Windows on the World (OLD VERSION) [BEING REWRITTEN]

[¹¹] ʳᵃⁱⁿ

"A doorman has to take a leak from time to time, too, you know?"

Too friendly maybe.

Doorman Oliver did however call the elevator for them, seen as he was standing closer to it. Walter thanked him before stepping inside.

He pressed a series of numbers on the panel, a security key then pressed another button.

While in the elevator, Phoebe thought for a moment that they had been teleported to the North Tower, because the ride was taking longer than she expected. When the elevator dinged, she understood why. The button Walter had pressed wasn't a number, it was a letter.

"Penthouse," indicated the robotic voice.

For some reason, despite being aware of how loaded he was, Phoebe wouldn't have taken him for a penthouse owner. It seemed a little over-the-top, even for him. It wasn't exactly the tallest building around, but it still was impressive that one could afford to live someplace like that.

The penthouse lobby was classy. The floor was covered by a burgundy carpet and illuminated by mood lighting, which seemed to be a repeated characteristic of the building, as Phoebe would see.

He let her walk inside his apartment first, and once there she observed as he entered as well. When he did, he made a gesture that she found intriguingly odd; he touched the frame of the door and then kissed his fingers.

"Why did you just kiss the door?"

"I didn't. I kissed the Mezuzah."

It was like he'd just spoken complete gibberish to her, so she let it go in case he threw more of that in her way. She was not that intrigued.

Now what? She thought as she stood there drenched, and dripping on the perfectly polished floor.

Walter was thinking the exact same thing and trying not to let the puddles forming on his apartment bother him.

There was a fresh smell, sort of like the one when you buy a new car and sit in it for the first time. It could mean that Walter's penthouse was a new acquisition. It could also simply be that he barely was at home. The latter one was parallel with his 'big billables'.

Another surprise as they walked away from the entrance, was to find that the the apartment wasn't classic and old-fashion like the rest of the building. It was fairly modern but not cold-looking like she imagined all corporate residences to be like. The wooden features with those mood lighting fixtures helped to bring warmness and character to the place.

The kitchen and living room shared an open space. Their paths flowed organically, erasing the feeling that they were separate spaces. The scenery was straight out from a home decor magazine.

"I'm probably taking a gamble here, but it's not like I can stay in these clothes." She pointed at the trail of water on the floor. "So, does the suit whisperer have something I can change into in the meantime?"

"Not sure," he told her, guiding her into a room. "Take a look in there."

He was referring to the walk-in closet, which was visibly full of suits hanging from the perches. Shirts, sweaters, and cardigans stacked by color on shelves. Phoebe looked inside the drawers, scarcely finding informal items.

She walked back out with a pair of track shorts in one hand.

"Okay, and do you have anything that's not a dress shirt?" She questioned with a bit of frustration at the limited choices his swanky, high-class closet offered her.

"There should be some T-shirts in that drawer," he replied from the edge of the bed, where he was sitting while he took his loafers off. Which were full of water beads stuck to their shiny surface.