Swing Life Away [Kellic]

Chapter Fifteen

Ah yes, finally a chapter that's exceeding 1,000 words. And I managed to write this before the weekend too, how nice. Enjoy!

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I got to work late the next morning. Old Herb woke up on the wrong side of bed decided to take it out on Jack and I. He kept us on our toes, making us tidy up the shelves and wipe down every surface for no reason other than he enjoyed ordering us about. By lunchtime, I had been showered thoroughly with spit from Herbert's yelling fest. Jack fared better than I did due to his height advantage but his usually playful demeanour had been dampened too. I thought I wouldn't last to the time when Herbert announced the beginning of his lunch break, slamming the door on the two of us mopping the floors for the third time that day.

I breathed a sigh of relief and Jack tossed his mop to the floor, letting it hit the tiles noisily.

"What got in his pants today?" Jack grumbled, bending down to pick up the mop he had dropped.

"I dunno," I mumbled, propping up my own mop against a wall and pushing the bucket of water aside. "Let's go eat. I'm hungry," I said to him. "We can clean this up when we come back and say we finished the job."

Jack grunted in agreement. "Hey, are you going house hunting today?" He asked.

I did a quick mental check. "No, no I'm not," I replied. "Why?"

"I have a friend who's got a room to rent," he explained. "It's quite a nice place and he'll give you a good deal. We can go and check it out today if you want."

"Yeah, sure," I said. Anything to get my mind off this horrible morning.

Jack gave his friend a quick phone call and arranged for us to meet. He got an address off his friend and we set off for towards the place. It wasn't too long a walk away. We grabbed lunch along the way and ate on the go. We had casual conversation about every subject outside of work. I learned that he and Alex were going strong but Jack was worried about how long it would last because college was coming in a few months and he doesn't know where he would be going. I told him how Copeland and Vic were doing at home.

All conversation stopped when we reached the area. It was a nice, quiet place. The apartment blocks were well maintained and there wasn't a patch of its coffee coloured paint work that was peeling. It was gated property with a guard house and a lone, bored looking man posted at the gates. I highly doubted that this place was within my budget but Jack seemed quite pleased with it. And he had quite a clear idea of what my budget was.

"He should be here any minute," Jack told me as he looked around for his friend.

"Are you sure I can afford this place?" I asked him. "It seems a bit too fancy."

Jack waved away my concern. "Rian said he'll take whatever you can pay him," he replied. "He moved in with his girlfriend recently and he just wants somebody to keep this place nice and clean. He's not really doing it for the cash."

"Wow," I said in a small voice, finding it all too good to be true, and Jack chuckled in reply. "Why doesn't he just sell the place?"

"Just in case he breaks up with his girlfriend," Jack joked. "Beats me but here he comes."

I looked down the street where Jack was facing and saw a guy walk towards us. He had crew cut hair and a smile like a toothpaste advertisement. He must be Rian because he stopped right before us and Jack gave him a friendly handshake and pat on the back.

"Rian, this is Kellin," Jack introduced and Rian offered me his hand to shake. "Kellin, Rian."

"Nice to meet you," I said politely, taking his hand.

"Likewise," Rian smiled. "Come on, I'll show you the place. See if it's good enough for you."

Rian walked in past the guardhouse and Jack and I followed. I was pretty sure that the place was good enough for me from the outside alone but I didn't say anything. We got to the building furthest away from the gates and went into the lift at the open air lobby.

"This is where you can park your car," Rian gestured to the space below the building. It was empty at the moment because everybody was out at work but I noticed the yellow boxes painted on the cement floor.

In the lift, he pressed the button with the number "5" on it and the doors closed. On the short ride up, Rian explained a few quirks about the unit. Hot water was limitless but he shower head is temperamental. One bedroom window doesn't really open and if it does open, it doesn't close back. It's fully furnished but the sofa might need upholstering.

By the time we reached the unit, I was already sold. I didn't need any more convincing, I wanted to discuss rent prices straight away. But I kept my cool, letting Rian take us on a tour around the place. The unit had a kitchen corner and counter and two bedrooms with a connecting bathroom. The living room was about as big as my entire home now. A sofa sat in the middle of the room facing a TV hooked up to a satellite.

"What do you think?" Rian asked me at the end of the house tour.

"It's great, what's the rent?"

Rian gave it a thought before answering. "Two hundred a month, excluding electricity and water bills," he offered.

It was roughly what I had to pay for rent at the moment. It was more than reasonable. I nodded. "That's great," I grinned.

"So is that a yes?"

"I... I'll have to talk to my family about it," I told him. "Can I give you a call later on to confirm?"

"Sure," Rian smiled good naturedly. "Jack can give you my number. The place is ready for you to move in whenever."

"Lunch break's almost over," Jack spoke up.

We parted ways with Rian and I thanked him one more time before we left. I was over the moon. This was all too good to be true. I must be dreaming. I must've been.

I was floating on cloud nine for the rest of the day. Not even Herbert's foul mood could put a damper on my happiness. Everything was great until I went home that evening. Then my dream turned into a nightmare. A nightmare I've had many times before.

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