The day started with...


The day started with homemade coffee. Stephanie typically grabbed a cup from a cafe, but her Aunt Sue had been generous enough to provide the “happy couple” with a Keurig. It was the first wedding gift Stephanie and Oliver had used, and coincidentally the first time Stephanie had made herself coffee. 

The apartment walls were still barren save for a few test paint splotches, the floors remained unfinished, and the moving boxes lingered in the same corner as a week ago. Looking at the mess made Stephanie bite her nails, but this week had been too busy to do anything about it. She tried to avert her eyes and while she made breakfast.

It was the last apartment in the building. Apparently, it was haunted. The owner, Mr. Evans, had died under “mysterious circumstances” shortly before Stephanie and Oliver moved in, and Old Man Jenkins always told them his spirit would never rest as long as they lived there. Oliver dismissed the rumors, prompting Stephanie to do the same, but secretly she was a bit nervous about living in such a dilapidated and eerie building.

After pouring morning coffee for Oliver, who was still sleeping, and herself, she headed to work. She despised the commute. It was much too far, but Oliver’s office was only two blocks away. With marriage comes compromise, her mother would always say. Stephanie wondered when compromise would mean she got what she wanted.

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