Chris pushed the door shut behind him and leaned against it, quite still, as his eyes danced in jexcitement around his Aunt's apartment, no he thought to himself, my apartment. He could hardly breathe he was so excited at the idea of finally having a home all to himself where none of his family could belittle or dismiss him.
The sense of freedom he was getting was intoxicating, he still could not believe that he had done it, he had stood up to his family and he was finally free of them.
As he stared around the apartment, he began to revel in the size of it; there was so much room for him to live in, to do his art in. His art that he would no longer have to hide and he thought to himself he could finally be himself and not have to hide who he was any longer.
He felt an elated giddiness come over him as he gleefully moved through the apartment, rushing from room to room as he pulled the curtains open and allowed the rays of the sun to enter the rooms. The bright sunshine poured in, raising his sprits even higher. Chris opened the glass doors that led out to a balcony that ran the length of the living room and leaned over the rail, amazed at the sight of the city below him.
The view was amazing, he could see straight across the bay to the bridge that connected each side of the river and he could now view this amazing sight whenever he wanted he thought to himself from his home. He delighted in the thought of his home, his very own home where he no longer had to feel the disapproval of his parents or the vindictive hatred from his brother any more, the thought of which put an enormous smile on his face.
With a sigh Chris turned his back on the view of the bay as he returned to the living room and gazed around at the contents of the flat, he had not just been left the flat but all of his Aunt's furniture and although he had loved his aunt, her taste in furniture, he did not share.
When he could afford it, he thought he would change the furniture and put his own stamp on the apartment with furniture that best suited him but until that time he would put up with his aunt's furniture which was way too feminine and not really to Chris's taste.
Chris smiled and sighed with pleasure as he lifted the two small suitcases he had brought up from his car and moved towards the bedrooms, there were three bedrooms in the apartment and Chris had already decided to turn them into workrooms where his work could be spread out instead of having to be hidden away like it had been in the mansion so that his brother could not get his greedy hands on it. He then could pick it or put it down as he chose and not worry about losing any of it to Wyatt.
He headed eagerly to the master bedroom; his mind was busy planning where he would put everything in the flat as he changed out of the clothes he had worn to solicitors' office that morning when he had gone to pick up the key, into something more casual and comfortable.
Dressed in an old comfortable pair of knee length denim shorts and a t-shirt, he took the life down to the underground garage to get the rest of his stuff. He lugged two large boxes over to the lift and relieved to see the doors already open, he entered the lift and put them down on the floor as he pressed the button for his floor. He leaned against the side of the lift and watched the numbers tick by as the lift started the slow ascent to his floor.
The building had three apartments to each floor except for the top floor where apartment that had been his aunts but was now his and one other apartment on that floor and he had yet to meet his neighbour, he knew of her, his aunt had mentioned once that it was a young woman but nothing else and he wondered briefly what she would be like. He knew he ahould introduce himself but he was not the overly confident one like his brother and had always been a little shy about meeting new people.
The lift suddenly stopped moving and the doors opened, Chris bent to pick up the two boxes when his eyes registered that the way out of the lift was blocked. Standing in the way were a man and woman who had not noticed the doors of the lift opening or Chris standing there, holding his boxes waiting as they continued in the farewell ministrations to one another.
The man's hands were roving over the perfectly rounded bottom of the woman in his arms and the young woman seemed to be enjoying the attention his hands were giving her bottom as she leaned into his embrace. Chris did not know what to do, he was embarrassed by the show the couple was putting on and all he wanted to do was to head into his apartment. Giving a cough to get the attention of the couple, Chris waited until they noticed him.
"Now, promise you'll be there." He heard the man ask the woman as they finally broke apart from their passionate embrace, finally noticing that the lift doors were open and that they had an audience in the form of Chris, neither of seemed bothered by it.
The woman broke the embrace as she pushed the blonde man towards the lift.
"Gerald, Mr Halliwell has kindly kept the lift waiting for you and you are late for work, which will never do. As for this afternoon, I will think about it, so off you go before you get fired."
Gerald threw a dismissive smile in Chris's direction as he entered the lift before Chris could exit it and as the doors closed behind him he could see the perfect smile that the man directed at the woman who was still standing in the hallway watching him leave. She was leaning against the wall in nothing more than a bathrobe and smiled at Chris as he lugged his boxes towards the front door of his apartment, observing him with amused interest.
"How are doing Mr Halliwell, this fine and beautiful morning?"
She drawled at him as she smiled at him with her perfect smile. Everything about her was perfect Chris thought to himself as he observed what could be no one else but his new neighbour. She was deeply tanned and her brunette hair just past her shoulders in with a few small ringlets scattered in it, her face was oval shaped and there was a look of mischief in her eyes.
He suddenly realised that as he had been studying her, his neighbour had been studying him, taking note of his casual clothes and from what she could see his perfect legs, she had a thing for men's legs and she was pleased that had worn shorts even if they were a bit long for her liking and she wondered what he would look like out of those shorts.
"You know, you have a lovely pair of legs."
Chris suddenly felt uncomfortable at his neighbours compliment, he was not use to people complimenting him on his looks, and most people never noticed him when his brother was around he was so much more perfect than him. He knew that he was not like his brother when it came to perfection, his brunette hair was a little too long and it made his thin face look a little too feminine which his brother had quite often sniggered about.
"Thanks." He muttered as he lowered his eyes in embarrassment and moved towards his door unsure how to take the compliment. The woman uncurled her body from the wall and moved towards him, her bathrobe falling open slightly but she did not notice as she took one of the boxes from Chris.
"Here let me help you before you drop them."
She smiled again at Chris who felt a little weak at the knees, her smile fascinated him and he wondered for a moment what it would be like to kiss those heart shaped lips. He shook his head slightly to get rid of the thought, he was becoming like his brother he thought, and he had only just met this woman and knew nothing about her.
"There's no need, really."
"Nonsense," the woman responded. "I like playing the good Samaritan sometimes but not all the time." She smiled again at him, aware of how her smile affected him.
She moved ahead of him into the apartment, heading straight for the kitchen and placing the box on the breakfast bar, she turned towards Chris as he entered and leaned against the counter behind her, watching him as he placed the box on the coffee table at the centre of the living space of the apartment.
"Do you often help people dressed like that?" Chris asked pointing to her bathrobe that had opened a little more, revealing her breasts a little; she smirked as she adjusted it to cover herself once more.
"What's wrong with this? It's very comfortable and in fact is covering up more than what you have on not that I am complaining, I find your body quite delightful." She smirked at him as she moved her eyes once more over his body, making Chris feel even more uncomfortable.
Without another comment she ambled over to the door to return to her own apartment, as she reached the door she stopped for a moment as she turned back to Chris.
"By the way, my name is Bianca and it was good meeting you Chris."
She smiled seductively as she left Chris who just stared at her in utter amazement.