Who: Danny What: Settling in When: Friday Feb 25 Where: His apartment
The alarm clock on the bedside table started to bleat at quarter to six on Friday morning and he was glad to hear it. It meant the joke that his nights (Sleep, what's that again?) had become were over and he could get up and get on with what needed doing. Daylight made it simpler to forget all the mental demons he was hauling around because he could be productive and he'd certainly been if not productive, then industrious in the past ten days.
After cocooning himself up in his suite against the lover's holiday with a bottle of Scotch and an action movie marathon and enjoying the best night sleep he'd had since he'd arrived after, Danny had busied himself building a life in Destiny Falls. There was a new Nissan Maxima in his parking spot; five plants of various sizes for him to talk to and fuss over; a library card in his wallet; a trip to city hall to discover the local laws; a trip to the police station to update his permits to carry the weapons that were locked in the gun safe in the closet; and various forays in the new car to get used to it and the city. He'd found the closest shopping centre, post office, and grocery store. His comings and goings had been frequent enough that his interactions with security at the front desk had been pared down to a nod in passing. In fact, he was pretty much settled with one exception - he needed employment.
Rolling over and pulling the pillow over his head, Danny resolved to worry about that later. The only thing he'd done since arriving that he regretted other than knocking Lei off her feet was buying the Maxima. It was nice enough and it was the sort of car he liked - not too flashy to be stolen and yet luxurious for what it was - a good reliable four-seater sedan with enough under the hood to respond if necessary.
"Shoulda bought the Challenger," he mumbled from under the pillow to the spider plant hanging by the window. He could have leased a sedan when the kids came or work he didn't have yet required one and yet, he had hesitated at purchasing the Dodge. Ultimately, it had been his middle class sensibilities that overrode the updated muscle car purchase and he would learn to enjoy the Nissan the way he had once enjoyed his now-departed Buick.
Quietly.
While he was worrying this over under the pillow, sleep embraced him. It wasn't until nearly nine in the morning that he abruptly sat up and looked around the room. Why he'd come awake was a mystery and he scowled at the unsettled feeling of being startled then with a stretch let it go as he made plans for his day. As soon as he was presentable, he would head down to the coffee shop to get a cup of caffeine and see what gossip he could overhear about Astor Ridge while he read the local paper. From there, he'd see what the day brought.