This wasn't going to be cheap. In fact it seemed to be the opposite of cheap. Not that it bothered Arthur's pocketbook much but it was inconvenient. There was no way to know how long the repairs would take.
"Do you have a place to stay tonight?" The worker asked.
"I'm working on lining something up," Arthur replied, not looking away from his phone.
"Have you talked to Merlin?" His landlady asked. She was a stout woman of 50 years, her once dark hair had grayed.
Arthur looked over at the landlady and squinted."Who's Merlin?"
Apparently Merlin was another tenant of the building who lived on the ninth floor. Their apartments had the same layout but Merlin's had fewer upgrades and more color.
"Hello Merlin, this is Arthur, he lives upstairs." The landlady introduced.
"Hi," Merlin stepped out into the hallway. "What do you need?"
"I saw your ad, I would have printed out a resume but it was sudden." Arthur explained.
"You want to work for me?" Merlin asked.
"Until the repairs are done, yes," Arthur said.
"It's for room and board not money," Merlin said.
"I have enough money." Arthur defended.
"Shhhh! Not so loud you'll wake him up." Merlin hushed.
"Who?"
"The baby. He's the cutest thing." Their landlady said.
Merlin smiled, "Thank you Alice."
"Wait, you have a child?" Arthur asked.
"A nine month old, Mordred. He's a good baby," Merlin said.
"I don't deal with kids well." Arthur said.
"Well, you'll never learn anything about them if you don't interact with one." Alice said.
Arthur wasn't planning on having children. His career was all he needed in life. He didn't have a lot of close friends and doubted that he could entertain a lady long enough to have a child. The closet he had come was with Gwen but she broke them up and said he snored like a pig. Arthur did not snore like a pig. He was as sure of it as he was sure he would be a terrible parent.
"Okay, I'll learn." Arthur accepted.