Up to Stacy's door

As we walked toward the elevator, I sensed that Tony's gaze had continued to follow me, and then I confirmed my suspicions when I approached the highly polished elevator door and my closer angle allowed me to see his reflection. Stacy leaned over and whispered, "I see you've got a new admirer." Before I could respond, the door opened and we shuffled in. On the panel inside, I saw the floor numbers were listed as B, G, the digits 2 through 11 and P. Stacy reached up and shockingly pressed the top button.

"Does that mean what I think it means?" exclaimed Tina. "You're on the top floor!?"

"Oh, did I forget to mention it's one of the top-floor penthouse suites?" Stacy added nonchalantly. The door closed, but it didn't move.

"Are you pulling my leg again?" Tina accused. "Don't you usually need a special key or something to..." But before she could complete her statement, Stacy had reached into her pocket and pulled out a key that she promptly inserted into the key slot and gave it twist. The elevator instantly began to move upward.

"It's the real deal, Tina. No more tricks for the rest of the night. I promise," Stacy added. The lighted floor indication above the door began to move through the various numbers before displaying P at which point the subtle motion of the elevator stopped and door opened. The hallway ahead only had four doors, and by their placement, it likely meant the top floor was divided into four suites. "This way," Stacy whispered and proceed to the far right door.

As she inserted her key and turned it, she suddenly hesitated. "Oh jeez, I almost forgot. I need to get something before you can come in. Give me a minute to find it." Stacy quickly darted in and closed the door before we could even look inside.

"What the heck is that all about?" Tina asked.

I simply shook my head since I had no idea. Instead I pointed toward the window at the far end. "Check out that view!" Tina and I walked to the end of the hall and looked out over the city. The skyline from here was spectacular. To the far right, I could just barely make out what appeared to be the edge of the State campus, which meant that Stacy's suite might have a great view toward it.

Behind us, we heard the door open and Stacy stepped out holding a piece of paper and a pen. "I almost forgot that my sublease agreement has some rules about guests. I need to have you sign this."

Tina started reading the paper, then suddenly stopped and glared at Stacy. "I thought you promised us there were no more tricks. What's this about?"

I tried reading the paper over Tina's shoulder, but her movements made it difficult to catch more than a few parts. "Before I sign anything, I want to read it over," I added.

Stacy leaned in and spoke in a hushed tone. "The main tenant has some rules that I need to follow in order to keep my sublease. He's created several rules regarding the apartment and the sublessee, that's me, and those also apply to any guests that I happen to invite over. He's rather...eccentric would be one way to put it, and he's somewhat of a neat freak. He has some very specific rules about cleaning, hygiene, acceptable wardrobe, and he also values his privacy very highly. One of the rules is that anything you see in the apartment can't be discussed outside of the apartment." She paused slightly, and assessed our disbelieving stares. Then she added, "This is why I've never been able to tell you about this place until now. Just sign it, and we can go in. I'll explain the rest inside."

Tina shook her head. "He? Your roommate is guy? And now I'm supposed to sign an agreement to some rules I haven't even read? I don't know about this, Stacy. I'm putting an awful lot of trust in you if I sign this."

"He's not trying to hide something illegal, is he?" I asked.

Stacy quickly shook her head. "No, it's nothing like that I assure you. Please just sign it."