5 minutes after I leave the restaurant with Kendrick, We make our way through more compact trash and graffiti covered alleyways in the drizzling rain when another opening appears; with a motel reminicent of a hotel appears before us, with a side stairway leading up to 3 floors of rooms.
"This is… pleasant." Kendrick comments as he walks closely beside me, receiving a couple side eyes from people whilst he kicks some trash off his foot.
"You don't need to lie to me you know." I point out bluntly and knowingly as I walk up the stairs with him and down the catwalk.
"I- I know. Just didn't wanna be rude." He nods gently, his hands in his pockets at the temperature drops a little and the rain begins to pick up; luckily under cover from the above 2nd floor catwalk.
We go up 2 more floors before arriving at the 3rd and final floor, walking to room 26 where I take out my keycard and swipe it which allows me access inside my apartment.
"Nice place." He says with surprise, looking around my apartment with interest.
"Thanks. It's not much but it's about as much as you can get in a shithole like this. Make yourself at home." I comment as I chuck my Lexington Pistol on the cabinet in the hallway and taking off my hoodie; chucking it to the couch.
The apartment itself is pretty nice despite where it's located and it's less than optimal size. It's nice and tidy with a soft purple hue and a window with metal shutters in the back, left of the living room on a sligjtly lower elevation. The steadily increasing rain still continues outside and hits the small balcony outside my window where a garden table and 2 chairs resf with a singluar palm tree.
There're only 2 branching rooms, those being a small bedroom and an even smaller bathroom, with the primary room being a living room with a kitchen connected. It's definitely compact but it's surprisingly cozy.
The living room has a purple hexagon patterned carpet in which covers the floor, leading to a smaller sunken area where the white L shaped couch rests against 3 walls and a petite coffee table sits in the middle; a wine bottle rested on it and a couple small plants surrounding it. The wall, a makeshift bookshelf, has a small indented TV in and a couple smaller trinkets and candles outside of the obvious random books.
My bedroom has a double bed in the back centre with a grey carpet surrounding, a closet built into the wall with my few selection of clothes and 2 white nightstands either side where a small potted plant and a book lay opposite each other.
The bathroom, the size of a small storage closet maybe, has a standard toilet inside where a small cabinet surrounds the basin of the sink and includes my period products, adjacent to my shower which is also ingrained into the wall similarly to the closet in the previous room. Another small indent inside the shower holds the other few products I own such as a razor, soap, Shampoo, conditioner and my skincare products
It isn't much, but it's home.
"You sure?" Kendrick asks as he sits on the couch, seemingly confused as to why I was allowing him inside my apartment
"Yeah. You'll need somewhere to stay for tonight because I doubt you'll wanna go back to whatever penthouse you live in in this weather" I explain whilsy walking to the fridge and grabbing a can of beer, chucking it to Kendrick before taking out my own bottle of Wine.
"Well… thanks. I appreciate the accommodation. Your place is actually really nice. It smells nice and it's tidy. I was expecting much different since you live in such a shitty area." He smiles softly, catching the beer before cracking it open and walking over to the comfy couch.
"You're welcome. And thank you. It wasn't easy making a place like this believe me.." I mutter quietly as I open my bottle of wine, taking a sip before settling it on the coffee table.
"…It's nothin'… Hey, you're not worried I'll kill you in your sleep or anything right? You know, considering you hate me?" He asks after he swallows, clearly still apprehnsive about the whole accomadation issue.
I laugh loudly as he asks that question, smirking and shaking my head.
"No, noabsolutely not. Trust me, if you wantsd to do something, you'd be dead in the next 5 seconds. And I don't hate you." I roll my eyes and shake my head with my reciprocated smirk.
"Yeah? Well you were so ready to insult my workplace and my "luxurious" lifestyle so it's not hard to gain that inference." He replies, slouching back a little.
"Fair enough. Let me tell you something. There are 2 types of Corps. A Corpo. And a Corpo rat." I state confidently, looking to him neutrally.
"What's the difference then?" He questions curiously as I sit up.
"A Corpo is a person who works in a Company or corporatation such as Arasaka, Militech or Biotechnica. A Corpo rat is an arrogant, selfish, greedy corporate bastard that exploits the lower class through dirty dealings, which end up leaving them dead or craters in the ground; sometimes including their own people on their own grounds. A person who thinks everyone is expendable and a potential profit to be made. THAT'S what I hate. And from what I can see you're not one of them." I explain to him, differentiating the 2 types of Corpos before sighing, sipping my wine and looking to him again.
"I may be a Merc but I have standards, a moral code. One of which is that I don't hurt people I don't actively NEED to because A, there's no point and B, it's just sociopathic. Corpos view people as animals, consumers; a buyer to exploit. It's stupid." I add on, finishing my rant, resulting in the room temporarily falling silent.
After a minute maybe, he quietly and calmly speaks up again
"That… makes more sense. I already knew people hated Corps because of it but…" he comments, looking down in contemplation; as if he had learnt something.
"Many people are biased to all corps because they're all pretty much the same. It's why you'll find most of your kind, who unfortunately find themselves stumbling to this area, at the bottom of the river with cement shoes. I'm just.. smart enough to know the difference." I nod in agreement with him, remaining neutral with hum despite our growing closeness.
"Well I'm glad I met someone who does know the difference." He smiles softly, trying to be more friendly, polite and respectful as I remain distant.
With enough small talk later with my new accomplice, I eventually grab my pistol from the Cabinet near my door, and go to the bathroom to prep for bed and look myself in the mirror before taking a shower, leaving the gun on the closed toilet seat.
What stands in the reflection is an attractive 22 year old woman with an inverted triangle body figure, well kept by my bi-daily cardio routine, and tired, bored pink eyes with long, wavy, straight light-brown hair that flows down to me collarbone and base of my neck behind my back. I have small freckles dusted over my nose and soft, pink tinted but slightly chapped lips. As Kendrick said, an extremely attractive woman.
I take my shower and dry myself off before entering my bedroom again to read for a little and completeing my nighttime routine such as brushing my teeth and completeing my skincare before heading to bed nude in preparation for the next day whilst Kendrick sleeps on the couch in my living room.