The Billionaire Next Door(51)

She went out the front door a couple of minutes later and walked the long distance to the nearest T-stop. In the back pocket of her jeans was a list of open houses for apartments in Southie, Charlestown and Cambridge. She figured it was going to take a while to see them all.



She was right. And the prospects were bleak.



After three hours of hoofing it up and down stairs and taking the T around, she had a sense of what she could afford and it was not a lot. Prices had skyrocketed in the two years since she’d last been looking, and for what she was paying now, her only options were cramped studios in buildings that were kind of run down. Her only other choice was to look even farther out of Boston proper, to Watertown, for instance, but then getting to work would be more of a hassle.



On her way back home on the T, she called the service station and had to curse to herself. Her car was going to need a thousand dollars’ worth of work. Evidently, it wasn’t just the starter this time.



As the T trundled along and sank underground, she looked out and saw nothing but a rhythmic pattern of tunnel lights, some of which had burned out.



She really needed one of those job applications to come through. Fast.





***




For Sean, the migraine’s pain started to recede about 250 years after it had started. Or maybe it was twenty five minutes. Hard to tell. Time had warped, becoming like cloth that was bunched up and wrinkled. Maybe if he made an effort he could smooth it out and count the hours. But he really didn’t care that much.



He rolled over onto his side and cracked an eyelid.



He was still in Lizzie’s bed. Hell, he’d taken it over, lying in the middle as if he owned the damn thing. Man, bad enough to have been sick in front of her, but to have all but kicked her out of her own room? That was just awful.



He gingerly pushed himself onto his elbows and gave his head a moment to adjust to the altitude. Then he looked at the clock. It said nine and he was pretty sure that was nine at night. Yeah…no slits of sunlight through the drapes. Definitely nighttime.



He moved himself to the side of the bed slowly, feeling as if there were an anvil on the left side of his head. Still, the dull pain was a big improvement over the ax blade that had been there before.



As his feet hit the floor, he thought, okay, he could handle upright. And it was time to plug back into the real world. He needed to call Mick and get a status report on Condi-Foods. Had to check in with his office—



Whoa. The mere thought of doing either of those things brought the ax back. As his head started to pound again, he thought maybe he and his BlackBerry would stay estranged for a little longer.



Throwing the thoughts of work out the window, he concentrated on getting to the bedroom door in one piece. When that mission was accomplished, he opened the thing and followed the muted tapping of computer keys out to the living room.



“Hi.”



Lizzie twisted around in the armchair by the window. “Hello!”#p#分页标题#e#



“I think I’m back in the land of the living.”



“So you are. How’s the head?”



“Still attached. Not real clear on whether that’s a good thing, but at least I’m vertical.”



“Good. Would you like something to eat?”



“I was thinking I’d get out of your hair, actually.”



“Oh. Well, you weren’t really in it. You’ve been a very quiet patient.”



He pointed over his shoulder with his thumb. “I’m going to strip the bed. You got fresh sheets?”



“Don’t worry about that. Besides, you look like you’re about to fall over.”



“I’m okay. Can’t wait to have a shower though.”



“Take one here if you want.”



“No, thanks. I’ve intruded enough.” With his energy already flagging, he glanced at the front door and wondered how he was going to make it to the second floor. But that wasn’t what was really on his mind. “Ah hell, Lizzie, I’ve ruined your weekend.”



“Are you kidding me? I wouldn’t have done anything differently.” She nodded at the computer. “Right now I’m all about the job search.”



“Find anything?”



She shrugged. “A few. By the way, your brother said he was coming by, but I don’t know how late.”



Sean stopped breathing. “Here? He’s coming here? ”



“Yes.” Lizzie frowned. “Is that bad? He’s worried about you.”



“No. It’s just—” Sean cut himself off, thinking that if Billy was coming over, he didn’t want his brother going upstairs. “You know what? I think I will shower down here, if you don’t mind. And if he comes, would you feel comfortable just letting him in? He’s a good guy. He only looks like a thug.”