Where You Hang Your Hat: Part VIII
They had probably driven past the place a thousand times on their way to and from the campus. It certainly didn't look much like an apartment building. Instead it looked like what it actually had been once; a mill of some sort. The serious looking asphalt parking lot and minimal decorative vegetation made them think it was actually converted for business use. The rather prosaic name of Middleton Mills didn't help all that much either.
The stumbled across it while looking through some listings online. With a little research they learned the name was actually historically applied to the building, which was a red brick edifice with towering white trimmed, multi-paned windows. Despite being slightly more than one hundred years old the building did have a crisp, new look to it, having recently undergone an expensive conversion from dilapidated warehouse space to new studio apartments.
Kim pulled the printout from her cargo pocket. "This can't be right. They want how much for a space here? This close to campus?" The housing market was proving to be a bit tighter than they expected, even around the school where apartments sprang up like kudzu in the South. Up until they got to the converted mill building, they were slowly becoming resigned to either living in a tiny, closet sized apartment with absolutely no furnishings, or they were going to have to live across town.
Both remained adamant in their resolve to move out by the time school started. The 'gift' of having the house to themselves for that weekend back in June, then a ten day private vacation pretty much drove home the fact they were much more comfortable away from Kim's parents. No matter how much they loved them, they knew it would never be quite right living under the same roof under their current circumstances. The week-long family vacation they went on after that hammered the point home even more. Being in a hotel room right next to them, hearing what they did during the night…they almost had to head away again just to have some time that really felt 'private' after that.
"What's not right?" Ron looked up at the second floor windows. The ceilings looked extremely high, reminding them of one of the first places they looked at.
"The asking price for this place. It's like three quarters of what those small little places around the campus want, but we're still just about as far from school as we were from High School." Both of them were in good enough shape to walk that kind of distance, though their senior year they got spoiled by having Ron's battered old hatchback to ride in. For a strange, little moment she missed that car, remembering only the good about the only vehicle they had between them for a while.
"I dunno, KP. You turned your nose up at that other studio apartment we looked at a while back."
"That place cost twice as much as this one and it was a lot further from campus. I don't know about you, honey, but I'd just as soon put up with living with either of our folks for another year if we're still going to have to drive all the way across town anyhow. If this is nice…let me put it this way, we're perfectly welcome in two homes, so if we do the family thing, it can always be in one of those, so an apartment could be our own little private place, just for us, then when our townhouse is ready, that's when we can play host and all that."
"It's your call."
Kim took his hand. "Don't ever talk like that. It's both our calls, every time. We're equal partners in everything."
He smiled softly at her. "I'll remember that the next time we're on a mission and you're calling all the shots."
She gave his hand a good squeeze, a little firmer than would be considered gentle. "Not cool, Ron. We tried it the other way a couple times and, well, we've each got our strengths and we've each got our weaknesses, or would you like me to try my hand at hollandaise sauce again?"
He shuddered, letting go of her hand. "So much butter wasted." He shook his head sadly.
The office was a brick structure that had once been some sort of out-building in the mill complex. Some of the walls had been knocked down and replaced with replicas of the tall windows, making it look like a miniature of the main buildings. Kim still couldn't shake that the place felt much more like an office park than a place where people actually lived.
It was actually cold inside, or it felt that way compared to the July heat outside. They were experiencing one of the hottest summers in memory. The icy sensation was heightened by the fact they had already broken out in a sweat walking the distance from their car to the manager's suite.
The interior was not quite as converted as they expected. The ceiling was still open framework, though the metal braces had been painted white, which, along with the light streaming in from the large windows, made the interior quite nice. The mixture of the new and the old was actually quite pleasant.
Nobody was at the single wooden desk in the lobby. There was a window much like one would find in a high-security bank branch nearby, most likely where some of the poorer tenants would come to pay. The complex was classified as public housing, so it was clear some would probably be paying in cash. To keep thing simple, they had already made arrangements with Ron's father to pay for the entire year in advance out of Ron's trust, freeing them from worrying about the rent. Even at what they were asking for the space, if it weren't furnished, they were going to be spending quite a bit on furniture and appliances.
"Hello?" Ron looked for an old-fashioned bell on the desk, then peeked inside the window.
"Maybe we should have called first." Kim suggested, still looking around at the interior.
"Can I help you?" A small man with a neatly trimmed mustache walked around the corner, grinning at the young couple. He was dressed in what might be considered the standard uniform of a used car salesman. He went right up to Ron, smoothly shaking his hand, while offering a flat box with the other. "Doughnut?"
Ron automatically reached for one of the sprinkle encrusted treats, stopping when Kim glared at him. They had already had a large breakfast and she was starting to get on her high horse about what he ate again.
"My name's Wallace Gruber. I'm the manager of Middleton Mills. Do I take it the two of you are looking for an apartment? We have several lovely units available for immediate lease."
Kim took her turn shaking the man's hand. "Hey, don't I know you from somewhere?"
He smiled right back at her. "Oh, I am sure I would remember somebody as lovely as you. Please, let's go look at the model."
She was ready for that. They had already seen a dozen places and the first thing the manager wanted to show them was the model. Then when it came to the actual unit, the only thing that looked the same was some fresh paint. "Actually, I would just as soon see the units themselves, if you don't mind."
"Ah, a discriminating customer. Of course, if you two would follow me." He led them out a back door, selecting a couple sets of keys on his way. The first unit he took them to was on the first floor. In order to achieve the high-ceilings, it was built halfway underground, causing all the windows to be set somewhat higher in the walls. They lasted about five minutes in there before both of them were turning up their noses at the prospect.
The next one he took them to was on the second floor. Just as they feared, it was mostly unfurnished, save for a small built in oven/range and a decent sized refrigerator. The rest of the space looked much like the studio apartment they looked at before. The walls were partially raw brick, partially clean white sheetrock, with the tang of fresh paint still hanging in the air. It was partitioned off, rather than having completely separate rooms, though the bedroom itself was set back from the large windows along one wall, affording them proper privacy.
Ron was enthralled by the small kitchen. There was just enough space for him to do his magic, and the appliances met with his approval. "Oooo, shiny." He commented, running his hands on the brushed stainless steel doors.
"It's awfully open." Kim said pacing the length of the main space.
"I'm sure once your furniture arrives it will look much nicer." Gruber said, stepping off a space where a couch could sit. There was even a free-standing fireplace, as well as a large, open wall where an entertainment center could be set up.
Ron looked Kim in the eyes. She could tell he was already sold on it, though she was still concerned about having virtually the whole home open to the one large room. The bathroom wasn't much different than what they were used to in her house, but it did have the double sink they were looking for.
Biting her lower lip, she considered it. The price was right, they were willing to lease the place for one year and it did not matter they were still three and four weeks away from turning twenty-one.
"Excuse us." She led Ron out into the hallway and closed the door.
Taking both his hands, she asked. "What do you think?"
"This place is badical! I know it's really open for your tastes, but it's only for a year. It's nicer than anything else we've seen this close to school, and think about it, we could move some furniture around and have enough room to do our workouts. It'd be far better than the garage at home."
"Okay, baby. You said it's my call, but in reality it's not. It's your money we're going to be spending."
"KP, there's no such thing as just my money. You were sitting right with me when I invented the Naco, so you'd be entitled to it even if we weren't together."
"Ronnie, that's sweet, but it's still legally your money."
"I don't care for legal, you know that. Listen, KP, if you don't like the place…"
She put a finger on his lips. "I like it a lot, because I see how much you like it. I say yes."
"You really think so?"
"Yes. They take small pets. The only thing we don't have is that big tub we had our hearts set on, but you've already got the architect putting one in at our townhouse."
"Yeah. Actually, that was already his plan anyway. That's just the way they build them for a home that size. Okay, let's do it."
It took about a week to wrap everything up, and even then it took most of the day for them to get their meager belongings moved into the space. The worst of it was their furniture. With the money they saved on the space they put in an order for a nice bedroom suite, but it was going to take a few days longer for it to be delivered from the plant in North Carolina, so their first night in their new home was going to be spent sleeping on a futon they picked up at a local furniture store. When their new furnishings arrived, it would be converted into a sofa, but for the moment, it was their bed.
Ron fixed them a candlelight dinner, complete with a bottle of wine his father had given them as a housewarming gift. The 'table' was actually one of the larger moving boxes and the 'chairs' were borrowed from Ron's house until their own furniture could come, but he made the best of it, using a white bed sheet folded in half as a table cloth and using some brand new china he picked up along with their first decent load of groceries. The wine glasses were plastic.
"To our first night together in our new home." Kim said, holding up her 'glass.'
Ron responded in kind, but the click was completely obliterated by the sound of a low flying propeller driven airplane passing directly overhead. The could see the landing lights as it dropped beyond the tree-line.
"Oh no." Kim moaned, setting her wind down and burying her face in her hands.
Ron jumped up, running toward the window. "Was it going down?" he was clearly frantic, worried about the passengers on the small plane.
She looked up at him frowning. "They're okay. I was saying 'oh no' because I just remembered something. There's a small airport about a half mile away from here. I've used it a couple times when I hitched rides for a mission."
Ron pursed his lips. "Well, it can't be too bad. We've been here half the day and that's the first plane that's gone over."
She closed her eyes for a second, collecting her thoughts. "I guess you're right. It's not like we're out by the big airport, with jets flying over every five minutes." She actually smiled. "Maybe this will be a good thing. Beats having Hoverjets landing in the parking lot every time they're ready to pick us up." She took a sip of her wine and dug into his latest creation. "Mmm, this is spankin! What is it?"
"Well, I pretty much followed a standard recipe for Duck A L'Orange…"
"Duck?" She asked, dubiously, staring at her plate as if it had just turned into something she had cooked.
"I know, I know, you don't like the thought of eating duck. It's actually better grade chicken, with the same sauce."
"Whew." She took another bite. Something was tickling the back of her mind, diverting her attention from their delicious fare. "Ron, you remember that guy who showed us this place the first day?"
"Yeah. Real slick dude there. Really don't think I could trust him as far as I could throw him."
"Heh. That little guy, I think you could throw him pretty far. No, well, yeah, he did seem a little slimy, but I could swear we've seen him somewhere before. What did he say his name was?"
"Wallace something. I can dig up the copy of our lease, it'll be on there."
"No, that's fine. Sit down and finish your dinner." She grinned across the 'table' as he did so. She had a certain 'christening' ceremony for their new digs later that night, one that involved the shiny black silk nightie Ron bought her that weekend her parents went away. The cable company would not be out until the next day and they hadn't yet put their entertainment center together, so their amusements that evening would be with each other, and she wouldn't have it any other way. Ron had all of the coming year to crash in front of their television. She wanted him all that night.
She opened her mouth to coo sweet nothings at him, but instead of her own voice, a piercing wail thundered through the apartment, followed by a crashing and thumping sound. At first she thought something terrible was going on, but quickly realized is was music, coming presumably from the apartment next door.
"Oh boy." Ron put his fork down, staring at the wall. Or at least that's what she though he said. She couldn't hear it over the driving beat. She wasn't even sure if the music was recorded, or somebody was practicing with a garage band, with all the amplifiers turned to eleven.
Most songs go from three to five minutes. It'll be over soon, she told herself as they finished their dinner without speaking. There really was no point to trying. They would have to shout just about everything to be heard. The worst part was that Kim knew the law. There wasn't a thing they could do about the pounding, poor quality music until eleven that night, and it wasn't quite nine.
It must be somebody trying to sing, she finally decided, glaring at the wall with enough intensity that the offending crooner should have been able to feel it right through the opaque, but surprisingly thin wall.
Wiping her lips, she got up. She had to cup her hands to shout at Ron. "I'm going to take a bath!"
"You're going to sail a raft?" He repeated back in confusion.
Kim rolled her eyes and pantomimed scrubbing her sides. He nodded his understanding and set about cleaning up their dinner.
At least there was a little relief from the wailing and pounding, since the bathroom was on the opposite side of the apartment. She closed the door, cutting out all but the pounding bass beat that actually made the windows vibrate. She was most def going to have to talk to her neighbors the next day. Maybe it was just a party. It was Friday night, after all. Something like that once in a while was fine, though if it went on too long it was going to spoil part of her plans that evening. She was going to use their two hand-held Kimmunicators to play soft, romantic music, and light some candles around their temporary bed. Then they would set about making their new place a home, just for the two of them.
She stripped out of the light summer dress she had worn for their dinner and started the water. Of course, it would have been fun to take her shower with Ron, but she wanted to be extra clean for him, and to make her grand appearance dressed in nothing but that clingy bit of silk. Sure, he had seen her in it several times, but just like her older purple one, he never got tired of seeing her in it, or out of it for that matter. The true test of that kind of nightwear was how short a time it was actually worn, though technically it didn't have to come all the way off.
Putting her hand under the water she frowned. The hot was all the way up, but it was still luke-warm. Maybe Ron was busy doing the dishes, pulling some of the hot water away. Normally she liked it almost scalding, even in the heat of high summer, but it was enough to get by with.
Halfway through the bath, the water changed from lukewarm to room temperature. Growling slightly, she rinsed the last of the suds off and got out. A cold shower was definitely not what she wanted that evening. At least she was able to get clean. She made a mental note to make her sweetie wait until after she was done to do dishes in the future.
Kim toweled her hair dry as much as she could, then got out her hairdryer. Year of being a 'towel off' kind of girl had gone out the window when she decided to let her hair grow out. That worked fine when it came to a point between her shoulder blades, but now that it was down around the small of her back, it took forever to air dry. Plugging it into the outlet, she started gently drying it, brushing it as she went…
…until everything went black.
It took a few moments for her eyes to adjust. The circuit breakers had popped off and she wasn't even using the dryer on its high setting. Growling anew, she fumbled for a towel and wrapped it around her.
There was enough light coming from outside to see the stacked boxes in the apartment, at least vaguely. "Ron? Where are you?"
"I'm looking for the fuse box."
She mentally cursed herself for not thinking to ask where it was. Working up a good snit, she started back toward the bathroom, brushing up against the box they had just used for dinner. That was just enough to make her lightly wrapped towel drop to the floor.
"Got it!" Ron proclaimed happily, as the lights popped back on.
Kim blinked once, then twice. She was standing in the middle of the room, right in front of all the large windows, windows they had not yet put any kind of treatments on. There were enough lights on in the flat so that every bit of her body was fully illuminated, for all the world to see through those crystal clear portals.
Turning as red as the bricks the building was made of, she grabbed the towel from the floor and hastily made it back into the bathroom. This was so not turning out like she thought their first night in their own place was going to.
Trying to make the best of it, she stood in the bathroom door as Ron sat down on the futon, taking off his shoes. The pounding music was still going on, though the singer, who obviously didn't have the talent to even be mocked on American Starmaker, had stopped for the moment. Kim stretched out a leg seductively. "Why don't you put on my favorite suit?"
"What's that, KP? The silk jammies?"
"I was thinking more along the lines of the one you got on your birthday." She grinned, grinding her body lightly against the door jamb.
He confused for a moment. The year before she had gotten him a new video game platform, the one that finally replaced the venerable GameCylinder. Then he put two and two together. "Oh, Birthday suit! Sure thing KP."
"Smiling she ducked back into the bathroom and finished brushing out her hair, leaving it just slightly damp, lest she trip the breakers again. Then she spritzed her body with some of her favorite lavender spray, knowing the smell of her freshly cleaned body combined with it would drive Ron utterly wild. Wild was how she wanted him that evening.
Finally, she slipped into the black silk. The straps were almost invisible, and the bottom only barely long enough to cover her, with slits up both sides so he could see the shape of her upper thighs. It was one of the raciest things she had ever worn, even tough absolutely nothing was actually visible.
The lights were already off and about half a dozen candles were lit. Somebody was still banging a drum-set and plucking a bass guitar in the other apartment, but it wasn't quite so bad by that point. Slipping under the satin comforter with him, she wrapped one leg around his, kissing his chin, then his neck.
"Welcome home, baby." She breathed as his hands scrunched up the bottom of her nightie.
That's when she heard what sounded like a woman's voice go "Oh!" She didn't think much of it, until it was repeated, then again, and again.
Kim sat up in their bed, realizing that just on the other side of the wall that formed the back of their bedroom, there was another couple, already engaged in their evening activities. Her hands went up to her mouth in horror as she realized just how thin the wall actually was.
Ron looked at her in the candlelight, his own ardor vanishing completely as a light thumping started. They both guessed it was a bed hitting the wall. Shaking his head, he turned on a lamp and proceeded to extinguish the candles.
Kim figured out what he was doing right off the bat. She got up and helped him, pulling the futon away from the wall, all the way to where the funnel fireplace sat. It was way too warm, even with the AC on to use it, but at least they were away from the amorous couple in the other adjacent apartment.
Then, miraculously, the music stopped. Only, they were once again able to hear the very loud sounds of romance coming from the other direction. Then another airplane flew over, apparently missing the building by mere inches, or at least it sounded that way.
Kim crawled under the cover, lying on her stomach and putting one of her pillows over her head. Any thoughts of making love with Ron had gone out the window along with part of her sanity. "This is not happening…this is not happening" She repeated over and over as Ron pounded his forehead on a section of brick wall.
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