Cheating in Love [Completed]

Chapter 10

"Hello," he held out his hand.

"Beckett?"

"Yes."

"I'm Katie, nice to meet you," she offered a flirty smile. Beckett shifted his weight back on his feet. He shoved his hands further into his pockets.

"So, let me show you around," she waved him in.

Beckett stepped into the dimly lit flat, breathing in its musty smell. The floor creaked with each step and the blinds drawn over the windows moved with the light breeze.

"I know it's not much," she said. "Right over here is the kitchen. Our landlord updated all the appliances recently, and the plumbing too, I believe."

"Mh-hmm," Beckett said. He ran his fingertips along the smooth countertop and lightly touched the faucet as he passed.

The sink had no water spots in it. The counter didn't have a crumb on it.

"Do you always keep it this clean?" Beckett looked into the corners and craned his neck to see under the lip at the bottom of the cabinets.

"I don't but the other tenant does," Katie said. "How neat are you?"

"As clean as I can be," he said. "I don't like dirt and dust getting everywhere."

"Oh really?" She scratched her head. "Not what I'd expect." Beckett frowned and shrugged.

"So here's the bathroom," she said. "There's only one but we don't have much of a problem when we need to use it."

"Who's the other tenant?" Beckett checked the corners of the bathroom for dirt and found none. He saw a solitary spider web in the corner above the shower and shuddered.

"He mostly keeps to himself," Katie said. "You'd be sharing a room with him though. And it's right through there."

Beckett peered through the doorway, seeing a large room with two beds. One was just a mattress and the other had the sheets crisply tucked in. There was a single piece of artwork on the wall. The only sign that someone lived there was a blue carry-on suitcase sitting open on the floor.

"Where do you do laundry?" Beckett's eyes were locked on the suitcase.

"Washing machine is in the kitchen," Katie said. "You didn't see?"

"Uh, no, I didn't," he said.

"So you're a student too?"

"Yeah," everything but the suitcase had blurred away. "Say, am I going to meet the other tenant before I sign the lease?"

"He's out of town for the weekend," she said. "You can wait until he gets back if you'd like. He told me that he doesn't mind who moves in, as long as they don't interrupt his studies. You seem like you'd be a fun guy to have around."

"Uh, thanks," Beckett finally tore his attention away and the world came back into focus. "Do you think he would like me?"

"I don't see why not," Katie said. "He and I are pretty close." Beckett nodded, pretending not to notice the second part of her comment. He shifted.

"So," she put her hands on her hips, "what do you think?"

Sawyer could barely lift his feet to climb the steps to the flat. His shoulders were hunched and his arms hung limply at his sides. The bag slung over his shoulder felt like Sisyphus' boulder dragging him down with each step he took.

The key stuck in the lock. He leaned his head against the door and shut his eyes. Sawyer almost didn't have the strength to open the door.

His legs begged to collapse under him, his eyes struggled to focus. He could feel the ground swaying underneath him as he walked and the world spinning as his head throbbed.