Nowhere Else

Chapter 1

There was no way this could end well. A glass of white wine in my hand, my laptop on my lap and the Nordstrom website open on the desktop. I couldn't tell what would hurt more in the morning; my wallet or my hangover, especially since it was practically three in the morning and I had to be at work by nine.

I would've just called in sick, but having just spent the week on vacation with my mother, it probably wasn't the best idea. And, I knew that neither was buying these super cute brown booties. But, they were practically calling my name and fall was right around the corner, so like I had to right? Right.

If my mother could see me right now she would be livid, lecturing me about the importance of being financially responsible now that I was living on my own. She would probably even use my full name- Chelsea Anne Davenport. But, honestly, I couldn't care less, all I cared about were these shoes.

I was just about to buy them with the one-click-buy button, but just as my mouse hovered over it, a knock rang out at the door. I jumped, knocking my wine all over the end table. "Fuck." I swore under my breath, before running to the kitchen grabbing a towel and throwing it over the puddle of

Pinot Grigio. Usually, if it wasn't an ungodly hour of the morning I would have yelled "I'm coming," or "be right there," but I had no idea who was at my door, and this was New York City at three in the morning. And although, a burglar probably wouldn't have had knocked on the door, I didn't want to take any chances.

Checking the peephole, I realized who it was, and after rolling my eyes and coming to the realization that while he was probably just drunk and lonely it wasn't fair to leave him in the hallway of your apartment building all night.

"Jimmy?" I asked opening the door, wrapping my blanket around myself a little tighter. "What are you doing here?" I asked. But then it hit me. I had never even heard the buzzer ring, to let me know someone was here, at my door, which made everything even more confusing than it already was.

"How did you even get in here?" I asked.

"I had nowhere else to go." He whined, leaning on the doorframe. "Also, I followed a delivery guy in." Crossing my arms I made a mental note- revise the security of my apartment.

"What are you talking about, Jimmy? You live five blocks away." I reminded him. His eyes instantly went wide, realizing that I had just foiled his big plan.

"Can I just come in please?" He asked, more frustrated now. I exhaled, nodding before scooting aside, making room for him to walk into my living room. Jimmy came over here way too often, he was way too comfortable in my apartment. Practically throwing himself on the couch, he grabbed the remote and turned on the TV, going to the DVR and putting on the Bachelorette.

"What the fuck do you think your doing?" I asked standing over him.

"What? I gotta see who she picks!" He exclaimed, arms flailing in the air before readjusting them under his head. "What are you doing here anyways, Chels, shouldn't you be out on the town." He annunciated all fancy like.

"No, because unlike you I actually have a job that lasts all year, and I have to work tomorrow."

"Not like that's ever stopped you before." He whispered under his breath, but I still heard him, and retaliated accordingly, throwing a pillow at his head, before finishing up cleaning the Pinot Grigio that had I spilled earlier. "You're mean when you're wasted." I said, turning back to look at him.

"Are you seriously trying to tell me that I'm not telling the truth?" He asked incredulously, sitting up on the couch. He was alluding to your "party girl" past which he had been a key witness to. But, I had promised myself, and my parents, that I would try to be more responsible after I graduated form Harvard, and that's what I was trying to do.

"I'm trying to be more responsible." I tried, sitting down on the free end of the couch. "Are you planning on sleeping here or in the guest room?"

"Probably here." He said, yawning. "That's okay, right?" I nodded, I mean it would have been nice if he could have asked before he had shown up at my door, but then again, its not like he ever had before.

"Yeah, I'm just going to go to sleep right now, if you don't mind." I said, pulling the blanket off of myself and placing it over Jimmy.

"Course not." He said. "It's your house." He readjusted himself within the blanket, getting comfortable before I got up and turned off the lights. After exchanging goodnights, I left the room and walked down the hallway to my bedroom. Waling through the bedroom and into the bathroom I began to wash my face. I tried my best to get the makeup off my face, but I gave up, throwing my hair in a bun before crawling into bed, easily falling to sleep.

I lived in a pretty big apartment, but even so the sound of Jimmy using the blender in the kitchen to make some sort of protein smoothie concoction filled the entire space- even my bedroom, a whole thirty-two minutes before my alarm was supposed to go off. I let out a sigh before literally having to fling myself out of bed, and drag myself into the shower. Trying my best to get ready for work, in a somewhat timely fashion, before walking towards Jimmy in the kitchen.

"Did you even know you had a blender?" Jimmy asked.

"No." You said, taking a sip of the smoothie, which honestly was disgusting but he was trying to be nice so I swallowed it- wasn't the grossest thing I've ever put in my mouth. But, damn was it up there. "Jimmy, I've told you I don't know what anything is in there."

"You have maybe the nicest juicer I've ever seen in there- do you even use it?" He asked, shocked at the lack of knowledge I had of my own kitchen.

"No." I said, before steering the conversation in a different direction. "Jimmy, I gotta go, I'm going to be late." I said, walking out of the kitchen making sure before I left to tell Jimmy to clean everything up before I left.

The elevator opened and I stepped in, noticing how exceptionally good Richard, who Jimmy referred to as 'Business Bro,' looked this morning. He smiled at you, which was doing a much better job than Jimmy's smoothie of knocking any lingering hangover away.

"Good morning." I said, to him, ignoring the other two people in the elevator.

"Good morning." He replied, tucking the newspaper under his armpit, his briefcase firm in his left hand. He was sexy. Very sexy. And, after almost a year living in this building and sharing elevators with him for almost a year I was finally ready to make my move.

But, as the doors opened into the lobby, any move I was about to make would have to wait. We both exited at the same time, getting stuck in the doorway, which should have been awkward. But, thank god, he handled it like a pro.

"After you." He said, extending his arm. I smiled, thanking him, before walking out of the building, hailing a cab and heading to my office.

No shock, but as soon as I walked through the door, I saw Stella, one of my closest friends lingering at the reception desk, gossiping no doubt .

"You're back!" She screamed, pulling me into a hug. "God, its been treacherous here without you."

"I was only gone for a week." I said, trying to flash soft smiles at those passing us wondering what in hell was happening.

"It felt like an eternity." She said, pulling away. "What in the hell is that?" She asked, pointing at the blender bottle in your hand.

"Oh." I sighed. "It's a smoothie, Jimmy made it for me." I said, before trying to take another sip of it, without gagging.

"Oh, hockey boy stay over again?" Stella looked at me, a look of scandal and intrigue laced on her face. I rolled my eyes trying to let her know how annoyed I was, but also to let her know that honestly, in this moment, I just wanted to work.

"How many times do I have to tell you there is literally nothing going on between us." I said, beginning to walk over to my desk.

"You don't have to tell me." She began. "But, I think you have to tell yourself." I rolled my eyes at her comment, never before as grateful that I currently had almost four hundred unopened emails that I could focus on, not even giving Stella's bullshit a second thought.