Adrian knew something was wrong as he gathered up his laundry basket, detergent and softener for the trip down to the laundry room of his building. Flip flops slapping his feet gently as he walked, bare chested in thin sweatpants down the stairs to the basement. The nagging feeling was still there as he set his loads of clothes spinning and sat down, opening his phone to read the news. Having the sudden urge for something to drink, he went back towards the stairs when it hit him. The familiar weight of his keys in the right hip pocket of the sweats was absent, and his stomach took a dive at the vision he had in his brain of his keys sitting on the entry table where he left them each night. The front doors in his building locked automatically when the door shut.
"Goddamn!" He cursed bitterly. His Saturday was shot. He had planned to do the laundry and tidy up, and then hit the town with a few friends later that evening for dinner and drinks. It was the last holiday weekend of the summer, and he had it planned out. Going out tonight, then home relaxed tomorrow, and all day Monday. Now, the landlord and the locksmith would probably take all day. Dejected, he headed back down to the laundry room, and began to make phone calls, first to DJ, his best friend and running pal, who also held the spare key to his apartment.
"Yo, D.."
"Hey man..." DJ's voice was thick with sleep, but Adrian could hear noises around him. "I'm just waking up, but me and Lark are headed to the state park for the day. What's up?"
"Yo, man, I'm locked out of my place. Can you bring me my key?"
"Can you wait til we get back? We have to be back by 5 to meet her parents for dinner."
"Can't you run them here right now?"
"Can you come here and get them?"
"Motherfucker, I barely have clothes on! My wallet and everything is still in my apartment!"
"I'm sorry man. That's like 15 minutes each way, and we're meeting folks at the park. I got you at 5, but I can't do it before then."
"Come on man, how you gonna do me like this? I need your help!" Adrian pleaded.
DJ sighed and said "Man, I didn't want to tell you like this, but Lark and I have been having some issues, and if I left right now...you know how it is. I know you're in deep right now, but so am I, dig?"
So, Adrian thought, wait in the laundry room for six hours or pay a locksmith and the landlord money that I won't have until payday. Fuck me.
"Hit me when you're on your way here." Adrian said, resignedly.
"Bet." DJ said, and hung up.
Adrian looked to see how much laundry he had left, when the door creaked open and a young woman about his age pushed through carrying a huge laundry basket and an equally large container of detergent. She, like Adrian, was dressed for laundry, heather grey leggings under a very thin white spaghetti strapped tank, black foam wedge flip-flops on her feet. Adrian could see her prominent nipples through the thin material of the blouse, as she wore no bra. The leggings emphasized her ass and the curve of her hip. She was a thick girl, given a slight pear shape by her large hips and breasts that were large, but smaller than her hips. Dark brown hair pulled into a ponytail, smiling brown eyes that looked his way through high-fashion eyeglass frames.
"Hello." She said, smiling. "My name's Taylor. I just moved in after the Fourth of July. I've seen you around the building. I live on the second floor." She dropped her stuff with a thud, opened a washer, and began to load it. Pausing, she stuck out a hand.
"Adrian Williams" Adrian said "I just locked myself out of my place."
Taylor's full lips twisted in a grimace. "Ooh shit. That sucks. Did you call the agency office?"
"Nah...my guy has my spare key, but he's going to the State Park, and won't be back til five. I have plans tonight, and that gives me time to make them, but I can't do anything else that I wanted today."
Taylor finished loading her second machine, put quarters in, and started both machines. "Well, you're welcome to hang at my place until your buddy gets here."
"Well..." Adrian didn't really know this woman. A black man in the city had to be aware of his surroundings. Being alone in an apartment with a white woman opened the door to all kinds of possibilities, not all of them good.
"Or not," she said, bending back to organizing her laundry supplies.
Adrian made up his mind. "Sure. I was just..."
"Trying to decide if I was crazy or not?" She smiled again.
"Well, yeah." Adrian felt stupid now, and lowered his eyes. He was all too aware that he had no shirt on, and no underwear. Only the thin cotton of the pants stood between him and the rest of the world.
"Chill out. Don't worry. What kind of world is this if we can't be neighborly?" She led them out of the laundry room, and up the stairs to the second floor, and stopped in front of 208. She opened the door to reveal a well furnished apartment that looked lived in, a stack of magazines on the table, her purse hanging on the back of a chair. Pictures of her with family members were placed here and there around the apartment. The room was dominated by a large flat screen television on a stand. "You want something cool to drink? Have a seat."
"Yes please." Adrian sat on the worn leather couch.
"I got Soda, beer, wine, iced tea, and lemonade."