Chapter Three | The Apartment on Riverside Drive
The building looked ordinary enough — a six‑story pre‑war walk‑up with a buzzer that stuck when you pressed it. When the door finally clicked open, I climbed the stairs to the third floor, each step echoing like the building was listening.
Leon opened the door with a smile.
Young.
Well‑spoken.
Put‑together.
The kind of person you don’t instinctively guard yourself against.
The apartment behind him was bigger than I expected.
High ceilings.
Mahogany floors.
Architectural details that hinted at a better past.
It had dignity — worn, but still standing tall.
The kitchen was narrow, lined with open cabinets that had no doors.
Pre‑war design, Leon said.
Everything meant to be on display.
Sunlight blasted through the window, so bright it felt like the room was trying to blind me before I noticed anything else.
The floors creaked under my feet — long, slow groans that sounded like warnings.
There were almost no furnishings.
A table with two chairs.
A couch.
A coffee table.
No electronics.
No decorations.
Nothing that made the place feel lived in.
But it was within my budget.
And I needed a place.
So I kept walking.
Leon showed me the room he was renting.
Huge by today’s standards.
Parlor‑style doors with little square windows — no curtains, no locks, no closets.
The view looked out onto an alley where sunlight barely survived.
The bathroom was worse.
No lock.
Fixtures from another era.
A showerhead stuck in the middle of the wall like an afterthought.
It reminded me of Fatal Attraction, only older, more worn, and somehow more unsettling.
Let’s recap:
No electronics.
No locks.
No cabinet doors.
No shower curtain.
A faucet pretending to be a showerhead.
And yet… I said yes.
Leon seemed normal.
Friendly.
Easygoing.
The kind of guy you could imagine sharing an apartment with.
We agreed on everything.
I signed the rental agreement.
Paid the first month’s rent.
Took the key.
Set my move‑in date.
I walked out believing I had just stepped into adulthood with both feet.
I didn’t know it yet, but this apartment would become the stage for one of the most unforgettable chapters of my life.
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