Sofie
“This makes all the old, famous, ivy-covered buildings at Columbia look like piles of fucking garbage!”
Those are my first words in the new place, I shout them as we walk into the lobby.
Yeah, I think it's technically a lobby.
The guys roar with laughter and the sound echoes deeply around the front hall.
Not a scary, ancient-sounding echo like the ones you can hear in the administrative building where the Dean presides. This is the opposite: a beautiful reverberation around the marble floor and stairs.
I stare up at the ornate friezes in the ceiling. I don't know where I'm going, and I’m gleefully guzzling my first glass of champagne. I just follow the guys up the red carpet laid out in the marble staircase.
“Just so you know, there’s at least one elevator in all the buildings in the property, and there’s one for each wing of the mansion,” Oliver asserts proudly.
“Oliver’s showboating,” says Lucas, “there are only a handful of buildings apart from the mansion.”
I'm finished with my first flute of champagne, and I haven’t seen much except for the front hall lobby place and the stairwell. I try to hold in my gasp when I get my first sight of a huge, central courtyard from the second story window.
Just during a quick peek while passing the window, I spot an array of plant life that could put the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens to shame.
Reality begins to hit me hard in the best way possible.
This is my home now, and I can spend all the time I want in that courtyard. Anytime I want.
I get a fresh shiver of excitement, and I don’t even want any more champagne.
“Anybody want this?” I hold the champagne flute high in the air, and Lucas gently takes it from my hand.
“So, what’s your take so far?” Elijah asks me with a gleam in his eye.
He knows damn well that I’m freaking out about the courtyard, and they all know damn well that I’m just fucking beside myself right now.
“I’m getting hungry, actually.”
Since they all know how I feel, I don’t need to say it. Besides, I have a feeling there will be plenty of opportunity for all of us to express our excitement not too long from now.
I’m also not really getting hungry, but that should be clear.
“Oh, I think we can take care of that soon enough.” Lucas gets the idea.
We reach the end of the hallway, and suddenly we're in a room that doesn't quite look like it belongs here.
That’s no complaint: it’s super comfortable and just standing here feels great.
There’s a tiny bit of chill from the air conditioning. I would’ve thought it was too cold for that, but it's the perfect temperature.
There's cream colored carpeting, an insanely expensive looking stereo system—not that I know much about that kind of shit—and an empty black display case next to it.
It seems like it’s meant to showcase awards, but there are none there.
“That empty awards display is a bit presumptuous, guys. Don’t you think?”
“Eh, it could be for awards, but could be for anything,” Lucas admits, “I don’t think we’ve figured it out, yet.”
I spot a few plaques handing from the hall at the edge of my vision. Giving them a quick glance, I see that they’re from NYU, and Columbia, and several community colleges from throughout the region, recognizing BioKin for its generosity.
I’m just about to ask why they don’t keep those at BioKin, but I stop myself when I realize that they don’t want to show them off—which is fine, since I know the money really came from their own pockets.
Before I look away, I also notice some old newspaper and magazine clippings framed on the wall—all of them are BioKin-related articles from seminal points in the company’s rise.
“This would be a nice space to set up some research equipment,” I quip.
“Oh, we converted an entire carriage into a research facility,” Lucas informs me. “Nothing crazy, really, but we’re looking to maybe expand it in the future.”
“We made sure it competes with the facilities you use most often at Columbia,” adds Oliver.
I don't even think I could process that right now so, I just scope out the room a bit more than I normally would.
It’s quite a bit larger than it seemed at first. I notice several bookshelves neatly lined up in one corner with a couple amazingly inviting recliners nearby.
“Jesus, you guys ever hear of watching TV?”
I flash my smile again, and this time Lucas is game.
“I haven’t, is that a show on Netflix or something?”
I spot a colossal television in the far corner of the room from the bookshelf.
“What about that one?” I point at the TV with purpose and a bit of coquettishness, sort of resembling a classic pinup pose.
“Well, there is that one,” Lucas admits with fake sheepishness.
“There’s also the screening room.” Oliver shrugs, as if that’s a normal, no-big-deal thing for him to mention.
“So, you guys have a movie theatre is what you’re saying?”
“We had one put in downstairs, that’s all,” says Elijah, really savoring his turn to ham it up with false modesty. “All we did was make sure we had the best private cinema on the Eastern seaboard, with acoustics that compete with Radio City, first-run distribution from major studios...”
“So, just mainstream Hollywood stuff?” I brandish my jokey grin at them yet again, allowing a hint of edginess to it this time.
“You prefer foreign films?” Oliver sounds like he may or may not be in on the joke.
“Mmmmaybe,” I respond.
“I think I know the kind of flicks Sofie’s talking about,” Lucas declares, his grin growing to match mine.
Fuck, I think I’m getting hungry, because there’s some part of me that’s beginning to growl and grumble.
It may not be my stomach, though.
“Ohhhh, I don’t know what kinda shit you guys are into...”
“Whatever you’re into.” Elijah’s right on the ball as usual.
“Oh, shit, I guess I figured you all right the fuck out, then.”
“I believe you have, Sof,” Oliver avows with a nod, “and that belief is, how should I put this…strong as fuck.”
With that, the tour continues, and I follow the guys back out into the lavish, opulent hallway—now there’s a phrase I never expected to associate with any present or future home of mine.
I spot a heavy, wooden door partially ajar just as we leave the room.
“What’s in there?” I ask.
“Oh, that’s just one of the bathrooms,” Elijah says, “if you’d like to check it out, it’s pretty much the same as all the others.”
“Well, yeah. It’s a tour, isn’t it?” Since I’m closest to the door, I let myself right in.
“Uh, guys?” I call out.
“What is it, Sofie?” Oliver responds from the hallway.
“Are you sure this is a bathroom? I mean, I see a bathtub way over there, and a separate walk-in shower, and there is a toilet, and a bidet, but...”
I hear the guys chuckling quietly in the hallway.
“But what, Sofie?” Lucas asks with a small laugh.
I step back out into the hallway to answer in person.
“It’s like twice the size of my apartment, and there’s a fucking crystal chandelier and it’s the nicest room that I’ve ever seen, of any kind, in my life.”
The guys aren’t laughing anymore, but they’re beaming, just enjoying the crap out seeing me so impressed.
“It is pretty fucking nice, Sofie, and there’s another one attached to your study.”
“Another one like that? How many of those bathrooms could there be in this place?”
“They’re all like that,” Oliver responds. “Every bedroom has an en-suite, and then there are a few separate baths like that one, so there’s a couple dozen all together.”
“Yeah, so that’s fucking mindboggling and I can’t even...wait, did you say my study?”
“We have one that’s intended especially for you by one of the bedrooms.” Elijah’s looking at me tenderly as he delivers all this crazy fucking news, and I feel myself melting from that alone. “That bedroom is also yours, but...”
“...you can have any bedroom you want, and you’re beyond welcome to change your mind at any time,” Oliver interjects, helping to finish Elijah’s thought.
I’m not really processing any of this yet, but I think I’m going to have the time of my fucking life settling in here. After seeing that bathroom, I start considering what my bedroom could possibly be like, and what could be taking place there after the tour.
I’m struck by a strong, sudden urge to skip to that part of the tour, and save the rest for later...until I feel myself go cold at the thought of my room.
I remember that still have a room at my apartment, and a best friend who’s still there, expecting me to still be her roommate at least part of the time.
Fuck.
“I’d ask what you’d like to see next,” Oliver begins, “but I think your mind might be back in the city right now.”
“Is it that obvious?” I can see by all three of their expressions that it is, at least to them.
“We designated a room for her, you know,” Oliver says, then looks to Elijah to pick up the baton.
“It’s one of the nicer ones, and it’s waiting for her any time she wants to stay here.
“You guys set up a guest room just for Chloe?”
Lucas gives me a smile with a warmth I rarely see from him.
“Do you think we’d dream of having it any other fucking way?”
I take a second to look at the ceiling, seeing that there are different friezes on the ceiling here than downstairs...and trying not to feel overwhelmed.
Goddamn, they really did it all for me, didn’t they?
I wipe away a tear from each eye with the back of my hand, and look back down at Elijah, at Lucas, and at Oliver.
I just need to say two words, and I’ll be ready to continue the tour.
“Thank you.”
My eyes drift to the other end of the long, red-carpeted hall.
I wonder if my bedroom is behind one of those doors.
“Hey, I know there’s a lot to see, but I wouldn’t mind putting the tour on hold for now and just seeing my bedroom...I’d like to christen it properly before seeing anything else.”
Yes. After all the sweet things they’ve thought of for me, I’d say the tour could wait.