Edie came home ridiculously early on a Saturday night. She felt disheartened for her online date canceled abruptly.
"I can't believe I still trust these apps," she said. As she entered the apartment and into the foyer she carefully hung her burgundy cardigan and fixed her tousled dark long hair. She sighed.
She noticed there was music playing nearby and wondered if her roommate Adrian was around. "That's gotta be him," she thought because only he liked to put Nine Inch Nails when he was working on his studio.
She knocked once and called him, "Hey, can I come in?"
It took a minute or two for him to answer. It was unbelievably cold and the song, "Something I Can Never Have" fell on repeat. Adrian laid on a red velvet armchair with his tattooed arms sticking out. He pretended to stare at what seemed to be an unfinished, predominantly black acryilic.
"Hey, pretty thing," she called, "I didn't think you'd be here."
"I'm sorry," he said in a weary voice, "I dozed off, I haven't had a decent sleep in days."
"That's ok," she said in a cheerful tone, "I found your phone by the way. It's 7:29 pm exactly."
"Aw, shit, I had no idea! I feel like I wasted the entire day. What about you?"
"Um, my potential date canceled."
"The geeky dude?"
"Shut up!" she cried and placed her hand on her hip, "Apparently he felt anxious and couldn't carry on. I guess I'm stuck here for the remainder of the evening trying to stream some movies he recommended me."
"That sounds kinda lame."
"There's one thing I can do; I was about to make myself some dinner, care to join me?"
"Sure, why not?" As Adrian got up he rubbed his eyes and sniffled.
"Are you okay?" she asked, "Your eyes look swollen, have you been crying or something?"
He got nervous and quickly answered, "No! I just haven't been sleeping well. I could use a drink."
"Really?"
"Yeah, I'm positive."
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The small kitchen happened to be right in front of that room. Edie wasn't much into cooking fancy things, usually that would be Daniel's speciality for he would go out of his way to please Adrian. Unfortunately he wasn't around.
Edie barely had time for herself. She caught between college and working part time in an art gallery up in Chelsea. She was fond of that particular neighborhood but not quite of Soho. It was less artsy and more commercial but since the rent was particulary fair in that apartment loft she couldn't complain. Adrian adored that place from the start and did everything in his power to get hold of it.
"I thought Daniel would be here by now," said Edie while she pulled a large bowl from the stainless steel fridge.
"No, not today. It was one of those weeks when everything that could possibly be annoying comes in," he said. He grabbed a two year old bottle of Cabernet and continued the conversation.
"Care for some?"
"I'm not much of a wine person," said Edie timidly.
"Please, I don't wanna do this alone."
"So, you're making me a partner in crime? Very well then. Cheers."
"Thanks," he sighed. "Like I was saying I get terribly upset when that happens."
"It's called stress, Honey," said Edie as she carefully sipped the red wine.
"That word is extremely overrated. Have you had that feeling that there's a terrible force surrounding this place?"
"You mean that this apartment is haunted, right?"
"Something like that. I tried explaining that to Daniel but he won't believe shit. That's totally not good. He'd probably say that it's just my nerves."
"When you put it that way it's tough to assume some supernatural thing is going on when you're a bit of a control freak."
Adrian frowned and swept his long hair, "I am not! Or maybe I am. That's what probably scares him away."
"I'm sorry?"
"Nothing. We can agree on dozens of silly things except for that one."
"The real question is why do you believe that?"
He paused and then he drank some more, "Because I've done it since I was a kid. Old places speak to me somehow and there's a beauty in that."
"And how do they speak to you?"
"Sorry, what's that you're having?"
"Oh!" she cried, "it's some leftover spinach creme."
"Whatever," he said as he grabbed a spoon. "It's good to keep you warm."
"It was very windy outside! I had to struggle to keep myself together so I wouldn't fly away."
"I'm sorry to hear that. You know how sometimes I like to work at random hours like 3 AM?"
"No but why would you do that?"
"No reason. I have noticed stuff like voices of children calling."
Edie smiled, "Right, right."
"Don't be rude. This whole area was once known as Hell's Hundred Acres and for a good damn reason."
"Because of the fires that happened in the factories, yeah, I heard that one before. If you're so concerned about it then why did you want to live here in the first place?"
"I wanted the some freedom and lots of space and not feeling like a caged animal."
"Like the ones who have inked," she said referring to the black and white rabbits he had on his forearms.
"I'm actually way more relaxed now, thanks for everything. I'm gonna put on some vinyls and lose control."
"Can I lose control with you?"
He laughed nervously, "I guess."
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Adrian crawled back into his studio already under the influence acting instinctively. This he put on "Broken" from NIN. He said it fueled his darkest feelings and tonight was no exception.
He threw his scrawny body in the big leather couch as he drank some more.
"You're a blessing, Edie," he slurred, "I hate being alone."
"Seriously , then what about Danny?"
He threw his hand over his face and sobbed.
"What's the matter, did something go wrong between you two?"
He turned away, "There's not gonna be a "we" for some time, only me."
"Aw, that's terrible! But everything was going so well. Come here." She hugged him tightly and stroke his back gently. "You know, you could have told me from the start instead of making strange excuses. You were crying over him, weren't you?"
He continued to sigh deeply, "It's all my fault."
"Please, don't say that! It's not only you. Tell me, when did this happen?"
"A few days ago."
"I was also here to help you out."
"I didn't want to bother anyone. Besides, we needed a break."
"From what?"
"It doesn't matter anymore."
"Of course it does! Come on, tell me."
"He think I'm obsessive."
"Great!" she sighed, "even I know that but I thought it was part of your personality. You love working hard and striving to be the best and it pays off. He should be able to recognize that."
"He says that being like this in a relationship doesn't help much. I'm freaking out and I don't know what I should do from now on!"
"First you need to calm down, sweetie."
"I can't! I miss him so much!"
Edie had never seen him cry like that and no matter what she said would bring him out of that abyss. He was clearly intoxicated.
"Let's go, buddy!" she said as he pulled him up with all her might. "I got an idea that will make you feel a whole lot better."
And so she took Adrian upstairs all the way to his room and into the bathroom.
She said in a soft voice, "I can't believe I'm doing this." She turned on the lights and left the shower running while she undressed him with ease.
She thought, "You're never going to outgrow your goth days, are you?" Edie said that especially because he was mostly wearing black. He was so lost he didn´t even notice the moment when he went completely naked or when he got soaked.
"Easy now," she said in a motherly voice, "We´re almost done."
Some minutes later she did her best to find something comfortable and appropriate in his closet. Adrian sat at the side of the bed struggling to stay awake.
"Help me out, will you?" she said as she placed his pants one foot at a time. "That´s it. Now let´s get you to bed."
He was very docile for it was evident that he wants incredibly exhausted.
"Is it me or is you hair getting longer?"
He just nodded.
"Sleep well, pretty thing. I´ll see you in the morning."
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Edie was extremely confident that after this tidal wave of disasters something good would come. She did watch some strange indie movies like she intended to and when she was done she went back into Adrian´s room to check on him.
