Nine
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“ I’ ll let you know later, if that’ s okay with you?”“ Cool.” The connection ended and Eddie looked at the card for the address. He drove toward the entrance to the“ Fear Factory” and waved for one of the cleaning guys and asked what time they would finish.“ Five or six,” the young man answered. Eddie said he would be back before five.
The apartment was upstairs and Eddie felt terribly conspicuous climbing the steps to the private balcony. He put the key in the lock and opened the door without knocking. The place was immaculate and screamed bachelor. The furniture was dark brown leather. The sofa and chair looked big and comfortable. Heavy, wooden end tables and matching coffee table vied for space in the cramped living room. A very large“ starving artist sale” painting adorned the wall behind the sofa. The mountain valley scene seemed to stretch on forever, as if chosen because the winding river flowed from armrest to armrest. The colors gave the pleasant feeling of a peaceful summers day. Dark clouds gathered behind the tallest, most distant, snow capped peaks. The flat screen television on the opposing wall was almost as big as the painting. A remote control sat on the glass topped coffee table.
The dining alcove housed a small teak wood table for two. Three, matching, low backed bar stools sat along the kitchen counter. The tour of the kitchen revealed what Eddie expected. A vast assortment of beverages, white wine, three types of beer, soft drinks, and basic condiments in the refrigerator. Some frozen dinners and pizza in the freezer. A twelve bottle wine rack on the counter held an array of vintage, red wine.
The small hallway from the dining room had two doors. One door opened into the bedroom and the other in the bathroom. Eddie needed the facilities and glanced around while relieving himself.“ White” was the only way to describe the space. You could perform a surgery in here and not fear contamination. The only color in the bathroom came from the small bottles of hotel shampoo, conditioner, and body wash that filled the corners of the bathtub. The floor was an off- white on white patterned tile. Polished chrome fixtures glared in the stark surroundings. The only items that softened the room were the thick, expensive, white towels, folded and stacked neatly or hanging from the chrome towel bars.
Eddie checked the darkened bedroom. Heavily lined curtains blocked out the sun. The king-sized four-poster bed occupied most of the floor space. There was room for one matching night stand crammed into the corner and a triple dresser sat at the foot of the bed. Opening the drawers on the dresser would put ones knees in jeopardy. The thick comforter on the bed was maroon and the only color in the room unless you counted the pink climbing rose painting, complete with trellis and watering can, over the head of the bed. The door in the bedroom revealed a walk-in closet with a maroon clothes hamper.“ So much for the grand tour,” Eddie said to himself as he grabbed a soda from the fridge and parked himself on the couch.
Surfing the channels, he found a good movie he had already seen. The show started fifteen minutes ago. Eddie picked up the story and settled back. When the movie ended a couple hours later, he tossed the empty soda in the trash can beneath the sink and locked the place before descending the stairs.
One of the cleaning crew was pushing a wide squeegee across a smooth concrete floor. The last of the soapy water ran out the door, and down the handicapped ramp. Eddie waited for the three man crew to pack up before approaching. The masons had three sections complete and four more sections in various stages of completion. They worked to the rhythm of the festive music coming from the open doors of their blue pick-up. The halogen lights had been placed in the darkening area between the cinder block and glass front. Sweat soaked the shirts of the entire crew, although the day had cooled considerably. Eddie nodded his approval of their labor and snapped a few pictures with his new camera. The flash caught their attention and Eddie tapped his watch and looked questioningly at the oldest of the crew. The old man held up four fingers.“ Almost five now. He doesn’ t want to stop now that they found their pace.” Eddie thought and nodded that was okay. He called Tanya.“ I’ m going to be here until after nine. I have to be back before six in case the doors arrive. Rodney’ s place is ten minutes from here and he says he has a comfortable couch.”
“ You are not putting him out are you?” Tanya queried.