Spirits in the Material World Pt. 12

"Ok, Rose. Tonight. Be ready, no evasions, please."

"Ok, Alan. Tonight. No evasions. I'll call you?"

"I will await your contact. Have a good and safe day, Rose."

"You as well, my love. Bye."

= = =

Alan's Thursday at the office was mostly quiet. He attended the Thursday PM status meeting, reporting that his team had encountered a couple of gating issues but were working through them satisfactorily. He shared a couple of the most impactful successes, stressing the contributors' efforts as the reason for the successes. Aside from his brief report, he sat back and was quiet. He did not offer any suggestions when others raised general issues. He had truly become disengaged, and everyone in the room saw it, but nobody could do much about it. The one person who might have been able to re-engage Alan refused to back down from her lies.

He ate his lunch at his desk and updated project status documents in an effort to leave the project manageable after his departure. He still was committed to the project and the team, just no longer the company as a whole. He also did a little research as he could about the permits he would need to complete the new rooms in his basement.

Upon returning home that evening, Alan found a letter in his mailbox. He generally only received "junk mail", advertising, flyers, offers to buy his house for cash no matter what the current condition, so he sometimes went two or three days between checking it. But starting on Wednesday, he was looking for this letter. As expected, and now confirmed by the lab, he was free of all STDs. He couldn't guess who would be more excited by this confirmation, him or Rose. "Better safe than sorry." Yes, he was very cautious at times, usually when the consequences of not being cautious could be severe or fatal.

= = =

David sent a text to Maggie at 7:30 pm, inquiring about her day and her progress on her paper. After half an hour, there had been no reply. After an hour, still no reply from his girlfriend. Now David started to get nervous. He was having trouble focusing on studying for his upcoming final exams -- he was so distracted, checking his phone every five minutes. He shut the phone down completely and restarted it, twice. Still no response from Maggie. His roommate, Robert, noticed David's fidgeting and called him on it.

"Dude, are you being a Vulcan or a Klingon tonight?" Robert often expressed himself in Star Trek metaphors.

"Am I a Vulcan or a Klingon?"

"Yeah, like logical and chill, like Spock, or are you returning her Klingon shit from Sunday?"

David sighed. "You're right, Rob. I guess I'm gripping her a little tightly."

"A little? Dude, your knuckles haven't had blood to them for the past hour or more, you're gripping her so tight. Get your ass up and go take a walk or something! And leave your phone here!"

"Thanks, Rob, I'll do that, right after I send her this last thing."

Davey: * I L Y V M, Kitsune Girl. Talk Fri nite? *

For her part, Maggie had totally muted her phone while at the library, not even allowing vibrations for calls and messages. She had needed some resources which were not online and only available at the library, so she obeyed the sign on the door to "Please Silence Your Phone". When she was kicked out when the library closed at 8:00 pm, she did not feel like calling Rose for a ride, so she walked the mile and a quarter back to the apartment without issue.

As she returned to her home, she reflected on the day's happenings at school. Two boys, both Juniors, walked into brick walls as she strode down the hall, her boots' heels echoing on the hard tile. The boys had been so agog at the sight of Maggie in her dress, stockings, and boots, that they failed to note their path drifting until the wall resolutely impeded their forward progress. It was comical to watch, giving a good laugh to all who observed it. It also put a smirk on Maggie's lips. "Now, they notice me," she thought. At lunch, a couple of the cheerleaders for the basketball team came up and asked her about what she had on her legs, stockings or pantyhose. When she told them stockings and the reason for wearing them (as provided by Julie), the girls smiled broadly, nodding at each other, then asked where they might get some like Maggie's. She told them, and was thanked, which surprised Maggie completely. She even noticed a couple of the male teachers following her route with their eyes. Ah, the wonderful power of stockings!

She entered the apartment at 8:35, and Rose lit into her.

"Where the HELL have you been, Margaret Kathleen Lawson?" Rose demanded.

"At the library... like I said in the note I left you on the refrigerator..." Maggie stated, slowly.

"And why did you not answer your phone when I called?"

"Oh, shit, Mom!" Maggie fumbled in her purse, pulling out the silenced device whose indicator light was blinking rapidly. Glancing at the screen, she saw three missed calls, all from Rose, and two messages from David. "I'm sorry, Mom. There's a sign on the door that says, "Please Silence Your Phone", and I forgot to unsilence it when I left. But I got a lot done!" she tried to excuse herself, failing.

"I have been quite concerned about you, young lady."

"Mom, I'm quite safe here in this 'hotbed of culture' known as Centreville."

"Well, I think we need to get you driving lessons once we get down to Middleburg."

"Yeah, ok, Mom. Even though Middleburg has a much better bus system than we have here."

"If you and David are driving to and from the university together, it would be best if either of you could drive to give the other a rest now and then."

"Ok, Mom. I'm sorry I worried you. I'm home safely now. May I go and see what my boyfriend wanted?"

"Oh, I KNOW what your boyfriend wants; he'll just have to wait to get it" Rose said, slyly, causing Maggie to blush when she got her mother's intended message.

"Yeah, the same thing YOUR boyfriend wants from YOU!" And Maggie scurried off to her room to check her text messages.

= = =

Tom and Julie met at her car at 4:30 pm. Their meeting with Mr. Parker wasn't until 5:00, but Tom was his father's child and wished to be early. It was far easier to be a few minutes early and wait than to be tardy and try to offer an excuse or reason. After some initial pushback during his teen years, Tom was now fully on board with the practice of being early to be on time. Tom marveled how it was that the older Tom got, the smarter and wiser Alan seemed to get. Due to the one-way streets in the area around the university, they had to drive nearly a mile to reach the apartment which was a mere four blocks from campus.

It was a rehabbed neighborhood, with older, refurbed Victorian-style homes and a couple of clusters of free-standing townhomes intermixed. Mr. Parker's place was one of those townhouses, with a seven-step front stoop which led up to the front door and there was another level of windows above that. The basement apartment was front-facing and would get morning sunlight. A narrow driveway passed along the left side of the house and ended in a single-car garage near the back of the property. Well cared for chain link fencing separated this house from its neighboring properties, and the back yard appeared also to be fenced. The sidewalk between the house and the street looked to be fairly new and well-kept. The trees between the sidewalk and the street were all very young, having been planted within the last five years. The house itself was painted a light gray, and both visible doors were a contrasting medium navy blue.

Julie pulled up in front of the house, being careful not to block the access to the driveway. They both looked at the house and tried to envision their living there in the spring. As she turned off the car, they both noted the time was 4:45 pm. They stepped out of the car and Julie walked around to hold Tom's hand as they gazed and pondered a possible future together. This would be a very big step for both of them, should it come to fruition. Letting go of her hand, Tom wrapped his arm around Julie and pulled her in close. He turned his head to place his lips and nose in her hair and he reveled in just breathing in her scent, deeply. He murmured, just loudly enough for her to hear, "I love you so much, Julia Ann Lawson."

Then a silver F-150 pickup turned into the driveway and quickly parked. Out stepped a tall, solid man in a white dress shirt, khaki dress slacks, and very nicely shined shoes. His chocolate brown face lit up in a smile as he stepped toward the couple. His tie had been loosened but remained around his neck, and he shrugged on a long, wool duster-type overcoat in response to the season's outdoor air temperatures.

"Miss Julia Lawson, I presume?" he inquired, his deep bass voice seeming to originate somewhere near his shoes and traveling up through his body. With her nod of acknowledgment, he stepped closer and held out his left hand to Tom to shake, and intoned, "Thank you both for being so COURTEOUS and punctual. That is not common among many people of your age nowadays."

Gripping with his own left hand, Tom responded with, "Thomas Harrison, Eagle, 2014."

An even bigger smile now crossed his face as the dark man answered, "Bruce Parker, Eagle, 1997." Julie just stood there, mystified at what had just passed between the two men. Tom was a little puzzled himself but hid it from Julie.

"How did you know ..." she began.

Tom then had to explain that the left-handed handshake was predominantly a Scouting thing, and Bruce admitted to having searched her background on social media and followed the linkage to Tom and thereby knowing they were both Eagle Scouts. "Shall we go in for you to look at the apartment?" Bruce inquired.

He led the way to the blue door under the front stoop and unlocked it, opened the door, and reached in to flip up a light switch. He then stepped back and gestured for Julie and Tom to proceed him.

It was small, but not tiny. They would not be obliged to step outside to change their minds. And one of the bedrooms could accommodate a king-size bed, although the other would not. It was clean. It smelled clean, not stale or musty or basement-y. The bathroom looked a little dated, like from the '90s. Pedestal sink, newer toilet, tub/shower combination. At least the tiling wasn't Pepto Bismol Pink or Sea Foam Green. There was a back door from the kitchen to the fenced backyard, so grilling might be possible. The kitchen appliances were not new but still looked to be quite serviceable. The microwave oven was built-in to allow for more counter use. There was no dishwasher, however. Four burner electric stove with oven. "The refrigerator is new," Bruce offered, "but no water line for the icemaker; you'll have to use ice cube trays."

While Tom and Bruce remained in the kitchen leaning on the counters, Julie returned to the front door and started the video recording on her phone. She walked throughout the apartment, making soft comments to be recorded with the video. Crap! She knew she'd forgotten something! She wanted dimensions of the rooms to layout on graph paper where to place furniture in the rooms. She returned to the kitchen to hear Tom and Bruce talking.

"... so you'd not have a problem with just a six-month lease?" Bruce asked.

"It seems a little short, but I'm graduating in May and Jules will probably have a Student Teaching opportunity in the fall somewhere else in the state. So, the six-month lease would be fine for us, sir."

"So polite. Thank you for that. Ah, Miss Julie, did you get your video and pictures completed?" Bruce inquired.

"Yes, Mr. Parker, all recorded. I'm just angry with myself for having forgotten to bring a tape measure to get room dimensions."

"Well, it just so happens that I have one out in my truck. Let me go fetch it and we can get those numbers for you."

"Oh, would you please? Thank you, so much!"

Chuckling deep in his belly, Bruce left the two of them in the apartment while he went to get the tool.

"Tommy, what do you think? Quickly."

"I hope neither of us gets dishpan hands. I think this would do very well for us, Jules. It could be like a trial living together, and no more extra-long single beds." He gave her a big smile and got one in return.

Bruce returned with the tape measure and Julie noted all the pertinent dimensions. "We don't have any place to sit here, so let's go upstairs to sit for a few minutes, ok?" Bruce offered. Turning out the lights and making sure all the doors were secured, they trooped up the front stoop following Bruce to sit at his dining table.

"Yes, I live in this place, but things are insulated well enough that we should not impact each other. Before we go any further, are you interested in renting the basement apartment?"

Julie looked at Tom, hope in her eyes, and Tom nodded his head. "Yes, Bruce, we would like to rent your basement apartment on a six-month lease beginning the first of January. What do we need to do? We've never had to rent a place before."

"To start, would you please both take a few minutes to fill out these applications? I do need to do due diligence, despite some excellent qualifications." He handed them each a form and a pen and sat back to observe the pair as they wrote out their information. He watched them glancing at each other as they completed the paperwork, and he thought back with a little sadness that did not reach his face. Ah, to be so young and just starting out again. Taking the completed applications, he then pulled out a three-page lease agreement. In the monthly rent blank, he wrote in $575.00 and he put $250.00 in the deposit field. He then turned the lease to them to explain things.

"By signing this and passing the requisite background and credit checks, you are agreeing to lease the basement apartment we just toured, as is, for the period from 1 January to 30 June at a rate of $575 per month. You will provide me with a security deposit of $250 with your first month's rent, and the rent is due no later than the 5^th of each month, preferably on or before the 1^st. When you vacate the premises, it will be as clean as it is when you move in, and you will not have any mammal, marsupial, avian, or reptilian pets in the unit. Fish may be permitted but limited to a 10-gallon tank. No cats, no dogs, no birds, no iguanas, no snakes."

"Uh, Mr. Parker, sir ..." Julie began.

"Please, Miss Julie, call me Bruce. Mr. Parker is my father."

"Bruce, I thought you told me the rent was $600 per month on the phone."

"It is, before the Eagle Scout discount. You also get a break on the security deposit." Tom grinned at her. "Strong union," he commented.

"You both will be on the hook for this lease, so if one of you leaves, the other is responsible for the entire amount and you both could be negatively impacted by being late or, heaven forbid, evicted," Bruce cautioned.

Tom spoke up at this point.

"Bruce, may we have until Monday to return the signed lease to you? We need to run all this past our parents, but we really do want to rent the apartment. We truly appreciate the discount you are offering us and we honestly need our parents' buy-in on this."

"You are the first ones ever to ask for that, and I respect that. Sure. Would you like to meet here on Tuesday evening, say 6:30 for the hand-off? I should have your background and credit checks completed by then."

"That would be wonderful, Bruce!" Julie declared. "Thank you so very much!"

"Miss Julie, Eagle Tom, it has been my pleasure to meet you and I believe we would live in harmony. I pray it all works out for us all." With that, Bruce stood and shook both Tom's and Julie's right hands and escorted them to the front door. "Until Tuesday evening, then?"

"Tuesday evening, Bruce. Thank you!"

They descended the steps, hand in hand, and got into Julie's car to head back to campus. This time, the trip was only ten minutes long, and four of that was spent in finding a parking place.

"Cute kids," Bruce thought.

While they ate supper together, Julie sent an email to Rose, attaching the pictures and the video she took of the apartment. She included her initial perspectives about Mr. Parker, commenting on how Scouts seemed to look after their own and how easily he and Tom appeared to get along.

= = =

Rose was making chicken and rice with vegetables when she heard the new email notification from her computer. Opening the message, she looked briefly at the pictures, promising to herself to watch the video after supper. She was still debating how much to tell Alan, how much would satisfy him, how much to expose. It wasn't that she didn't trust Alan or believe in his love for her. But some things simply did not need to be known outside of the principals. Rose removed the baking dish from the oven, and the delightful aroma soon filled the apartment, pulling Maggie from her room. "Hunger is the very best sauce," thought Rose.

"So, I see that supper has pulled you from your lair," Rose teased with an arched eyebrow.

"Yeah, it smells wonderful, Mom," Maggie answered, declining to rise to Rose's taunt. "Thank you for cooking. I really don't like to cook, so it's a good thing that David knows how."

"Aren't you getting a little ahead of yourself, Mags?"

"Maybe, maybe not. Better to have a plan and not need it than to need a plan and not have one."

While they were seated and eating, Rose shared what she knew of Julie's and Tom's plans to move into the apartment together. A random thought occurred to Maggie.

"Mom, assuming that we move into the Harrisons' house, what will we do with all of our furniture? The dining table and chairs? The sofa and the recliner? Our bedrooms?"

"We will need to inventory, determine what is extra or duplicating things there, combine and consolidate. Assuming that Julie and Tom get the apartment they toured today, they will be needing furniture. Despite a little expense to move it, reusing what we have will be far cheaper than buying all new stuff there, not to mention probably being of much better quality. I know for certain they will need a table and chairs, dishware, cookware, silverware, glassware, cooking utensils, likely a sofa and recliner, coffee table, lamps ... the list does go on."

"So, what does the place look like? Did Jules send any pictures of it yet?" Maggie asked.

"Yes, she has sent both pictures and a video. Let's finish our supper, put the food away, and sit together to look at what she sent."

= = =

Rose was so NOT looking forward to her call with Alan, but she had promised no evasions, and he would be sure to call her if she did not call him. There was no way out but through, not and keep him in her life. And right now, she could not imagine a life without him. He seemed to ooze and to fill all those nagging little crevices in her life, completing her so thoroughly. Making sure that Maggie was in her room and distracted with her schoolwork, Rose entered her room, closed the door, and stuffed a bath towel at the bottom of the door to block sounds from escaping. She sat on her bed, her head in her hands, dreading the approaching top of the hour. Her alarm sounded. It was game time. Rose called Alan who answered before the first ring had completed.

"Good evening, my love," Alan began.

"Hello my love, my desire. How was your day?"

"Mostly quiet, thank you. Hey, I did get some good news today, though!"

"Oh? What was the news, pray tell?"

"My blood tests came back all negative for any STDs. The raincoats may be allocated elsewhere!"

"Oh, Alan! I cannot wait until we can get together again! Oooohh!" and Rose kicked her feet on her bed in a mock happy dance of joy and anticipation.

"Say, Alan, have you heard anything from Tom or Julie today? They were supposed to be touring an apartment there near school for the spring semester."