To my utter surprise, it was a man. He was incredibly tall and lean, standing at about six feet with broad shoulders that practically screamed power. His dark brown hair was slightly overgrown, bangs just framing light brown eyes. If I had to venture a guess, I’d estimate the man was in his early thirties, but the serious expression he wore with a seemingly permanent frown made him appear much older.
I cracked the door open an inch.
“Turn that crap off,” he hissed before I could even get a word out. The harshness in his deep voice took me aback, leaving me momentarily stunned.
“Excuse me?” I bit back.
“I have had a very long day,” he continued bitterly. “And I need to get up at five tomorrow to get to work. Turn that infernal racket off, or so help me.”
“Infernal racket,” I echoed, the start of a giggle bubbling up from my chest. “Are you kidding me? What are you? An eighty-year-old man?”
“Turn it down or I’ll call the landlord.”
“You mean my cousin Paul?”
“Paul’s your cousin?”
“Are you hard of hearing, too?” I joked. “He’s the whole reason I managed to get this apartment in the first place. I would have had a hard time beating out other applicants otherwise.”
“Turn your music down, or I’ll call the cops and file a noise complaint.”
I shook my fist in the air and exaggerated a frown. “Get off my lawn!” I teased, lowering my voice to sound like a grumpy old man.
The stranger’s stern expression cracked slightly, the tiniest and briefest grin ghosting across his lips. There was a challenge in his brilliant eyes, something electric in the way he held my gaze with confidence. He opened his mouth for a moment, like he was about to say something, but pressed his lips into a thin line.
“Just keep it down,” he grumbled before turning on his heel. He stomped down the hall and quickly disappeared behind the door of the apartment next to me.
“Nice to meet you, too!” I shouted after him. “I’ll be sure to let the senior home down the street know you’re missing.”
I closed the door and broke out into a tiny fit of giggles. I got a good crack out of that last one. And I secretly hoped Mr. Grumpy managed to catch my quip before settling in for the night. I turned the music off entirely, deciding I should open at least one box that evening. I trudged over and reluctantly picked up the smallest box labelled toiletries.
3
Edgar
“You look like crap,” said Joe. “Didn’t get enough beauty sleep?”
I placed the cup of coffee I’d purchased from the hospital cafeteria down on the little table, sitting down next to my best friend. The plastic chair is uncomfortable and hard, creaking under my weight in protest. Joe’s dressed casually in a pair of dark blue jeans and a burgundy t-shirt that hugs his bulky frame. I was honestly surprised to see that his hands were covered in grease and grime from the garage. In fact, I was surprised to see him away from work at all.
Joe was a good guy, if a little rough around the edges. He wasn’t the type of person to dance around subjects, no matter how sensitive they were. That’s what I liked about him. He was straightforward, shot from the hip. I could always rely on Joe to be honest with me, even if I didn’t like what he had to say. He had a sat little fruit cup in front of him, though he didn’t seem to be too hungry. As a matter of fact, he looked rather tired, so I didn’t know where he got off telling me I was the one who looked like crap.
“The hell are you doing here?” I chuckled. “Your business finally get shut down for safety violations?”
“Don’t even joke about that,” he grumbled, but there wasn’t any heat behind his words. “I live and breathe the garage.”
“I know. It’s gross. And really unhealthy. You here to get all that tar out of your lungs?”
“I wish. Aunt May took a little tumble getting out of the tub,” he explained.
“Oh, shit. Sorry. Is she okay?”
“Yeah, she’ll be fine. Uncle Tom found her pretty quickly and called for help right away. I think the husband-of-the-year award goes to him by default.”
“I’ll say.”
“The doctor says she bumped her head on the base of the tub, so they’re keeping her overnight for observation. I had the day off, so I wanted to stop by to check on her.”
I took a sip of my coffee and nodded. “That’s good.”
“What’s up with you? Any new developments since the last time we hung out?”
I shrugged my shoulders nonchalantly. “We saw each other a week ago. Not much happens to me.”
“What ever happened to that girl who gave you her number?” questioned Joe with a raised eyebrow. “The one that was coming on to you at the bar. Did you call her like I asked?”