Cronkri: I won't let you down

Chapter 22: Kankri

It was time. I pulled up to Aranea's apartment complex promptly at 7:30 the next evening. She was waiting outside already.

"Good evening, er, Kankri, was it?"

"Yes. And good evening to you too, Aranea." I greeted her with a smile. We shook hands.

Aranea looked me up and down. "Where are your things? Surely that small bag isn't everything?"

I held up the bag that had been slung over my shoulder. "Yes, actually. I left most of my things back home before I left."

"I see. So you came from out of town?"

"Correct again!"

A small, friendly smile crossed her face as she turned around and started walking into the building. "Follow me!"

I followed her into the building and up the stairs to her, well, our apartment room.

"The move-in should be fairly easy," she said, leading me through the messy apartment and to my new room.

I nodded in agreement and set my bag down on the bed. "So. When do you leave for work in the morning?"

"9:30. I have work on weekdays, but every third week in the month I have Thursday off and leave at 7:30 in the morning."

"Alright, I can work with that. What should I do if something goes wrong around the apartment?"

"You should try to call me. If I don't answer, leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. What if I need to get ahold of you?"

"My cell would be the best option there; I can put my name in the contacts on your phone right now if you want."

She nodded in agreement and handed her phone to me. I put my name and number in her contacts list, and she did the same with my phone.

Aranea clapped her hands together. "Right. Now I think some dinner would be in order. What are you in the mood for?"

My stomach growled at the thought of food; I hadn't eaten in almost a week. "Anything really."

"I was thinking Chipotle? Something to celebrate your arrival."

"Sounds great. When can we leave?"

"As soon as you shower. You smell like shit."

Well, at least she's honest, I thought. "Of course. Where's the shower, again?"

"End of the hall."

"Got it."

I made my way down the hall to the bathroom and locked the door behind me, then stripped down and stepped into the shower. The hot water felt so nice running down me after going so long without a decent, private shower.

After the shower, I put on the clothes that Cronus had lent me before I had been rushed out the door, then walked down the hallway to find Aranea.

"Hello..?"

"I'm over here, Kankri."

"Ah, there you are. We should go eat something now."

She stood up and grabbed her purse, nodding. "I'll drive, if you don't mind."

"As you wish!"

We, well, she drove us to Chipotle. My stomach was growling all during the time we had to wait for our food to get there. I never realized how long it actually takes when you add in the wait time to be seated and the wait time to order and the wait time for the food to be made. At the restaurant, all of the waiters and waitresses attending to us assumed that we were a couple, to which comments we would quickly respond with "No, we're just roommates" or something like that.

Once we had eaten our food, Aranea paid for everything and drove us back to the apartment. By then, it was 9:30.

"We have a couple hours left before I have to go to bed," she started, "you can relax here until then, my only rule for once I go to sleep is that you're quiet. Also, don't leave the lights on overnight."

"I got it. Once you retire to your bedroom, you won't even know I'm here."