Danny Pennell (danny_pennell) wrote in astor_ridge, @ 2011-02-14 22:07:00 |
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Entry tags: | danny |
Who: Danny
What: Welcome… home?
When: Wednesday, February 9 – Sunday, February 13
Where: Apartment 1084
The tall man in the dark overcoat stood in the middle of what the floor plan referred to as the lounge or dining area of the apartment. He was very still, standing with one hand on the extended handle of the upright black rolling suitcase, taking in what the designer had turned his request for ‘simple, clean, and modern’ into with slow movements of his eyes. Only the two sea captain’s chests, both antiques used to ferry his suits safely to this new home base were familiar. The rest… well the rest was very white.
White walls, white carpet, white blinds all in perfect contrast to his black overcoat and dark navy suit. Even the leather sofa was off-white and he blinked as he stood with a black suit bag thrown over his shoulder and tried to make some sense of the great white wasteland he was supposed to inhabit and call home. Apparently white was the new black and he'd missed the memo – that or his interior designer was hiding a polar bear in the corner of the room opposite the flatscreen television hanging on the wall. Turning on one heel, he gave the white kitchen the once over and then closed his dark eyes and exhaled a long slow breath, pinching the bridge of his nose in dismay.
"Clean... modern... not THX-1138," he grumbled to himself as he opened his eyes to see if any of the white had changed. It hadn't and he flipped the suit bag over the closest nearly invisible chair to pull his Blackberry out of his pocket. His suitcase was abandoned in the middle of the room as he paced to the doors of the balcony and threw them open, propelling his body out into the late afternoon sun. There was enough wind on the tenth floor balcony to start his coat moving as his thumbs flew across the touch screen more deftly than logic would dictate. In no time, he was connected to the woman with whom he urgently needed to speak and began to gently make arrangements with her to have the vast Arctic space of his living room rethought.
“Less deep freeze, more living things,” he told her as he lit a cigarette and watched the traffic sliding through the streets below. “Dark brown or black for the new sofa and either find some sort of area rug or see if we can install hardwood floors in the main living area and hallways, please.” The conversation went back and forth in this vein until he was satisfied that he might get a tenth of what he’d asked for in changes. It was only after he’d killed the call that the realization he hadn’t checked his bedroom hit him.
Sidestepping back into the living room, he left his shoes on the mat by the glass doors and padded silently across the thick carpet on the living room towards the hallway. He had been more specific about this room and consequently there was less disappointment waiting. There was still a trip to a linen store in his future to replace the white sheets and duvet cover but the sight of the king-sized cherrywood four poster bed almost made up for it. Lindsey had begged him for years for one just like it but the price had forced him to point out to her they could afford the new bed or they could make the car payment on her new SUV. It might be petty to have purchased one now for a home he wasn’t sure he’d stay in long and that she’d never see. He found he didn’t mind the pettiness at all, in fact it was forgotten as he swept the closet door open to check that his clothes had arrived and had been unpacked properly.
A second call to the designer explaining his linen conundrum solved it as he continued exploring and found he approved of the set up of the second bedroom. Two twin beds would be enough to keep the visiting kids happy, not that they'd spend much time in the apartment. There were too many distractions in Destiny Falls waiting to empty his wallet. One way or another, he was owed some visitation time with his kids and if he had to fly back to Canada to collect, he would. His inspection complete, he stalked back out to the living room to collect his shoes and hang up his overcoat in the front foyer. The Blackberry found a temporary home on the glass topped chrome tables flanking the living room set and he grabbed his carry-on bag to find the charger for the most useful tool he’d ever possessed. Once the smartphone was taken care of, Danny dropped onto the leather sofa with a carelessly casual grace and looked over the room again.
They had promised him that all he would have to do to call this home was show up and open the door. Someone had gone grocery shopping for him, perhaps the same someone who had steamed the travel wrinkles from his suits and had his shirts laundered and pressed. The television was hooked up and ready to go with the latest gadgets neatly waiting in a frosted glass cabinet flanked by the captain’s chests. With the carefully displayed crystal decanters on a tray a top one chest and the pictures of his kids gracing the flat surface of the other, the impression he had of being dropped into a Modern Homes and Gardens photo shoot was so strong that he had to put his arms on the back of the sofa to reassure himself he was actually in the room.
A drink sounded good but he was tired from travelling and he crossed his legs and sat just where he was for a while. If they had done all they had said they would, he wouldn’t have to leave the apartment for four or five days. That was just fine too, it would give him time to lick the latest wounds inflicted in the never-ending custody fight. He sat a long time, until the growing darkness forced him into motion and then it was only to reach for the stereo remote and turn on some music. A small bleat from the little handheld computer to his right brought him awake an hour later and he grunted and rubbed his hand over his face before standing. Ignoring the flashing light, he set to exploring the confines of his latest gilded cage before retiring to bed.
He stayed in bed all day Thursday, indulging in the ability to just do nothing. Hunger roused him at odd hours and he ate whatever he foraged out of the refrigerator. Friday morning brought the movers and the couches and glass tables were swapped out under the watchful eye of the designer. Danny left the bedroom long enough to sign for the changes and charges, retreating to his lair to go through the linen swatches. When he cautiously emerged to see what had been done, he was relieved to find that he liked this version of the apartment better. The designer was dispatched with his mail key to uncover if Canada Post had figured out how to redirect his mail to Destiny Falls without first shipping it to Australia. She returned with a handful of mail and he left it until she was gone, sorting it carefully into work, divorce, and all the rest.
Saturday brought new linens and he signed for them then did his own laundry and made up his bed with the darker colours he preferred. He read his mail, ate, listened to music, thought about buying a car, watched hockey on the television, slept and finally on Sunday hit his boredom threshold. The remote hit the table with a clatter as he bounded off the couch in a flurry of motion and cast a critical eye around the apartment. It still looked like one of those executive suites he’d stayed in two years ago – bland and featureless.
“At least it isn’t white,” he sighed as he headed off to shower and start acting like an adult and not a sulking teenager.