Page 16 of Playing the Game

“Seven.”

“You two are on the second floor,” Tito said. “Don’t worry about me all on my own down here.”

Jonas play-shoved him. “I’m sure you’ll survive.”

“Meet at mine in ten,” Noah said.

Jonas and Noah went up to the second floor. Jonas soon located his door along from Noah’s.

Here goes nothing.

He let himself inside. An oak-floored hallway led through to a vast living space. Being on the top floor meant he had beamed ceilings. The large windows gave light to every corner. Jonas wandered farther in.

The kitchen area lay to the left. All the units were a brilliant white gloss that contrasted beautifully with the bare brick walls. The developers had done an exceptional job.

On the web, it had said there were four bedrooms. The main bedroom had a dressing room and a decent sized en suite.

He was relieved that the walls were bare. Whilst he didn’t accumulate things, he did like to be surrounded by his own taste. When he’d moved, Jonas had donated a lot of things to a charity auction.

Jonas inspected the other bedrooms. They were all a great size. He didn’t get many visitors so he decided to convert one into a media room. If it rained in Brockton as much as they said it did, Jonas would need a place to snuggle and watch movies.

Coming from Sweden, he had grown up with hard winters.

Once he’d done a final lap of his new abode, he made his way down the landing to Noah’s where he knocked on.

A beaming Noah opened the door.

“It’s great, isn’t it?”

Jonas nodded. “Quite the surprise. You wouldn’t think they were so high spec from outside. Let’s see yours.”

He walked in. The apartment was a carbon copy of his. He supposed the architect had had a large rectangle space to deal with. It made sense to replicate the design.

“When does your stuff arrive?” Jonas asked.

“I haven’t got loads,” Noah replied. “It’s coming Monday. You?”

“Same. Get the first match out of the way. Then we can make ourselves at home.”

They both stood by the window. Noah had the opposite view to Jonas as they were on different sides of the building.

“Look, there’s a shared garden,” Jonas said.

A large patch of grass and plants spread the length of the building. It had been hidden from view in the car park. That was promising. Jonas didn’t fancy sitting in the park on sunny days.

“What do we think?”

Tito strolled into the apartment.

“I love it,” Noah replied. “How about you?”

“Pretty good,” Tito said. “I reckon I’ll stick around for a bit.”

Jonas chuckled. “That’s good of you.”

Tito flopped down on the corner sofa dominating the living space. Jonas joined him.

“Shame we haven’t got any fizz,” Tito said.