Once again I stood in front of the white gates that would lead me to my new residence. It was an old building in an old neighbourhood, but it was a central area. It was where the city’s nightlife was most vibrant, and it was where most bus lines went through. If I ever needed to go to another part of the city, it was easy enough to find a bus, or two, that would take me where I wanted to go.
The rent was also good.
The apartment was big enough for four people to live in comfortably, but there were only two of us at the moment. It was so spacious that me and my feline companions would not feel cramped, at least.
The only drawback, if there was any, was the roommate. It was not that she was a bad person, in fact, I hardly knew anything about her. But I had been through difficult situations with my previous roommates, and I wished to avoid any sort of trouble. The older you get, the more you wish for a simple and uncomplicated life.
I took a deep breath and opened the white gate. On my left hand I carried Ari, my bakeneko. It had a strange, yet beautiful, olive tone to its fur. In my backpack I carried Levi, my other feline companion. It had shiny black fur, and irises of different colours: yellow and blue. I had adopted both three years ago, and they made me happier every day.
There was a tree by the entrance of the building. It wasn’t big and, honestly, it seemed to be struggling to live. It was a pomegranate tree that, despite the difficulties of living in the centre of one of the biggest cities in the continent, still bore its fruits proudly.
Its will to continue to exist was admirable.
I was reminded of my childhood, and of all the pomegranate tea I had to drink as a boy. My earliest memories were filled with its golden colour, however, I did not seem to remember its taste. Suddenly, my trail of thoughts was cut by a lovely noise, coming out of Ari’s case:
‘MEEEEEEEEEEEEOW!’
‘Sorry buddy, I know you don’t like your case. It won’t take long now, we are almost there’, I said, as if talking to animals was only natural.
I began walking towards the inner gate, and had to go up a flight of stairs. Two floors later I was standing in front of my new home: apartment 202. I opened the door, and was surprised to find a woman dancing in the living room.
‘Hello?’, I asked, but she did not reply.
She was completely focused on the music and the rhythm. She was dancing to Anitta’s latest hit, Envolver, so she was in a plank position, moving her ass up and down. It was not really how I expected to meet my new roommate.
Was this going to be another fiasco?
I closed the door behind me and put Ari’s case on the floor. There was no way of getting to the corridor without bumping into her, so I simply waited until she could see me. It did not take long for her to stand up.
‘Oh…’, she muttered. I could see the embarrassment in her eyes.
‘I’m Oliver. These are Ari and Levi’.
‘I’m Rebecca… Nice to meet you! I’m sorry, I completely lost track of time. I was just so into dancing that I…’
‘No problem, don’t worry. Shall we talk a bit more later? I gotta get the boys out of their cases’.
‘MEEEEEEEEOW’, Ari screamed, as if agreeing with me.
‘See you later’, she replied.
***
My furniture had arrived two days earlier, and everything was already in its place. My queen-sized bed, my bookshelves, my paintings and my lamp had all been organised by Rebecca. I asked her to do so, because I had had a problem with my previous employer, and had to deal with all the bureaucracy that came with getting fired.
When I finally let Ari and Levi taste some freedom, they glared at me with fire in their eyes. They quickly ran and hid themselves under the bed, a ‘safe’ place. I knew they would be hidden for the next couple of days, at least.
The door was open, but Rebecca softly knocked to make her presence known. I turned and, for the first time, took a good look at her.
She was not tall, but not short either. Rebecca had brown hair that came up to her shoulders and eyes that made you want to drown yourself. Her irises were of a vivid forest green, and the more I looked into them, the more I wanted to lose myself.
Ooops.
‘What are you doing tonight?’, she asked.
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