The
next few weeks were among the best of Aidan's life. Nisha visited
him at his apartment a lot now, and she spent the night there a few
times a week. Nothing made him happier than to wake up and see her
smiling face, and he made sure to tell her that every chance he got.
Today was one of those mornings, the alarm went off right at 6:30
sharp, and he quickly reached over to shut it off. Nisha stirred a
little, and he gently put his hand on her side as he watched her come
awake.
“Good
morning”, she mumbled, still half-asleep.
“Good
morning sweetie”, he said, giving her a little kiss on the
forehead. “Do you want to join me for breakfast?”
“I
still need my sleep”, she said, giving him a little squeeze before
settling back into her pillow. She still took the train an hour
later, and rarely got up when he did. “You keep me up too late at
night”.
“Hey,
I was ready to go to sleep at 11:00 last night”, he teased,
resetting the alarm. “There's fruit in the fridge, make sure to
lock up when you head out.”
“Mm-hmm”,
she was already asleep again. He patted her side and tucked her back
in as he climbed out of the bed. He had a quick shower, packed his
things, ate a bowl of cereal, and quietly let himself out of the
apartment.
It
was a bright and sunny morning today. The sun was starting to rise a
little earlier, so he no longer had to walk to the train station in
the dark, and that made the mornings seem a lot less oppressive.
Work had been going pretty smoothly as well, even though he had been
getting a bit less sleep he had a lot more energy and the possibility
of that promotion was helping him to stay motivated. The weekend was
coming, too, and now that he was with her he looked forward to his
weekends a lot more.
The
train was quiet today, perhaps now that spring had arrived more
people were on vacation, or maybe they just wanted to stay in bed
like she did. He wondered how many of the other people on the train
had someone waiting for them at home. Some of the older men probably
did, but no one else on the train seemed to radiate the same
happiness he felt, they were just staring forward, out the window, or
quietly reading something or other. “That was me a few months
ago”, he thought. Things had improved so much for him since then
that he could hardly imagine going back to his old life. He opened
the paper he bought back at the station and went straight to the
comics page, laughing aloud at a particularly funny joke.
“Good
morning, Aidan”, Nicole greeted him as he entered the building.
With all the excitement surrounding his own relationship he had
hardly given any thought to Dan and Nicole's date. Dan had called it
a disaster but had refused to say anything more than that. Nicole's
demeanour towards Aidan hadn't changed, but Dan had mostly been
avoiding her since then. “Good morning”, he replied, not wanting
to get involved. He took the elevator up to his floor, visited the
coffee machine, and sat down at his desk. There was another big
stack of papers waiting for him today, a lot of home loans, this was
always a hot time of year for the real estate market. Unfortunately,
home loans were also the source of most defaults, so he had a lot of
cases to track down this time of year. He plucked the top sheet off
his stack and went straight to work.
Aidan
was about to place a call to the western branch when his boss dropped
by. He seemed to be in an especially jolly mood this morning.
“Good
morning, my boy”, he said, not seeming to notice the phone in his
hand. “Today's a big day! There's a big management meeting this
afternoon, I suspect we'll find out more about the changes to the
leadership structure. Who knows, if all goes well, I might not be
your boss for much longer.”
“I'll
keep my fingers crossed”, he replied instinctively before realizing
that sounded a little harsh.
“Ha
ha, I'm sure you will. But who knows, you might get my old position,
and then I'll be your boss forever.”
“That
would be fine with me, sir.”
“Yes,
I'm sure you'd enjoy a promotion, who wouldn't, eh? Well, back to
work, I'll keep you posted.”
He
left, and Aidan went back to his phone call. He was pretty excited
too, so it didn't even really bother him that no one seemed to be
awake at the western branch. He could always call them again later,
or if he got that promotion he could get someone else to call them
for him. He ploughed through his in pile and the morning just seemed
to zip by.
“You
look really happy today”, Dan remarked as Aidan arrived at their
lunch table. Dan himself had not been in particularly high spirits
ever since that date.
“Yeah,
it's been a good morning. Keep this under your hat, but there might
be a management position opening up in my department soon.”
“Sheesh,
could you have any more luck? There's no room for advancement in
accounting, as always. My life is a disaster.”
He
shrugged. “Your life doesn't seem so bad. You live at home, make
decent money, don't have many responsibilities...”
“That's
just it”, Dan said, cutting him off, “I'm still a child. Other
people are furthering their career or their love lives, and nothing
has really changed for me since high school. When I went out with
Nicole, it was obvious that there was a huge difference between us.
I just wasn't ready at all for any of it.”
“So
why don't you do the adult thing now and talk to her? You shouldn't
go out with someone and then just avoid them.”
“There's
no point, I have nothing to offer her.”
“Well,
she seemed to enjoy talking to you before. Her life also sounds like
it's kind of a mess, maybe you can commiserate.”
“Her
life isn't a mess at all, she may be a single parent but her life is
way better put together than mine.”
“So
what's the deal with her kid? Is she divorced?”
“Never
married. She had her son in college, and she had to drop out and
take this job to support him.”
“What
about the father?”
“Seems
like he's not in the picture. Didn't want much to do with her or the
kid, I take it. Not much help from her family, either.”
“That
sounds pretty rough.”
“Maybe
it was at first, but she's done a good job of raising her son since
then. Now that he's a bit older, she's even taking courses on the
weekend so she can finally get her diploma and get a better job.
She's really smart and responsible, she's not just a pretty face.”
“Sounds
to me like you two had a good talk and you still like her.”
Dan
shook his head. “You don't get it. She needs a father for her
son. I just wanted to go out with her because she's super hot.”
“I
don't think that's all you like about her, and she wanted to go out
with you, too. Even if her situation is a bit difficult, she would
probably still like to meet someone who cares about her..”
“See,
this is why I didn't want to talk about it. You're just going to
talk me into saying something stupid again.”
“Well,
it's all up to you, but your life isn't just going to take off on its
own.”
“Can
we just eat?”, Dan
said, wanting to change the subject. They ate the rest of their
lunch in silence.
With
his boss away at the management meeting, the afternoon was very
quiet. The silence was broken a few times when Aidan had to place a
phone call, but other than that it seemed as though the entire floor
was waiting to hear the news. Did the rest of them know about it?
Aidan wondered if he would be competing with all of his co-workers,
as well. He tried to put the thought out of his mind and focus on
filling out his paperwork, but he just couldn't keep his mind from
wandering. He glanced down at his watch again, wondering when the
meeting would be over.
4:00
came and went with no word from his boss. “Perhaps he's gotten the
promotion and there's more work to be done”, he thought. He stared
at his in pile, which was still fairly large. He had to get at least
some of it done or he'd have to stay late tonight, and Nisha would
probably go back home if he wasn't on the train. He forced himself
to fill out a few more papers while stealing occasional glances at
his boss's office.
His
door was still closed at 5:00. This time, Aidan got up from his
desk, walked to his office, and peered in the window. To his
surprise, his boss was inside, sorting through some papers in his
filing cabinet. Not able to withstand the suspense any longer, he
knocked on the door.
There
was no immediate reply. He continued fiddling around with his files
for a moment, before finally closing the drawer. Aidan gently
knocked on the door again. “All right, come in”, he replied,
finally.
Aidan
quietly shut the door behind him and sat down. “Bad news, sir?”
“I'm
afraid so”, he replied, and Aidan's heart sank. “It's going to
take forever to pack up all of these documents for my new office.”
“...Your
new office? Then... you got it?”
“Yes,
my boy, I got it! Ha hah!” His boss did a triumphant little
dance, and Aidan leapt out of his chair to shake his hand.
“I
wasn't supposed to say anything until they make the formal
announcement”, he continued, “but I just couldn't keep it bottled
up any longer.”
“So
then have you decided who will replace you?” Aidan asked,
hopefully.
“That's
not my call to make”, he said, shaking his head, “but keep
getting all your work done and I'll put in a good word for you when
the time comes.”
“Congratulations
again, sir, it has been a pleasure working for you”.
“I'm
not leaving right this moment, my boy”, he chuckled, “you won't
be rid of me that easily. Still, quite a way to end the week, eh?”
It
definitely was. Everything was finally starting to come together.
If he could get this promotion and work everything out with Nisha
he'd be set for a long time. Unfortunately, he still had a lot of
work to get done, and he was even less focused on it now. All he
wanted to do now was see Nisha and tell her the good news. When 6:00
came, he still had a fair bit of work left to do, but he didn't want
to miss her, so he just slipped what was left from his in pile into
his desk. “I'm sure my boss would understand just this once”, he
thought as he packed his briefcase and headed for the elevator.
Aidan
arrived in the lobby just in time to catch part of an awkward
conversation between Dan and Nicole. He didn't want to eavesdrop,
but he couldn't help but overhear some of it on his way out.
“I'm
really sorry about how I acted when we went out”, Dan said,
scratching the back of his neck nervously.
“It's
all right”, she replied. “When I realized you didn't know, I
kind of figured things would go like that.”
“I
admit, it caught me completely off-guard, but still, there's no
excuse for how I acted. You're always so well-composed, I just felt
really inadequate next to you.”
“It
scared the hell out of me at first, too, I've just gotten used to
it.”
“I
know”, he nodded, “I've kind of gotten used to the idea too, and
I realize that I still really like you. Would you let me take you
out again, now that I've smartened up a little?”
“Sure”,
she smiled, “how about Sunday?”
Aidan
left the two of them in peace and left the building.
It
was a cool spring evening, the sun was just starting to set, leaving
the cloudy sky a kind of blue-grey colour. He felt a few drops of
rain on his cheek and hurried along to the train station. It was
quite busy now, all of the stores were packed, perhaps simply because
people wanted to get inside before it rained. He wasted no time
getting to his train, it still wasn't raining hard by the time he got
to his platform, but the sky was getting darker and more threatening
all the time. He was very relieved to see that Nisha was already on
the train ahead of him. She greeted him with a hug, and he responded
with a kiss on the cheek.
“I've
got great news today!” he beamed.
“Oh?”
she enquired. He told her all about his boss's promotion and the
opportunity that created for him.
“I
hope you're not busy tonight”, he finished.
“I
was going to have dinner with my parents, but I suppose you want to
go out and celebrate?”
“Actually,
I'd like to take you back to my apartment and celebrate”, he
whispered, kissing her neck.
“How's
that any different from any other night?”, she asked, rolling her
eyes a little.
“We
don't have to work tomorrow, so we've got all night to have fun”,
he grinned, kissing her again. “Besides, look out the window,
would you really want to go somewhere in this weather?”
“I
suppose not”, she said, “but if I'm giving up my dinner I want
something to eat that doesn't come from the microwave.”
“Don't
worry”, he said, snuggling up to her, “I'm sure we'll find
something”. He loved it when she sat next to the window, he had
far more choice in where to put his hands.
“You
guys are all the same”, she sighed, snuggling up to him.
It
was raining pretty hard by the time the train pulled into the
station. They hurried off the platform to avoid getting soaked.
“I
guess we're eating here”, he remarked after they got inside.
Luckily, the local station was not too busy, there were places where
they could get food without a terrible lineup. “How about the
coffee shop? They've got soup and sandwiches.”
It
wasn't the most romantic place to eat, but they didn't really have a
lot of choice. They placed their orders, picked up their food, and
sat down a table.
“You
know, this is where we went on our first date”.
“I
remember”, she said. “It's been a while, hasn't it?”
“Yeah.
It's been wonderful, Nish, I'm very happy.”
“I'm
happy too. I'm glad I took a chance on you.”
“Was
that such a difficult thing?”
“Well,
some of my previous relationships didn't go so well.” She looked
away. He had always kind of figured that, she was obviously more
experienced than he was but she never talked about any of her
previous boyfriends and he didn't care to ask.
“I'm
glad to be the exception”, he said, sipping his soup. “So where
do you want this relationship to go? Do you see the two of us
getting married some day?”
“I
don't know”, she said, “but I'm starting to think I might like
that.”
“I
don't mind telling you that that's what I'm hoping for. But I
suppose you already knew that, right?”
She
gave him a warm smile. “Thanks Aidan, I'm really glad you feel
that way.”
“I'm
surprised, you always seem to know what I'm thinking.”
“I
have some idea, but it's nice to hear it from you sometimes.”
They
finished up their meal and left the station. It had stopped raining
for the moment.
“So
now how about I take you home and show you how I feel about you?”
he asked, playfully.
“Oh
Aidan”, she smiled, “you're such a good little boy, but if you
think I'm waiting that long after what you just told me you've still
got a lot to learn.” She lead him to a quiet spot, secluded from
the road, and they did it right then and there, under the cloudy sky.
It started to rain again, but they didn't care, they had each other.
Afterwards, they hurried back to his apartment to continue what they
had started. They tore off their wet clothes and enjoyed a wild
night together, a celebration of young love and passion.
They
woke up late the next morning. Nisha quickly excused herself to have
a shower while Aidan set about making breakfast. He had just
finished cutting up an apple and buttering some toast when Nisha got
out of the shower. She was already fully dressed, to his slight
disappointment. She sat down at the small table they used for meals
and started to eat.
“Are
you going to stay here today?” he asked.
“I
could. What do you want to do?”
“Well,
I figured we could cuddle up and watch tv, spend a lot of time in
bed, maybe go out for some groceries later...”
She
looked him over out of the corner of her eye. He was only wearing a
pair of boxer shorts, he hadn't bothered to get dressed yet, and
today it seemed like she wasn't totally satisfied with that. “That's
pretty much all we do when I'm here. You don't just want me here for
sex, do you?”
“Of
course not. I love you, and it always makes me happy to have you
around, regardless of what we're doing. I'm just afraid that my life
wasn't ever all that exciting. Before I met you I spent most
Saturdays cleaning the apartment and washing my clothes.”
“Aww,
I know sweetie, but we can't spend all our Saturdays hanging around
here. Let's go out today.”
“All
right, do you want to go for a walk and then catch a movie?”
“I
was thinking of something a bit more extravagant than that. How
about we go downtown today? There's so much more to see and do in
the city than there is here.”
He
hadn't been expecting that, but he could tell she really wanted it.
“Sure, that sounds great. I guess I'd better go put some pants on,
huh?”
“There's
no rush”, she said, batting her eyes at him, “we don't have to
leave for a little while yet”, and as it turned out, he got to do
what he wanted that morning as well.
Even
though he had taken this train into the city every day for many years
now, it felt totally different this morning. His morning commute was
usually a quiet affair that gave him a little time to relax and plan
for the day ahead. Today, he felt equal parts excited and anxious,
and they had no plans at all for the whole day. He had tried asking
Nisha what she would like to do once they got there, but she said
that the best part about being in the city was they could decide when
they got there. He took a deep breath and gave her a squeeze. As
long as she was with him, it would be all right, he had nothing to
worry about as long as she loved him.
The
train pulled into the station a little after noon. The station
wasn't quite as packed as it sometimes was, but it seemed far
livelier than usual, people were talking and laughing as they moved
to and fro, a far cry from the slow-moving throng of a regular
workday. Nisha really seemed to be drinking it all in, and seeing
her in good spirits made him happy, too. They walked together hand
in hand through the terminal and out the main doors and were bathed
in the light of a warm spring afternoon.
As
his eyes adjusted to the light, Aidan could have sworn he was
standing in a completely different city. The streets were lined with
shops that he had never paid any attention to on his way to and from
work.
It
was kind of shocking to see just how many places he didn't recognize
at all, even after all this time. They crossed to the opposite side
of the street from the one he took to get to his office building and
started down the first line of shops.
“So,
what do you want to do first?”
“Ice
cream!” she decided instantly, pulling him into a nearby shop.
Despite the bright sun, it really wasn't too warm today, but that
didn't seem to deter her enthusiasm. Aidan looked through the
display case, trying to figure out what to order.
“What
would you like, miss?”, the server asked.
“One
vanilla in a sugar cone.”
“Vanilla?”,
he asked, looking up from the case. “That's like the water of ice
cream.”
“I
like it”, she said, accepting the cone. “You're pretty vanilla
yourself.”
Aidan
settled upon a flavor that was a swirl of three different colours.
He didn't press the issue further, but he did find it strange that
someone would have so much enthusiasm for something so plain.
The
next store she wanted to go into was a souvenir shop that had a ton
of strange items inside. There were a few t-shirts, hats, buttons,
and other basic collectables, but what drew Nisha's attention were
the photographs and a display of locally produced arts and crafts.
“Take
a look at this, Aidan, they paint this right on top of the glass.”
“Do
they have to do each one by hand?”
“Well,
I don't think so, they probably do one and the rest are done by a
machine, but still, it's a really interesting aesthetic.”
He
wandered over to the next section, which had a few bins full of
pictures framed in cardboard.
“Ooh,
I'll want to look through those”, she said, thumbing through them,
but something else caught his eye. There was a rotating display of
wooden plaques with funny captions on them.
“Hey,
take a look at this one, Nish: 'We had to get rid of the kids, the
cat was allergic”. There was a picture of a cat who really didn't
look very upset about it.
“I
don't really find it very funny.” She said, looking over.
“Or
how about this one: 'My wife wants me to get more exercise, so I
resolved to stop eating on the toilet'.”
“That's
just gross.”
She
went back to looking through the pictures while he enjoyed the rest
of them. In the end, she picked out one little print she liked from
the pile and bought it. She had a little chat with the owner, it
turned out he knew the artist who had created it, and she seemed
really interested in that.
“Are
you going to hang that up in the apartment?” he asked her after
they got back outside.
“Well...”
she said, shyly, “I didn't really think you'd have much interest in
it.”
“Even
if I didn't, it's your place too, now.”
She
smiled. “Thanks. Maybe I will.”
“That's
great,”, he said, reaching behind his back. “It'll go perfectly
with my new plaque.”
“Oh
no, you didn't buy that thing, did you?”, she looked mortified.
“No,
I'm kidding”, he said, revealing his empty hands. She laughed. He
took her arm again and they continued on their way.
They
visited a few more shops along that street and the next. A lot of
them were clothing shops, which really wasn't very interesting for
him, the prospect of watching her try on new things seemed exciting
at first but after the fourth pair of shoes his enthusiasm had almost
totally waned. The all-female staff regarded him with a certain
knowing sympathy but other than that his presence there was barely
acknowledged. Nisha asked him for his opinion a few times but she
could see he wasn't having a great time so she didn't linger too
long. Afterwards they went for a stroll through the park, which he
enjoyed a lot more. There wasn't really a ton to see there yet, most
of the flowers were still just stalks and buds, but it gave them a
chance to relax and talk and he enjoyed having a moment to just be
with her. They sat down on a bench near a little fountain for a
short rest.
“This
place is really beautiful in the summer, I sometimes come here on my
lunch break.”
“It's
a little barren today, but I hope you're having a good time anyway.”
“Oh
yes”, she said, snuggling up to him. “This is so much better.
Thanks for coming out today.”
They
stayed there for a little while, just enjoying the fresh air, but the
sun was starting to go down a bit, so eventually they decided to
press on.
“So
what do you want to do now?”, he asked.
“Now
I want to know what it is you'd like to do”, she said, poking him
in the chest with her finger.
He
shrugged. “Well, right now I am a little hungry, let's see if we
can find something to eat.”
“After
you”, she said, falling in step beside him.
There
were just as many places to eat as there were to shop. At first he
considering going to Carlson's, but they were trying new things
today, so he forced himself to look for something new. They
continued walking, past where he worked, but he couldn't make up his
mind on where to go. Finally he spotted something that caught his
eye. He dismissed it almost immediately, it was a crazy idea, not
the kind of place one would ever take a date. But then he turned
back to look at her, and he started to reconsider it. He wasn't just
on a date, he loved this woman with all his heart and wanted to spend
his life with her. She had asked him to choose something because she
wanted to share in his life, too.
“This
is the place”, he said.
“A
bar?” she asked. “What made you choose this one?”
“This
place is kind of famous in the comedy world”, he said sheepishly,
there was no going back now. “A lot of people who went on to
become pretty famous started out here.”
She
glanced at the sign on the window, which was advertising the comedian
who would be performing stand-up that evening. “Do you know this
guy?”
“No”,
he admitted, “but I've always kind of wanted to come here.”
He
was worried that she'd say no. It was ridiculous and impulsive, but
she brought that out in him. He was getting ready to suggest
something else when she surprised him again.
“Sure,
why not?”, she said. “We're trying new things today.”
It
was very busy. They were informed that they'd have to wait for a
table, and he immediately started to regret his decision, but as luck
would have it an act was just coming to an end and a lot of tables
opened up. The main area was just one large room with a very high
ceiling filled with small round tables and a stage at one end.
Apart from the stage, it was fairly dark, but he could tell the decor
was not fancy, their table was adorned very plainly with a single
candle and a simple tablecloth, and the seats were small and not very
comfortable. Despite it all, however, Aidan was very excited to
finally see it. A waitress gave them some menus and told them the
next show would start in 15 minutes, and he could hardly contain
himself.
Their
food arrived just before the comic took the stage. He was a rather
big man with a strong, slightly sarcastic voice. He spent a few
minutes making the usual pleasantries with the crowd, then began his
act. The first part was about dealing with the government.
Apparently, they had misread his passport application, and misspelled
his name as “Gorge Simon”.
“Now
I know I'm a big man”, he said, “but did it not occur to you that
might be missing an 'e'?”.
“I'm
very sorry, Mr. Simone”, he imitated, in a squeaky voice, “I'll
have that fixed for you right away.” He tried for quite some time
to convince them that his name was actually George, but unfortunately
his driver's license had a grease stain on it, and his health card
just said “Fat Man”. “The health department is getting really
pushy about this obesity epidemic”. In the end, they got it sorted
out, and she gave him his passport and the passport for his wife,
“Naggie Simon”.
“I
was so relieved they didn't screw that one up too”, he finished, to
great applause.
The
food wasn't anything spectacular, Aidan was having some ravioli that
might well have come from a can, but he was really enjoying himself.
He was a bit worried that Nisha wouldn't have fun, particularly when
the second part turned out to be about “the difference between men
and women”, but she seemed to be doing all right, she even laughed
a few times. “Men and women see favours very differently. When a
man does a favour for a woman, it's always to get sex”. “Not
tonight, I'm tired”, he said, in a whiny voice. “But I did the
dishes tonight!”. The crowd laughed. “But when a woman does a
favour for a man, it's for the exact opposite reason”.
“Hey
sweetie, how about a little sugar”, he said, making a scratching
motion with his finger.
“There's
cake in the fridge, you can have a slice.” He then mimed himself
eating a slice of cake. “So worth it”, he mumbled, as though his
mouth was full. Nisha quite enjoyed that one.
“That
was interesting”, she said afterwards. “I've never done anything
like that before.”
“Neither
have I. I always wanted to, I just never had the initiative to go”.
He paused for a moment, this was something that hadn't been part of
his life for a long time. “There was a time, a long time ago, when
I wanted to be a comedian. I always really enjoyed making people
laugh, and I was pretty good at it, too. But it's a really hard
business to get into, until you get really well-known you're always
fighting to find your next gig, you don't get paid very much, and a
lot of people never make it. So in the end I decided to pursue a
more stable career instead.”
“I
kind of understand”, she replied. “I always wanted to be an
artist. Graphic design is a safe field to be in, there's no shortage
of work and it's kind of interesting, but deep down I wish I could be
doing my own thing. That's why I have a lot of respect for people
who are putting themselves out there and selling their own art, and I
like to support them when I can.”
“Your
stuff is really good. I hope you'll get your chance someday.”
“Thanks”,
she replied, “so do I.”
“I
used to do a comic for the school newspaper. Maybe I'll show you
some of my old work sometime.”
“You
draw?”, she asked, incredulously. “That I'd like to see.”
He
chuckled and wrapped his arm around her. “I love you, Nisha”, he
said, kissing her.
“I
love you too.”
“Ready
to head home?”
“Yeah”,
she nodded, “it'll be pretty late by the time we get back. Today
was wonderful, it's too bad we can't do this more often.”
“Well,
we could maybe spend a little time here after work sometimes, but
it's a pretty long commute.”
“Yeah”,
she sighed. “It must be nice to live here, you'd have so much more
free time and there'd be so much to do.” She glanced up at a
highrise building.
“They're
always putting up new buildings”, he mused idly. “This one's
having an open house today, do you want to go have a look?”
“Now?”,
she asked, surprised.
“Why
not? It'll be fun.”
The
lobby of the big white building was really elaborately furnished.
There was a lounge just inside the main entrance, complete with
tables and a coffee bar, and the hallway leading to the elevator was
flanked on both sides by tall glass windows overlooking twin gardens
outside.
“The
open house is on the 12th
floor”, he noted.
“This
place is ridiculously fancy”, she whispered. “I can't even
imagine what it would cost to live here.”
Another
couple was just leaving as they found their way to the room where the
open house was taking place. The agent was standing by the door and
showed them in.
“Wow”,
Nisha quipped in amazement as they stepped inside. The room was
easily the size of the upstairs floor of her house, divided into
several sections by partial walls. At the front of the condo was a
full kitchen with a dining area on the other side of the door, and
towards the back there were two rooms, one done up as a living room
and one as a study. Nisha walked up to the window, from which there
was a marvellous view of the entire city. Aidan was more interested
in the kitchen, which was big enough that you could open the fridge
even if you were standing in front of it.
There
was another room off to the side, this time separated by a door, that
lead to the bedroom. It was also very large, with a full queen-size
bed facing the entrance wall. There was a table on that side, and
even then there was at least two feet of space between the end of the
bed and the table, and there was also a pair of chairs, a coffee
table, and a few bookshelves along the wall.
“You
could put a TV here”, Aidan noted happily, “we'd never have to
get out of bed!” Nisha rolled her eyes at him, knowingly, but he
could tell she was very impressed as well.
“And
through here you'll see the master bathroom”, the agent said,
leading them through an open doorway. “It's been completely redone
in marble, as you'll notice.”
Nisha's
jaw nearly hit the floor. “Aidan, Look, it has a sauna! In a
condo!”
“Of
course there is also a second bathroom in the main area, beside the
kitchen”.
“Two
bathrooms? That's crazy talk.”
The
agent gave him a funny look and lead them back to the main area.
“Feel free to take another look around if you like.”
“Dare
I even ask how much they're asking for it?”, Nisha wondered aloud.
The
agent handed her a little slip of paper.
“Oh
my goodness”, she said, looking at the quoted figure. It must have
been even bigger than she imagined.
“That
does include utilities”, the agent assured her. Aidan looked it
over. Based on his current salary, it would also have to include
meals, clothing, and entertainment, and he'd probably still need a
raise.
“I'm afraid that's a bit out of our price range”, he said, politely. “Thank you for showing us around, though.”
“I'm afraid that's a bit out of our price range”, he said, politely. “Thank you for showing us around, though.”
The
agent courteously saw them out but he was probably unhappy to have
wasted his time on a couple of peasants like them.
“The
rich really know how to live”, she said as they walked back through
the elaborate hallway towards the exit.
“I
don't know”, he said, “for what you're getting the price really
isn't that unreasonable. It's not just a student home, you could
live there for a long time.”
“I'm
not quite sure how much money you make”, she said, “but with my
salary I'd be paying for that until I was a thousand.”
He
laughed. “Not enough, it's true.”
“Well,
I'm about ready to call it a day”, she said, yawning. It was
already dark outside. “Let's head back.”
He
nodded and took her arm. “This was certainly a lot more
interesting than just staying inside all day, I'm glad we came out.”
They
soon arrived back at the station and boarded the train heading back
to their town. Nisha was really worn out, she was dozing off on his
shoulder just as soon as the train pulled out of the station. Aidan,
however, was wide awake, he was still thinking about what they had
seen earlier.
“I'll
get that promotion”, he resolved to himself, gently rubbing her
shoulder, “then we could afford to live together in the city”.
He closed his eyes and squeezed her close to him. “And when we
move in, I'm going to ask you to marry me.”
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