Chapter Text
The apartment was smaller than Matty had imagined.
Not ugly, just… old. The walls held marks from poorly hung pictures and the floor creaked as he walked, as if complaining about every new step. Still, Matty smiled imagining living there with his future partner.
“It looks used, but I assure you the view and the space of the apartment will make up for it.” —said the elderly salesman, looking at Matty excitedly.
Matty nodded without really listening to what he said. He continued exploring the rooms like the bathroom, the kitchen, but when he got to the bedrooms of the apartment he realized he wasn’t the only client interested in the apartment. He saw a boy with a slightly younger salesman. First, he saw that the boy pressed his lips together while holding the pen, he seemed to hesitate to buy it.
“Please no… I need it more than you…” —Matty thought while biting his nail with one hand.
He saw that the boy had decided and began to bring the pen to the paper. As soon as he saw that, he didn’t walk, he ran toward him shouting, “NO!”
“What the hell?! What are you doing?! Get off me!” —the boy shouted.
“No! I need this apartment more than you do!” —he said while trying to take the pen from his hand.
“What would you know about me! I arrived before you, this apartment is mine!” —he replied, irritated by Matty’s behavior.
The younger salesman intervened, separating Matty from the boy who was still trying to recover from Matty jumping on him.
“Hey guys, calm down.” —he said while standing in front of the two. “I would give you the point, young man, but my client arrived first.”
“But he hasn’t even decided yet!” —he exclaimed, looking desperately at the salesman.
“Well, that’s it. I’m buying it.” —he replied coldly, taking the paper to sign it.
Before the ink touched the paper, the older salesman intervened seeing the need both had for a place to live.
“Look… maybe this is the worst idea seeing how you reacted when you saw each other, but…” —he said while walking toward the two. “The apartment is big enough for one person, so why don’t you share it? I mean, you’d both have to pay half the rent.”
“With him?! No way!” —he said while looking at Matty with contempt.
Matty looked offended but thought about it, even though he didn’t have another chance.
“I know maybe this was the worst way to meet, but think about it, we’d have to pay $1000 each…” —he said, arms crossed.
“Excuse me, young man, but he will do nothing but cause trouble, didn’t you see how he threw you when he arrived?” —the salesman whispered in the boy’s ear.
He thought for a few seconds about what Matty and the salesman said until he took the pen. Matty was disappointed to see that, but before he could leave, the boy began to speak.
“How do you know if you don’t even know me? You don’t have to spread your loneliness to others.”
The younger salesman tried to respond, but nothing came out of his mouth. The boy walked toward Matty and looked at him.
“If we share it, you won’t be so problematic, right?” —he said while holding the pen.
Matty nodded quickly while looking at him, not doing anything to offend him or anything like that. The boy smiled and signed the paper, then handed it to Matty. The older salesman smiled happily seeing that the problem had been solved.
“Alright, the apartment will be in both your names, you can start moving in tomorrow, and in two days you can pick up the keys, so consider it yours.” —he replied with a victorious smile.
The boy nodded, looked at Matty, and extended his hand.
“Call me George.” —he said as Matty shook his hand.
“Nice to meet you, George, I’m Matthew, but you can call me Matty.”
“Nice to meet you too, Matty.” —he replied while looking at Matty smiling.
Matty let go of George’s hand but didn’t know why it felt like more than a handshake, it felt like a contract.
“Great…” —he murmured while putting on his jacket. “I guess we’re roommates now.”
“Yeah…” —he replied while taking his bag.
They walked toward the building exit, but while walking, George decided to set some rules since he owned most of the apartment in part.
“Alright, remember that I own most of it, so some rules will be: no weird parties…, don’t touch my things, and don’t be a walking drama.”
Matty laughed hearing all that since Matty wasn’t like that at all—or at least, that’s how it seemed.
“I don’t throw parties…” —he said with a smile. “And I promise I won’t be a walking drama.”
George laughed hearing that, but it didn’t leave him completely calm hearing the last part and that Matty didn’t mention his things. When they reached the end, they said goodbye quickly and each went to their “home.”
⁷⁰⁷
The day passed quickly. After that, Matty went to his friends’ house to tell them the news. It was surprising for them since Matty was always known for never winning at anything.
“That’s great news, Matthew!! What doesn’t make me calm is about that guy George.” —he said while chopping tomatoes for dinner.
“He’s a good person, guys…” —he sighed while washing the dishes.
“You always say that and end up living with an old guy with weird fetishes.” —he laughed, serving the tomatoes into the soup.
“Don’t remind me of that.” —he said laughing too. “Still, the apartment is big, so it was a good choice.”
“I’m going to miss you so much, Matthew, I know you only stayed one week with us, but it’s been a long time since we last saw each other…” —he laughed a little sadly while looking at Matty.
“I’ll miss you too, thanks for letting me stay.” —he replied while going to hug them.
They hugged for a few minutes, then served the food and enjoyed their last day with Matty.
Night fell, but Matty was too excited and packed his bags a day early. He also planned to bring his friends to meet the apartment and George. He fell asleep thinking that from tomorrow he would live there. He also kept thinking about George and why he thought he hated him because of how he acted, but he challenged himself to become super friends and build trust.