Gravity (Greenford #2) - Romeo Alexander Page 0,41

or pushed onto him. It was as if his mind was so stuffed with thoughts and ideas that his mouth had to open in order to release the internal pressure before he burst.

And rather than focus too hard on the workings of his brain and risk getting lost in another thought forest, he knocked on the door. When there was a delay between his knock and any sounds from inside, Samuel checked his phone. Whenever he visited someone for the first time, he was meticulous about making sure he had the address exactly right. That did not, however, stop him from growing a little paranoid whenever he did finally show up to visit the person.

As he scanned the lines of messages between him and Caleb he heard a soft thump from inside. It was followed by a muttered word that Samuel bet was a curse, but he recognized the voice, even muffled through the apartment door. Sure enough, it was Caleb who answered the door in a pair of long pants and a loose-fitting muscle shirt, along with a drying layer of sweat.

“I’m a little early,” Samuel said, looking over Caleb’s sweaty skin.

Caleb waved him off. “Don’t worry about it. This place doesn’t have much, which includes no built-in gym. I was running around the block a few times. Come on in, it’s a mess.”

“He says to the man infamous for being a disaster,” Samuel muttered as he stepped in.

He wasn’t surprised to find that it wasn’t a very big apartment. Samuel was pretty sure the living room was smaller than his guest bedroom and definitely smaller than his own. Then again, he’d suspected a great deal just from the address alone. Everything from west of Fleet Street was well known by the residents of Greenford for being a low-income area, and Caleb’s apartment building sat right in the middle of it.

There were more boxes than there was walking space, which wasn’t helped by the furniture littered about the apartment. It was obvious Caleb was living well beneath the means he was used to. The walls were clean, though he thought they could use a new coat of paint. The same could be said of the beige carpet that was in need of replacement. The curtains, he suspected they’d come with the apartment, were a little ragged and the colors were washed out.

The apartment was a little rundown but clean. When compared to Caleb’s furniture and the few pieces of decoration he’d pulled out, though, the place looked downright ragged. Clean, unmarred black leather for the furniture, while the coffee table and the couple of shelves were made of thick dark wood and heavy plate glass. Even the pictures on the wall were framed in what looked like genuine, sturdy wood and contained strange images and swirls of color. The furniture would have looked more at home in a sleek penthouse than it did in the cramped, slightly dim confines of the apartment.

Caleb caught him looking around and winced. “I know it’s...not that great.”

“There’s nothing wrong with it,” Samuel told him quickly, meaning it.

Caleb sat on the arm of the plush leather armchair shoved into one corner, shaking his head. “That’s what I keep telling myself too. There’s nothing wrong with living somewhere like this. Hell, I’ve been poor enough for a good chunk of my life that this sort of apartment would have been paradise for me. Now I’m here and it’s just…”

Samuel sighed, taking a seat on the couch across from him. “Hey, there’s no shame in being upset about where you ended up. You’ve had your whole world turned upside down and now you’re trying to deal with it the best you can. Being upset is pretty natural.”

“Self-pity doesn’t help anyone,” Caleb muttered, looking forlornly around the room.

Samuel snorted. “That’s a crock of shit.”

Caleb looked up, raising a brow. “Really? How many times did I hear you tell yourself it was time to stop feeling sorry for yourself?”

Samuel shrugged. “Because I’d been feeling sorry for myself long enough, and that’s the key. You’re allowed to feel bad for yourself when life serves you some bullshit. But you shouldn’t let that be all you do. So yeah, be frustrated, be upset, be bitter, just don’t stay those things. Nothing wrong with a little pity party, just so long as you pick yourself up when you’re done.”

“I can’t tell if that’s great advice or terrible advice,” Caleb said, the corner of his mouth twitching.

“Well, since it came from me,