Chapter 2

He could put his double bed in one corner, the television in the other and his two-seater couch in front of it. And behind the couch he could put his dining table and four chairs. He’d need to buy a small wardrobe, and that could go at the foot of the bed. It would still leave more than enough room to get about easily. A couple of pot plants and a picture or two on the walls, and he’d have quite a cosy space.

“It’s nice,” he said without elaborating.

Douglas gave a single nod. “A month’s rent upfront. And I reckon you should get yourself a couple of rugs to put on the floor. I don’t like hearing a lot of clomping about. Especially at night when I’m trying to sleep.”

“No problem. When could I move in?”

Douglas moved to the door and held it open. “Soon as you get me the money.”

“Tomorrow then,” said Brad, proffering his hand.

Douglas shook it and stepped out of the room. “You’ll get your own front door key. I’d prefer you didn’t bring visitors into my house, but if you have to, keep the noise down. No parties.”

Brad followed him down the stairs.

“If you want a phone or internet, you can organise and pay for that yourself. Any mail gets left on that table down there.”

Brad looked over Douglas’s shoulder at the wooden table just inside the door.

“Don’t be late with the rent. If I’m not around, put it in an envelope and slip it under my door. I don’t want to have to come looking for it.”

Arriving at the foot of the stairs, Douglas opened the front door. “What time tomorrow?”

Brad hadn’t thought about details, and ummed and ahhed before answering. “Around ten? Eleven?”

“All right. See you then.”

Brad walked through the front door and turned.

“What about the front door key. Do I get…?”

“Tomorrow. When I get the rent.”

Brad forced a smile. “Okay, then. Tomorrow it is.”

Douglas shut the door and Brad went down the front steps to the gate. Once on the footpath, he stopped to consider whether he’d made the right decision. The practical part of him answered in the affirmative. It was in the same area where a lot of his friends lived, and close to where he worked in the city centre. In fact, if he gave himself an extra half an hour in the morning, he could walk to work. If he was so inclined.

The rest of him, however, remained unconvinced. Douglas Owens was, without doubt, the most disagreeable man he’d ever met. Sure, he’d met people who could be moody, but to meet someone who seemed to walk permanently beneath the shadow of a dark cloud was something else altogether. Still, he told himself, they’d hardly see each other, and if he really didn’t like it, he could move out 2

Brad’s friends, Michael and Alistair, a couple who had been together since meeting at university, helped him move in, all under the watchful eye of Douglas Owens, standing at his door.

“It’s going to be like living with your dad,” said Michael as they reached the top of the stairs with Brad’s couch.

Brad almost had a conniption. “Jeez,” he hissed, rolling his eyes. “He’ll hear you!”

With a great deal of difficulty and a lot of huffing and puffing, they manoeuvred the couch around the top banister and onto the landing.

“Watch the walls, for God’s sake,” said Brad, ever mindful of Douglas’s presence.

The couch only just fitted through the door, and even then it required a good deal of brute strength. It was the bed, however, that required the most skilful manoeuvring. After lugging it up the stairs, it took all three of them to get it into the room. Finally, after forty minutes of going back and forth to the rented truck, the worst of it was behind them.

“Thank God that’s over and done with,” said Michael, flopping onto the couch that had given them so much trouble. “At least we won’t have to go to the gym today.”

“It’s a pity you can’t have parties,” said Alistair. “Though I see what you mean about noise. Floorboards are notoriously bad. Be good to put some rubber underlay beneath them to muffle the sound.”

“You should ask the miserable bastard to fork out for some,” said Michael. “Make your life easier.”

“Everything all right?” asked Douglas from the open doorway.

Michael started chewing his bottom lip, as he always did when nervous, or terrified; his wide eyes on Brad.

“Yes,” said Brad, standing. He took a single step forward. “Thanks Mr…Douglas.”

“Hope you were careful. Don’t want any marks on my walls.”

Alistair, sitting with his back to the door, rolled his eyes. Brad did his best not to laugh.