Pewds’ P.O.V
I slid across my apartment, turning the stereo a little louder as I danced around in nothing but some old black shorts. I caught sight of the forever growing stack of glasses in my kitchen and almost went to clean them until I realised I had much better things to do. I might call that girl....what was her name again? She always cleans when she comes here. I’ll have to see if I can find her number...I had nothing planned for tonight anyway. Well, I say nothing...
I should call Ken. He might need me down at the club tonight.
I slid to the balcony door open, allowing some air into the stuffy room but it was probably cooler inside than it was out. I stepped out, looking out over the city that surrounded me but I found myself distracted, my eyes looking up at the balcony on my right but on the floor above. Room 15, the room that new guy moved into. I’d hardly seen him around after he moved in two weeks ago, but when I did cross paths with him he’d look away, clearly trying to avoid me.
I’ve got to give it to him, he’s a good looking guy, way better looking than some of the guys I see down at the club but he seemed so...careful. I mean, come on, he thought it was odd that I drank in the morning. I wanted to shake him and yell ‘live a little!’ I bet I could loosen him up though...that’d be fun, give me something to do....a challenge.
Heading back inside, I threw some empty pizza boxes and cans off the sofa and managed to recover the phone from between the cushions, quickly ringing the number that would be imbedded into my mind forever.
The phone only rang twice before it was answered.
“Pewds?”
“Hey, bro.”
“I was just about to call you. There’s a guy who’d been nagging me all morning for your number. He says...”
“Is he tall? Bit of a beard? Light hair?”
“Yeah, sounds about right.”
“...Don’t give it him...It was a one-time thing...”
“Pewds! No, I don’t want to hear about your sex life and I don’t want desperate assholes bugging me all morning either,” he sighed down the phone. I just laughed, not embarrassed at all...it was only human nature after all.
“I was wondering if you needed me at the club tonight.”
“Well, considering you own half the place and haven’t been down here all week, yeah, that would be good, Pewds.” His voice was laced with annoyance, sarcasm and impatience. Ken was so uptight sometimes; I wouldn’t be surprised if he suffered a heart attack soon. He had a point though. It was the middle of summer and the club must be damn busy. I should probably go down there more often...
“Quit getting your pants in a twist, bro. I’ll be down there,” I told him before hanging up and heading towards the shower. I might as well scrub up.
It wasn’t long before I was out the shower, a towel wrapped around my waist and another in my hand, rubbing my hair dry. I was just about to turn my stereo up even louder when an odd sound caught my attention.
Someone was knocking on my door.
Casually making my way to the door, I pulled it open, finding my tenant, Gully, standing outside. He looked more red-faced than usual and a lit cigarette hung from his mouth. I glanced at the grubby white vest he wore, numerous food stains scattered along the greying fabric and emitting the strong smell of sweat and...
“Shit face, turn the fucking music down,” he grumbled, the cigarette rolling from one side of his mouth to the other.
“Go take a shower, dick.”
I leaned back against my doorframe, folding my arms and clearly seeing the grin Gully tried to hide. He was used to my ‘immature’ comebacks by now and found them nothing other than amusing. It’s not too bad...unless I actually mean what I say... He seriously needs to shower.
“Come on, kid. Just turn that shit down.”
“Quit being such a tight ass, gramps.”
“Gramps? I think you’re losing your edge,” he sniggered. “Just turn it down and I’ll leave you be. I have two rules: No noise and no Police.”
“Yeah, yeah. I’ll turn it down,” I told him. I don’t know whether I gave in so easily because I couldn’t be arsed arguing or because I noticed a flash of brown hair heading up the stairs.
I peered over Gully’s shoulder, catching a glimpse of the new guy. He was carrying a few plastic bags, watching his footing carefully so he didn’t trip.
I expected him to just walk past, totally ignore me like he seemed to be doing the past two week but instead he lifted his eyes, catching my gaze for a moment and giving me a curt nod... acknowledgment. This was new.
Cry’s P.O.V
“Shy!” I called as I entered the apartment but despite my yelling, I got no reply. Glancing at the clock, I saw it was almost 5pm. “Shy! Didn’t you get that job? I thought you started at 5?”
Again, no reply. I shoved the bags of food onto the counter and headed towards his room. The two bedrooms were only small but they managed to fit a bed and a dresser which was all we needed really. I knocked on the door...still no reply.
“Shy?” I called one last time before shoving the door open to find him lying on his unmade bed, eyes closed with his headphones over his ears. I could hear the blaring music from here.
Typical.
I yanked the headphones from his ears, making him jump and fling his arms around as if he were being attacked.
“Cry!” he yelled, snatching his headphones back but turning his music off.
“I thought you got that job at the fast food joint? You went yesterday,” I asked, folding my arms and leaning against his dresser. He suddenly became uncomfortable, shifting on the bed and crossing his legs.
“About that...”
“What happened?”
I should have seen this coming.
“This guy was being a total jerk off because I gave him the wrong burger so...I threw it at him...”
“What the fuck?”
“He was being a dick! He started going on about my eye so he deserved it,” he explained defensively.
“So you thought throwing the burger at him would fix things?!”
He shrugged his shoulders. “You never know unless you try,” he said, trying to be funny.
“You got fired? On the first day?”
“Kind of,” he answered.
Although I knew I should be, I wasn’t mad. I wasn’t his parent after all. If he wanted to be an ass then I’ll let him but he’ll have to move back in with Mom when I can’t afford this place anymore. “I’ll find something else,” he added, seeing the look on my face.
“Good luck with that,” I told him. “I’m going to take the trash out.”
With that, I left him in his room, hoping he’d be able to find another job after this incident.
I grabbed the trash, leaving the apartment and making my way to the bottom floor. The bins where near the entrance and luckily, they’d been emptied this morning so didn’t smell too bad.
“How does it feel? Living the life of luxury?”
I dropped the bag into the large wheelie-bin before turning to see him at the bottom of the stairs. I knew who it was already, unable to miss that accent. I was more than surprised by his appearance though.
For once, the blonde Swede wasn’t lounging around half naked.
A pair of tight grey trousers clung lazily around his legs, accompanied with a grey waist coat, fastened tightly over a clean, white shirt. He’d folded the sleeves up to his elbows and I didn’t blame him in this heat.
“Oh, it’s wonderful,” I replied and turned back to close the lid of the bin. When I spun around he’d walked a little closer, pushing his sunglasses further up his nose and running his fingers through neatly combed hair.
“Did anyone tell you it was rude to stare?” he asked me after a moment’s pause, grinning brightly as if he were winning a game.
“You can’t exactly lecture me about manners,” I told him, attempting to walk past him but he stepped in front of me, making my breath hitch.
“You’ve been ignoring me,” he stated. My eyes darted around his face, taking in the stubble along his jaw, his smooth skin and those pink lips which seemed slightly damp.
I took a step back, tearing my eyes away from him and looking anywhere but his body. Why was I so uncomfortable around this guy? He made me so nervous...maybe it was my brain telling me I should stay away, warning me he was trouble.
“Have I? I didn’t mean to,” I lied and wanted to run away.
“Why are you lying?” he asked, tilting his head a little as if he were inspecting me.
I shrugged simply, hoping it seemed like I didn’t care, like I was calm and collective.
“You don’t even know me.” His voice became low and he shoved one hand in his pocket, letting the other run along the leather of his belt. My eyes fought to look down at them but I restrained myself.
“Can you let me past?” I asked, beginning to lose patience with his arrogance.
“We’ve had one encounter and it seems you’ve already decided to dislike me.” He frowned.
“Well, you make terrible first impressions,” I answered honestly, giving him a smirk before pushing past him and heading for the stairs.
That’s it, Cry. Keep it cool, no need to freak out.
“What sort of name is Cry anyway?” he called, making me spin around, wondering how the hell he knew my name.
“What? How did you...?”
He extended one arm, pointing at my chest and when I glanced down I found I was still in my work shirt, my name badge still pinned to the black fabric.
Well, he got me there and although I wanted to walk up to him, tell him it’s none of his business and to leave me the fuck alone, I stopped myself, not wanting any trouble, and began climbing the stairs.
“You’re not even going to ask what my name is?” he called.
I replied without turning back, not wanting to face being caught up in his ‘amusement’ any longer than necessary. “I don’t really care what it is.”
His laugh flew straight to me, engulfing my ears and making me want to turn back, just so I could hear it a little longer.
What the hell was wrong with me?
“Oh, Cry. You’re such a sweetheart!”