Chapter 3 – Meetings

He looked around his apartment with a smug sense of satisfaction.

“That” he thought “Is the last of the boxes. Finally!”

He dropped the last of the broken-down boxes into the pile by the door & brushed off his hands. It had taken him a couple of weeks, but he’d finally managed it. Everything was unpacked and put away.  

He had not realized how much he’d had, but a good purge and a critical eye had resulted in a minimalist aesthetic with only a few treasured keepsakes displayed, which of course, was to say it only looked to be a small step above when he’d first graduated college. 

All the same he was pleased. The little apartment was starting to feel like home & he felt accomplished to be done with one thing. He was still jobless and the lack of a car was definitely becoming more of a nuisance by the day, but he was making it work. Things were looking up.

Eager to have any last vestiges of the move purged from his apartment he collected up the pile of boxes by the door and carted them off to the dumpsters.  It was a little tricky to maneuver the door and the boxes alone, but he managed to make it to the elevator and call for it all without dropping his precariously stacked cargo.

Praying to the powers that be that today was one of the elevator’s good days, he leaned the boxes up against the wall and waited.  

“Is the elevator running today?” A voice inquired from behind him.

Balancing the boxes against the wall with his leg, he pressed the button again for good measure. 

“Hope so!” He said. 

The neighbor laughed quietly in response.

The two waited for the tell-tale ding. As luck had it, today was one of the elevator’s good days.

“Seems we’re in luck” The man behind him said.

He laughed as angled himself into the cab.  “So it would seem.  I was not looking forward to carrying all these boxes down the stairs.”   

“No I imagine not.”  His neighbor smiled, holding the elevator door open, making the job a little easier.

“Thanks for that”

That neighbor nodded an acknowledgement before stepping in the cab behind him.  The two rode quietly to the ground floor.  

Once again his neighbor graciously held the door open. For which he was grateful. 

“Thank you again!”  He called over his shoulder as he trudged with conviction towards the trash room, fearful if he stopped he’d drop all of the boxes.  He heard the neighbor call ‘welcome’ from somewhere behind him.

Cardboard boxes recycled, he pushed through the lobby doors and out into the afternoon sun. He stood on the top steps for a minute letting his eyes adjust to change in lighting. 

As he stood there, hand over his eyes, he could hear the sounds from the park drifting over from across the street. 

Slowly he made his way down the steps.  “Was that a bit of spring in his walk?” He mused.  Well…he was officially moved in after all, why not be happy about it?  He grinned as the feeling sunk in. 

He made his way south. Being done with moving was reason to celebrate.  And what better way to celebrate than a good dinner from the cheap dinner!  To be honest, that place had become somewhat of a staple, since he’d discovered it his first week.  Regardless, it was comforting and he was starving!

Leaning back with his foot against the railing of his balcony, he watched as the sunlight faded from view.  Licking the spoon of the last bits of sauce. The meal had been everything he’d wanted it to be. Cheap, filling, & comforting.  For a moment he felt content.  It had been a good day and for a moment he could imagine everything was normal again.

He paused on that feeling, normal.  It wasn’t true of course, the aches were still there, creeping around at the edges, & things weren’t what they had been.  They were getting there again though. And today was a solid step in that direction.  

He nodded.  Assuring himself that was the truth. 

Standing up, he collected the remnants of his meals and took them to the kitchen to dispose of. Dinner was done & the day was almost over, but he still wanted to get in one last load of laundry before he called it for the day.

While he loved his apartment.  It’s small size also meant laundry was subjugated to the communal facilities on the first floor, which wasn’t terrible, as long as the elevator was working.  It appeared though, twice in one day had been too much to ask of the aged machine. 

“Ugh” he grunted.  Dropping his basket and detergent on the floor. Flexing his cramped fingers from tooting the heavy basket down the stairs.

“Your luck ran out too did it?” He head someone ask.

Looking around he saw the neighbor from earlier, folding the last of his towels.

He smiled standing up straight.  “So it would seem. Twice in one day was just too much to ask for.”

“Yeah, but would have rather carted those boxes down four flights instead?  That was quite the stack of cardboard.” 

He started to throw his laundry into an empty machine.  “Fair point. Though really I was just happy to have the last of them gone, so I would have carried them down the stairs if it killed me.”

The man laughed. “I know the feeling. I recently unpacked the last of my own move.  It’s a great feeling.”

“It is isn’t it?!”  He asked excitedly, “I didn’t realize I wasn’t the only new guy in town.”

“ I’ve been here about a month and half now.”  The neighbor reached over extending a hand. “The name’s Christopher, Topher for short.”

He smiled, returning the gesture. “Nice to meet you.  I’m Duncan.”