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Ben had barely bothered to look up the area that his new apartment was located in, but as he drove along the small side streets, he could see that there was a bit of wear and tear on the facades of the buildings. They clearly weren’t new, but he had been assured that the plumbing and heating worked well, which was better than his last apartment. More importantly, he could move in immediately.
After driving around for fifteen minutes, Ben finally found 8C, and pulled up in front of the door. He opened the trunk, and he repeated the code the landlord had given him under his breath.
“It’s 86385,” the voice over the phone had said. “The apartment key doesn’t open the outside door, so make sure you don’t forget it.” The man seemed friendly enough, and Ben had no desire to upset his landlord quite yet, so there’d been a polite exchange, thank you’s, and goodbye’s.
Looking over his possessions, he wasn’t entirely sure how he was going to get everything up the stairs. It really would have been easier with another person, but the Scott’s were all busy, and he didn’t have an overabundance of friends. Really, he felt, he was lucky enough that they’d let him borrow the car.
He looked over towards the door, and then back at the open trunk.
“Suppose I’ll just be carrying all of this by myself. I can do that.” He said, and lifted a box out of the trunk. It was light. “Must be clothes.” He wondered briefly if he could leave the trunk open while he went up, and then thought better of it, closing it as gently as he could.
“86385,” he mumbled. “86385.” He entered the code, and the machine beeped, the small light in the corner turning to green.
The stairwell was folding itself in a square, lighted up by the light streaming from the window several stories up. He heard loud music coming from an apartment on the second floor as he passed by, the name tag stating someone named ‘A. Bonny’ lived there. He couldn’t even tell what kind of music it was, but it was certainly enthusiastic. Eventually Ben reached the 7th floor. He put the box down and fished around in his pocket for his key.
Unlocking the door to his new apartment was strangely anti-climatic. For some reason he’d thought it would be far more dramatic than it was. He was starting a new life after all. Instead, the door just clicked open, and he was left standing in an empty hallway.
The hallway led off the a living room on the right, a bathroom straight ahead, and a kitchen to his left. He peeked into the kitchen and saw that it even came with a stove and fridge that the old tenants must have left behind in their rush to leave. He set the box down in the big, empty, living room, and went to check out the connecting bedroom.
It was definitely big enough for his mattress- he could likely fit at least four mattresses in there. He had no idea what he was going to do with all the space. The apartment was far, far bigger than any he’d ever rented before, and in a better neighbourhood than he’d ever lived.
He was dragged out of his musings by a stranger’s voice echoing through the apartment.
“Hello?” the stranger asked.
Ben hurried out to the hallway, to find a very tall, very muscular man with shorn hair standing in the doorway. The man gave a small, slightly awkward, wave, and smiled.
Ben might have stared.
“I didn’t mean to barge in, but the door was open…” he trailed off, and rubbed the back of his head.
Ben nodded. “Yeah, I just got here. I’m moving in.” he said, and stretched out a hand. “My name is Ben.”
The tall man took his hand and shook it. “I’m Billy, I live two floors up, right below the attic.”
Ben started to nod again, before he remembered he’d already done that. “Yeah.” He wasn’t sure what to say now. “So, do you… like it here?” he asked, and tucked his hair behind his ear.
“It’s not bad, some of the neighbours can be… a handful,” Billy said. “Aside from that, it’s not a bad place to live.” He slouched, as if he was trying to appear smaller than he was, he failed quite dramatically at that though. Ben was pretty sure Billy’s biceps were bigger than Ben’s head.
“I was headed to the store,” Billy continued, “but if you need help carrying things up, I could lend a hand.”
“Really? I mean, yes, thank you, that would be great, really,” Ben stammered. “I parked the car out front.”
-
“Is this it?” Billy asked, his voice a bit muted.
Ben looked at his two remaining boxes, his mattress, and his arm chair. He supposed it was a bit paltry. “Yeah… this is it,” he replied, fidgeting.
He wasn't sure why he felt the need to share, or explain himself, but suddenly he opened his mouth again to do just that. “My old apartment didn't have a stove, just a fridge, so I didn't need anything to cook really. Just whatever I could eat out of or put in the microwave.”
Billy nodded. Ben was glad to see that the sad look in his face had disappeared, it didn't suit him. No one that pretty should be sad.
“We'll take the mattress first, I'll carry one side and go backwards, while you take the other side, alright?” Billy asked.
While they lifted the things in, Billy graciously told him about the neighbors like Flint who merely growled at everyone and Silver who might burn the house down while cooking. The music he'd heard earlier came from Anne's apartment, owner of a very angry cat, along with her girlfriend Max, who worked odd hours, but was always friendly.
“You want to avoid Vane though.” Billy said. “No one's been able to pin him for any crimes, except a few drunken disorderlies, but he's bad news all around,” he frowned. “You might want to try to keep your distance from him. You might meet him at the bimonthly meeting.”
Ben nodded, trying to absorb all the new information. “Wait, does that mean there’s a meeting twice a month, or every other month?” he asked.
“Every other month, semi-monthly means-” Billy started, and then stopped and sighed. “You know what, I’m just going to say every other month from now on. There’s a suggestion box by the door, in case you have any… suggestions,” he finished lamely.
-
They were done after two trips, Ben's meagre belongings being easily lifted by Billy.
Ben closed the trunk and locked the car when Billy lifted out the arm chair. He felt somewhat useless as he followed after Billy, who could carry it all on his own. There was nothing left for him to carry, so he just made extra sure that the doors were open.
Ben tried not to stare at his arms too much, though he might have failed spectacularly if the looks Billy kept sending him were any indication. Then again, Ben was mostly sure Billy didn’t need to flex his biceps quite that much to move his armchair.
The chair was set down in the living room, next to the boxes. Billy straightened back up, with a friendly smile for Ben. He rubbed the back of his head for a second before deciding there really wasn’t anything left for him to do.
“If you ever need anything, just knock on my door!” Billy said as he left.
Ben sat down on the floor when the door closed, and rested his head on the wall. This was his new life. Perhaps things wouldn't be so bad after all.
The new neighbour certainly was an improvement.