Chapter Three
DAN
With relief, I think it’s safe to say my first day at Untold Media has gone better than expected.
Only problem is, I keep thinking about Kallen, the coworker I sit next to, who also happens to live in the apartment next to mine.
I think about us going down in the lift this morning, and how my face ran so hot I had to twist it away from his view.
It also doesn’t help that I had a raging hard-on in the office all morning, trying to nestle it between my legs so it wouldn’t create too much of a bulge.
I know the unexpected boner was because of him, as I kept thinking about what he looked like under his smart casual attire of chinos and a sweater.
Admittedly, it feels like I’m fourteen again.
I decide to leave the office later than him on my first day, since I presume he walks the same route home as me. And judging by his strained attitude today, I’m not sure if he likes me at all.
Golden hour begins to hit the city skyscrapers as I saunter along the riverside. Classical music plays through my earbuds, soothing my brain as a light wind touches my cheeks.
By the time I reach my apartment, it’s almost dark outside, bordering on a chill even a Victorian like me can feel. Once I step inside my apartment, Salem is waiting for me at the door, staring wide-eyed, exhaling long meows like he hasn’t seen me in years.
‘Hello, mister Salem,’ I say in my baby voice that only gets used on him.
He brushes against my leg, and I give him a pat before dropping my backpack in my room.
Salem gets separation anxiety, so I don’t like to leave him alone too long and haven’t much since I picked him up from the adoption centre in Melbourne.
Salem, while he may be a little needy, is great company and someone to talk to, even if he doesn’t talk back.
Although sometimes it feels like I can imagine what he’s thinking or wanting to say.
Like after I have a shower, when he’s staring at the big bag of styrofoam in the living room, sitting by the door, it’s as if he’s saying, ‘Dad, take that down to the bin, you lazy shit.’ If anything, it’s enough of a push for me to finally get rid of it.
Because it’s Salem’s world and I’m just living it in.
Anything that disrupts my cat’s space is a big no-no, unless I want to be even more a victim for scratches.
I take the styrofoam bag down to the bins, which are just down from the tennis court.
Once I return to the building, a young woman exits, carrying a box of rubbish and cardboard.
It’s the same woman who smiled at me a few days ago.
The smile which helped convey that I may be living in a nice place after all.
She’s wearing all-black, including her heavy eyeliner. Tattoos line her arms and legs.
‘Hey,’ she says, her mouth quirking into a grin .
She has this energy about her, one I want to know more about.
‘Hey, how are you?’ I ask.
She continues to the bins, calling back, ‘Good thanks, and you?’
‘Yeah, well, thanks!’
I keep going toward the building, stranger anxiety beating in my chest. But then I think to what I told myself before moving to Brisbane. That I would try my best to make friends. So I twist on my heels and return to the bins, where the woman is dumping her trash.
‘I’m Dan. I just moved into the building,’ I say with a slight stutter.
‘Nice to meet ya, Dan. I’m Ruby, I live on the first floor.’ She lets out a long sigh after throwing the last of her rubbish in the bin. ‘Which floor are you on?’
‘Oh, um, the fourth,’ I say.
‘You got a view?’ she asks.
I look up to my balcony. ‘Kind of. It’s mostly obstructed.’
‘Just like most of the older apartment buildings here.’ Ruby gestures her hand to the apartment buildings on either side of ours.
‘I heard from Amina on the bottom floor that this building used to have a stunning view of the city and river. That’s before the newer apartment buildings got put in front. ’
‘It still trumps the no view I had in Victoria,’ I say as we walk beside each other toward the entrance.
Ruby giggles. ‘Aye, the place I lived in before here was a shithole. Also, no view. So I guess an obstructed view is fine. Plus, that jacaranda tree in front of us goes wild in spring.’
We stop at the door to the complex.
‘Where did you live before here? And how long ago was that?’ I ask, resting against the metal pole.
‘Beenleigh, about a year ago,’ she says, her mouth extending into a grimace.
‘People always talk shit about the Logan region. But it’s not that bad, if you know where to go.
The share house I lived in was pretty fucked, though.
Then I ended up getting full-time work, so I moved into an apartment here with one of my mates. ’
‘Cool! And you’re liking it in Brisbane?’
‘Yeah, I mean, even when I lived down in Beenleigh, which isn’t far, I would always find myself spending so much time here anyway, coming to events and gigs and whatnot. Speaking of…I’m heading into the Valley to see some live music tonight and meeting a few friends there. Wanna come?’
I think about leaving Salem alone on a work night. But then the spontaneity genie hits me: Salem has been fed and will play with his toys the rest of the night, and I’ve already worked out my route to work just fine.
It’s a yes from me.
*
‘So other than your sister, do you know anyone here in Brisbane?’ Ruby asks me on our walk into the Valley.
I set my gaze on Story Bridge lit bright red tonight .
‘Uh, no, except for you and my coworkers. One of my coworkers actually lives in our building.’
Ruby’s eyes bulge. ‘Wait, what? That’s weird. What’s his name?’
‘Kallen. He’s a writer at work, and we’ve been sat next to each other in the office.’
‘Does he live on the fourth floor too? Because I think I’ve seen him. Curly dark hair? Little bit lanky.’
Blush fills my cheeks. ‘Yep. That’s him, I think.’
I continue to tell her all about Kallen: the awkward encounter in the lift, followed by the even more awkward encounter in the office.
Ruby shakes her head. ‘That is so freaky. He’s hot. Except very gay, so I have no chance with the guy.’
I raise a curious eyebrow, enquiring, ‘Oh, so he’s gay?’
‘Yes, very. Or at the very least, bisexual as fuck. There’s been plenty of times I’ve seen him kiss guys outside our apartment building, or by the pool. Come to think of it, it always seems to be a different guy.’
So my initial thoughts in the office today, about Kallen perhaps being queer, were correct. I let it mull over in my brain for a moment as we turn onto Brunswick Street.
‘You don’t have a little crush on your coworker slash neighbour, do you, Dan?’ Ruby teases.
‘No,’ I blurt out. ‘Plus, even if I did, dating coworkers is so…frowned upon.’
Ruby lets out a laugh. ‘Says who? It’s more common than you think. One of my friends who we’re meeting now, she married her coworker. Ask her about it; she loves to tell the story.’
Maybe I will. For pure curiosity purposes.
What also piques my curiosity is how quiet Fortitude Valley is on a Monday night.
I’ve only ever been here on a Friday or Saturday night, when the streets are filled with club hoppers and drunk people.
I don’t like crowded places – they make me anxious.
I’d much rather an intimate gathering, if anything.
Which, thankfully, is the case once we reach Stella’s, a live music venue on the outer edges of the Valley.
‘It used to be a nightclub that held crazy rave parties,’ Ruby tells me as we walk towards the entrance.
Looks like we’ve pulled up at an abandoned warehouse, though I can tell it’s not abandoned with the sound of drums, voices over a microphone, and chatter inside.
The building is covered in street art. A piece of a rainbow angel carrying a bow and arrow hangs high on stone, framed with gold and taking up a chunk of the street-facing wall.
‘But now a new business has taken over the lease, and holds live music every night of the week, which is rare for Brisbane,’ Ruby goes on.
‘It attracts a lot of travellers, but only really gets busy on a weekend.’
Ruby picks up the bright blue phone beside the artwork, pressing a singular button on the receiver. A few moments later, I hear a click from the gold frame, and it pops out, revealing its multifaceted purpose as both art and a door.
‘Very cool,’ I say.
I take one last look at the Cupid-like angel painting, then follow Ruby inside, where it’s notably louder. A band is playing in the main room on a stage, in front of a small crowd of people.
As we walk on through, someone bumps into me, throwing me back a little. And as I turn to look at them, my heart begins to swell, beating in the same rhythm it had at nine o’clock this morning.
Even in dim light, his bold brown eyes and dark hair stand out amongst the rest of his features.
But my stomach sinks when I see the guy standing beside him, someone far handsomer and fitter than I’d ever be. Someone who’s unimpressed by mine and Kallen’s eye contact.
‘Just keep popping up everywhere, don’t you?’ Kallen smirks at me with those disgustingly beautiful lips of his.
Dan, stop.
‘I, uh. It’s one of those only places open for live music on a Monday night, right?’ I word-vomit, a warm sensation presenting itself at the front of my pants.
‘Correct,’ he considers, exhaling. ‘See ya at work tomorrow?’
I nod like a fucking robot, but I can’t help it, because the hasty nods help me keep my shit together. I watch as Kallen leaves with mister overachiever in the looks department, before Ruby calls out for me, ‘You coming?’
I snap out of my daze and follow her further inside.
‘That was him, wasn’t it?’ she whispers in my ear teasingly.
‘Shhh…’ is my immediate reaction, face running hot as I look back to ensure Kallen has left the premises. Which, to my advantage, he has. I turn my gaze back to Ruby and say, ‘Yes, it was.’
*
It’s so weird coming into a situation where everyone knows each other.
They have their inside jokes, and they talk about fun memories had together – moments you weren’t a part of.
I feel this, even after a few minutes of sitting down at the beer garden booth with Ruby’s friends Jake and Chloe, who can’t wait to tell Ruby about how much the guitarist on-stage looks like Chloe’s ex-girlfriend, and how weird that camping trip to Noosa was when Chloe realised that she didn’t love her anymore.
‘You’re right, I can see it,’ Ruby agrees as she peeks toward the band.
Jake and Chloe are both seemingly extroverted – and while they’re friendly and don’t give off any indication to make me question getting to know them, I’m still caught a little off-guard, my energy depleting by the minute.
After the three of them rant, albeit so fast I can’t comprehend every word they’re saying, I get properly introduced.
Jake runs an Asian-owned and operated barber and lives with his wife in Tenerrife, whereas Chloe manages a boutique clothing store on James Street and lives with her wife in Clayfield.
Married life…I’m not even sure I want to get married.
I thought I was going to tie the knot with my ex a couple of years ago, and we almost did.
But I got cold, if not frozen feet, when he asked me to marry him on a cold winter day in Melbourne, right by a makeshift igloo that was meant to re semble a snowy experience.
I did love Tyler. Just the thought of being with him forever didn’t feel right.
And things weren’t the same after I said no, so he ended things with me.
Fair enough – I don’t think I could move on after that kind of rejection either.
Not when rings and oaths of “forever” are involved.
‘Remind me again how single I am,’ Ruby groans.
‘Same,’ I agree, but not mad about it.
Jake shoots Ruby a look. ‘You’re still in your twenties, unlike Chloe and I here.’
‘So, how are you finding Brisbane, Dan?’ Chloe asks me.
For a brief moment, I wonder how she knows I just moved here. Then I realise Ruby did text Jake and Chloe in advance to let them know I was coming. She likely mentioned I was new in town. The charity case for new friends when you don’t have any of your own.
‘Yeah, it’s nice so far,’ I say as Jake pours me a glass of sangria from the jug. ‘Much better weather than Melbourne so far.’
‘Wait until that summer humidity kicks in,’ Chloe says, raising her brows. ‘If my wife wasn’t so set up here with her business, I’d be carting us off somewhere a bit milder…like Tasmania.’
‘Tassie’s beautiful,’ I say with a shrug.
Ruby smirks in my direction, then to Chloe. ‘Go on. I love it when you tell the story of how you met Missy.’
‘Okay, well, when I first moved to Brisbane, I switched from bartending to reception at a hotel, and I was promoted to duty manager, even though I didn’t know what the heck I was doing.
I was mainly on night shifts with a few other reception staff, and one of them was this older woman, Missy.
Not like old, but like eleven years older than I was at the time, which was twenty-four. ’
Although I’m terrible at adding up numbers, and maths in general, I do the figures in my head.
‘Anyway,” Chloe goes on. ‘Missy and I hooked up at the staff work Christmas party and kept seeing each other in secret. It was fun, all the sneaking around. God, it made going to work fun.’
‘Did anyone at work find out?’ I ask, intrigued.
Chloe lifts her glass a little. ‘Nope. We were just that good at sneaking around. Missy ended up quitting before me, and the rest is history. Now we’re married.’ The diamond ring on her finger becomes visible in the light.
Ruby turns to me. ‘Is that enough inspiration for you to ask old mate on a date?’
Chloe waggles her eyebrows at me. ‘Ooooh, you found yourself a person of interest already?’
‘Oh, no,’ I’m quick to say, my cheeks heating again.
‘He does,’ Ruby chimes in.
‘Oooh, so, who’s this person?’ Chloe asks. ‘He? She? They?’
‘He,’ I confirm, feeling my face go rosy red. ‘I work with him. We’re both writers in the same office at a media company. But uh, I don’t want to complicate things, and he seems like a bit of a player, so I’m thinking I’ll just forget it about it.’
‘Um, no, that would be a waste!’ Chloe pipes up.
‘That’s what I’m thinking,’ Ruby agrees.
‘Oh, leave him alone,’ Jake protests. ‘Chloe, you worked in hospitality when you had your workplace romance, which is much easier to move jobs. Dan here doesn’t have the same luxury of escaping if he needed to.
My friend is a writer, and she found it tough to get a job in Brisbane. The competition is fierce.’
Chloe rolls her eyes. ‘I like to think the universe would provide for you in a situation like that. Obviously, it’s your decision, Dan. But at least consider it.’
‘Fine, I’ll consider it,’ I say, in my best probably lying voice.
Would I consider it?
Maybe. Maybe not.