Paige hummed happily to herself as she turned the key in the lock of her apartment. It was only a three-room place; full, right now, of books. Maybe someday she’d get an apartment with a spare room so all she could put would be her books. She’d make a library out of it.
Trixie came bounding out of the apartment and wrapped around her legs immediately. “Hi, girl!” Paige said, then looked around. She said it too loudly, too happily for this late hour on a Thursday night. She shooed the cat inside by thumping her with her laundry basket and shut the door, then bolted it with two of the bolts and locked the doorknob.
Her big, elder male, Tom, meowed loudly from his perch on the couch. She walked over and let him cover her hand with his scent, and then patted his head. “You wouldn’t believe what happened to me, Tom,” she said. “I’m going out on a date!”
He only purred in response. She said in a deep voice, “Good for you! Now feed me, mommy.”
She laughed at her own joke. “Okay, you big boy. Like you need any more food.”
She got down the can of cat food and split it between the two of them. They meowed and wound themselves among her legs and hands as she put the food down for them. Then she put her clothes away, got dressed into her comfortable shorts and a t-shirt which was her usual night wear for summer. She lastly went to the freezer for her usual snack before bed – a bowl of Ben & Jerry’s chocolate ice cream.
She stopped, her hand on the door handle. “Maybe I don’t need it tonight,” she said, resolving that starting right now she would eat more healthy. She wouldn’t go to the same extreme as some of the girls at work, but she would at least be more careful. She nodded to herself, and, grabbing the book she had brought with her to the laundromat, she headed off to bed.
===========================
“Man, you stink.”
“How nice to see you too this fine evening, Kyle,” said Bruce as he lifted the laundry basket out of the back seat of the sedan. Kyle was sitting outside on the patio of their duplex. He had a candle burning, probably citronella, and he sat outside shirtless and in a pair of shorts, barefoot. Kyle was less hairy than Bruce, with the light Irish skin that his name betrayed, hazel eyes, and brown hair that could turn reddish in the right light.
They were alone tonight. They hadn’t rented the other side of the duplex – they didn’t need to. Bruce preferred to sleep there during the day rather than somewhere dark and dank.
“I can smell you all the way over here? What did you do?”
“Had a drug addict, but he was jonesing when I got him.” He walked over to the patio and placed the basket on the ground. “Here’s laundry for the next two days. That should give you enough time to get a new washer?”
“Plenty of time. I went to Home Depot and got us a nice HE one.”
He shrugged. “Not sure what that means.”
“Energy efficient. Man, you don’t pay attention, do you?” Kyle grinned, his hazel eyes sparkling.
“I don’t bother.”
“Why should you, right? You’re old.” Bruce laughed and sat down, though Kyle gave him a gentle shove, saying, “Get out of those clothes or take a shower or something, please!”
“I need to take a cold shower,” he said with a grin.
“You met a girl? You lucky sum-bitch.”
He laughed, getting up. “It’s not my fault you keep looking for a girl in bars.”
“Hey, I get some pretty good lays from girls in bars.”
“And that’s all they are.”
“You think this one’s better?”
“I asked her out. We’ll see.”
Kyle laughed. “How much is the bet this time?”
“You still think I’ll get married this year, don’t you?”
“It’s in the stars.” Kyle nodded. “I told you your horoscope this year.”
“You also said that I would have gotten a promotion to night manager in March but that didn’t happen.”
“Maybe I was off on that one.”
Bruce laughed, getting up. He couldn’t stand his own smell, either. “All right, a shower it is. I’ll be right back.”
He did take an ice cold shower, though that did nothing for him thinking about Paige. Thinking about kissing her, and holding her in his arms, and what he would do with her, something that no man could ever do…how she would taste, her heart racing.
As that thought put him over the edge, he had to hold onto the side of the shower for support as his whole body shuddered. In all the years, being able to do that, at least, had never left him.
He had nothing to clean up, due to his condition, but the warm feeling inside didn’t leave him which was good. He shut off the shower, the scent of the wino washed away, but the scent of his hormones still hanging in the air. He got dressed in a pair of shorts and went to join Kyle on the patio.
Kyle had moved into the house, taking the laundry basket with him, and was in his bedroom putting away his clothes. “Don’t you fold anything?”
“I iron things.”
“You’re sick.”
“I’m old fashioned. I like to iron clothes.” He liked the warmth of freshly ironed clothes under his cold hand. He enjoyed the scent that happened when the heat erupted the fabric softener that he so enjoyed. He used the iron to get used to heat, to help get over his fear of fire. He also used it for a sort of meditation, something he could do mindlessly while he mulled over other problems.
He was old fashioned, and he knew it.
“You’re really sick,” said Kyle, finishing putting away his clothes. “Good thing I don’t have anything that has wrinkles. So tell me about the girl.”
“Well…she has long black hair – “
“Her name, her name! Did you get her birthdate anyway? I can run a horoscope on her.”
“Kyle, women aren’t forthcoming with their birthdays.”
“If you tell them you’ll get their horoscope done, they will!”
Bruce picked up the clothes and went to the closet door. He opened it, and passed through the door into the apartment next door. He had that extra entrance installed, in case of an emergency. Most times he entered his half of the duplex through the front door.
Kyle followed him. The room had thick, black, upholstery-fabric curtains over the two windows, so that not one iota of light could get in. There was an alarm clock beside the bed, set on military time, and a flat-screen television on the dresser. He put the clothes in the corner, next to the ironing board. He took out a shirt and tie, and a pair of khakis.
Kyle put on the light, after crossing the room to the other door. This door had three deadbolts on the inside. The windows were also locked tight, especially the one to the fire escape. No precaution had not been taken. An alarm would go on as soon as sunrise hit, so no one could step into that room. Kyle did once, and he had to give the police a cock-and-bull story afterward.