It was later in the morning on Sunday, and Mike slowly began what he has tried to make a ritual of going to get brunch at IHop and then off to Starbucks to get a caramel macchiato and read the New York Times. It was the closest thing he did to feeling like an actual adult, despite already being four years into a career and already having a Masters Degree. His lifestyle filled with philandering, immaturity, and substance abuse had clearly put a limit on his character development and entrance into true adulthood. This day would also be the last day to move stuff into his new place in the city. Anything he could bring to make the ‘big move’ the next day that much easier.
Deciding that it would be most beneficial to get the liquor out of his apartment before the high school National Honor Society kids assisted with the move and discovered that their favorite history teacher was indeed a lush, Mike loaded up his jeep with a few boxes of liquor bottles containing everything from Vodka to Dry Vermouth, which was for the martinis he hardly ever made. Luckily, Mike and Kevin had finally finished assembling the bar the day before. One could have a pretty good party with the amount of alcohol Mike had in his apartment. The original idea was to entertain frequently at his current golf course abode, as he frequently did, and then to put to use the old bartending skills that he developed after a stint as a bartender at a high-end catering company back in Cleveland while home for the summers in college. That was a great job with many excellent perks for a young, single twenty-something. The constant nightly supply of bridesmaids and open bar, both at his disposal, made for quite an impressive two summers while bartending. That was a summer job he would always remember and kick himself for leaving. If the personal goal was to drink and get laid and hangout at cool events around the city then he had struck gold for those two years. Those days were past him, but the ability to mix a great martini never goes away.
By the time Mike arrived at the new apartment it was already early afternoon. Mike decided that out of the dozen or so boxes that he had brought over he should probably take the valuables up first, which included his liquor stash. Box-by-box, Mike drudged up the steps lugging his cargo up to the top floor. By this time, just about his entire wardrobe had already been moved in, as well as a majority of the other little things he had somehow managed to collect over the years. Growing up, there wasn’t much material consumption available to him from his working class background, but by this point he had managed to gather quite an assembly of needless items, like CDs, DVDs, a Playstation, Guitar Hero, art for his walls, little mariachi statues from San Antonio, and other things he didn’t necessarily need or use but seemed appropriate to own at the time.
It was getting steamy and sticky out, as the heat hovered around a humid 90 degrees and the long treks up the steps to the third floor with many pounds of junk hadn’t made the afternoon any cooler. As Mike was carrying a large box full of toiletries up to the stairs he was cut off by a pair of guys leaving the apartment located at the second floor landing just beneath his new apartment. It appeared to be two of the guys from yesterday’s pool party, although they didn’t look quite as graceful this morning. It looked as if the two had only recently woken up, evident by the disheveled and wrinkled clothes they had on most likely from the night before, and the messy hair didn’t hide the fact that they had not made themselves pretty yet. Their conversation started before the two had even exited the apartment and made their way down the steps, oblivious to Mike standing there with a hulking box about to break, they conversed about the previous night’s endeavors.
“I can’t believe what a slut that girl is…” the taller one in front stated as the two stumbled out of the apartment door not seeming to care if any of the neighbors, or perhaps the willing participant heard their chatter, they barely missed walking into Mike.
“Sorry, guy…” the taller one half heartedly said as they walked around Mike.
As the two left down the stairs celebrating their experience Mike shook his head and reminisced about some of the similar experiences he had over the years. As he maneuvered his loaded arms up the steps many instances of debauchery crossed his mind. Mike struggled with the envious thought of those two violating any of the hot, young ladies that were at the pool yesterday that they had met up with. It occurred to him that this new living arrangement may be more interesting than he originally thought.
A Dollar Out of Fifteen Cents 