Chapter Text
Michael stood at the entrance of the building. The large row of double glass doors showed the previous purpose of this apartment building, a very large, newly remodeled shopping mall. It was a new style of living, the only one in America so far.
An abandoned old mall was bought by Big Money and transformed into a community style of living, exclusive and hard to get into. Michael was one of the lucky few who wasn't rich or "special", he just knew a guy.
It was that kind of place.
Each store was turned into one or two apartments, the large department stores on the end of the building turned into parking garages or exclusive stores open for limited access to the outside public. The center courts were made into a living area and the previous fountain from decades ago was revived into a community swimming pool.
Some small food or coffee shops were allowed in the building for the convenience of the residents.
This strange new idea was a first, and maybe the only one ever of it's kind. It's a complex community simply known as Niche.
Michael held a plain white keycard in his hand, his name in gold etched on one side. He spaced out staring at the reflection of the interior lights glinting off his name. He wasn't nervous, per se. A light, fluffy feeling engulfed his insides in an excitement he had trouble naming, but he was quite sure he wasn't nervous, or scared, of the strange new lifestyle he was assuming nor the imposing large east hall opposite the glass doors.
Damn, his fingers were getting cold.
Michael tapped the card against the RFID reader next to one of the doors and watched the red LED turn green. Grasping the freezing handle of the door, he swung himself inside into the middle corridor before another row of glass doors. These had no lock, merely separating the outside environment from the climate controlled interior.
"Welcome home, Mr. Jones."
Michael started. 'Well,' he thought, 'that's fancy as hell.'
He opened the next door, notably a comfortably warm handle and stepped past the entrance into the hall. The instructions he received in his residence confirmation letter informed him of a welcoming station on first floor. Where the fuck that was, he wasn't sure.
A TV screen lit up in front of him.
"Mr. Jones." the crisp audio sounded from a monitor hung from the ceiling by a 10 foot pole, about 20 feet in front of the outside doors. "Welcome to Niche. My name is Ryan Haywood and I am the Director of Resident affairs."
Michael looked up to see a mid-thirties looking man with a slightly receding hairline and a charming smile looking down at him from above.
"Uh..." was the eloquent reply.
The man chuckled. "I'm here to assist you with settling in today. First and foremost, let's meet face to face. Please continue down the hall and make a left, follow the path into the Main Atrium and take the escalators down. Resident services is directly in front."
Michael plotted the route in his head before nodding at the screen, feeling a little silly. He wasn't used to this video conferencing... thing. "Ok, I'll uh.." He made a jerking motion with his head. "..head that way then."
"I'll see you soon, Mr. Jones." The man smiled and nodded before the screen transitioned into a symbol, the letter "n" with a square in the middle.
There was only one direction to go so Michael followed the stone walkway around to the left, the large East Wing opened up to his view.
It was bright.
The skylights remained as the main source of lighting from the building's mall days. The railing to his right looked sturdy, but modernly thin. To his left were sleek, off-white walls with large windows inset, though he couldn't see inside them. It still looked a bit like a shopping mall.
Soon his steps brought him around, and to the right a bit, to the escalators, leading to the Main Atrium. Everything was spacious and well lit. It currently smelled of coffee and he could hear laughter in the distance. He hadn't see any people yet, but it was barely past sunrise on a Monday morning.
Michael grasped the conveyer handrail and let the descending stairs bring him to the first floor. He could see a man sitting at a table outside of a coffee shop to his left, grumbling to a woman who only laughed at him.
"Good morning, Mr. Jones." The professional voice called out from in front of him. "I see you've found your way."
"Yeah, wasn't hard. By the way, Mr. Jones is so.. please just call me Michael." He walked up to a freestanding black counter.
"Then by all means, call me Ryan." His tone warmed and his smile deepened. "Are you ready to see your apartment? I've got things moved in and ready for your first day at Niche."
"Yeah, it's on the second floor, right? I requested something close to a convenience store."
"Two doors down from one. It's in the North Wing, not too far from the main escalators."
"Perfect, convenience all around." Michael gestured a circle with hands. "Can I go on up?"
Ryan paused. "We have a couple things to address, then we can set you off." Michael noticed the way sun from the skylights was lighting up the man's dirty blonde hair. He was very friendly and practically radiated a nice guy persona. He briefly wondered what the man was like outside of work. Maybe once you knew him he was a total smartass. Then again, not everyone had a sense of humor like Michael.
"Ok. Sign some papers, grab some keys, then go up and crash. I'm tired as hell and can't wait to finally go get some sleep." Michael stifled a yawn, the kind you get from even thinking about being tired, and scratched the side of his face. All the packing he's done and the road trip South from Jersey had him exhausted.
"Oh, well." The man- Ryan, frowned. "Then we can take care of it later this evening. Let me get your keycard set up and I'll get you off to bed." 'You can take me to bed anytime, yah handsome motherfucker.' Michael thought but kept his mouth tightly shut. He couldn't keep a grin from forming on his face.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out the card then set it on the granite counter. "Great, I'll get up at noon or something and come back down."
Ryan placed the card on a square and did something on a computer to the side. It beeped. "All set. Simple and done. I'll show you the way this time." He passed through a cutout in the side of his enclosure and stood in front of Michael.
Ryan was tall and broad shouldered. Handsome and mostly in shape, yet a little soft around the edges. His gray, button down shirt was tucked into black slacks with a matching black tie. He looked professional but approachable. Seemed perfect for customer relations. Michael felt shabby in the jeans and black hoodie he wore.
"Follow me back up the escalator, Michael." The newly coded keycard in hand, he turned and set back towards the same escalator that Michael had come down.
They made their way up and turned left, walking one hundred feet or so to a convenience store on the right. "This is the Middle Market, it's open 24/7. You can usually find Jeremy or Matt working there, nice guys. I think you'll get along. Both live together opposite you on the other side." Michael could see a guy with a beard leaning on the counter inside, he seemed to be watching a TV hung in the corner of the market.
Ryan continued on. "As promised, two doors down and here we go. Room N211. Welcome to your new home, Michael." He gestured grandly to a reflective glass door with his room number etched on the front."
"Fucking yes. Sleep." Michael watched as Ryan touched the card to the reader to the right of the door, and heard the slight whirr of a lock sliding open.
Ryan handed him the keycard and locked eyes with him. "Get some sleep, but please make sure to see me this evening. If you need anything at all, simply say Niche Services loudly enough for the room's sensors to pick up and it'll connect you directly to my comm." He slid a small tablet out of his back pocket. "I'll do my best to help."
"Thanks, man." Michael nodded. Ryan opened the door, gesturing the younger man in. "I'll see you tonight, Ryan."
The man grinned. "It's a date." and let the door shut.
Michael stared at the door, he could see Ryan on the other side, still smiling as he walked away. "Did he just flirt with me?" Sleep pried his thoughts away from the charming man. "Fuck it, bed. Now."
He turned to see a comfortable looking living room with his old furniture already set up. A large TV to the left and a couch to the right. It was an open floor plan with a kitchen beyond the living area and a hallway beyond that. He started that way, glancing into a bathroom on the left and went instead to the bedroom on the right. His dresser and nightstand were in place, his bed centered below a wall sconce directly across from him already made up and ready to be used.
Michael immediately stripped down to his boxers, through back the covers and passed out. Fuck setting an alarm, he'll wake up when he's rested. The lights dimmed in the entire apartment, but Michael didn't notice. He was already fast asleep.