When I got into the toilets, I opened my backpack and pulled out the envelope that was stuffed in the bottom. The address was written on the back of the envelope in my father's handwriting. I read it a few times out loud, and tried my best to memorize it.

Next, I pulled out my phone and opened the maps app on it. I typed in the zip code and the map zoomed over to the right location. Once I had scrolled across to find the exact location, I tapped to open up the Google Street View.

The screen changed to show a photo of the actual street. I slowly dragged it across until I was looking at the correct building. It was a smallish apartment building, four stories high, and on the corner of the block. It was made of yellowish coloured bricks, and there was a metal fire escape going down the outside. On the first floor, there was a bagel shop with a red and white awning. Overall, it looked like a nice place.

Once I was sure I would remember what the apartment looked like, I put my phone away and shoved the envelope back in my backpack.

I was about to head out, when I figured I should probably use the toilet while I was in here. I wasn't sure how long I was going to be in the car, and I had just drank a whole glass of cranberry and soda. I quickly pulled down my jeans and sat down to pee.

When I had finished, I walked back out the toilets to find the others. As I got back to the bar area, I saw that the table was empty. I quickly looked around and noticed Lucas standing by the entrance looking impatient. Seeing him like that, I realised I had probably taken far too long in the toilet checking my phone. I would need an excuse to cover up what I was really doing.

"Sorry I took so long. I, umm, needed to poop," I said, then I cringed. That was tmi, I probably didn't need to tell him that.

Lucas looked uncomfortable. "Oh, umm, that's fine," he said. "Tony is just getting the car."

"Okay," I said, blushing awkwardly. I really needed to get better at this lying game. That excuse was so bad.

As we walked out of the bar, Tony drove around the corner and came to a stop in front of us. His car was a large black Mercedes, with dark tinted windows. I got in the back seat, while Lucas got in the front next to Tony.

When we started driving, I was hit by the idea that I was sitting in a car with the two people who had killed my parents. But I didn't feel scared. It was something else I felt. I was almost excited by the thought. The idea that I could get my revenge was a step closer.

The drive down to my apartment took nearly thirty minutes because of the heavy traffic. The whole way there, Lucas seemed to be ignoring me. He was talking to Tony about something. But they seemed to be talking in some kind of code, so I couldn't really follow any of their conversation.

Instead, I pulled out my phone and started playing Candy Crush. But then I remembered I was still wearing that recording device that Maria had given me. Even if I couldn't understand what they were talking about, maybe it would be helpful for Jay and Maria to listen to. As I kept playing with my phone, I subtly leaned forward in my seat and pointed my shoulder closer to Lucas.

As we turned off Atlantic Avenue, I started to get nervous. I had a sudden thought that what if they wanted to come in? Or even if Lucas wanted to walk me to the door. I had never even seen this apartment, so I didn't know what I was going to be walking into. I would need to think of some excuse for why they couldn't come in.

It would need to be a good excuse too. The one about needing to poop that I had just used earlier was still making me feel uncomfortable. I cringed again when I remembered how bad that had been.

I was still trying to think of something good, when I spotted the red and white awning of the bagel shop that I recognised from the photos. But I was too scared to think clearly, I couldn't think of an excuse to keep them away.

"It's at the next turn on the left," I said, nervously. "Past the big tree."

"I see it," said Tony.

"Hey, we've got a, umm, work related emergency to deal with," said Lucas. "So we don't have time to come in."

I sighed with relief. It felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders.

"That's okay," I said. "Maybe next time."

The car swung over to the side of the road and came to a stop. As soon as it stopped moving, I pulled the handle and quickly pushed the door open. As I hopped out onto the sidewalk, the passenger door opened and Lucas climbed out.

Lucas walked around the car towards me, with his usual confident smile and his arms stretched out. I didn't move as I was unsure what he was about to do. Just before Lucas reached me, the mask of his confidence slipped slightly, and I saw a flash of nervousness. Then he quickly pulled me in for a hug and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

I tensed momentarily at the unwanted contact. But then I quickly covered it up and returned his display of affection with a quick kiss on his cheek.

Lucas pulled back away from me, with an awkward shuffle. Then his confidence came back in a flash as he turned to walk back around the car to get back in the passenger seat. As he did, I glanced down to see Tony shake his head and roll his eyes at Lucas.

I stood at the side of the road and watched as the car pulled away and disappeared down the road. Then I wondered what I should do next. I could have gone back home, but then I figured I might as well see what the apartment looked like as I was already here.

The entrance to the apartments was around the side of the shop, and slightly down the side street. As I walked past, the air was filled with the smells of freshly baked bagels. I was definitely going to go there for my breakfast.

Just past the edge of the shop, there was a few concrete steps leading up to a pair of thick wooden doors.
There was one of those old looking apartment buzzers next to the door. I counted the buttons on it, and saw that there were seven apartments listed.

I fished the envelope out of my backpack, and pulled out the keys. There was three keys for some reason, a small one and two large ones, a shiny brass one, and the other a dull grey. Looking at the lock on the door, I realised it must be one of the large ones. I picked the shiny key first, because I like shiny things, and it slid straight into the lock.

When I stepped through the doorway, I saw there was a small entrance hall behind it. To the left, there was a wide flight of stairs that led up. And past the stairs, was a door with a number 1 on it. To my right, there was a collection of mail boxes with numbers to all the apartments marked on them. As I looked closer at them, I realised that must be what the smaller key was for. There was also another door to the right that had a sign saying laundry room.

My apartment was number 5, so I headed up the stairs to find it. On the 2nd floor were two doors with the numbers 2 and 3, so I carried on up the stairs. When I got up to the third floor, I found the door for numbers 4 and 5.

As I walked along the landing towards my apartment, the door for number 4 opened. An older looking woman came out. She had an untidy mess of grey hair, and fairly tatty looking clothes. She didn't look like someone who would be able to afford to live in an area like this. So I wasn't sure if she actually did live here, or if she was some kind of housekeeper that worked in the apartment buildings.

"Good evening, deary," she said. "Are you okay? You look kind of lost."

"Err, yeah," I said. "I was just checking out my new apartment."

"Ah. My new neighbor," she said. "My name is Eileen."

"I'm Olivia," I said. "It's nice to meet you."

"You're another college student, I suppose?" Eileen asked. "Nearly everyone else living here are going to Brooklyn College."

"Yeah, that's right," I said. It seemed like my cover story fitted in nicely around here.

"Well if you need anything, I'm right next door," said Eileen. "And Claude is the super, he lives down in apartment 1."

"Okay, thank you," I said.

With that, Eileen carried on walking down the stairs and left me to go.to my apartment. She seemed quite nice and friendly, even though she looked like a mess. Maybe I would talk to her again and get to know here better once I had moved in properly.

Entering my new apartment, I stopped to look around carefully. The door opened into a large living area, in a kind of L shape. There was an open plan kitchen over to the left side, and it connected through to the larger open area in front of me. It was all empty, but in my mind I could picture where I would put a dining table and some sofas.

The walls were all bare brick, which looked kind of cool. Though I would probably want to put some posters up to cover it. Or maybe some proper pictures would look nicer.

Over to the right were two open doors, which lead through to what looked like the bedrooms. The other door in the far left corner, I assumed led to the bathroom.

From my initial assessment, it looked like a nice place. Kind of like a blank canvas ready for me to start decorating. Maybe I could go over to IKEA tomorrow after work. That could be fun.

Though then I remembered that the last time I had been to IKEA, it had been with my parents. The thought of going there alone gave me a slight feeling of nausea through my stomach, which I quickly tried to suppress.

I wondered if maybe Jay would come with me. He would probably be good at picking out furniture, he had the look about him. Plus I also remembered that the stuff you buy in IKEA is all flat pack stuff that you need to build. I was no good at anything like that, so I would definitely need Jay to help me with that.

Once I felt like I had looked around the apartment for long enough, I headed out and locked the door behind me. Then, as I walked back down the stairs, I messaged Jay on WhatsApp to see if he was free tomorrow afternoon.