Mishaps in Apartment 21

Maisie and her best friend Brooke are doing the first 'adult' thing in their lives and heading out to buy an apartment in Sydney. They've dreamt of halving rent, shopping everyday, working for their d

We were both sitting in textiles technology, imagining our futures and not getting any work done whatsoever. Somehow Mrs Bloom didn't notice how little we were doing on our assignments, and we got away with a double period of talking about our shared closet in Sydney we were planning on owning together in our cosy apartment.

We could both picture it in our heads, how perfect it would all be. Halving the rent to spend the other half on updates for our closet which would take up an entire room all on it's own because of it's capacity.

'We could be the best dressed in town!', I said to Brooke excitedly.

'It would be just like on Gossip Girl. We could be Serena and Blair', she replied. Gossip Girl was one of our favourite TV shows at the time. I would be Serena with the lengthy blonde locks and Brooke always wanted to be Blair, the brunette with a strong personality and intentions on being a powerful women. Of course they were best friends and did everything together, had the most amazing boyfriends and houses, and eventually when they went to college they were able to live together, which in our eyes, would be the most perfect thing in the world.

Brooke and I were practically the same person with different exteriors. She was dating Ben and had been for months now, and I was with nobody and was completely fine with that. Ben was so sweet to Brooke, and they were so cute together. He was tall, which was one of Brookes first 'turn on's' in a boy. He was actually very tall. Brooke always said she was probably the world's worst girlfriend, because she disliked holding Ben's hand in public and kissing at the disco. He loved showing affection for her though, in a good way. I was very happy for her.

We had never had a fight in all the years we had known one another. We were always the weirdest best friends, who would piggy back one another wherever we went and dances with the twelve year old boys at the discos. It was always 'Maisie and Brooke'.

We had just been to Parramatta together to participate in the 'Colour Run'. It was the best weekend of our lives. We went to Westfield everyday and used as much mascara as possible to go to expensive dinners all by ourselves. We got our very own hotel room (I didn't tell my mum that beforehand and got in trouble), and we considered it 'the trailer to our lives'. After that weekend we always wanted to live together in an apartment in Sydney, with our dream jobs, the best clothes and without the troubles of other high school dramas. Little did we know, three and a half years later, all of that would come true.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I never really realised how many things I actually had until I had to pack it ALL into a few small suitcases and boxes. My room has never been completely bare before. It was so strange. After I had packed the last box, I dropped onto my largest suitcase with my head in my hands, puffing from all the lifting and pushing. I turned around in search of my phone but instead saw my mum and dad's head poking around the door frame. I smiled sadly. As much as I loved them, I wanted to move so badly. But since I was fifteen they'd made sneaky comments about the amazing things they could do with my room as soon as I wasn't living with them anymore. I always told them to do whatever they wanted, and so would I.

Brooke and I had been searching for apartments for two years now. Well, we found one in the heart of the city. It was on the second floor, number 21. It was near all of our favourite shops and cafes, and it seemed so perfect, so we got it. It wasn't too expensive, especially since we were halving the rent. It was cute and clean, with a great view of the cityscape. You could see everything from the kitchen, and pets were allowed, so Missy, Brookes cat, was coming with us, and in the backyard, Ruben, my black Labrador, was allowed to stay. AH, it was all too perfect.

'Well, I suppose we might miss you,' Mum said, with a slight smile. I knew she was joking, but I also knew she wanted me to move quite desperately. Dad and I had always had the best relationship, as in, I was still his little girl. That always made me sad. His eyes were glistening a little. I jumped up and gave him a hug. I held on for a long time, while Mum began carting boxes out the front door ready for the movers truck to arrive. I felt a tear slide down my cheek as Dad and I helped out with the boxes.

'Why on earth do you have so many boxes?' he asked with a laugh. 'Half probably isn't even yours.'

That was true. I always say I'm going to borrow something, then end up keeping it. I snuck a few of Mum's dresses into a box that said 'home wares' in a black marker, so it wasn't so suss. She never wore them anyway.

After we had packed the boxes, I rang Brooke to see if she had finished packing and was ready for the truck. We lived about 35 minutes away from one another, and I guess we couldn't seem to deal with that, which is why this is all happening. I  was SO excited.

'Hello?' Brooke picked up.

'Are you all packed? The truck is just pulling up at my house,' I said. I was going to hitch a ride with the 'mover man' to Brookes house, then we would both catch the train to Sydney and meet him at the apartment to unpack all of our stuff.

'I am all packed. I was last night Maisie Moo,' she said. Of course she was. She was a perfectionist and was always organised. Unlike me, I'm a messy and a 'leave it till the last minute' person. Brooke liked cleaning, and I didn't, so this should be great.

'Fab,' I said in the poshest possible way. With that I hung up and threw the last of the boxes in the back of the truck. The driver was actually helping us, which was handy. He had muscles and I had heavy boxes. How great. He looked like he was about twenty or so, fairly attractive, with blonde surfy hair, green eyes and tanned skin. My type right here.

I was expecting a forty year old man with a shaggy beard wearing a cap as a removalist, but this was better. I walked up to him and said, 'hey, I'm Maisie', and shook his hand politely.

'Nice to meet you Maisie, I'm Hamish,' he flashed his nice teeth, which was a must for me.

'I was wondering if you could also stop at my friends house on the way, she's moving with me and needs to pack her stuff in the truck too. I spoke to someone on the phone and he said it would be all good, I just thought I should check with you first,' I said casually.

'No worries at all. The guy you spoke to has already told me all that, so yeah,' he said happily.

'And would it be possible if I could maybe hitch a ride as well? I kinda have no other way of getting to her house. We'll catch a train once we get there, and we'll pay you extra and all?'

'Not a problem, no need to pay me any extra either,' he said nicely. 'Hop in'.

We exchanged smiles and I said my final goodbyes to Mum and Dad before we both got in the truck and drove away from home.

 

 

 

 

Hamish kept trying to make small talk.

‘So how long have you lived here?’ he said. He was trying to clean the dashboard a little to be nice, but I’d rather if he’d keep his eyes on the road. He had all types of crap on it. Truckie caps, McDonalds rubbish, t-shirts, and, a loaf of bread?

‘My entire life,’ I replied. ‘It’s too small for me. I like big cities and a population over four hundred.’ He laughed. It was true. The town I now lived in had a population of three hundred and ninety, and the majority of this small town had people over the age of seventy. I was one of the five people under twenty who lived here, in the middle of nowhere, so it did seem to get quite lonely.

‘Well good on you for getting out of here,’ he turned and smiled. ‘You like big cities and I like big trucks.’

‘How long have you been a removalist for?’ I asked. He seemed like he knew what he was doing, so he must have had this job for a couple of years.

‘About three years. I got my license at seventeen and a half and all the guys in my family are truckies so I guess I was obliged to follow what they’ve done,’ he stated.

‘Is this what you want to do though?’ I asked him.

‘Not really. I guess I felt like Dad wanted me to work for the family business. I actually wanted to teach in primary schools.’ I felt bad for him a little. I never felt like I had to do anything because of my family. I’d always been pretty passionate about writing and kids, so I either wanted to be a journalist or a primary school teacher, or somehow both.

‘I’ve been thinking about primary school teaching too,’ I smiled. ‘I think you should do what you love. I’m moving to Sydney partly for better work opportunities so I can get a well-paying job. You’d be a good teacher Hamish,’ I smiled warmly.

He seemed to glow a little when he heard that. ‘I wish I could. I mean I can, but I don’t wanna let my Dad down, you know?’

‘I’m sure if you tell him, and have good reasoning, he’ll understand. My Dad always thought I’d be a great lawyer, but I didn’t think so, so I told him and said I’d like to be rich, and he said being rich is a good idea so I can look after him when he’s old,’ I laughed at the conversation from when I was thirteen. I miss my Dad already.

‘I think I’m gonna look into it now,’ Hamish smiled. ‘Thanks’.

I nodded enthusiastically. I can see him as a potential teacher. He seemed like one of those lovely guys who were great with children. I think that’s really sweet.

We arrived at Brooke’s gorgeous house, where we spent so many sleepovers discussing this day. The truck stopped with a huff and Brooke came running out. I scrambled out of the passenger seat to give Brookie a hug.

‘I am so excited!’ she squealed, jumping up and down and clapping her hands. Hamish appeared and shook Brooke’s hand, introducing himself. When he looked away for a second she raised her eyebrows at me.

‘Um, Brooke and I will bring some boxes out so we can get everything done,’ I told Hamish, who nodded and shoved his hands in his back pockets. He spun on his heel and opened the back of his truck.

I walked inside the shed with Brooke where her mum was sniffing with a tissue in her hands. ‘She’s in good hands,’ I told her.

‘I know, I know,’ she whispered, wiping at her eyes. ‘Have fun Brookie, I’ll miss you,’ she said, giving Brooke a tight hug and a kiss on the cheek.

‘Love you Mum,’ Brooke said to her. She was a bit awkward with comforting people. Then her mum ran inside. ‘Okay, now the boxes.’

After we’d packed it all up into the back of the truck, we said our farewells to Hamish, even though we’d meet him there.

‘Thanks heaps Hamish,’ I said. ‘Have a safe trip. Don’t knock our boxes over either,’ I winked.

‘I’ll try my best,’ he said, and he gave me a kiss on the cheek. I tried to be all cool and casual with it, but inside my stomach was a rabbit hopping around and making me happy.

He got in his truck and drove away.

‘Ooh, how sweet,’ Brooke teased.

I squealed a little and linked arms with my best friend. ‘Well that’s that then,’ let’s go to the train station shall we?’ It was only a five minute walk.

‘We shall.’

 

 

 

 

After the boring train ride, we arrived in Sydney, where we caught a taxi from the station to our new apartment. We were so so so excited. I still think about those conversations we had in high school, about this very day.

‘It’s all real,’ Brooke gasped. That it was. Today we get to step inside the apartment we’d only ever talked about. We’ll both be applying to universities soon and working, actually living for ourselves instead of our parents. It’s going to be the most amazing time.

‘We need groceries,’ I told her.

‘That’s so weird,’ she replied. Missy meowed from inside her kitty cage. ‘We need cat food also.’

Ruben will be here when my family visits in a few weeks. The building we’re living in is only small so there won’t be too many animals sharing a backyard with him.

The cab arrived and we slid in, telling him the address. We were both in a trance I think as we stared out the window at the amazing city. There were so many colours and so many flashing signs. So many different people and different shops that were soon to be visited by the two of us. We passed a pet store and Brooke jumped. ‘Missy! We can get you some new clothes! Yay!’ I laughed. Brooke has always had an obsession with cats, and also drawing old people. Because apparently if you stuff up, you can just turn it into a wrinkle.

We drove past Westfield, and Brooke lurched onto my lap. We both exchanged looks of happiness. Westfield Parramatta was our favourite place to go.

‘Excuse me, how long do we have to go?’ I asked the driver.

‘About two minutes,’ he said.

‘So Westfield is just a few minutes to walk?!’ Brooke yelled. Missy meowed and the driver giggled. He had the weirdest laugh. Brooke looked at me and we nearly burst out laughing. He turned a corner and Missy almost toppled over, and Brooke actually hit her head on the window.

‘Here we are!’ The driver said happily. ‘That will be $7.30.’

I payed him $10.00 in cash and told him to keep the change. Brooke and I had always taken turns paying for things no matter how much it was.

We got out, holding our new Celine handbags from our birthdays and also the cat, glanced at each other, then made our way into the building. In the lobby, we met with the landlord, who Brooke had emailed already.

‘I’m Peter, your landlord. Welcome to our building!’ he said enthusiastically. Come with me and I’ll show you ladies to your apartment.’

We followed him to the elevator, where we went up just one floor. We walked down the hallway to apartment number 21. He opened the door and we were greeted with the scent of a perfect, clean white home, which was just for us. We stood in awe at the amazing space, which we’d been waiting for forever. All the walls were white, the couch was black and so was most of the main furniture. The kitchen was amazing, with a black marble bench and a black fridge. Brooke and I liked feeling high-end, and this was so perfect. The view was absolutely stunning, we could see the big red W and the big golden M, if you know what I mean. Everything was stunning and so minimalistic.

I ran to the couch and flopped on it, next to my handbag.

‘Well, here’s your key. I’m glad you like it all. I’ll leave you two to get sorted. I assume there’ll be a removalist truck on its way? I buzz the intercom when it’s here,’ Peter gave one last smile and left the room, sitting the key on a small table.

‘It’s it…PERFECT?’ Brooke half-screamed. She flopped next to me after letting Missy out to wander. I was speechless.

‘Let’s look in the bathroom!’ I suggested excitedly. We both jumped to our feet hurriedly and ran up the small hallway to the bathroom. Inside we found a huge jet-spa-bath-thing which looked so cool. It was also shiny black. The bathroom was all black and silver mainly, except the walls. The shower had jets coming out of the walls and gorgeous tiling.

Suddenly something in the lounge area buzzed and we couldn’t work out where the intercom was, or what it looked like, which was unhelpful. So after our search we ran down the hall and to the elevator.

In the elevator I suddenly remembered we were about to see Hamish. I tried to fix my hair in the mirror of the elevator, but of course the door opened, and Hamish was standing there waiting for us.

‘Hey, Hamish,’ Brooke said. How sweet, he’d already managed to somehow bring every box into the lobby, ready to be taken up.

‘You guys need a hand?’ he asked us nicely.

‘Oh, no. You don’t have to do that. You probably have to be somewhere. Thanks though,’ I told him.

He nodded understandingly and walked away. Brooke walked over to a box and tried to lift it, but I think she exaggerated its weight and complained and whined until Hamish turned back around.

‘I think you could use a hand,’ he said. He was able to lift three boxes at once, flexing his muscles greatly. I couldn’t help but stare. I think he caught me looking, but he smiled.

After all boxes had been placed into our room, we said goodbye to Hamish.

‘Hey, um, Maisie,’ he began nervously. ‘I’ll give you my number, you know, in case anything needs to be moved again, or, something like that,’ he smiled nervously. He slid a piece of ripped paper into my hand, smiled and scratched the back of his neck, before giving a quick, ‘seeya’, then leaving.

Brooke teased me for about ten minutes.

‘Anyway,’ I said softly. ‘Whatever happened with you and Ben?’ They had still been dating until we both graduated, and she said she wanted to break up with him because we were moving. That thought was really sad.

‘I did it,’ she said sadly. ‘He understood, but he nearly cried. I felt like dying then. I told him we’d still keep in touch, and I know we will. I’ll email him this afternoon I guess.’

I nodded. We were both the same about sensitive situations like that. We told each other everything, of course, but we both find it hard to comfort anyone for some reason, same with each other.

‘Let’s go buy some heels, shall we?’ I said happily.

‘We shall,’ she replied, and we began the walk to Westfield.

 

Author's Note

Haven't yet edited this, so if there are any errors feel free to tell me :)