Chapter Text
Casey Daley is moving into apartment 4C. This time, he didn’t haphazardly apply to the cheapest listing he found in the newspaper, just praying that it would have enough hot water to last an entire shower. This time, he was thorough. He didn’t rush trying to find an apartment. He checked the newspaper every day, for multiple days. He asked around at work. He looked at the flyers posted on the bulletin board at the laundromat. He searched for a place that would feel permanent. A place he would actually like. A place that would feel like home.
He even toured this apartment before he applied for it. Immediately upon crossing the threshold, it charmed him. And it reminded him of Irene and Benicio’s unit in his old apartment building. The memory of them caused an ache to settle deep in his chest as the leasing agent droned on about amenities. It was that ache and that ache alone that sold him on the apartment. He wants to live somewhere he could picture his life with Irene and Benicio, where he could imagine them coming home to him after a long day of work and school.
Most people would consider the apartment to be modest, but it’s practically Buckingham Palace to Casey. It’s a simple two bedroom unit with exposed brick and an open floorplan. The hardwood floors are worn after decades of enduring footstep after footstep from the building’s factory workers and subsequent tenants. The floors creak when someone makes a wrong step, but they make up for it in their rich caramel color. The industrial windows that line the walls let the sun’s golden rays stream in. The whole place is bathed in warm sepia hues. It’s something out of a movie really, Casey thinks as he’s signing the lease.
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Casey plans to bring with him everything he owns. He doesn’t have much. Some clothes, toiletries, a few dishes and sparse cookware, his coffee maker. He knows that for it to be a proper apartment, a proper home, he’ll need more than that. But there are so many things that he doesn’t have, and he doesn’t even know where to start. Well, no. That’s not true. He knows one thing, at least. He’ll need furniture.
One day at the shop, Casey asks one of his employees, a burly mechanic named Michael, to help him out. Michael has a wife and two little kids and has definitely been furniture shopping before. Casey brings Michael into the back office and shuts the door. He feels so silly. He’s a grown man, nearly 30 years old, and he’s never shopped for furniture before. Hesitantly, he swallows his pride and explains his dilemma. Lucky for him, Michael understands completely. “Don’t sweat it, jefe,” Michael lightheartedly tells him. “I’ve got impeccable taste.”
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That Saturday, Casey, Michael, and Michael’s family pile into Michael’s new pickup truck. Casey wasn’t expecting to have to squeeze into the backseat with a couple of elementary schoolers, or to be subjected to listening to Michael’s wife Juanita’s interior design advice, but he is happy to have their help nonetheless. They drive to the Goodwill nearby and buy some mismatched living room furniture: a worn-out loveseat, just big enough to fit two people; a heavy, varnished-wood side table that couldn’t have been made after 1980; a blue velvet sitting chair, complete with stains of God-knows-what; and a box television to complete the rag-tag set. There wasn’t much variety to choose from, but Michael’s daughters, Mila and Isabel, gently guide him on what to get. Juanita reassures him that he picked the best furniture in the whole store.
Feeling confident, Casey even attempts to pick out some decor (with the help of Juanita and the kids). He just gets some little things, wall hangings and picture frames and such (Not that he has any pictures to put in the frames, but he’ll make friends eventually, right?). Stuff to make it feel a little more like a home and less like a fraternity house. In the parking lot, Michael slaps Casey on the back and tells him he did a good job. Casey swears he feels his heart grow three sizes.
The bunch go to a local Mexican restaurant for lunch. Juanita tells Casey in extreme detail about her and Michael’s experience looking for and decorating their first apartment, second apartment, and current house. Isabel interjects spontaneously to tell him about the paint colors she’s considering for her bedroom. Casey listens intently to them both as he eats his tacos al pastor, not saying a word. He only stops eating once in a while to flick a stray crayon back to the kids’ side of the table. After lunch, the two men drop the girls off at Michael’s house. Juanita tells Casey to call if he has any questions regarding paint swatches or tile samples. Casey tells her that he will.
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Casey and Michael had just lifted the loveseat out of the truck bed when a woman’s voice rings through the air. “Would you like some help?”
Casey turns his head to see a couple about his age walking toward them on the sidewalk. The woman beams up at him and the man smiles begrudgingly, furrowing his eyebrows. He can tell that they were arguing about helping him and Michael before she got his attention. Amused, Casey politely smiles back and gives a small nod. “Sure.”
The woman gets right to work and picks up the single box of decor. “I’m Jess, this is Nick. Are you moving in?” Nick huffs and puffs and struggles to lift the side table.
For a split second, Casey hesitates to reveal such damning information. But then, something in his mind shifts. He’s a regular person, with a normal life now. He doesn’t have to be so on edge all the time anymore. And what’s he got to lose if this woman, who was so polite to help him, knows where he lives?
Casey nods. “I’m in 4C.”
“What, no way! We’re in 4D! So we’re neighbors!” Jess exclaims as she balances the box to one hand. She opens the door with the other for Casey and Michael to bring in the couch. They carry it swiftly and with ease. Nick trails behind with the side table, grunting here and there.
Jess says, “Is it just you? Do you have a girlfriend, a roommate?” Nick calls out her name as he strains to carry the table. She patiently waits for him to catch up.
“Just me,” Casey supplies. An image of Irene flashes into his mind when Jess says the word girlfriend. “Do you and Nick live together?”
Michael hits the elevator button with his elbow. The doors open instantly.
“Oh- yeah, but we’re not a couple or anything. We have two other roommates, too. It gets pretty crazy around here!” Jess chuckles and pushes her glasses further up onto her nose.
“Yup, pretty crazy,” Nick sighs as he settles into the elevator.
Casey just smiles.
The elevator doors open to the fourth floor. Nick hurries to get out with the side table. He heavily sets it next to apartment 4C’s front door with a loud thud. “Well, nice to meet ya.” he turns on his heels and marches into apartment 4D, clutching his back.
“Yeah, it was nice to meet you! Hopefully we’ll see you around!” Jess gently places the box on top of the side table and smiles before turning back to walk to her door. “Let me know if you need anything!” She calls back to him as she heads inside.
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After arranging everything to his liking and putting some of the decor on the walls, Casey stands still in the living room, alone. He places his hands on his hips and looks around. He huffs out a breath, half out of exhaustion and the other half out of relief. A smile sprouts, small at first, before spreading across his face. Pride buds in his chest as he admires his new home. He doesn’t have everything he needs yet, but that will come in due time. He realizes that this is the first place he’s ever lived knowing that he won’t have to move again in a month. He silently wishes that Shannon were here to see the little home he’s made for himself.