New In Town

-Aiden-

Stepping out of the front door, Aiden gave Derrick one last grateful wave. Starting next week, the experienced man would be gone to take care of his new baby and Aiden would be in charge of locking up the office before he left at 5PM, but for now Derrick would be doing it.

There was so much to learn. Clerical school had given Aiden a solid foundation, providing him with a head start on the skills he needed, but the specifics were daunting. The endless list of things he had to do and know, even with Derrick being a patient and very effective teacher it was just so much, and Aiden knew he was just scratching the surface.

So, here he was, with a proper full time job he might not be able to handle. Just turned 20 years old, alone in the big city. Other than the people he met today at his new job he knew exactly two people by name. He lived in a tiny bachlorette apartment in a dingy building in a rather shabby part of town, a 15 minute walk from work. He had spent basically every dollar he had been able to save just to get here, and he’d be eating ramen and drinking tap water at some point until he got his first paycheck.

He was totally on his own.

“Yes!” he pumped his fist as the emotions bubbled out in an involuntary exhalation. He was free! His father was 200 miles away, he hadn’t even bothered to ask him for his new address, so sure he had been that his disappointment of a son would fail. That he wouldn’t really leave Estelle behind, leave all the whispers of his classmates, the smirks of the neighbors. Martin hadn’t even driven him to the bus stop in town, leaving him to drag his two heavy suitcases down the road until a farmer had stopped and picked him up.

Walking down the sidewalk of the historic Mill District towards his apartment (his! his own!) Aiden couldn’t help but smile. The old buildings - former warehouses and factories, now artist lofts and cheap tenements - were a far cry from the dusty clapboards of the farmhouses in Estelle. It looked so urban, so exciting, so… cool!

Everything was interesting and new to the young man. He had arrived in the city on Friday, and spent the weekend carefully using his dwindling savings to buy the essentials he needed to live on his own. As he turned onto his street, a series of low-rise apartment buildings stretched down away from the river toward the suburbs. The corner store beckoned him, and he decided to treat himself to a slice of pizza for supper. He had to buy some milk anyway, he could make it work, Aiden just needed to make sure he didn’t make a habit of it before he got his first paycheck!

The door jingled as he entered. It had been an old mansion of some kind, then turned into cheap apartments, and now the first floor was a small grocery and convenience store with a take-out restaurant somehow squeezed into the back. Aiden saw that the old man was working the counter, as he had been during the day the other two times Aiden had been in the store. At night, the younger female relatives seemed to work the late shifts, which made sense as this was a rather gritty neighborhood.

The old man smiled warmly at Aiden when he brought his handful of items - and one delicious piece of cheese pizza from the rotating display case to the counter. “You live close now, no?” the extended family, and Aiden was fairly certain everyone he had seen working there so far were related, was Asian and the old man seemed to speak the least English.

“Yes sir, I moved into the Elgan, the smaller buiding with the painted brick? I moved there on Friday. My first day of work was today.” Aiden couldn’t hide the pride in his voice, and the man’s pleased chuckle in reply only made him more proud.

“Good for you! Be safe, nice boy like you, if any trouble,” the old man gestured vaguely outside, “you can come here. Ok?”

Aiden felt his smile freeze a little, and the old man held up his hands soothingly, “Is not a bad neighborhood, no no! But… sometimes bad people. You are young man, if you feel… not safe?... when outside at night, you come in here, we are open late. My granddaughters, very good women. They work at night. And my daughter, Ji-yeon, sometimes. Any trouble, they are strong and will help you. Good women, treat men with respect. So.” With a final bow, the old man smiled.

“Thank you sir, I’m sure I’ll be fine but I appreciate it.” Aiden slowly replied. He was thankful for the man’s thoughtfulness, but he was sure he’d be ok. Aiden wasn’t the sort to be out wandering the streets at night, and he knew the neighborhood had a rough reputation in years past but it was gentrifying quite rapidly according to the leasing agency he contacted when looking for a place to rent.

With a final smile and bow the man behind the counter placed a few small candies into the bag with the takeout container for the pizza slice, along with the milk and a loaf of cheap bread, then pretended to not know any English when Aiden protested he would to pay for the candy.

Walking out of the shop, Aiden turned and started down to the Elgan, and home. He wasn’t paying attention, just looking around at the neat buildings and the large trees that lined the street. The people at work weren’t so scary. Well, ok, Sam is terrifying, but she seems to just be teasing. The rest are kinda nice, really! And that Erin, the younger one with the casual style, her shoulder length hair clipped back and her makeup so classy and simple. She had been really friendly, even after Aiden had embarrassed himself by darn near fainting when she was just so suddenly there right beside him. She hadn’t even acted insulted that he’d panicked and taken a step back like she had pulled a knife on him. Stupid hick! Women in the city were just more modern, simply less fussy about being around single men. They didn’t act like they couldn't trust themselves to not grab any man on his own and rip his clothes off, that’s all! Especially a coworker, sheesh!

“Hey sweetie!”

Aiden heard it, but didn’t react. There were several people on the sidewalks, and the woman was presumably talking to one of them. Her friend, most likely a boyfriend.

“Hey you! Cutie in the grey pants!” With a small shock, Aiden realized that she was talking to him. What the heck? He turned to see a woman, a few years older than him, leaning out of the passenger window of a parked car. She had long red hair pulled back into braids, and a smattering of freckles covered the bridge of her nose. Another woman was in the drivers seat, but Aiden could only see dark olive skin and a shit eating grin as she whispered something to the passenger.

“Yeah, hot stuff, I see you! You got those old man baggy pants on but I can see you fine as hell!” The woman in the drivers seat laughed loudly before being shushed by the red head, who grinned again, “Igore her uncouth ass, sexy. You need a ride somewhere? Or maybe, you like to party? It’s early but my girl and me, we’ll be hitting the club in a couple of hours. You can hang out, maybe? We’ll pregame at our dorm room, totally chill! Pretty kid like you must be fighting the old women off, you need a real woman closer to your age, what are you, 18? 19? You, uh, you’re an adult right?”

The sheer surprise had actually stopped Aiden in his tracks, allowing the redheaded woman to start to think her come-on was working. She seemed shocked herself, but licking her lips her expression changed from merely going through the motions of calling out to a young man to wondering if she would get him into the car.

Blushing furiously, Aiden tried to decline. What did guys say in these situations? Be polite but firm? Act like they are joking to give them a way to let it go without embarrassing them? Ugh, Aiden had no experience with this!

Unbidden, a harsh voice rang in his head. ‘Haha, no girl is going to hit on a boy as ugly as you! Only chicks that would pay attention to someone like you assume you’re a pick-me boy and you’ll do anything for a bit of attention!'

“Whaddya say honey? What’s your name anyway?” The woman was practically crawling out of the car’s window now, her eyes feverish as they ran up and down his body. It was the animal lust in her gaze that finally snapped Aiden out of his frozen shock.

“N-n-n-o thank you!” His voice squeaked, but taking a deep breath he tried again, “I’m sorry I gotta go thanks though hope you have a fun party ok bye!” Turning back, Aiden continued on down the sidewalk. He was only 20 paces away from the walkway to the front of his building.

“Wait, no come on cutie! You’ll have fun, we’ll treat you right!” Heart in his throat, Aiden tried to not just run, clutching the strap of his messenger bag tightly with one hand, the bag with the groceries and his pizza slice in the other. He pretended he didn’t hear her calling out to him, but his ears were focused on the sounds behind him. If he heard a car door opening he was going to run.

But the women in the car didn’t follow him. As Aiden briskly walked toward the entryway of his apartment building, the redheaded woman yelled, “Yeah whatever, you ain’t that hot anyway! Probably a queer, ain’t ya? Woman hating gayboy, huh! Fuck outta here!” A loud peal of laughter followed him, trembling and red faced, into the entryway.

Standing in the foyer, Aiden stared at the mailboxes for the suites as he caught his breath. His hands slowly stopped trembling, and he felt tears in his eyes. ‘So stupid, have to handle that better!’ He spent a few seconds bitterly thinking about how he could have been more charming, less insulting to the woman. He just made her angry, leading her on like that, standing there listening to her like a tramp. Only a real hussy, a loose boy with no morals, would stand there like he was considering getting into a car with total strangers! No wonder she reacted so poorly to his running away.

With a sigh, Aiden tried to tell himself it was nothing. He’d never see those women again, he was new in town, he just made a mistake but it’s over. As he unlocked his mail slot and removed a couple of restaurant flyers, he tried to focus on how he had felt walking home. How he was on his own now, and if he made a mistake now and then it would be ok. Heck, he goofed in front of Erin Carr, right? And she was as nice and friendly as he could imagine a professional woman being to a mere term receptionist. Yeah, think about how great Derrick was, patiently teaching him what he’d need to know to do the job properly. Or how Gillian Chan had joked with him about how they both loved Tpop and making Aiden giggle at the thought of them both griping about romantic troubles with women. He’d dearly love that!

As he unlocked the second door into the building Aiden was starting to feel better. He wasn’t an idiot - he knew he was naive and unsophisticated, having grown up in the middle of nowhere. But he felt he was clever too, and in his heart of hearts he sometimes thought he had been just as smart as the girls at highschool, the ones who were shipped off to fancy universities. He knew it was a dangerous world for boys like him, even ugly ones. Maybe especially ugly ones, for some women would see him as easy meat - who knows what such a plain looking guy might do if an older woman showed him some interest?

No, no, Aiden knew he had to stop that nonsense. The guidance councilor in high school, one of the few truly supportive adults in his life, had always told Aiden that he was smart and capable and that he should focus on what he could control. Sinking into a spiral of sadness would just be self-defeating, especialy since he had so much to look forward to after that day of work.

Aiden approached suite #5C. His old, tiny, mostly empty, absolutely perfect apartment. The door at the end of the hallway opened, and another pleasant smile heartened Aiden even more.

“Well hello again, young Mister Hughson,” the caretaker, jiggling her large keyring, smiled up at Aiden.

“Hello Ms. Brookings,” the young man smiled. He had met her when he moved in, of course, and she had been very helpful in getting him settled, going so far as to give the small apartment some extra cleaning as he moved in. She had checked in on him a few times that night, even giving him an old end table a previous tenant had left behind.

Waving her finger, she grinned, “Call me Kelly, please! So you had a good day of work, I imagine? Smart young man like you would have knocked it out of the park I’m sure!”

Unable to hide a bashful smile, he replied, “It was pretty great, thank you, uh, Kelly.” The woman was in her 40’s, unmarried, with a short but powerful body. Aiden was sure she’d be able to pick him up and toss him around like a baby if she wanted to. As she often was, she was dressed in a dirty undershirt, her small breasts still poking out noticeable nipples. Back in Estelle, it would be considered risque for a woman to be so casually dressed in front of an unattached male, at least one that wasn’t family. But Aiden just assumed she was concerned about getting dirty, always fiddling with the cleaning and maintenance of the old building.

“If you ever need anything, you come find me, ok Aiden? How is the water pressure in your shower anyway? Still ok? Need me to come in and take a look at it?”

“Oh it’s been fine Kelly, thanks!”

“Well, like I said, the pipes in this old place are finnicky. If there’s ever a leak in the suite above you, I may need to hustle into your apartment really quick. Might not even be able to knock! That won’t be a problem, will it? I know you boys like your privacy, and I wouldn’t be trying to catch you in your sleep clothes or anything!”

Blushing at the thought, Aiden shook his head, “Oh I’m always decent, don’t worry! If you need to get in quick, I understand totally.”

“Huh. Well, the law says I’m supposed to give ya 1 days notice before entering your suite, and some young men get really nervous about women being in their spaces. But I just wanted to let you know so you’re not scared, ok?”

His eyes wide, Aiden nodded rapidly, “I totally understand! If there’s an emergency, there’s an emergency!”

Her smile widening, Aiden thought he saw a flash of something else in eyes, but it was there and gone. “I think we’ll get along great, young man. You’ll fit in great here, I can tell.”