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almost left, but when the cigar was down to a stub his nose was tickled with a light breeze of cologne.
    “Darling,” he whispered as cold lips descended on him.
     

 
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Five
     
     
    Dennis fell into the couch and let the cushions swallow him. Most of his things were inside but didn’t even fill half of the apartment.
    Mike inched his way to the floor and leaned against the couch. He was drenched in sweat and fought to catch his breath. “Please tell me we’re done.”
    “We’re done.”
    They sat for a few minutes and relaxed. A knock at the door made them both sigh.
    “Well?” Dennis tapped the back of Mike’s head with the toe of his shoe. “You gonna answer your door?”
    Mike shuffled over and opened it. A plate of brownies was shoved into his arms.
    “Welcome to the building.” A stocky woman in a jogging suit stepped into the apartment. Her brown hair was pulled into a ponytail and a smile almost split her face in two. She looked to Mike to be around his mother’s age, but in much better shape. “I’m Margot, in 328. Kind of the unofficial welcoming committee.”
    “Uh, hi. I’m Mike. This is Dennis.” She turned to Dennis and waved and Mike’s eyes were drawn to the sway of her breasts.
    Dennis stood. “Hi, Margot. Nice to meet you. Thanks for the brownies.”
    “My pleasure.” She turned back to Mike and caught him staring at her chest.
    He snapped his eyes up and prepared to apologize. The corner of her mouth turned and Mike was confused. He thought she looked a little like one of the nymphs in the courtyard.
    “I love to bake,” she went on, her eyes boring into his. “Anytime you wanna come by, I’ll whip something up for you.”
    Mike swallowed. “Uh…great. Yeah. We’ll, uh, we’ll do that.”
    “Good. Now, I really gotta be going. I just wanted to introduce myself and welcome y’all here. It was nice meeting you boys.” She ran her hand along Mike’s shoulder on her way out.
    He shut the door behind her and grinned. “She was nice.”
    “Yep.” Dennis snatched the plate of brownies from him and crammed one into his mouth. “You flirt. Mmmmm. Good.”
    “I wasn’t flirting.”
    “Don’t be ashamed. I like that move.”
    “Move?”
    “Yeah. Letting her catch you drool over her tits. That’s good.”
    “I didn’t—”
    “Very subtle.”
    “So, I don’t need to be home for a few hours.” Mike’s voice cracked as he changed the subject. “What do you want to do?”
    Dennis returned to the couch. “Man, I just want to lay here for a while. I gotta go get the rest of my shit later.”
    “Why didn’t you pack it all in the truck?”
    “Huh. I don’t know. Maybe because someone else’s furniture was supposed to be crammed in there.”
    “Why don’t you show me around? I haven’t seen the pool, or the laundry room, or—”
    “C’mon, man. Let me rest.”
    “Yeah, but I haven’t—”
    “Just go look around. You don’t need me holding your hand.”
    Mike nodded. “Fine.”
     
    * * *
     
    The stairwell swayed under him. The steps rose and fell like heavy breathing and the walls twisted and swelled. Mike grabbed the railing and steadied himself. Blinked twice. Attempted to focus.
    He had avoided the elevator because of its shaking and jostling, but the stairs were worse. Whoever had originally laid out the tile and painted the walls must have been a fan of MC Escher. The stairs were an odd jumble of black and gray tiles assembled with no known geometric pattern, while the walls were the same faded and stained yellow as the rest of the building. The difference here was that there were spirals painted on the wall in a slightly different shade of yellow; no doubt someone’s misguided idea of art deco. Add to all of this a single, filthy yellow bulb per floor and the effect was startling.
    He fumed at Dennis’ remark and the nauseating stairwell just worsened his mood. Fuck him. What if I don’t move into this shit hole? Yeah,