"Okay." Confused, I hang up and look at Logan. "That was Adalyn. I need to get home now."
Sitting back on his heels, Logan starts to slow clap for me. "Wow, well played, Em. Didn't think you had such trickery in your back pocket but you proved me wrong."
"I'm not kidding. I didn't make this up."
"Awfully convenient." His mouth twists.
"How on earth could I have asked Adalyn to call me? I've been with you this whole time."
Logan thinks about it for a second and then says, "Telepathically. Women always sync together when they get their periods. I wouldn't be surprised if one uterus shouted to the other an SOS."
I roll my eyes and head toward the locker room; our shift is almost over so this is perfect timing. "And here I thought you were different than other guys, Logan. Can you please just do the catheter? Adalyn sounded really nervous."
"This is such crap." He points at me and says, "How do I know you're not lying?"
"Come with me then if you don't believe me. Of course, after you do the catheter. I'll grab your things for you."
He rolls his eyes and heads into Mr. Freeland's room. Thank God! Logan is so much more adept at catheters than I am anyway, so he would be more gentle, just what Mr. Freeland needs. I take my time tying up loose ends for us, grab our stuff, and then meet him in the lobby. He's shaking his head at me as he approaches. "You're lucky I like you."
I give him a quick side hug. "Thank you."
Together, we ride the city bus to the stop near the townhouse I've been sharing with Adalyn since the beginning of this year. Logan teases me, accusing me of making something up to get out of touching Mr. Freeland's penis. Naturally, I deny every accusation while feeling very lucky I was able to avoid the touching of old dick today.
That is until I show up at our little house.
When we walk up to the house, a duplex, Adalyn is sitting on the steps, a paper in her hand. What is going on? Adalyn doesn't sit outside. She's afraid of the sun, not really, but she's usually in the house, her nose buried in a book preparing for our upcoming nursing exams.
"Adalyn, is everything okay?" I close the space between us just as she holds up the piece of paper in her hand.
"We're being evicted."
"What?" I shout as I take the paper. Logan hovers over my shoulder, reading the notice at the same time. At least he knows I wasn't lying now.
It takes me a few tries to process the words on the bright red paper. "We're being evicted," I whisper in shock. "How can that be? We've been paying our rent on time. We haven't done anything to the property that would get us evicted. We forgot trash day that one time, but I don't think that would be cause for eviction."
From over my shoulder, Logan points at a sentence and says, "Your landlord hasn't been paying the mortgage. You have one week to find a new place."
"A week?" How did I miss that? I scan the paper again, but nothing is making sense. "So because our landlord is an irresponsible idiot, we get punished? How is that fair?"
Logan pulls me into a hug, taking the paper from me to read some more. "Life isn't fair, sweetheart. Banks don't care about the people living in the house, they just care about the bottom line."
I snuggle into his warmth. "But a week? That seems short to me."
"Yeah, how can we possibly find a place to stay in a week in the middle of the semester? All the student housing is full by now," Adalyn adds.
"There is a buyer already interested in the space," Logan says. "The bank is probably opting for a short sale in the hopes to get the money off their hands."
"Can't we talk to the bank? Maybe they want to rent it to us."
Logan shakes his head. "Sorry, sweetheart, banks aren't really into the landlord business." He hands the paper back to Adalyn. "You two need to start searching for another place to stay because in a week, you won't be living here anymore."
Adalyn lies back on the porch, the warm winter's day not affecting her need to retreat back inside. "This is crap."
"Who can I send a nasty gram to?" I ask, my mind already starting to type out the letter. It would start with something like, "You piece of crap son of a bitch asshole . . ." Yeah, that sounds about right.
"You can send one to me," Logan jokes as he releases me and sits down on the porch next to Adalyn.
"That's not helpful." I run my hands over my face and think. "I don't have time to search for a new place right now. I have clinicals all week, and I have to study. Plus, I have volunteering hours at the animal shelter. I can't cancel on them again."