remembered the cabin. I remember hating it because it was so far from everything, there was no cell service plus the mosquitos bit me like crazy. Apart from the lake, I pretty much hated the place.

"That's great," I answered.

"I just wanted to tell you in case you try to call the house. Lina will be going off to her family. There won't be anyone to answer the house phone." Mom continued.

There goes any hope of me getting free food.

A loud knock on my door startled me, taking me by surprise.

"Hold on Mom, I think there is someone on my door," I said getting up.

I opened the door to a grinning Abby and Reina. There were both wearing summer shorts and t-shirts, with their sunglasses in their hair. They also had their suitcases with them.

I gestured for them to come in as I listened to Mom blabber about her trip with Dad.

"Anyways, I have a friend who owns a boutique. She sells maternity clothes, since you haven't prepared much she said you could stop by after working hours, at around five o'clock, that way no one bothers you." Mom suggested.

"Thanks, that would be great Mom," I answered as Reina and Abby settled themselves in.

"Okay, I'll tell her that you'll be going over there tonight," Mom said.

"Tonight?" I said doubtful.

"Yes, I doubt you have anything important to do." She said assertively.

Which was true.

"I'll send you the rest of the details later, your dad and I are leaving in an hour." Mom continued. "Bye, sweetheart."

"Bye," I said, followed by a beep.

"What are you two doing here, with your bags?" I asked pulling my phone away from my ear.

Reina and Abby looked at each other for a moment as their grins grew wider.

"We going on a road trip!" They yelled simultaneously.

My jaw dropped as I looked at the confused. I couldn't have heard them right, they can't be going on a road trip. They both had jobs and bills to pay, they just neglect that.

"I'm sorry, what?" I asked for clarification.

"We are going on a road trip," Abby repeated.

"You can't be serious," I said letting out a chuckle.

"It will be a great experience for all of us. Besides, you need a break from all of this. It's a great getaway plan." Reina said.

"We?" I asked.

They both nodded.

I pointed at myself for a moment as realization finally hit me.

"I can't just go with you, I'm pregnant," I whined.

"So?" Abby retorted.

"I just got bad news from the doctor and I have no idea what is wrong with my baby. I have to attend check-ups and whole other things I can't leave behind. Not to mention I won't be able to live on take-outs, I need real food." I continued to blabber.

"We get it, your life sucks," Abby stated. "But we all really need this. You have a sucky life, I finally quit, I couldn't stand my boss and Reina has a three-week leave. What better time to travel than now?"

It didn't make sense to me that she wanted to go on a road trip after she had just quit her job. Shouldn't that mean she should be trying to save some money instead of wasting it?

"I'd really love to go with me guys but there is just a lot tying me down. If I go, I'd only be a buzzkill with all my problems. Where are you guys going anyways?" I asked.

"Miami," Reina answered.

"Miami!" I exclaimed. "Do you guys have any idea how far that is from here?"

"It's not that far, besides, it will be fun. " Abby said. "Come on,  be spontaneous," She said doing a cha-cha dance.

"You know I can't, especially not in this condition." I reasoned.

Abby and Reina both sighed.

"I understand," Reina said.

"Maybe we could postpone the trip," Abby suggested.

"I don't know," I answered. "Only heaven knows when my long string of problems will finally be over,"

Reina let out a small smile, I could tell they felt sorry for me.

"You guys should go, have fun," I said cheerfully. "I have to go shopping anyways."

"Are you sure?" Abby asked.

"Yes," I nodded.

I could tell they weren't fully convinced, if I didn't end this conversation now it would never end.

"Come on here," I said pulling them into a hug.

"I'm going to miss you so much," Abby said into the hug.

"Me too," I said.

We hugged for about a minute before pulling away.

We spent five minutes telling each other how much we'd miss one another.

I spent the next twenty minutes listening to Reina and Abby's plans for the road trip, apparently, there was this cool concert going on plus a weekend at this fancy spa resort that Abby got free tickets to in Miami.

And finally, it was time for them to go. I walked them out to the car and saw them off. They traded their suitcases for mine since I wasn't using them because mine were much bigger, and they promised to bring them back. Let's hope that happens.

I spent the rest of my day watching TV, doing my manicure and pedicure. I was counting down the minutes to my appointment, maybe shopping might shade some light into my day. I had promised myself to find a yoga class online, but I ended up not doing it. I know I needed some exercise but I just couldn't get myself to do it.

When the time finally came, I was already dressed and prepared.

I followed the directions on my GPS to the boutique, it took me about forty-five minutes to drive there.

As my mother had told me, the doors were locked with a sign that said closed.

I knocked on the door for a few minutes.

The door finally opened revealing a middle-aged woman. She had dark hair with blonde highlights that made her green eyes pop. She too was pregnant, very pregnant.

"You must be Zoe," She exclaimed peeking through the door.

"Yes," I answered.

"Come on in, I'm Lacey." She opened the door wider allowing me in.

I walked into the shop. It looked like one big room with white walls. The clothes were in cabinets, on their hangers, against the wall. I noticed the two fitting rooms in the opposite corners of the room. In the centre, there was a large glass cabinet with jewellery in it.

"If you want to try some of the clothes, we have soon Moon-bumps if you want to try them on, just so you can see roughly how big you will be." She suggested. She had her hand pressed on her waist as she walked, and Alex tells me I shouldn't work.

"That would be great," I answered. "Although I mostly need clothes for right now, the ones I have barely fit."

But that was mostly because I was using my pregnancy as an excuse to eat more.

"Of course," She said with a small smile.

I somehow couldn't stop staring at her, not that anything was wrong with her, I just admired her and how strong and capable she looked.

"I'm eight months pregnant," She said.

I turned away for a moment, ashamed that I had been caught staring.

She looked at her belly and started stroking it. "My boyfriend left me as soon as he found out I was pregnant. Men are scum I tell you," She said in a melancholic tone.

I gave her a small smile. I wanted to tell her that it would all be okay, that she didn't need anyone to raise her child. But now realizing what it feels like to be alone and pregnant, I wasn't sure it was okay anymore.

The rest of my time there went pretty smoothly. I tries on some moon bumps as she suggested, I got some really good clothes out of it. Because of my indecisiveness while shopping, I ended up spending a lot more time than planned.

"Try this one," She said handing me a red floral dress through the fitting room curtains.

So I tried it on, with my roughly seven months fake pregnancy belly. It reached just above my knees, with a V-neck and short sleeves. I liked that it was simple and made me look fashionable at the same time.

I tried on a couple of other dresses after that. I needed up buying more than I needed. Maybe it was because I felt sorry for her, she'd soon need the money to support herself and the baby.

"Thank you," I said to her as she handed me my bag of clothes.

"It's been a pleasure, feel free to stop by anytime," She said.

She walked me to the door and then locked up behind us. She too walked to her grey, Ford car.

I placed the bags on the front passenger seat.

The drive home wasn't as long seeing that rush hour was long gone.

A few of my neighbours greeted me on the way to my apartment.

I was shocked to find my apartment floor flooded with water.

I continued walking over the paddles of water.

The water seemed more concentrated at my apartment door, and that's when I realized the water was coming from my house.

Holding my shopping bags up, I reluctantly opened the door to my apartment.

It was worse than I expected, my whole apartment was drenched in water right from my living to my bedroom and even the kitchen. The water was everywhere, it looked like the house had been hit by a tsunami.

I continued walking to find the source of the flood, which lead to my bathroom and some floor pipes in my kitchen.

The taps in my bathroom were pouring water out of control spreading all the way to the floor. I noticed that water was also coming from the tiled floor. Everything was such a mess I had no idea where to start. I tried closing the taps but it wouldn't barge. Within a minute of being in the bathroom, my clothes were drenched.

I sighed returning to my bedroom. The wooden floor was flooded which brought about a bad smell to the house. I tried salvaging everything I could by removing it from the floor and putting it on my bed instead, so it wouldn't continue getting wet.

I fumbled for my cell phone in my bag. I needed to call a plumber to fix this mess, I couldn't handle this on my own.

I searched through Google for plumbers closer to my area, most of which were already closed or unavailable. If I was to inform the apartment caretaker to call a plumber, he wouldn't come until the morning.

I called the number to some guy named Reed who owned Reed and co, he said he'd arrive within half an hour.

I tried the best I could, pouring the flooded water with buckets and then into the bathtub. My efforts barely made a difference as the water was coming out too quickly.

I sighed dropping the bucket on the floor. The only thing I could do was wait for the plumber.

I counted the minutes, waiting for the plumber outside of my apartment.

I noticed two guys coming towards me. They are in blue overalls with words written on the left side of their chests that I couldn't see clearly, I imagined it was the name of the company. They both had huge toolboxes.

"What a mess you got there," The one guy commented.

"I'm Reed, you called earlier?" The other guy introduced himself.

"Yes," I answered. "Please come in."

I walked them to the catastrophe that was in my bathroom.

I left them there and returned outside my apartment as they inspected the place.

I waited with my back pressed against the wall and tapped my feet on the floor.

The two guys walked out of the apartment shortly with their heads down.

"Do you know what the problem is?" I asked.

"Yes. It looks like the problem is with the pipes underground, it's ancient and that's why it's leaking. It wasn't properly maintained, it's a really old system." The guy named Reed explained.

"Okay," I said defeatedly. "How long is it going to take to fix it?" I asked.

"About a week, more or less." He answered. "We can close the water from the meter to stop the leaking until we can fix this but that would mean there won't be any water in the house." He explained.

This was a lot worse than I suspected.

"We won't be able to do much today seeing that it's already late, we'll be here at around ten a.m." The other guy said.

"Okay thank you," I said.

I watched the two of them walk away.

One thing was clear, I couldn't stay here tonight or even for the next week or so. Apart from the fact that I wouldn't be able to get water from the taps, the amount of water that flooded this place would probably end up making me sick. I wouldn't be able to clean all the water up by tonight not to mention that everything was completely wet.

I sighed as I tried to think of a plan.

I couldn't go to my parent's because no one was home. My mom kept a copy of the front door key in her rosebush but, I wouldn't be able to get through the gate.

My brother, well, he was my brother. He has never been responsible. He is never at home and when he is, it is with women. I didn't feel like going down that road again. I'm not even sure he'd answer my calls.

Maybe I could stay over at Abby's place. She always keeps an extra key under the rag on her front door. Besides her, I didn't have any other option except for a hotel. Most of my family lived in California.

I dialled Abby's number, I needed to call her first before getting to her apartment.

"Hi, Zoe," Reina and Abby yelled simultaneously. I could hear the loud music in the background.

"Hi guys, how's your trip?" I asked trying to sound cheerful.

Reina and Abby didn't answer. I imagined their faces, probably just staring at each other trying to figure out what was wrong with me. They always did know me well.

"What's wrong?" Abby asked.

"My apartment just got flooded, there is a leak in the pipes," I explained. "Could I spend the night at your apartment? Just until everything is sorted out?" I asked.

"I'd love to help but I brought my keys with me. If we turned back no we won't be able to make it back until tomorrow," Abby explained.

"Didn't you keep an extra copy under the rag?" I asked.

"Yes, I used to. I told you, remembered? I stopped keeping it there because my sister used to come by when I wasn't home and eat everything." She explained.

"Oh yes," I recalled. "I guess I'm just going to rent a hotel or something," I said.

"Let us know how everything goes, I hope you find a place because right now hotels are mostly full with tourists coming in," Reina said.

"Okay, love you guys," I said.

"Love you too," They yelled simultaneously.

I hang up the phone and began my search through the internet. It was already eight p.m., and I was starving and getting cold. Finding a place now would be difficult.

As Reina said, most hotels around here were fully booked. The ones that were not were about a two hours drive from here, I didn't feel like driving this late, not to mention that I was tied.

Reina and Abby called before I even managed to order some takeout (I could at least do this on a full stomach).

"Any luck?" Reina asked.

"No," I answered. "At this rate, I'll probably have to crush at my Cafe, I have the keys," I said.

"You can't possibly do that to your poor little jelly bean," Reina said.

"That baby is anything but poor," Abby answered in the background.

I let out a chuckle.

"I don't have many options. I can't stay here. I'm pretty sure I'll fall asleep while driving if I have to drive for two hours." I said.

"I'm sure there has to be another option. What if someone comes by to rob the shop, then what? I'm sure those coughs aren't comfortable enough to sleep on, besides, it gets very cold at night." Abby said.

"What do you suggest I do?" I asked.

"Did you try booking a room at The front milner hotel, they always have open rooms." She suggested.

"They charge six hundred dollars per night." I retorted. "I'm pretty sure I'm going to have a large plumbing bill to pay after this," I said.

"You're right," Abby said.

"Why don't you just contact Alex, I'm sure he'll help," Reina said.

"Yeah right," I answered sarcastically.

"I'm serious, fatherhood includes when the baby is still in the womb. You should call him," She said.

"I called him for two weeks, he didn't answer. I called him yesterday and he ignored my call. What makes you think he'll answer me now?" I asked.

"Then go to his place, he gave you his address right?" She asked.

It was bad enough I was desperate, imagine showing up at his door like this.

"And do what, I insulted the guy. I'm pretty sure he won't want to see me either." I insisted.

"You shouldn't just assume. It's not like you have many options. Do you want to end up sleeping in your car, you should think more about your child. It's his responsibility too, I'm sure he won't turn you down." Abby insisted.

'I couldn't be selfish' I reminded myself.

"Fine, I'll consider it," I answered in a melancholy tone.

It took me about thirty more minutes of trying to find a hotel room before I realized my only option was Alex. There was still that one chance that he'd pretend he wasn't home and not let me.

I returned to my bedroom and packed some clothes into a suitcase. Most of my clothes that were packed in the bottom drawer were wet.

I somehow felt like I was going to war, I didn't know how he'd act. He'd probably use every chance he has to remind me I'm poor.

I found his business card with his address in my purse.

I'd only stay there tonight. After my appointment tomorrow I'd be happy to drive two hours away from here.

***

*PRESENT TIME*

An hour later, there I was standing in front of Alex whose eyes grew larger at the words of me moving in. Seeing his reaction made me rethink my decision, and mostly my word choice. I knew this night wasn't going to be easy.