The Apartment Read Online Free Page A

the mainstay of her wardrobe. Claire couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen her in a dress.
    “I delivered triplets today,” she announced to the three women sitting at the table, as she sat down next to Morgan.
    “At least you did something useful,” Claire said admiringly, and Sasha shook her head when Morgan offered her a glass of wine.
    “I’m still on call. I may have to go back later. We almost lost one of the triplets, but there were three OBs in the room. They let me close the C-section, but it was pretty impressive. We had three pediatricians too. The mom was forty-six—they were IVF babies. They were two months premature, but it looks like they’re going to be okay. I don’t know why anyone would want triplets at her age. Her husband’s in his sixties—he’ll be in his eighties when they graduate from college. But they were ecstatic, first babies for both of them. They got married last year. Instant family. She’s a big deal on Wall Street, and he’s a CEO of something. Maybe that’ll be us someday,” Sasha said with a smile as she helped herself to some of the Caesar salad. She’d had a sandwich at the hospital, but she could never resist the food Max sent home with Morgan. It was always delicious.
    “Don’t count on me,” Morgan said, finishing her wine, at the thought of having triplets in her forties. “I’d jump off a bridge first.”
    “I’d love to have a baby,” Abby said softly, “just not yet.”
    “And hopefully not with Ivan,” Morgan said honestly, “if you want him to support it. You need a guy with a job, if you want to have kids, and be involved with someone responsible,” which Ivan wasn’t. They knew that Abby’s parents still helped her at twenty-nine, which she was embarrassed about. She wanted to be independent, but so far no one had bought her work.
    Claire made a decent salary, and Morgan worked hard to make what she did working for George Lewis. Her parents had been dead broke, and she and her brother had had jobs since they were kids. They both knew what it had been like to grow up with too little money. Abby and Sasha had been born into wealthy families, or at least families who had money and were very “comfortable.” But the different circumstances the four roommates had known as kids didn’t separate them. They were open about their previous lives and histories and were well aware that no life, with or without money, was as easy as it appeared from the outside.
    “I don’t want kids for a long time,” Abby said thoughtfully.
    “You too can have a baby at forty-six,” Sasha said with a grin, helping herself to a piece of chicken. They all looked pleased to be together, sharing a meal, and relaxing at the end of their day.
    “That seems a little late,” Abby said, looking pensive. She took everything literally, just as she believed Ivan’s lies.
    “No shit,” Sasha said, and laughed. “Remind me not to have babies when I’m nearly fifty.” But she couldn’t imagine having kids anytime soon either. She still had years of studying ahead of her, with the specialty she’d chosen. “I don’t know what the answer is. Life moves so damn fast, and then you wake up one day and suddenly you’re old. I can’t believe I’m already thirty-two. It feels like I was eighteen about two weeks ago.” Sasha shook her head as she thought about it.
    “Don’t whine to me—I’m a year older than you are.” Morgan spoke to her directly, and then looked at the other two women seriously. “And you guys are just babies.” She was five years older than Claire, and four years older than Abby. “It all goes by too fast, and there’s so much I still want to do, to get where I want to be.” She had come a long, long way in the years since she’d graduated from business school, and by most people’s standards she was very successful, but Morgan had always set the bar high for herself.
    Sasha stood up from the table then with a yawn, and walked her