The Dramas Of Apartment 5B

The Lucky Interview

We drove to the apartment building discussing what questions they would ask, "probably typical questions, if we smoke, any pets,where we work and what we study" Lara shrugged, "I've got our references and all that information we gave to the sorority house, do you think that will work?" I asked, "should be fine" Natalie said turning the steering wheel and continuing to follow the dark gray jeep in front of us.

We all arrived at the apartment building within an hour it was tall and had several windows.The elevator ride up was longer than it should've been and I think we were all holding our breath because when we stepped out we all exhaled deeply. "Look for 5B" Lara said leading us down the hallway lined with dark blue doors with gold lettering. "Here" Lara said a few seconds later stopping suddenly causing Jason to almost fall forward placing his hand on the small of my back to stop himself,my heart jumped for a second.Stupid. We knocked and the door swung open and we were greeted by a lady dressed in a blazer and pencil skirt, her brown hair was pulled back tightly but her smile was welcoming. "You must be Lara" she said holding out her hand to me, I shook it, "no I'm Max,this is Lara" I said pointing to Lara next to me, "hi, this is Lisa,Natalie,Finn,Jason and Carter" Lara said professionally pointing to each of us, "come in, I assume you all know I'm Laura, Anne's daughter" she said leading us into the apartment, it was spacious, typically New York styled with a kitchen island and a floor to ceiling window. "As I told you on the phone Lara,my mother is moving into a nursing home and me and my husband have a house in Chicago" she said ushering us to sit down. "Here are all our references and information on here, we didn't really know what to bring" I said letting out a light laugh, "that's alright I remember when I was your age I lived with four boys, who I hardly knew" Laura said laughing, I raised my eyebrows at Jason, "and how was that?" he asked, "it was great,I married one of them and I keep in touch with the others" she said smiling.

"Okay,so questions,I guess all we need to know is if you can pay for it and you're not drug addicts" Laura laughed lightly showing her straight white teeth, "yeah, we have enough, our statements are in the paper, and we don't do drugs" Finn laughed, "We really just need to give this place to someone, I don't think Mum has much time you know? and I want her to be closer to me. I know it needs a bit of work, the paints peeling away but you could easily paint over it" she said this eagerly like we would be doing her a favor and not the other way around. "Yeah, we could do that" Lisa said smiling, "okay, okay then it's yours" she said standing up, we were all taken aback, "wait,seriously?" Natalie said, "yes! you all remind me of me and my friends at your age, and I just need to spend time with my Mum" she said smiling down on us. "Great thank you, thank you so much" Jason said holding out his hand but she pulled her into a hug and he grimaced,I don't think he likes hugs."So I'll need three weeks rent and I need you all to sign this contract" Laura said excitedly handing me a piece of paper and a pen.We all read through it and signed at the bottom. "So when can we move in?" Carter asked casually, "as soon as you can, my Mum and I are catching a four o'clock plane tomorrow morning, you can move in tomorrow if you have the three weeks rent" she said grinning hugely, "I feel like this isn't real, you have extra fingers in dreams right?" Lisa said as she began counting her fingers, her lips slowly curled into a smile as she whispered "ten" "anyway, thank you so much, do you need any help with anything? any last minute packing?" I said, "no, no we're fine, I'll give you my number so you can call or text me when you need something and internet bank me the rent" she said scribbling down a list of numbers and other information then handing it to Lara.Laura gave us a tour of the place, it was spacious and comfortable, we told her of our plans to change the office into a bedroom and she agreed thinking it was a good idea.

We left the building not hiding the grins on our faces, finally a place to settle down I thought.It was cold outside and I shivered aloud, "here take my jacket" Jason said taking his jacket off and handing it to me. "No I'm not cold" I said, "Max, I can literally hear you shivering, take my jacket" he said holding it in front of me, I pushed jacket away "I'm never taking your jacket" I said walking ahead, "Max,please,take the damn jacket!" he said forcing the jacket onto my back, I looked at him "fine,but only because I'm cold" I said  wrapping the jacket around me, "why else would I give it to you? he asked grinning, "whatever" I said as we entered a small Chinese restaurant across the street from our new apartment. "Hi,table for seven?" Natalie asked, the man nodded and ushered us to a white clothed table at the back of the restaurant. Dinner was long and filled with lots of laughter, several noodles, a cold walk and a music filled drive back to the motel.We played Poker when we arrived back at the motel.Carter spilled his drink,Finn didn't understand the game and Lisa and I couldn't stop laughing. "Come on strip poker,are you serious" Natalie sighed rolling her eyes, "person who wins gets twenty dollars" Lisa said grinning, "I'm in" I laughed, I might've been a little drunk. I think we all were.

"Come on take it off" I said drunkenly to Jason, I looked at the shadow underneath his cheekbone.He was tense.I don't think he had drunk as much as us. Me on the other hand, I was pretty drunk.I stumbled over to Jason putting my hands on his waist, "come on take it off" I whispered lifting his black shirt up slowly, Finn wolf whistled. He looked away shaking his head, I placed my two fingers on his jaw and turned his head so his green eyes meet my blue eyes. "Max don't" he said taking my hands and pushing them away. I've gave him a questioning look,I wanted to ask him why he was so reluctant,I didn't. "I'm going to sleep" Lara said walking towards one of the two bedrooms. Lisa and Natalie followed her,Lisa's arm was hanging over Natalie's shoulder. I looked at Jason, his back was turned to us he was looking out the window,he was still tense and I could see the creases in his shirt where his muscles were. "Don't worry about him,he'll tell you when he's ready" Carter said catching me looking at Jason. I nodded and he got up and stumbled off to bed. "Bread?" Finn said in his thick accent, I nodded. "What part of Britain are you from?" I asked "Liverpool" he said breaking the bread in half, "ah,home of the Beatles,thanks" I said, he let out a light laugh, "Do you think this is a good idea?" he asked sitting up, "I guess we won't know until it goes wrong, or doesn't" I laughed catching his worried eye. "I'm going to sleep, I know this probably means nothing right now but we're good guys" he said seriously, I nodded as he walked off I tried to think about what he meant by that.

Jason was outside on the small balcony, "hey" he said not turning around, "hey, look I'm sorry about before, I tend to do a lot of stupid things" I said only half joking. "It's fine" he said though his eyebrows were furrowed.He stared into my eyes and I looked away not able to hold his gaze, I scolded myself for not being able to. "I'm going to sleep,goodnight Max" he said, "goodnight Jason" I smiled.I turned to look at the landscape in front of me, it was a blanket of royal blue with silver specks and a crescent moon, lights were turning off in family houses along the streets, but the lamp posts stayed on, spilling their golden yellow light onto the stranded streets, I smiled.I was content.When I went back inside Jason was already asleep on the floor, he lay on his back with one hand behind his head.His breath slow and steady, his lips parted.I curled up on the couch watching his chest steadily rise and fall until I fell to sleep.