Chapter Two
Milo looked for his key to his apartment room door. He had checked all his pockets, including the ones on his trench coat. He checked his briefcase. He even checked inside his shoes. He seemed to have everything but his key."Am I going to have to call the locksmith again?" He banged his head hard on the door in frustration. Though as soon as he did, the door swung wide open, causing him to fall head first on the floor. He his bad knee hit the hard wood and Milo moaned loudly as the pain returned full blast. When it had died down he limped over to the light switch and pulled it. The lights flickered for a moment or two then came on. "Home sweet home" he said sarcastically to himself. The apartment wasn't much. Instead of a dining area, it had a little kitchen with a bar and bar stools. There was a small living room with a two-seater couch, an end table with a lamp, and an old bookshelf that used to belong to his father. His bedroom was even smaller than the living room. It had a double bed with a quilt his mother made before she passed away. The windows had matching curtains and there was a tiny dresser that he could barely fit all his clothes in. There was a one-person bathroom that served its purpose when he didn't have to work on the plumbing (he couldn't afford to pay someone else to do it). It wasn't much but it was home.
Milo hung his trench coat on the coat rack as he walked across the living room to the kitchen. He opened up his fridge and found everything but the fruit he bought yesterday had gone bad.
"Could this day get any worse?" he muttered. After cleaning out all of the expired stuff, Milo grabbed an apple and walked over to the kitchen sink to rinse it. As he turned the cold valve, water suddenly burst out of the nozzle and splashed Milo in the face. By the time he turned the water off, the floor was soaked and so was he. Just then, there was a soft knock at the door. Milo splashed through the puddles and opened the door.
"Hi, Mil... Oh goodness! What happened?" Astrid inquired, when she noticed all the water dripping off of him.
"The kitchen sink is busted." he said, pointing his thumb over his shoulder.
"Are you going to call someone to fix it?"
"I can't afford it. I'll have to fix it myself." Milo stated.
"Is anything else broken?"
"Well, no. Not really. But the thing about this place is, if it's not broken, it still needs to be fixed." as he said this, he looked down at his wet shoes shamefully.
"Why haven't you filed a complaint?"
'Astrid seems to be full of questions today.' Milo thought."You have to remember, Astrid. I'm just a janitor. I can't afford luxuries like lawyers and repairmen. I mean, have you seen the crumby apartment I live in? This place is falling apart!"
"Milo Thatch, you have to remember!" she scolded. "You are a talented linguist; probably one of the best. I mean, you're only 32 and you're fluent in every language out there! And not only that; you're a cartographer as well! Your map-making skills excel those who are 30 years older than you! You're great enough to be a professor at Stayer University! Quit your job and get another where your true talents can be put to use!"
"I would love to quit my job, Astrid, I really would. But you left out one important detail..." Milo sighed before continuing. "Everyone thinks I'm crazy because the Atlantis expedition was a failure." How he wished he could tell her the truth. Would she even believe him? Doubtful.
"Milo, you are not crazy. A little misguided, maybe. But not crazy." Milo smiled a little at her statement and shivered. He was getting cold from being so wet.
"I need to fix the sink and clean up." he said, giving her the cue that she should leave.
"Ok. I'll see you around." she started to leave, but came back and laid something small on the counter. "Thought you might need your key. It must have fallen out of your pocket when they were bullying you." she said, referring to the directors. "Bye, Milo. Think about my advice, ok?" she waved and then closed the door. Milo sighed deeply, rubbed his forehead and limped to the kitchen to get started on the sink.