Chapter Text
The beginning of Jamie’s move into Garden Lodge was less of an event, and more of a dawning realization that she seemed to spend more of her time at Melina’s than at her own house.
“You know, I thought you had moved out,” her landlord told her as she began the climb to her tiny apartment. “I haven’t seen you in days.” He was an older gentleman, who lived alone in one of the rooms downstairs after his wife had passed a few years prior. The two never had a serious conversation, but they were relatively friendly with one another.
“Still live here,” Jamie confirmed with a nod. “I’ve started dating someone pretty seriously, so I’ve been spending most of my time over at theirs,” she offered as an explanation.
“This wouldn’t happen to be the same person who kept calling in the middle of the night a few months ago, would it?” He asked with a squint of his eyes.
“The very same,” Jamie nodded.
“Well, you tell that fellow of yours that he needs to go to bed at a reasonable hour like the rest of us,” he ordered with a point of his finger, though Jamie could see that his mouth was turned upwards in good humor.
“I will certainly tell… him that,” Jamie agreed. “Good seeing you,” she called as she made it to the top of the steps and slammed the door with a bang.
She looked around at her broken couch and sighed. She was never one for excessive luxury but Melina’s mansion really did make everything feel lesser in comparison.
When Jamie had brought it up to Melina during breakfast, she assumed her girlfriend would find it mildly funny like she did, and move on. Instead, Melina’s eye lit up in the way they always did when she got an idea.
“You should move in,” Melina told her, as if she wasn’t suggesting a major life-changing decision at nine in the morning. “Oh come on,” she continued after seeing the look on Jamie’s face. “You said it yourself. You spend more nights here than you do at your own place. Why bother paying money for a room you’re not using?”
There was a logic to Melina’s words.
“I’ll think about it,” Jamie said slowly. Melina just grinned at her, knowing that that meant a yes.
“That fellow of yours,” her landlord called out to her the next time she came home, “The night-owl. How serious are the two of you?” Jamie, not expecting to be interrogated on her love life as soon as she walked in the door, jumped back a bit.
“Pretty serious,” she said with a shrug.
“But how serious? And why hasn’t he ever come here?” He asked, his voice stern. Melina had dropped by Jamie’s several times, but of course, her landlord would never think anything of "a friend" coming over for a visit. The truth of the matter is that Jamie has never, not once, brought a man back over to her apartment. Not even a family member. “You think he’s gonna pop the question any time soon?”
Jamie blinked several times, processing the question. If Melina were to ask her tomorrow, would she say yes? She possibly would. Okay, she definitely would. But would Melina say yes if she had asked?
She was the one trying to get Jamie to move in, so probably.
“I don’t know. Men, you know? Who can tell what goes on in their minds sometimes?” Jamie asked, being completely honest even if it had nothing to do with the question being asked. Her landlord seemed satisfied with this answer, and went back into his apartment.
Jamie continued up the stairs, her head buzzing, wondering why he had brought up proposals. Melina would probably insist that it was some kind of sign. And when the hell did she start thinking of things in terms of how Melina would react as well?
It was, in fact, not a sign. Jamie had discovered that a new potential customer had looked at the complex one of the days she had been over at Melina’s, and inquired about buying a room, but they were all full at the moment. The landlord had insisted that he was very sure that Jamie would be moving out soon.
Melina would probably still insist that this was a sign, and that she was just postponing the inevitable, and that she was being ridiculous. Jamie would maybe concede that one of those statements was true.
She officially moved in about two weeks later.
Melina had, to Jamie’s utter dismay, hired an entire moving crew to clear out Jamie’s tiny apartment. The groups of men, the first and last men to ever step foot in Jamie’s apartment, had made such a loud noise moving around that Jamie was amazed they didn’t wake up the entire city.
“Your fellow’s still not here? Not even gonna bother helping you move into his house?” The landlord grumbled, a nightcap still on his head.
“Hello Mr. Norbury,” Melina greeted him, more cheerful than anyone should be at this time in the morning as she came down the steps carrying a small cat in her arms. The cat was not Jamie’s but a stray that came by her window ledge every so often. Jamie had never fully been able to get the cat to trust her, and she had no idea why it was letting Melina carry it around like a baby.
“Hello Melina,” her landlord greeted back, much brighter than before. He had really taken to Melina, though this had nothing to do with her being a celebrity. Chances are he didn’t even know what she did for a living. He just thought she was Jamie’s pretty friend who came by occasionally for tea. “It’s very nice of you to help Jamie carry everything out. I had hoped to see this fellow Jamie always mentions, but he hasn’t shown. I worry she’s settling for less than she deserves,” he continued, as if Jamie wasn’t standing right there. “Have you met him?”
Melina’s eyes were shining in absolute delight.
“Of course, though I admit I haven’t been doing much to help today, I’ve mostly been just hanging out with this little sweetie,” she said, nuzzling her head into the cat’s fur as the cat just purred away, the two looking like the picture of absolute bliss together. “I’ve met her beau a couple of times. A bit too much of an ego, I’m afraid,” she said with a shake of her head. “She could go for better, but if he makes her happy, who am I to judge?” she asked with a shrug of her shoulders.
“You’ve got a good friend in her, Jamie,” her landlord pointed his finger. “Don’t let this one go.”
“Oh, I don’t intend to,” Jamie said.