(Story is on hold, check Author's Notes for explanation)
“Finally home.” Is all Wes can think as he closes and locks the front door behind him. He walks up the stairs to the 2nd floor and, upon reaching the top, notices his best friend, Andre, asleep on the couch in a dress shirt and khakis. Wes notes Andre got his hair cut into a buzzed top and medium fade on the sides. Wes is now sporting a mischievous smile and chuckles to himself “This motherfucker… he looks like Blade without the widow’s peak. I can’t wait to tease the shit out of him about it.”
The news is on the TV which Wes turns off with the remote he picked up amongst the several empty beer bottles scattered over the end table next to the couch and its sleeping resident. Wes has a concerned look on his face as Andre’s drinking seems to have increased as of late. He ponders waking him up, but instead thinks “I’ll bring that up at a later time, sleep tight buddy.” Wes walks up the next set of stairs to the 3rd floor and opens the door to his bedroom which is directly across from the stairwell. He heads over to his nightstand and places his phone down along with some cash.
Wes removes his business casual work clothes and yawns as he sits down on the bed next to his girlfriend, Katrina, who is reading a book while sitting up against the headboard. He studies Katrina’s curvy body draped in an off-white colored nightgown. He feels proud for her when noticing the recent exercising is doing wonders for her weight loss as she has exceeded every weekly fitness goal since they started going to the gym together. This thought reminds him to ask “Kat, did you ever find your water bottle?” She shakes her head no, which swings her dirty blonde shoulder length hair side to side. Wes replies, “We’ll stop by the store on our way to the gym in the morning. I’m sure they’ll have the same one you had before.” With that settled, Wes leans in to give Katrina a quick peck on the lips, her lips move to meet his, but she keeps her head and eyes facing the book she is still intently reading.
Stepping over into the bathroom, he starts brushing his teeth at the sink. Examining his reflection in the mirror, he notes a single gray hair poking out the side of his temple. Otherwise he appears to be what you would expect a man in decent shape who just turned 30 to look like. He has a thin layer of stubble on his face and shaves errant hairs every morning to keep it well groomed. His light brown hair is short enough to not require combing. Since changing to a more sedentary job, he works at home or at the office. As a result, his skin coloring is slightly paler than it otherwise would normally be.
He reaches over to the nightstand and picks up the cash, to double count it. Satisfied, he places it back under his face down phone and then plugs it in to charge. Ordinarily he would give Andre the rent payment before the end of the day its due, but he didn’t want to wake him from his couch nap downstairs just for that. “Okay I doubled counted the money for the rent tomorrow and I’m beat so I’m going to sleep early. Good night Kat.” Wes sleepily states as he lays down for the night and clicks off the lamp on his nightstand. Katrina only gives a low ‘mmm huh’ in response, her gray-colored eyes still scanning over the words on the current page. He slips the glasses off his face, folds the earpieces, and sets them next to his phone. Wearing only briefs now, he encases himself under the covers and succumbs to sleep shortly thereafter.