though; the first week of any job is bound to be a little awkward." Julia set her teacup down and leaned forward. "I’m not usually one to be into all this gossip and stuff, but do tell me all about this place."
" It really is a mansion. It’s crazy to think that he lives there by himself. You could spend months without having to go to the other end of the house, I bet. It kind of seems like a waste of space. Until you see all the art he has, I guess," she reconsidered. "Don’t get me wrong; it’s a gorgeous place, but it seems kind of, I don’t know, sterile, I guess. Or unlived in."
" If it’s really as big as you say it is and it’s just him living there, most of it probably is unlived in."
" It’ll help to have the art up. It’s going to take a while for that to happen, but I think it’ll make a difference." She again thought about the room at the end of the hallway. What if that was the one place he spent most of his time? What if, behind that door, the place felt homey and lived-in? Instead of marble and chrome there would be pine-plank walls and braided rugs and well-worn, comfy furniture. An unvarnished bookshelf overflowing with dog-eared books. Maybe a little woodstove, with a cast iron tea kettle on it. There were so many possibilities.
" There is this room," Sky said.
" A room?" Julia frowned, a confused expression on her face.
"A room that’s locked." She hesitated, for a moment feeling like she was telling Julia about something that she shouldn’t. But why not? There was no harm in mentioning it, and it wasn't as though Julia would obsess over it and blab to anyone, the way Robin would. In fact, it felt rather good to say it out loud, to share this detail with someone else. "It’s this secret room that Conner said he’s never been into. That I’m not supposed to worry about, you know, just pretend that it doesn’t exist. But, of course I can’t help but wonder what’s in there. It seems a little crazy to walk a person by a room and say, ‘You’re not allowed to know what’s behind that door.’"
Julia raised her eyebrows. "Is that insatiable curiosity of yours going to get you in trouble again?"
" No! Don’t tell me you wouldn’t be curious, too."
" Well, yeah, maybe a little. But then I’d get over it. A door has a lock on it for a good reason."
Sky sighed. "I know, I know. And it’s probably not even anything that interesting. But then this thing happened, where I was working and he came into the room and he tried to tell me that I was too oblivious or something. It was weird."
" You can kind of zone out when you’re in the middle of doing something." Julia shrugged. "But it’s not a bad thing; you’re just really focused on whatever it is you’re paying attention to. Remember when we took that photography class together? And you’d be like trying to get the film onto the film reel and Mrs. Webster would ask you a question or something and she’d have to repeat herself a bunch of times before you realized she was talking to you."
Sky laughed. "Yeah, I have a vague recollection of that."
" I know how you get though, Sky. You’re going to be obsessing about it until you find out what’s in that room, aren’t you? You should really just let it go. It’s probably nothing that you want to know about, anyway."
She knew that Julia was right and she should just leave it alone, but it would be difficult, knowing that just down the hallway from where she was working was a locked room with something worthy of keeping secret inside.
Chapter 10
Sky worked five days a week from ten to five. She worked fewer hours for Josh than she had at Prelude , but was paid considerably better. Still, as the weekend ended and she found herself getting things ready for her second month of work the next day, she found herself still wishing that it was Prelude she would be headed off to.
In the past week, she’d ran into Josh only twice, both times it had been fine, so she wasn’t
" It really is a mansion. It’s crazy to think that he lives there by himself. You could spend months without having to go to the other end of the house, I bet. It kind of seems like a waste of space. Until you see all the art he has, I guess," she reconsidered. "Don’t get me wrong; it’s a gorgeous place, but it seems kind of, I don’t know, sterile, I guess. Or unlived in."
" If it’s really as big as you say it is and it’s just him living there, most of it probably is unlived in."
" It’ll help to have the art up. It’s going to take a while for that to happen, but I think it’ll make a difference." She again thought about the room at the end of the hallway. What if that was the one place he spent most of his time? What if, behind that door, the place felt homey and lived-in? Instead of marble and chrome there would be pine-plank walls and braided rugs and well-worn, comfy furniture. An unvarnished bookshelf overflowing with dog-eared books. Maybe a little woodstove, with a cast iron tea kettle on it. There were so many possibilities.
" There is this room," Sky said.
" A room?" Julia frowned, a confused expression on her face.
"A room that’s locked." She hesitated, for a moment feeling like she was telling Julia about something that she shouldn’t. But why not? There was no harm in mentioning it, and it wasn't as though Julia would obsess over it and blab to anyone, the way Robin would. In fact, it felt rather good to say it out loud, to share this detail with someone else. "It’s this secret room that Conner said he’s never been into. That I’m not supposed to worry about, you know, just pretend that it doesn’t exist. But, of course I can’t help but wonder what’s in there. It seems a little crazy to walk a person by a room and say, ‘You’re not allowed to know what’s behind that door.’"
Julia raised her eyebrows. "Is that insatiable curiosity of yours going to get you in trouble again?"
" No! Don’t tell me you wouldn’t be curious, too."
" Well, yeah, maybe a little. But then I’d get over it. A door has a lock on it for a good reason."
Sky sighed. "I know, I know. And it’s probably not even anything that interesting. But then this thing happened, where I was working and he came into the room and he tried to tell me that I was too oblivious or something. It was weird."
" You can kind of zone out when you’re in the middle of doing something." Julia shrugged. "But it’s not a bad thing; you’re just really focused on whatever it is you’re paying attention to. Remember when we took that photography class together? And you’d be like trying to get the film onto the film reel and Mrs. Webster would ask you a question or something and she’d have to repeat herself a bunch of times before you realized she was talking to you."
Sky laughed. "Yeah, I have a vague recollection of that."
" I know how you get though, Sky. You’re going to be obsessing about it until you find out what’s in that room, aren’t you? You should really just let it go. It’s probably nothing that you want to know about, anyway."
She knew that Julia was right and she should just leave it alone, but it would be difficult, knowing that just down the hallway from where she was working was a locked room with something worthy of keeping secret inside.
Chapter 10
Sky worked five days a week from ten to five. She worked fewer hours for Josh than she had at Prelude , but was paid considerably better. Still, as the weekend ended and she found herself getting things ready for her second month of work the next day, she found herself still wishing that it was Prelude she would be headed off to.
In the past week, she’d ran into Josh only twice, both times it had been fine, so she wasn’t
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