She was grateful each time she turned the key and the engine decided to turn over and work for another day. She climbed the broken staircase, careful to not lean against the rusted out railing. She’d made that mistake once and had almost fallen through. The only thing that saved her had been her great reflexes. She reached her door and inserted the key and spent the next couple of minutes wiggling it around until it finally grasped the mechanisms inside the knob and turned. She rushed inside, quickly relocking the door. She breathed a sigh of relief as she entered the safety of her apartment. She’d seriously be in trouble if someone was ever chasing her because she certainly wouldn’t be able to get inside quickly enough to save herself. Nicole looked around the worn out studio apartment in disgust. It was scarcely furnished with second hand furniture, which had seen much better days. She tried to make her place as homey as possible but with her very limited budget there wasn’t very much she could do.
