"Secrets" (closed)

"Secrets"

(closed)

Peter had spent almost a month searching for an apartment that would suit his needs. As he sat on a park bench across the busy street from the building, he realized that this was as good as it was going to get. The location was perfect: downtown, third floor, quick access to the very near subway if he chose to walk, underground garage if he chose to buy a car, with a stunning view of Carver Park, in which he was finishing a four shot latte with butterscotch syrup, his 'chosen poison'.

The only problem, of course, was that it wasn't a full apartment: it was a room to let. Peter needed privacy for his work, current and future both. But this was his only option. Apartments in this rent controlled neighborhood simply weren't to be had. In London where he'd last worked, hewould have paid the equivalent of $2600US for a studio such as this. With the rent control here, the cost was only $1000.

Peter tossed his paper coffee cup into the trash can, crossed to the building, ascended the stairs, and knocked in the door. The woman who answered was very attractive, but Peter already knew that: he'd called to commit to the room three days ago, then spent that time inconspicuously shadowing her to learn about her. Even though they hadn't discuss why she was opening her home to a stranger, specifically a male stranger, during his surveillance Peter had seen signs of money troubles in the woman's life. That worked out well for him, of course. It meant she needed him to be in her home as mhch as he needed to be in her home.

"Hi, I'm Peter, we talked on the phone," he said with a smile as he offered his hand. He didn't want to seem too aloof or totally dead as a man, so as she took his hand, he allowed his gaze to drop for a very short but also conspicuous moment to her beautiful figure. Raising his eyes again, he said, "I have the first three months and security deposit, as we discussed. Cash, two thousand dollars."

Peter noticed the change in expression and was pleased with it. It was pretty obvious that she needed the money, and now!

"well thank you" Thank goodness he has the money and isn't going out the door. If that had happened i might have just lost hope on my money issue.
" If you would like to come in now you can. oh also did i give you the key? i sorta have a few memory things and can forget stuff like that."
Okay now soo i don't forget to mention it he was handsome. but i had already been through a big break up. Main reason i was having these money problems. so i did not want to try a relationship. and i like just met this guy. Why does my head go at 120 miles per hour. (sorry if bad past relationship is too much)

"No," Peter answered simply to the door key question. As he entered to look around, she scrounged up the spare key and handed it to him. He glanced around to ensure she knew he meant the place and not her when he said, "Really nice."

Really nice would have applied to her as well, but it was a bit soon to be acting fresh with the woman he'd be living with for the next few weeks. She had said in her ad that she was looking for a minimum year long lease, and although Peter only needed the place for a few weeks, he'd claimed to be looking for something long term.

"My room...?" He asked with a polite smile. "And are there any house rules I need to be aware of?"

She showed him to the smaller of the two bedrooms and responded to his question as was appropriate. The room had no bedroom furniture which told Peter she hadn't had a roommate. He wondered whether maybe she'd had a lover who was now gone and that was the reason for her money woes.

"It's perfect," he told her as he ambled to the window. From here he had a view of the park where he'd been drinking his coffee earlier. He murmured as he studied it, "Perfect."

"only rules are no bringing extra people to live here and no parties. aside from that do whatever" Serena was thinking that he looked like the type to have a fancy girlfriend and prayed he didn't bring her over. also points to his room on the left straight across from mine
" there is your room i will leave you to yourself. if you need anything else i will be in my room till suppertime. well supper for me. don't know if you will want anything" almost mutters the last part heading to my room.

"Thanks, but I have dinner plans," Peter said, still studying the park and the road fronting it. He turned and smiled politely, adding, "But another night maybe."

He pulled an envelope from his sports jacket's inner pocket and crossed to hand it to Serena, again smiling. He said simply, "Two grand."

They parted ways, and Peter returned to studying the park again. After an hour or so, he inspected the room a bit more. The building was older, so it was lacking in electical wall sockets and had just the single light bulb in the middle of the ceiling. But none of that mattered much: Peter would be neither plugging in anything nor performjng tasks that required better illumination.

He bid farewell to Serena as he headed out for the evening, telling her, "It'll be late before I get back. Don't let it startle you."

He chuckled and make a comical hand gesture that reminded him of his father's 'spooky' Halloween gestures from his childhood.

(OOC: He won't come back until 1am ... and he'll be carrying an electric bass guitar case and an electric amplifier box.)

"see ya" Serena was bored out of her mind but happy to have some money. now she could pay the bills and maybe do a little remodeling on the place. After a bit Serena went to the kitchen and fixed supper and ate on the couch. after maybe 2 hours she fell asleep on the couch thinking she would wake up before Peter got back.

It was after 1am before Peter returned. Try as he might, he wasn't able to slip in without waking Serena. The old door and wood floors clicked and creaked too much. By the time he'd walked from the entrance down the hall that separated Serena's bedroom and the apartment's bathroom on one side and his bedroom and the kitchen on the other, he found himself staring into his 'roomie's' blinking eyes as she awoke on the couch in the living room that sat at the end of the hall.

"Sorry," was all he said, though it was in a sincere, meaningful tone. When her gaze set upon the large electric bass guitar case he carried in one hand and the portable amplifier case he carried in the other, he very quickly said in a reassuring tone, "Don't worry. I won't be shaking the walls. I'll be doing my practicing downtown at a studio."

Serena woke up to the floor boards creaking and woke up to see Peter and my eyes dropped to the guitar stuff. "so you are into music?" Serena was suprised. but not offended or anything. she loved music a lot and felt like she was on a high listening to it most times.

"so you are into music?" Serena asked.

"Just learning, actually," he told her. He was already turning and heading to his bedroom as he continued, "I think all men at one time or another wanted -- or still want -- to be a rock and roll star."

In his room, he set the guitar case on his bed and the amp next to it. He returned to the door where he could see Serena, but didn't exit into the hall. Instead, he just smiled and said, "It's late, and I don't mean to be rude, but it's been a long day. I'll see you in the morning, okay? Coffee maybe?"

He shut the door softly, then looked around the room. Even though the room hadn't been a bedroom before his arrival, it did include all Peter would need for a relatively decent night sleep. There was a couch up against one wall and a set of bedding -- sheets, blankets, and two pillows -- sitting at one end of it.

He turned the lights off and, by the illumination of the street lamp flooding in from across the avenue, returned to the window for yet another hour long observation period. This view would be burned into his memory by the time it became necessary for him to know it better than the back of his hand...



Peter wasn't there when Serena arose the next morning as he'd suggested the night before. Instead, there was a hand written note that said simply Running an errand. It was taped to the door, right above the brand new and heavy duty lock he'd very quietly installed during the wee hours while Serena slept...

when Serena woke she found that Peter was already gone but had installed a new lock. "well thanks but so much for coffee. i don't even drink it much anyway though." she mummurs to herself going to the refrigerator and getting a can of dr pepper out. "hmm nothing for breakfast guess its grocery day." changes clothes in her room and on the back of his note says where the coffee is and that she went to get groceries for herself.

Peter didn't return to the apartment until the afternoon of the next day. He entered wearing a hiking back pack, carring a briefcase in one hand, and dragging a rolling travel case in the other. Without explaining his 36 hour disappearance or the new lock at all, he smiled to Serena an suggested, "How about lunch? There's a great sidewalk cafe on the corner in the park. I'm buying."

He stepped in front of his bedroom door in such a way that Serena couldn't see it, punched in a three digit code, opened it, and entered his room to set his bags near his couch...

Serena is now sitting at the cafe with Peter still wondering why he was gone for 36 hours and also why he asked her for lunch. "ill pay for my own food if you are worried about it just to say."

The cafe was just a block and a half from the apartment, on the opposite side of the road. As the waitress showed them to an empty table at the park edge of the outdoor seating area, Peter could even see his bedroom window from here.

When Serena made her comment about paying for her own lunch, Peter chuckled and said, "Don't be silly. I invited you, remember?"

He suddenly realized two things simultaneously: one, he had spent the slow, ambling walk to the cafe mostly studying his surroundings and the people passing by, not visiting with his walking partner; and two, Serena was very much worth studying herself.

Oh, it wasn't like Peter hadn't noticed that the woman was beautiful and well sculpted already. It was just that he'd been trying to dampen his thoughts about being physically interested in her. He was only here for a short time, after which he would never see Serena again. She might be fun to have a short little sexual fling with, of course. But Peter was working, and he needed to concentrate on that work, not on sweaty, ecstasy filled nights with a new and temporary lover.

And yet, as he looked her over under the bright, late afternoon of a beautiful, abnormally warm late-January day, he couldn't help but have thoughts of being between the sheets with her.

As the waitress brought the a laminated menu of lunch specials, Peter said, "So, Serena. Tell me something about yourself. Whaddaya do, where ya from, how'd you get here--"

His lips spread in a bit of a smirk as he added playfully, "--who ya sleeping with?"

Serena started looking at the menu but when he asked about the sleeping thing all the color drained from her face and her mind went back to almost 5 months ago when her boyfriend had almost raped her and left her with no money kicking her out of his place and that is where the money problems began. once she came back she said in a snappy sad and almost terrified tone "that is none of your business. as for what i do i sing at a bar a few nights a week matter of fact last night i did and tonight i will as well."

Peter's lips widened in a quick smile at Serena's rejection of his very personal question. After she'd finished answering him and returned to her menu, he said with a sincere tone, "Sorry. That was inappropriate. I was just curious. It's just that--"

The waitress passed by with a pair of women heading toward a distant table. When they were relatively alone again, Peter continued, "It's just that you are very beautiful. And in a town like this, with so many single men looking for a beautiful woman--"

He laughed, an almost ashamed sound, then leaned in a bit closer and said more quietly, "And so many single women looking for another beautiful woman..."

He gave Serena just a moment to realize that he was testing her sexual orientation. He didn't, of course, expect her to suddenly blurt out whether or not she liked girls. Hell, she hadn't even wanted Peter to know whether she liked or had a guy at the moment.

He laughed again, then continued, "I just can't believe that someone as incredible as you doesn't have at least one person desperate to warm her bed at night."

Again, the waitress happened by, after which Peter changed the subject suddenly. "I want to listen to you sing tonight. Do you mind?"

(OOC: I inserted Peter's pic into the opening post, but will put it here, too.)

"i do not freaking like girls thank you very much and do whatever you want i don't really care." says in almost a growling tone getting angry at him. she didn't like the way he invaded her privacy and brought up things that made her want to cry.
after a minute Serena stood up "excuse me for a minute" she got to the bathroom breaking into silent crying and shaking from the memory of what had happened grief flowing and decided she had to get away and walked back to the table and said in a bit of a choked voice. "im sorry for this but i need to go. something has come up and i need to leave" with that she turned around and started to walk calling in sick to her boss at the bar.

Touched a nerve, Peter thought watching Serena walk away. A nerve or two...

He couldn't have known that she would be so sensitive to his off-color humor, but it made him feel bad anyway. He hadn't meant to upset her of course. Ironically, not sitting here for lunch freed Peter up to watch the crowd and study the park, which he did for a couple of hours.



When evening came about, he made his way to the bar where Serena sang, only to find out that she wasn't showing and that a local jazz trio had been called up to fill in. Peter sat through a couple of songs, but he didn't care much for jam sessions. He paid his tab, tipped the waitress heavily -- which got him a phone number that might come in handy one day -- then made his way back toward the apartment.

He made a stop along the way, and when he entered, was carrying a small bouquet of flowers, a potted plant, a box of chocolates, and a bag of Thai take out. When he met Serena's gaze, he gave her an apologetic expression and said simply, "Sorry."

He made his way to the kitchen table, explaining his purchases. "I wanted to make up for my..." He was going to say rudeness, but instead he began fresh. "I was an ass, and I'm sorry. I don't know you well enough to make such jokes, nor do I know you well enough to know how to make it up to you, so..."

He gestured toward the vast array of apologetic options and asked, "Does this get me close to forgiveness?"

Serena was suprised at the gentleness he had displayed and decided to explain. "you are forgiven. the reason for my reaction was the last guy i had intimacy with was my boyfriend who tried to rape me and kicked me out of his place. the only reason i was there was cause i needed a place and he had mentioned staying there." eyes stare to daze off "when he came onto me i was just so disgusted and everytime tryingafter it always brought it back" she shivered a bit remembering and biting lip.

Peter's feelings about what Serena was telling him were conflicted. On the one hand, her past experience meant that she would probably take to Peter more easily if he were to show her that not all men were pigs. Yet, on the other hand, she might also be harder to get close to because of that experience. Rape was such a game changer for women. Peter knew that. This wasn't by far his first experience dealing with a woman who had been raped. And while each experience had been different, they all had had one thing in common: future unpredictability on the part of the victim.

If there was one thing Peter needed from Serena -- from anyone he dealt with -- it was predictability. Surprises were killers in his line of work.

He moved slowly over to the other end of the couch as he commented, "I'm very sorry to hear about what happened to you, Serena. Treating a woman in ... in that way. It's simply wrong. Wrong in so many ways. I ... I will be more conscious about my sense of humor in the future."

He sat down with about the largest gap between them as he could without falling off the couch. "Listen. I have an event I need to attend. A dinner, at MoMA ... the Museum of Modern Art. Actually, it's just a facility owned by MoMA. I was going to blow it off, because I don't like going to such things alone. But..."

He cocked his head a bit and gave her a suggestive smile, knowing that she would understand that he was asking her to accompany him. "A night on the town. Dinner. Some drinks maybe. Hell, if you really try hard, you might even be able to get me onto a dance floor, although I've been told I have two left feet."

Serena laughs a little and smiles "ill go with you. it might be a chance to get to know some people. and maybe break out of this shell i created. but i don't have anything nice to wear." Serena was excited worried and nervous all at the same time. she wanted to go, had nothing to wear, and wouldn't fit in much at a prestigious place.

"Don't worry about it," Peter said, clarifying, "Having something to wear, I mean."

He leaned a bit to reach into the front pocket of his slacks and pulled out a thick wad of bills. Opening it revealed mostly hundreds and fifties, hidden inside a few ones. He began ripping out one hundred dollar bills as he explained.

"I got a royalty check from a song my dad wrote back in the 50s," he explained. He laughed. "I never really felt very comfortable cashing them. I mean, I may be his heir, but I never had much of a relationship with him, and obviously I didn't write the songs. I usually donate the money to charity, or to HOME ... Housing Opportunities for Musicians and Entertainers. They do good work."

He set six of the bills out on the table, then stood to tower over Serena. "I don't think they'd mind me spending a little of Papa's money taking you out on the town one night. Please. Go hit the stores. Find something that makes you feel good. You are a beautiful woman, Serena."

He laughed again, smirking. "And while the men of the world don't deserve to lay their eyes upon you all snazzied up, you deserve a fun night on the town."

He headed for his bed room as he finished, "We need to be there about nine, and--" He checked his watch. "It's six now. It's tight, but ... can you do it?"

"sure" runs out grabbing keys and going out quickly. gets "im back"