Becoming Who I am

2

Photo: Alex

Alex hopped out of the shower and hurried to put some clothes on. It was 7:45, and there was a knock on his door. To the best of his knowledge, that wasn't possible. Tugging on his shirt, he ran to the door. "Frank?" He asked, confused, then noticed the coffee and brown bag in his hand. "Please come in." He motioned him in.

"I can't believe this is the same apartment." Frank chuckled. "I figured you probably have not gotten around to getting breakfast yet." He waived the bag around a bit, Alex nodded eagerly in agreement.

"Yeah, it took most of the night, but I think the smell is finally gone." Alex chuckled.

"I'd say, and the colors are modern." Frank paused. "... cool yet warm." He added it with an obvious amount of thought. They sat and ate the doughnuts Frank brought. Frank was a demanding boss but was the first to offer overtime, and there was going to be plenty of overtime for Alex since Facility 4 was the smallest of his storage facilities. Looking around at the stunning appearance of the apartment at Facility 4, it was time for him to update the counters and at least the fridge. Alex seemed like quite a catch, and keeping his new employee happy will keep him at Facility 4.

It was a long day of hard training, especially since Alex got so little sleep, but he still managed to impress Frank. "Kid, I think you're going to be alright!" He shook Alex's hand. "I know it's the first day, but you're picking up faster than most, and you're obviously not afraid of hard work." He showed Alex how to close the office and then how to inspect the two turn-ins that happened today. Alex thought the job was pretty easy and couldn't wait to see his first paycheck.

Alex finally unloaded his car, then took a drive to a rent-to-own facility. He tried not to do the math on how much each piece would actually cost him. Settling on a black leather reclining couch and matching recliner, some modern tables that were unsupported on one side, making the shape of a C. At $56 a week for three years, they were a rip-off. Then he saw a 48-inch 4K TV, and at another $15 a week and $9 for a week on the TV stand, he couldn't pass it up. He was able to fit the TV and TV stand in his car, but his couch and recliner would have to wait until tomorrow.

Alex sat on his counter that evening, eating a frozen cheeseburger and inspecting his new castle. His kitchen was spartan; he had nothing to put on the counters, and the cabinets were just as bare. His living room had a TV and a TV stand, both looking nice since he put them together and up. He didn't need to see his bedroom to know there were a few boxes of things and his new mattress. By all accounts, he had nothing, only about $100, and needed pots, pans, and plates, not to mention more than one towel. Despite it all, he was happy; this place was his. He went to his room, where the mattress was still set up on the floor.

Frank had offered to get Alex internet as part of the fringe benefit package. This confused him, but he decided to accept. Until then, He got to use the office's wifi; it was DSL and slow, but it was enough for Netflix, or it would have been had his mother not changed the password. He cursed her, opened his laptop, and maybe his mom left him logged in. "Score!" Alex said to himself when Netflix loaded. His profile was gone, so he added "Auto-recovered" to his mom and made a new one with his name. His mother wasn't tech-savvy and would assume that she accidentally deleted both profiles and be too scared to try it again. at least until pay day. He set his laptop down, flopped on his back, and watched TV until he fell asleep.

Alex hopped in the shower. His shower, he grinned, was a small 1.5-man shower. He leaned back and let the water run down his strangely dirty body. He leaned off the wall and grabbed his shampoo off the shelve that was supposed to be shoulder high for most adults, but for Alex was eye level. He was out of the shower a whole thirty minutes before he needed to walk to the office, or thirty minutes before he expected Frank, who said something about breakfast but said something different, to knock on his door. He watched the news until he heard a firm knock from Frank.