I had just moved to a new city, a big, lonely metropolis. I hadn't started my new job yet; I was still moving in my things and hadn't made any friends other than having a nodding acquaintance with an older man in my apartment building. His name was Joe. He was a huge man, probably a weight lifter when younger, had grey hair, blue eyes, about 70 years old, and the only other thing I knew about him was that he lived on the first floor, while I was on the fifth.
Days later, after I was all settled in, and ready to take a bath, the hot water spigot on the tub wasn't working. Damn! I was so achy from moving boxes for what felt like months. It had worked the day before; why is it broken now? I called the building maintenance number the superintendent had left for me. A male voice answered and said he'd be right up. After about 5 minutes, there's a knock on the door. I open it to see the man from the first floor. Joe... the maintenance man.
He smiled and said "Hi. My name is Joe and I'm the maintenance man for this building. You have a problem with the hot water in the bathroom?"
"Yes. Come on in. You probably know the way." I follow him into the bathroom.
"It's taken me days to move in and I was psyched to have a soak in a nice hot bath. I'm so disappointed right now." I feel that I am just rambling on. Why would this old man make me nervous?
"Yes, I've seen you lugging boxes into the elevator. I can only imagine how tired you must be," he responds.
He gets right to work and turns this, listens to that, and pronounces that it needs a new gasket, which he has handy in his toolbox. Soon it is fixed and tests the spigot.
"Voila! You have hot water."
"Oh thank you so much! I'm glad it was something simple. Do I owe you anything?"
"No, the super pays me well enough. It's part of your rent."
I lead him to the door and turn to say 'bye. Our eyes catch each other and I see a glint in his eye as he gives me a slow, burning smile. For an older man he's awfully flirtatious. Be careful, girl, I tell myself.
"See you around," he says.
I say "Thanks again" and close the door.
Now that I'm all moved in, I start learning my way around the city. I find several good restaurants and take-out spots, as well as a dry cleaner. My new job started today and I'm excited and want to celebrate. I hear there's a liquor store on the back-side of my building so I go out the back door. Across and down the street is a brightly lit store. I go on in and pick up a bottle of my favorite wine and head back home. As I approach the building, I see Joe go into another door marked with letters spelling BOSS. Maybe that's where the super is, and give it no more thought. Back in my apartment, I slip into my comfy nightie, turn on some soft music and sip my wine while reading a steamy novel.
One fine Fall day, I'm out for a stroll around town. On the way home, I stop at a sidewalk barista for some hot cocoa and see Joe walking down the street towards our building. Feeling more comfortable in the city, and eager to make friends, I decide to talk to him. Because he's an old man, it's easy to catch up to him.
"Hi, Joe," I say. "How are you on this fine day?"
"Oh, hello miss. I'm just fine. Nice day for a walk isn't it."
"Yes. I love fall. Joe, you can call me Amy."
"Oh, I'm old fashioned. I'll call you Miss Amy, okay?"
"Sure, that's fine."
"You aren't married, a pretty woman like you?"
"I'm divorced over 10 years now. No kids. Thought I'd restart in a new city."
We are now at our building and enter the lobby.
"Well, welcome to our building. If you ever need anything fixed, just give old Joe a call."
"Thanks, Joe, I will. You take care."
"You too. See you later."
I head for the elevators and Joe heads to the back room. He's a sweet old man and I look forward to getting to know him.
Over months of living in the city, I find myself running into Joe around town. We've struck up a nice friendship. He's easy to talk to, and such a gentleman. If he wasn't so much older than me... sigh.
A few weeks later, on a Friday night, I'm coming back from the liquor store after purchasing wine for dinner. I'm having a few work friends over. I see Joe going into the BOSS door again. The super must keep him pretty busy. After my friends leave, I really felt like an aperitif but had run out. I could just make it to the liquor store before closing. I'm glad it's so close and handy. On my way back, I see people, all men, coming out of the BOSS door. They didn't look like maintenance men; they were in business clothes. I couldn't imagine why they were in the super's office. Well, none of my business. As one passes by me, I detect a familiar scent. I can't quite place it but I know I know it.
The next weekend, I'm bored and feeling lonely. I go to Joe's office but he's not there. He must be fixing something. I decide to take a walk and find myself at the back of the building. Curiosity has taken hold of me since the night I saw the men come out of that door. I hear footsteps coming so I hide myself behind a stack of pallets. I see five men arrive at the door and one of them punches a code in the lock. The door opens and they step in. I boldly scramble over and catch the door just before it closes and slip inside. At first it's dark so I let my eyes adjust before exploring. I hear the men's voices quietly talking with an occasional laugh. I slowly descend the few steps there. Again, I smell that familiar odor that I just can't place. I hear them settling into chairs and a gavel bangs on a table.