Fiore Valley Apartments

Update 3

But I just couldn't move. It felt like someone had put a pendulum in the middle of the tub. I was getting hypnotized. My head was whirling around. My vision was about to drop. All of a sudden, a bulb blasted and I fell on the floor with the biggest scream I ever screamed. No. That was it. I got up and washed my face with water from the sink. My stuff was where I left it. Monty was walking back and forth. Fishy. But I didn't care. I had enough to worry about. I placed him on my pet bag and took my stuff. I was looking for the keys when I suddenly remembered it's in my laptop bag. I quickly opened my bag...but what on the Earth, it wasn't there. While I clearly remembered I placed it in the 3rd pocket by my own right hand. Then, I checked my left pant pocket. It was there! What exactly was going on?! It was like someone tore some pages of my life book and re-organized it in his own way. Nothing was how it was supposed to be like.

I took the pet bag and my stuff and left the apartment. It was 7:23 P.M. on my watch. It was a good time to start. I just needed to get out of that building. I was living in it for the last 7 years of my life. It never acted that weird to me. Since I was talking about going to California, it changed. What was this indicating? I had no clue.The hallway was dark once again. It was weird because the bulbs were lighting its utmost when I walked in. I was going to talk to Roger about all these. But I had no time. I started walking again. Loud metal music was coming from 7D. I liked metal music but it was irrelevant at that moment. Suddenly, I saw two yellow eyes with red stains staring right at me. They were located probably 20 yards from me. I took my keys out and flashed the light and suddenly I saw that black cat. Its body completely mixed with the darkness of the hallway. The moment my light flashed on his body, it jumped towards the fire exit on its left. Monty was looking forward. It's weird how he saw a cat jumping on the left door and didn't react a bit. He was just looking like there was nothing.

Nothing happened on the elevator. I got off and gave a warm hug to Roger before leaving. I also told him to tell the maintenance to look over my apartment after every one week. I also told him to clean my car after every one week. He told me not to worry about that stuff. I was good to go. I called an Uber and took the ride to LaGuardia Airport. The commute was just fine.

The moment I got off in Palm Springs, it felt like I came 300 ft. near the Sun. Probably, I've never been to such a hot place before. On regular days, it averages 103 to 105 degrees Fahrenheit. I had to take my suit off when I was going to the luggage claim. First, it was hot. Second, they had a luggage claim far away from the arrival station. The site manager was there to pick me up. The gentleman introduced himself as Mr. Robert Jones.

"Hope you had an excellent commute, sir. I'm here to look after you," he said in a professional way.

"Thanks for worrying, Mr. Jones. I'm 25. I can look after myself. I'd rather have you help me on our project," I said.

"Sure sir," he said with a smile.

"Did you send some people to Fiore Valley to organize my apartment?" I asked.

"Yes, sir. It's completely ready for your use. We have even arranged for some Chinese fried rice with boiled chicken for you. I heard you work out. So, I thought probably you will like such choice," he said with a smile.

"Great job, sir. I am really hungry and sleepy. So, let's go!" I said.

They arranged for a Range Rover for my personal use. I loved it. It took us 20 minutes to go to my community. It was night time. So, obviously, I couldn't really look at its features properly. There was barely lighting present. Surely, this wasn't New York City which never sleeps. I did probably figure out that the garden started from the left of the entrance path and it continued inside. There was a big gate. That was the community gate. Mr. Jones was driving the car. He started pressing the horn. The gates started opening. We were getting inside when suddenly a guard popped up from the right. He was probably older than Roger. Peculiarly, he was wearing sunglasses in the night.

"Identification?" he was coughing and asking.

"I'm Cedar Boxwood, the new tenant," I said while passing my driver's license.

"Welcome to Fiore Valley Apartments, sir. I'm Nicholas, the only security guard in this community. Please see Mr. Poll, our community director, for your keys and other necessary things," he said as he passed my license.

So, we went to the director's office. It was awkward how he was working at this time of the night. I still went in with Mr. Jones. This guy was on his robe. He had a big nose and a pair of thin glasses falling to its lowest position available. He was looking into a picture frame. It wasn't my business to think about whose picture was that. As we walked in, he quickly placed it under his desk.

"I'm Cedar Boxwood," I said as I went forward for a handshake.

"Ah, the Vice President of Boxwood Softwares. What a pleasure!" he said and shook my hand. But he looked a little lost. His smile was dry.

"The formalities before I walk in?" I asked.

"Sure. I've everything ready. You just need to sign these papers in this folder, and I've the key right here," he said.

"Sure," I replied.

I signed them all. He gave me the keys and I dismissed Mr. Jones. We are supposed to meet tomorrow at 10 A.M. on the site. He wanted to accompany me to my apartment, but I said it was okay. I started walking through the little paths made in between the porches. There were some beautiful fireflies flying on top of the porches. I was walking slowly. As I was walking, I thought of Monty. He used to be an active dog. He liked to play with me, get some food from me and he also used to bark a lot. From yesterday, I was seeing a bit of change in him. I didn't know. He was always quite. He didn't even try to sleep. He was always wide awake; staring forward like someone have hypnotized him. I didn't know what was going on in life. I was just a successful, lonely person whose life was changing in the most horrific way possible. Something big was going on. I just didn't know what...