Where were you?

Jobless

Taking the subway back home in the middle of the morning proved to be a refreshing experience - virtually no crowd, no bodies to squeeze against.

So this is what the interior looks like...

Absently letting his mind wander, Dimi reached his stop and got off on auto-pilot.

"Dimi? Dimi, is that you?" a voice called in the distance and he was rudely pulled back into himself.
Looking up he, spots a familiar face smiling at him.

"Heyyy Kent, how's it going," Dimi scratched his head and looked at the floor.

"Unbelievable! It is you! Bring it in!" Kent reached over for a hearty hug and Dimi, well, was Dimi.

Awkwardly embracing, Dimi noticed the nostalgic scent of woodland musk. "You still have it," he mumbled as Kent moved back.

"Well yeah, it...reminds me of you," Kent flashed a wide, sheepish grin.

"Huh."

"Well, how're you? We haven't spoken in...forever," Kent bumped shoulders as they headed towards the exit.

"Um...nothing much, I guess. Uh, I just quit my job this morning," Dimi shrugged, "How's 'bout you?"

Kent's face lit up. "You finally left that shithole?"

Dimi let out a small laugh, "yeah, finally."

"This calls for a celebration, I know a place," Kent picked up the pace.

"What, now?" Dimi stared after him.

"Yeah, why not?" Kent turned, walking backwards. "You're jobless, I'm jobless, the world's working for us now."

Dimi shook his head and laughed, "yeah, why not."

Entering a large luxrious lobby, Dimi looked around, drinking in the marbled walls, dangling chandeliers and the smell of an early spring. "This is the place?"

"It could be, or it could be another stop before the actual place," Kent grinned, leaning on the counter as the clerk busily looked at the screen for something.

"What?" Dimi looked over to Kent, just as the clerk passed him two cards.

"Here you go, Mr Kent. If you need anything, please don't hesitate to call us using the phone provided in the room," the clerk smiled pleasantly at Mister Kent then at Dimi. "Please allow Adrianna to escort you to your suite," he gestured to a lady dressed in the red two piece uniform and she too smiled pleasantly.

"Thanks Jimmy," Kent flashed a grin and slides a bill into the clerk's front pocket before turning to Adrianna. "Pleasure, Adrianna, lead the way," Kent winked at Dimi's face and pushed him forward. "Yes, a lot to take in, but please, allow the lovely lady to escort us to our suite."

Adrianna led them to another lift on the far side of the lobby and bade them goodbye as they entered the lift.

"Mister Kent?" Dimi looked at Kent through his hair.

Kent laughed sheepishly and leaned into the corner of the lift. "It's one of the perks you get when you...live here, I guess."

"You live here?" Dimi folded his arms, turning sideways to Kent.

Kent sighed and gave a small smile. "It was a business deal, the owner wanted to sell a wasted space that seemingly had no future. So I liquidated my shares and bought it out from under the company. I've never seen Freida so furious," Kent chuckled.

"Wha-" Dimi's mouth was agaped.

"It was pure luck. Peter didn't like Freida's way of handling things, so I struck a deal with him . He sold it to me for a cheaper price and I could do the improvements and turn it into a luxury hotel," Kent grinned, remembering the story.

"Yeah, you sure lucked out," Dimi looked at the floor, the soft awkward jingle of the lift music hung around the air.

"Dimi," Kent approached him. "Surprise, and well, happy birthday," he said softly as the lift dinged and doors opened.

The suite was on the highest level and took up the entire floor. It had a glass window that stretched from one end to the other, spilling the day light onto a purple velveteen sofa with light gold trimmings. To the right was a small hallway to another wing, leading to the master bedroom with a king-sized bed, wrapped in soft, black satin sheets. Just beside the hallway was a small bar, complete with the wine racks, liquor shelves, refrigerator and sink.

Back to the plush sofa, the accomodating table had an in built mini-fridge. To the left, was a petite kitchenette, big enough to house a normal sized refrigerator, with enough space to facilitate simple cooking.

"Birthday?" Dimi walked to sofa and looked around. On the small table, there was 'Happy Birthday Dimi' spelt in wax and small balloon tied to what looked like a luxury box of branded chocolates. "How?"

"It wasn't a coincidence I met you at the subway station. I mean, well, it was, 'cause I was gonna go to your office," Kent sputtered uncharacteristcally.

"Why," Dimi sank into the sofa and Kent sat beside him, offering him the chocolates.

There were too many questions, Dimi could only sit in a noisy silence as Kent tried give a tour.
But Dimi wasn't listening to Kent.

"You've made it, Kent. You've made it big," Dimi said  to the wax alphabets. "And you decided to come get me, and what, shove this in my face?" Dimi turned to Kent, suddenly. The rage in his eyes made Kent flinch.

"Dimi," Kent looked away, shoulders slumped.

"We broke up years ago Kent, years. You don't get to come back one day, act all chummy and expect me to what, crawl back to you just because you're some high and mighty..." Dimi gestured around with his hands, struggling to find the words, "...ass hat."

"That's not why I brought you here, Dimwit," Kent tapped Dimi's head. "It's your frikkin' birthday, and yes I went out of my way a little, but I just wanted to surprise you," he shoved the box of chocolates into Dimi's hands.

Dimi frowned. And narrowed his eyes. "You're not making sense. We never kept in contact ever since. A random passing by would be coincidence, but you don't bring random strangers back to a hotel room and say 'surprise motherfucker, happy fuckin' birthday' and expect them to I don't know, be normal?"

Kent laughed sheepishly and held his hands out. "That's fair, but, you're not a random stranger, and this is technically my house," he headed to the bar and started making a drink.

"...That's not any better," Dimi grumbled, simmering down, but still watching Kent carefully. Tearing away at the plastic wrap around the box, he re-tied the balloon to a piece of chocolate and sent it towards Kent. "Thanks for the chocolates," Dimi tapped the box before setting it down, and popped one into his mouth.

Kent grinned, "pleasure's all mine, Mister Dimitri," he did a mock bow and offered a glass with a lemon yellow solution. "Whiskey sour for the good sir, without the egg white," Kent winked.

Dimi rolled his eyes but took the drink. For the first time in a long while, he felt himself relax.