The New Guardian

The Bones

Previously: Pointing to the door at the top of the stairs he says, "This is where the rest of the residents live. It's a long hall that leads to the rest of the building." We continue up the second flight of stairs in the opposite direction and make it up the few steps. "And this," he types in the code to the door in the hidden hall, "this is the penthouse. Sorta."

"Sorta?" I question, following behind the man and walking through the door to be met by a small hall and another door.

"I had a hall and false door built in front of the actual door so it gave more privacy and safety to whoever had the penthouse. My last tenant was a politicians daughter and she had a stalker so I wanted to give her some peace of mind. I had this space put in as a precaution. There's a camera doorbell and a second hidden camera above the door in this hall too. You get full access to it and I can access it as well with permission." He takes out a set of keys, unlocks it and happily strides through the door.

"Wow, that was really nice of you." I say walking behind him through the door into the open living space that's giving me major deja vu.

The house looks the same but so different. The space is built in almost exactly the same way but the colors and decor are much darker giving the room a chic air of mystery. Moonlight shines through the large glass panels and illuminates the living room and kitchen area.

"Sorry, let me grab the lights." Monsieur Defarge rubs his hand on the wall trying to find the switch. The sound of his fingers tapping the plastic around the switch can be heard right before the lights pop on. "Anyways, where would you like to start?"

"Just show me the way, Monsieur Defarge." I smile, gesturing him forward to lead me around.

"You got it, Monsieur Agreste and you can call me Florent." He smiles back and walks into the kitchen. "It's a fully stocked kitchen; double sink, dishwasher, fridge, stove, microwave and a good amount of counter space with two seats on the opposite side so people can sit and eat and whatnot."

We take a few steps into the living room. There's a dark blue plush couch and a white marble coffee table with books and a remote in the middle of the room. Florent strides over to the table, grabs the remote and tells me to watch closely.

With a push of a button, a large TV rises from a hidden compartment in a credenza against the opposite wall. "65 inches of high definition, surround sound and all included." He motions me down a hallway and shows me the moderate first bedroom and the little laundry room around the corner next to the first bathroom. Everything is so high end and new.

"How are you liking things so far?" He asks, walking up the stairs to the upper level.

"I love it actually. I can't wait to see the rest of the house."

"Say no more," he pushes the trapdoor up and walks through to the final room. If I didn't know it was shaped the same as Marinette's room, I wouldn't have even noticed because it's so different.

The room was creme, tan and pale yellow and everything in it looked so soft. There were stairs on the left side of the wall and storage under each step that lead to tall closets. At the top of the stairs was an option to go straight up to the roof or to turn to the right and go on a massive platform which I assume lead to the bed but that area was blocked off by yellow privacy curtains.

"Wow, I love it." I say in awe. Walking around the room, seeing the the small full bathroom in the corner, the little sitting area in the opposite corner and the large desk space under the platform bed. "Can I go up?" I point to the curtained area.

"Of course." He leads me up the stairs which light up when we step on them. "These are on a timer from sun down to sun up so you never trip on them or have to worry about a switch to turn them off. At night, when you step on them, they automatically turn on and the light lasts about a minute. But if you need to turn on a light down here, there's a switch at the top and bottom of the stairs too."

"That's so cool." I say, impressed by all the little details. When we get to the platform we round off to the right and move towards the curtained area. Pulling it back, a king sized bed is behind it. There's a small dresser on each side of the bed and a light up strip the length of the faux headboard.

"Wow, everything about this place is perfect." I look over to Florent, who's watching me from the stairs.

"If you think this is perfect, come see upstairs." He nods to the roof and walks up. I close the curtain from around the bed and walk up and out the small door. My eyes adjust to the darkness and he turns on small lights around the little porch of the roof.

Small bulbs illuminate the space, showing off two small chairs, a mini bar and a small inflatable jacuzzi.

"Holy shit, this is awesome!" I exclaim, running my hand along the side of the jacuzzi and walking up to the frosted glass siding. The Edison bulbs along the railing have a special twinkle to them and I feel at home. I need this apartment more than anything right now.

"Now that you've seen it all, what do you think?" The man under the little awning behind me questions, sounding confident he knows my answer.

I turn around to face him with my back against the railing and my hand slides away, barely gripping the edge. I lift my head up towards the raining sky and take a big breath in. I can feel the smile creep onto my face when I say I'll take it.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"Alright, so rent is €4,750 a month, utilities included." Florent slides a thin stack of papers towards me with a pen.

"That works for me." I take the pen and flip through the documents. "Would it be okay if I got these back to you tomorrow night around the same time? I would like to run everything by my lawyers just as a precaution."

"Of course, I'll run it past my team if you have any questions or things you might want to negotiate. Other than that, after you sign that is, this place is yours."

"Thank you so much, Monsieur Defarge,"

"Florent!" He interjects happily.

"Haha, right. Thank you so much, Florent, I'm really excited to live here. Let's hope everything works out."

"I get the feeling it will, Monsieur Agreste." We stand up from our chairs and start to head towards the front door of the lobby.

"Please, if I have to call you Florent, you have to call me Adrien!" I flip my jacket back on and unstrap my umbrella.

Florent puts his hand out to me, "That's a fair deal." We shake hands and he pats my shoulder. "See you soon, Adrien."

I push through the front door, wave and yell my goodbyes as I jog away down a side street to get to an alley to transform.

Plagg flies out of my pocket with excitement when he feels me stop running.

"Adrien! We're getting a new house!"

"Technically an apartment but yes we are. And you know what that means?"

"Mini fridge?" He says zipping by in circles around me.

"Yes, but you also get your own house now too."

"I like you more than cheese right now." He says, his eyes as big as saucers.

"Plagg," I pet his head. "That's the nicest thing you've ever said to me."

"Don't get all emotional on me now, let's just go home and start packing."

"You're right. Plagg, claws out!"

Once again the alley fills with a green light and I'm transformed. I start my trek to father's house and get there in almost no time at all. I make sure the coast is clear and jump back through the window, landing next to my couch.

Right when I land I hear someone walking up to my door. Shit.