Josh had not been optimistic about Margot’s time table. Half an hour to load a truck, get it somewhere else, and unload it was far fetched and asking for failure. But when Josh had made his first trip back down with one particularly heavy box in hand, almost all of the boxes they had left in the common area were gone. At first Josh suspected theft, but then he saw Margot walk in, pick up four boxes in a precarious stack—one of which Josh knew was quite heavy, probably filled with books—and then walk out the door as easily as if she were carrying one. And before he could make it all the way down with his second box, Margot was jogging up the stairs past him taking two steps at a time.
When Josh made it to the common area he waited a minute for Sara to get down as well so he could attempt to ask what was going on.
“I don’t want to be rude… but… is you mom…?” Josh didn’t know exactly what to ask. He suspected military, but that didn’t quite make sense given that she looked so young and had a daughter as old as Sara. It could have been steroids, but there was no polite way to ask that question.
“Yeah. She’s ex-special forces…”
Sara seemed uncomfortable with the topic, so Josh stopped her with upheld hands. “Don’t worry about it. I just... I feel a little… she’s a lot, if that makes sense?”
“She doesn’t do anything halfway.” Sara let out a grim chuckle. “And you better not slack off, she might get some opinions about you.”
Sara didn’t wait for Josh to respond before jogging back up the stairs.
It was at that point that something strange crossed Josh’s mind. Or rather, something common sense that was strange he had not realized it sooner. Sara cared what her mother thought of him, and Josh couldn’t quite understand why. There wasn’t really a reason for her to care, they were barely acquaintances and he wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to be friends with her. She was amazing… but amazing in a strange and alien-like happy sort of way. She was weird. And so was Connor, and so was Margot. But Sara seemed like she wanted to draw him in to her social circle; and, while that wasn’t a bad thing, Josh didn’t really understand why it was happening.
Margot came down the stairs quickly with a box in each hand, moving at what Josh felt was a dangerous speed for descending stairs. “There’s two left up there, probably just one after Sara gets one, so let’s be quick. I’m hungry too.”
Josh shrugged the strangeness out of his mind and quickly ascended the stairs to Sara’s dorm. He had fully expected to pass Sara on the way up, but he found her standing alone in the dorm.
“Are you developing telekinesis?” Josh chuckled as he picked up the box next to the one Sara was staring at.
“I wish…” Sara mumbled. “Hey. Josh.”
The sudden request for his attention caught him off guard.
“What’s up? Do you need help with that one?”
Sara was avoiding eye contact. “It’s not that heavy… but thank you. Thank you for helping. I don’t think I said that when you showed up. I’m not actually that great at talking to people.”
“Hey.” Josh wanted to put a hand on her shoulder but that felt too intimate. “You’re welcome. And don’t worry about it. I’ve been paid in donuts and pizza.”
“Yeah, but I should have warned you about stuff. Like Connor and my mom. They can be kinda hard to get along with…. they have very strong personalities.”
“They probably are, but get it. You’re used to them and didn’t think about it till now. But I’m taking Rhetoric two from Professor Shaw, I think I can handle some strong and obnoxious opinions and personality.” Josh held out the box he had picked up. “Here. This one is light. I’ll trade you.”
Sara finally made eye contact and her eyes were sparkling. Not quite teary, but wet. But she was smiling like she’d just been told exactly what she needed to hear. Josh tried not to take it too seriously. He didn’t feel like he was qualified to offer her advice about her personal life at all, but she was making it about him and he couldn’t just ignore her.
“Thanks.”
Sara took the box Josh had offered and made a quick exit from the dorm. Josh picked up the box Sara had been looking at, which was actually pretty heavy, and tried his best to keep up. He nearly fell down the second set of stairs though and slowed down after that.
“Is that the last box?” Margot was waiting for Josh at the bottom of the stairs.
“Yeah… I think.”
“I’ll send Connor back up to do a last minute once over, but if we load up really quick we can get to the new apartment with five minutes to spare before the food gets there… which is plenty of time.”
That was certainly not plenty of time, at least to Josh, but he didn’t argue. He made his way out of the common area and onto the busy city street once again, with Margot right behind him. There was a quick gesture and Connor was sent back inside while Josh made him way to a small box truck that was parked by the curb. Sara was halfway in the back of the truck stuffing her box on top of a neat stack of boxes that Margot and Connor had made. There wasn’t much space in the back of the truck, but it wasn’t very big to begin with; the cab honestly looked almost as big as the cargo space.
“Here, I left a spot for your box.” Sara grinned as she reached out to take Josh’s box. “We’re gonna have to stuff it in though.”
Margot pulled herself on to the back of the truck and started to move a stack of boxes. “Really should have started with the heavier ones, that way nothing gets squished… here.”
Much to Josh’s astonishment Margot was lifting an entire stack of boxes with just one arm so Sara could slide the last one underneath. It wasn’t impossible that the boxes she had lifted were light, but it was still such an unnatural display that Josh couldn’t help but stare. But it was only for a moment, and then everything was like it had been before Margot had shown her strength. Connor was back almost immediately after, and the truck was closed up. Josh practically watched silently as the three began to load up in the truck without him before Sara realized that he was still dazed.
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“You really are out of it… You’re not diabetic… are you?”
Sara was waving her hand in front of his face when Josh finally snapped back to reality. “Oh, no. I guess I must just be hungry.”
“Alright, hop in. There’s only three seat belts, so I’m probably going to have to share with Connor. So you’ll probably be in the middle.”
Margot was already in the drivers seat when Josh came up tot he passenger side door, and she patted the empty middle space on the bench next to her when she saw him get closer. “It’s alright Josh, I’m not going to bite.”
“I thought the phrase was I don’t bite…” Josh had noticed the difference.
“I know what I said.” Margot laughed loudly as Josh climbed into the the truck cab with Connor and then Sara close behind.
“Ew, mom.” Sara scrunched up her nose at her mom’s insinuation.
“What? I’ve had to do it in the past to stay alive… remember that story I told you about the time I was in Istanbul?”
Margot started the truck as soon as all the belt had been clicked into place. As soon as the truck started Josh became uncomfortably aware of how close he was to Margot. Her elbow was nearly hitting him in the chest when she switched in and out of reverse. And as much as he didn’t want to be able to, he could smell her.
“That doesn’t make it right to joke about biting people you hardly know.” Sara scowled.
Sara was sitting awkwardly on Connor’s lap, though the two seemed not to make anything of it. They definitely seemed more like friends than anything physically intimate. Josh wondered for a brief moment if Connor was gay, but then quickly corrected himself. It was none of his business, and if Connor was it wouldn’t really change anything. Sara was still sitting on his lap and Josh was tucked between the two of them and Margot. As physically uncomfortable as it was, it was strangely comforting to be around people that were so casual around each other.
“I didn’t know the soldier holding a knife to me in Istanbul either.” Margot was laughing less heartily now, but she didn’t seem to be taking what was probably a very traumatic story too seriously. “Still bit him.”
“Thankfully Josh is neither armed nor trying to kill you.” Connor piped up with a sly snark to his voice. “But I think Sara might try if you keep it up.”
“She should, we haven’t sparred in so long. I want to be sure you’re still light on your feet, both of you. The city isn’t any safer on the other side of the street.”
“Do you teach self defense?” Josh asked, he was doing his best to remain casual but genuine curiosity had taken over.
“Mostly just to these two. I wanted to be sure they could defend themselves when they moved out here.”
“She’s been teaching Sara since before we met, but I’ve been trying to keep up since middle school.” Connor filled in. “But she’s a lot better fighter than a teacher.”
“For that I’m not going to hold back.” Margot smiled to the side, but kept her focus on the road.
Josh had hardly noticed, but Sara’s mom was an extremely safe driver. It was almost like the truck was the only car on the road, it didn’t feel like anyone was getting in her way, but Josh quickly realized that that was because Margot was paying very close attention to the car’s around her. Any time another car seemed to swerve or try and jump ahead of the truck, Margot was already making space and getting out of the way. She wasn’t driving slowly either. They were making good time, or So Josh suspected. He still had no idea where the apartment they were going to unload the boxes was.
It was startling then, when the truck pulled over to the side of the road and Josh recognized the building. It wasn’t far from campus, but it was a new development. Or rather, it was a new renovation. The building had just finished being almost completely torn apart and rebuilt over the course of several years. It had been almost done when Josh moved into the city, and he’d seen the projected rent when he was thinking about moving out off campus at the end of the previous year. Not only had the rent for this building had been so far out of his price range that he had laughed and shown Kerry and they’d made a running joke about it. The building even had private penthouse apartments at the very top for an even more ludicrous price.
Given the price of the building directly in front of them, Josh expected that they would unload their boxes to a neighboring property. But Margot had unlatched the back of the truck and started to carry two boxes towards the very building that Josh had joked about with his roommate. As he carried his own box towards the front door of the building he got a better look at the name of the building; The Benedictine.
Margot had waited in the lobby to direct them towards their destination. “There’s a freight elevator down that hall, it should be unlocked for us. Just stack your box in there and we’ll see how much we can fit.”
Sara had made it in first and Josh followed her as she walked through the lushly decorated lobby space and into the hallway her mom had pointed out. Sure enough, at the end of the hallway, which looked to be more of a service corridor than a residential one, was a wide double door. Behind the door was a much more rickety looking elevator platform and matching elevator shaft. It looked like it hadn’t been altered much when the renovations had been completed. A few spots were clearly reinforced with more modern materials than brick, and the cables for the elevator car that could be seen still had some shine to them. But that was about it.
“I think we’ll need to make two trips…” Sara grimaced at the state of the elevator. “Or more.”
She didn’t hesitate to place her box in the corner of the elevator and Josh followed suit. Connor and Margot were right behind him. Josh noted the sign next to the double door on his way back. It listed a maximum weight of eight thousand pounds, but Josh was skeptical.
“Actually, mom, can I talk to you real quick while the boys get started on the rest of the boxes?”
Margot stopped where Sara had, just inside the hallway towards the elevator. “Sure. You boys bring back as much as you can carry. The food should be here any minute.”
Sure enough, when Josh followed Connor back out, there was a car with a delivery sign stuck to the top of it idling just two spots away from the truck.
“You should tell Margot that the delivery guy’s here so she can go up ahead of us and pay for the food.” Connor nodded towards the car and then nodded back towards the building. “I think it’ll take us a little bit to fill the elevator up.”
“Yeah, I’ll be right back.” Josh nodded and did a light job back to the building and through the lobby.
Sara and Margot were not immediately visible, they had moved down the hallway just a few feet, but Josh heard them talking before he saw them.
“I still think you should wait…” Josh heard Margot saying quietly.
“I’ve waited since I was a kid. You gave it to Connor after high school and we’ve been away from home for years…” It was around that point that Josh turned the corner and the two women stopped their conversation immediately.
“Sorry to interrupt, but the pizza guy is in the building, or at least his car is out front. He’s probably already headed up.”
“No, thank you. I’ll go up right now.” Margot put a hand on each of Sara’s shoulders. “We can talk more when we have everything in the apartment. I promise.”
“Thanks mom.” Sara sounded a little let down, but the feeling only lasted for a moment. “Do you want us to wait to bring the elevator up?”
Margot was already jogging back through the lobby when she turned back to answer. “You can bring it up, remember, unit sixteen!”
Josh shrugged off the unit number. He had no idea what that number would relate to. There was no board with the number of floors or how many units were in the building—at least not readily visible. But the surprise he had felt when they had pulled up to The Benedictine was nothing compared to what he would feel when they arrived at the apartment.