Bailey got out of the elevator and walked down the hallway toward her apartment. Early mornings at work were never any fun and she couldn't wait to snuggle up in bed and take a long nap. When she got to her door, she reached into her purse to pull out her house keys. After a few seconds of feeling around, she pulled her hand out and frowned at her purse.
"Where on earth are my keys?" she said out loud. She moved her wallet and hairbrush out of the way but the keys did not appear. Anxiously she stuck her hands into her jean pockets but they were all empty.
She leaned against her door and sighed thinking wistfully of how comfortable her bed would be right now. Reaching into her purse again, she pulled out her phone and looked up the number for the building superintendent. She pushed the call button and waited for an answer. Instead, an automated voice came on the other end and asked her to leave a message.
"Hi, Ernie, it's Bailey from apartment three twenty. I think I locked my keys inside my place so I was hoping you could come by with the master key. Call me back when you get this, thanks."
Bailey hung up the call and slipped her phone into the outside pocket of her purse making sure the volume was loud so she would not miss Ernie's call.
Leaning back against the door she twiddled her thumbs and stared down at her shoes hoping the phone would ring any second.
"Excuse me, miss," said a voice. Bailey looked up and saw a man in khakis and a green polo shirt standing in front of her holding a bouquet of flowers in a clear vase.
"I was supposed to deliver these to the lady in apartment three twenty four but she isn't home so I have to leave them with a neighbor. Would you be willing to take them for me?"
"Well I would like to help but I-"
"That's great," the delivery man said, shoving the vase into Bailey's hands and reaching for his clipboard. Bailey looked down at the colorful assortment of flowers in her hands and sniffled a little.
"I just need you to sign your name on this form. Let me find it real quick," the delivery man told her.
"Of course," Bailey agreed, her eyes beginning to water. "Are there carnations in this bouquet?" she wanted to know.
"Why yes there are, little lady," the delivery man said cheerfully. "You really know your flowers."
"Yes well I'm... I'm.." Bailey paused and let out a loud sneeze. She sniffled again and could feel her right eye beginning to swell up.
"Here, sign right here," the man said, handing Bailey the clipboard. She sighed and reached for the pen in his other hand.
"Is there no one else you can give these to?" she wanted to know, scribbling out her name on the highlighted line.
"No, ma'am. It's lucky you came along." He grabbed the clipboard back from her and smiled.
"Have a good day."
Bailey watched sniffling as the man walked down the hall and turned the corner toward the elevator. She sneezed loudly again and rubbed her swollen eye setting the vase of flowers on the floor next to her. Pulling a compact mirror out of her purse, she opened it and held it up so she could see her face. Her right eye was almost swollen shut and had a large red circle around it.
"Lovely," she muttered, putting the mirror away. She checked her phone to see if Ernie had called but no such luck.
The minutes wore on and there was silence in the hallway. Bailey looked around hoping maybe the superintendent would pass by. Suddenly she heard a voice yelling from around the corner.
"Cooper! Cooper come back, buddy," it exclaimed. Bailey looked in the direction of the voice wondering who Cooper might be. A moment later she saw a full grown golden retriever dash around the corner and run toward her dragging its leash, its excited tail wagging rapidly back and forth.
"Hey, Cooper," Bailey said with a smile as the dog got closer. Cooper responded with a happy bark and leaped up on Bailey planting its two front paws firmly on her stomach. Bailey grimaced as she felt a wet sensation under the paws and looked down to see muddy brown spots growing on her new light blue sweater.
"Cooper, there you are!" said the voice again. A girl about Bailey's age stood in front of her bending down to grab Cooper's leash. She pulled the dog off of Bailey and smiled at her.
"Thanks for catching him," she said, patting the top of Cooper's head. He barked at her and pulled against the leash eager to run around more and explore.
"No problem," Bailey answered, looking down and sighing as the mud began to seep deeper into the fabric of her sweater.
"You should really get your eye checked out," Cooper's owner said, giving Bailey's face a concerned look.
"Yeah, thanks," Bailey answered, sniffling and rubbing her still swollen eye. She felt in her purse pocket for her phone but it was not there. Looking around, she noticed it laying in the middle of the hallway floor.
"Cooper must have knocked it out of my purse when he greeted me," she said out loud. Bailey was about to lean down to grab it when a loud voice yelled,
"Hey watch out lady!"
Bailey jumped back against the wall startled as a teenage boy with a baseball cap came rolling down the hallway on a skateboard. He waved at her as he passed and as Bailey raised her hand to wave back she heard a loud crunching sound from the floor. Her hand dropped to her side and her breath caught in her throat.
Could that really be what she thought it was? Summoning up her courage, she looked down at the floor where the skateboard had just passed and saw the remnants of her phone. It now lay in two pieces, the screen cracked beyond repair.
Bailey knelt down and gathered the pieces in her hand feeling hopeless. How was Ernie supposed to call her back now? She pulled open the outer pocket of her purse where her phone had been sitting in one piece just a few moments ago and dropped in its now shattered remnants. Her swollen eye began to itch again and she rubbed it leaning against the wall and sliding down to the floor. The vase of flowers sat next to her mocking her red puffy eye and muddy blue sweater.
Bailey glared at the flowers and was about to angrily tip them over when a voice made her look up.
"Excuse me, would those flowers happen to be for apartment three twenty four?" A woman in a long tan jacket stood looking down at her expectantly.
"Yes they are," Bailey said, picking up the vase and rising to her feet. She shoved it so roughly at the woman that some water spilled out the side.
"Thank you," the woman said, looking at Bailey somewhat strangely. "Are you feeling ok?"
"Not really," Bailey muttered. "I'm locked out of my apartment and waiting for the superintendent to get here."
"That's too bad," the lady replied, distractedly digging in her purse. "Do you happen to have some gum?"
"Sure," Bailey answered, feeling a little resentful at the woman's apathy. "I bought some this morning. It's here in my coat... pocket..."
Bailey's sentence trailed off as her hand grasped a ring of keys deep in her coat pocket. Her heart sank as she thought about her swollen eye, muddy sweater and broken phone.
"Excuse me? Gum?" the lady from three twenty four asked, beginning to sound annoyed. Mindlessly, Bailey pulled out the whole package and put it in the lady's hand.
"Oh well thank you," she said, tearing it open as she walked away.
Bailey fumbled through her key ring and stuck the correct one in the lock on her door. Turning it to the left, she heard it click and pushed the door open. Shutting it behind her, she walked past the couch and shed her coat and purse. Approaching her bedroom where she had wanted to be all day, she was stopped in her tracks by a knock at the front door. With a sigh, she turned around and walked back.
"Yes?" she asked, as she pulled the door open. A handsome man in a grey suit stood in front of her. Bailey smiled at him. Perhaps this day would turn out alright after all.
"Hello, ma'am. I just wanted to let you know as I was walking to my apartment I saw you left your keys in the door."
Bailey looked down at the door knob but the key slot was empty. She looked at the man questioningly.
"Some kid on a skateboard grabbed them," he told her. "You may want to call the super."
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