Chapter 5 – Genuine Offer
It had been a few days since Topher had first introduced himself to Duncan in the laundry. For the life of him he could still not fathom what made him do that in the first place. He replayed the scenario in his head from the initial handshake all the way down to pretending to have more laundry to do just to avoid having to walk back up the stairs with someone who was basically a stranger.
He’d come to a decision though and he was determined to act on that decision. The decision was, he needed to make friends, a friend, just one. Just a single person who he might be able to confide in, or grab a drink with, or something!
Three days of being holed up in his apartment burning through swipes & ‘Heys’, and blocking faceless profiles and their unsolicited pics, all in between a dismal job hunt, had only reinforced this decision. So here he was, standing outside apartment 4B. It may have only been meant as a polite gesture, but he was going to take Duncan up on that offer, because he needed company, someone other than just himself.
Duncan had just finished sending off yet another response to a job posting when he heard the knock at the door. His brow furrowed as he was not expecting any deliveries at the time. He was about to ignore it when he heard the knock again. Push back his chair he walked over to the door and looked through the keyhole.
Huh. It looked like the guy from the other day, from the laundry room and the elevator. Topher he thought was his name, but what did he want? Ot want to leave the man fidgeting in the hallway, he stepped back and opened the door facing Topher.
“Um, hi,” Topher said a bit nervously, almost as if he was uncertain he should even be there.
“Hi” Duncan responded.
The two sat more a moment longer awkward silence pooling in the air between them.
Not wanting to let it linger any longer than the silence already had. Topher started again. “You had mentioned if I wanted to hang out to stop by your place some time. I thought maybe I’d take you up on that offer?”
The last part of that sentence Duncan realized, had been drawn out in a hesitating and question manner.
“Oh!” Duncan exclaimed, surprised. “Oh, of course, um, sure.” He was scrabbling to formulate a response. While the invitation had been genuine, he hadn’t actually expected Topher to take him up on it. In all honesty he’d forgotten he’d even extended the invitation until just now.
Seeing the other guy start to deflate around the edges, he quickly tried to cover his fumble.
“Why don’t you come in? The place is a bit of a mess, but the balcony has a nice view and I’m sure there’s an open bottle of wine somewhere in the kitchen” He opened the door wider, gesturing Topher in.
Topher exhaled a sigh of relief, he honestly had no idea how Duncan had been going to respond. Hell, he wasn’t even sure if the guy would remember his name, let alone the invitation, but the invitation had seemed genuine at the time. As his luck would have it, Duncan had remembered both his name and the invitation.
“A glass of wine would be lovely. And some fresh air would be nice.” Topher said with a smile, referring to the offer of a patio seat. Duncan nodded in replying, returning the smile, & welcoming him into the apartment.
Walking down the short corridor to the main area Topher quickly understood the layout of the apartment. It was a mirror to his own. The master bedroom was flipped. Instead of walking past the kitchen to access the space, you simply turned left through the door. Surveying his surroundings he was surprised to see the place was relatively clean. When Duncan had said ‘a mess’ he’d expected, well a mess. Turns out Duncan’s idea of clutter was a single load of clean laundry heaped on the sofa (from the other day no doubt) and a few dirty plates in the sink. Clearly an utter mess.
“I see your laundry has not folded itself?” Topher asked attempting to break the last remnants of that initial awkwardness.
“What?” Duncan asked, pulling the door to the cupboard he’d been grabbing two wine glasses from closed.
Looking in Topher’s direction, he saw immediately the man was referring to. “Oh! Yeah, I, um, well I’d planned to do it, but after halling it up those damn stairs I just couldn’t be bothered. And seeing how I hadn’t been expecting company I thought I had more time to fold it”
All the while, he’d been trying to justify his laziness, Duncan had also been busy grabbing the bottle of wine to go with the glasses.
Topher cringed a moment, hesitating, maybe he was intruding on Duncan’s time and space. “But at least you will have killer legs by the end of the year if you keep it up, right?” He tried jokingly.
Duncan laughed “You’re not wrong! But for now, laundry can wait another day. Shall we move to the balcony where the view is more enjoyable?”
He moved past Topher, navigating towards the sliding doors at the opposite of the room. Setting the glasses and bottle on the side table. He pulled back the blinds letting the light wash over the room. Then slide the door open, allowing the sounds from across the park roll-in.
“Wow, I didn’t realize this side faced the park” Topher walked toward Duncan admiring the view. “You must love this”
Duncan poured wine into the two glasses he’d carried over. Topher noticed the one Duncan had handed him had the letters “E + J” etched on the side.
“It’s my little slice of peace” Duncan said, sipping his own wine. “It might not be a city skyline, but I enjoy it all the same.”
Duncan leaned up against the railing, basking in the view for a moment. Topher stepped out beside him and did the same.