Soap

Grabesstille

Grabesstille (noun. german)

The type of silence that's just heavy in itself.
Grave silence.

I arrived at Ieros apartment after a fifteen minute walk.
I knew the exact time because as I was walking I was listening to an audio book and had just finished the chapter that had exactly fifteen minutes left.
Of course it had to end on a cliffhanger and for a few seconds I actually thought about just walking past the apartment block to listen to the next one.
I couldn't do that obviously so I tried to comfort myself by saying that I would have the chance to listen to it on my way back.
That didnt make it better.

At first I thought my mother had given me the wrong address.
The huge building in front of me really didnt look like it could house somebody like Frank Iero.
It was at least thirteen stories tall and really could have been mistaken for a prison with its tiny windows.
Well... if it weren't for the tall, silver metal gate blocking me from entering the driveway.
But then, on the other hand a prison would have a gate too.

I reached into my back pocket for my phone just to check the address again.
Okay...I was at the right place.
Frank iero apparently lived at the top story and I prayed that this building had a fucking elevator.

I put my phone back and reached for the gate.
I was surprised to find it locked and even swearing and hitting the bars didnt help.
I probably shouldn't have been surprised.
It just played into the whole prison thing.

Fortunately I soon found a button next to the gate with a speaker underneath that I could push.
Only a few seconds and some explanations later the gate opened and I could walk up to the entrance of the building.

And with the front door closing behind me, every picture of a prison I had in my head disappeared.
The inside resembled a five start hotel you would usually only find in big cities like New York, Madrid or Paris.
The type of residence the rich and rude would frequent in.

The sudden change if atmosphere confused me to no end. Why the fuck would they leave the outside all grey and stale when this is what's inside?

"Excuse me, Sir, can I help you?", a voice distracted me from my thoughts.
At first I didn't see the receptionist because a huge plant was covering my sight but after taking a few more steps inside I could finally spot the elderly mand behind the counter.

"Uhm...", I stuttered, still halfway caught in my thoughts.
"I am here for Mr. Iero"

The receptionist gave me and up and down glance before typing something into the computer in front of him.
Now I finally made myself look around.
When you're surrounded by so much beauty and intricacy it is hard to focus on just one thing to look at.

I didn't know whether to look at the black carpet that seemed to be freshly cleaned and basically made you want to sleep on it.
Or the huge chandelier on the ceiling that had thousands or even millions of little jewels embellished on its outside and filled the lobby with warm yellow light.
Or maybe the glass-tiles on the walls that had those one-line-drawings carved on them. Behind those there was a neon light making the carving seem three dimensional.

Needless to say I was in awe of the design of this place.
And I couldnt help but want to visit every single room to see if this classy chique had spread into all of the apartments.
But I could only visit one.

Or none, if I read the face of the receptionist.
He looked at me in an apologetic and also kind of pitying way which made me even more confused than I already was.

"I am sorry, but Mr. Iero already has an appointment booked for today. In fact he should be there right now. Didn't you boss say anything?", he asked and smirked.

"What...? My... boss? I'm sorry sir I don't know what you are talking about!"

The receptionist furrowed his brows in confusion and looked me up and down again.
"Aren't you one of the guys from LivelyLike?", he asked

"... no?", I said after a moment of hesitation. I had heard that name before but I couldn't remember what it meant.
Now the receptionists eyes widened and he went bright red.
"Oh... uhm...", he stuttered, "I'm sorry then but Mr. Iero isn't here right now so you cannot see him"

I was slowly getting irritated. This conversation had already taken up more than 15 minutes of my time and I just wanted to go home already. Of course I could have just left at that point and told my mother that I had tried my best.
But now that the guy in front of me was giving me more up and down glances I couldn't help but want to find out more about Frank Iero and what the deal was with him. Even more than before.

"Listen I am not here to SEE Frank Iero. I am here to clean for him. Usually my mother... uhm... I mean my boss comes here twice a week. Donna Way?", I tried to explain.
I could practically see a little light turn on in the receptionists head. He didnt recognize me but he recognized my mothers name.

"Oh of course I know Donna!"
Of course.
"Is everything alright with her?", he asked.
I was amazed by how fast this man changed the topic.

"Uhm... I guess... she got in an accident and is now rehabilitating so I am her replacement for that time"
I was still slightly annoyed and most of all starting to get impatient.

"Oh please tell her to get well soon!"

I nodded and waited for him to finally tell me that I could go to Ieros apartment but he just looked at me with an absent smile.
"Uhm... so about the apartment...?", I tried to get back to what I was here for.

"Oh right!", the man said and pointed over to one of the metal doors on my left.
"Theres the elevator. 15th floor, door number 5."

"Thank you", i said with a little more spite than I intended to.

But he didn't seem to care.