Chapter Text
Waking up, working, eating and sleeping, repeating this from Monday to Friday, for who knows how many years, this was his routine. He still had nightmares about the explosion, the suffocating darkness, the deathly silence that followed, but now things were different. He didn't need anyone, Norton lived his life alone in the big city he called home.
He was born far away, in a small mining town, to a very poor family. With great difficulty, he finished high school, his mother's dream of him being an educated boy, but when she died a few months before he finished school, he found himself forced by his father to go down to the mines. He worked there for a year and a half, until the accident happened. Rumors spread that it had been caused by the owners themselves, a way to try to get a millionarie insurance, but no one expected that Norton would come out alive, the only survivor. In less than three years, he buried his father and mother, and with no prospects in life, with eternal scars, he headed to the city in search of a better life.
At first it was hard, living in cheap motels and with terrible jobs, but then he discovered construction, and because he was young and strong, he was perfect for the job. It was hard and dangerous work, but less hard and dangerous than the mines. He had been working for almost a decade for the construction companies that built buildings and more buildings in the city, and for the last four years, he had been living in an old apartment in an equally old neighborhood of the city. The place wasn't necessarily bad, there was some violence, but the rent was cheap because it was a neighborhood far from the vibrant city center, where poor workers had to face hours of public transportation to get to their destinations. Norton didn't care, it was still better than anything the small town could offer.
The building had six floors, with twelve apartments in total. He lived on the top floor. All the apartments had two bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen and a bathroom. They weren't very big, but they were comfortable enough. Norton's apartment didn't have much furniture. He lived alone and didn't receive visitors. The little furniture he had was enough. The second bedroom didn't even have any furniture in it. The first year he lived there, he had a next-door neighbor, a man named Burke, who died of a heart attack, leaving his apartment locked up with everything inside. The family only came to pick up a few belongings they thought were valuable. Since then, the place had remained sealed and ready to be rented. Despite this, no one seemed interested in moving to that neighborhood, especially when apartment buildings were being built at full speed in more favorable areas. The rent would probably be very expensive, but people want convenience. Norton didn't judge them. For all this time, he was the only resident of that floor, occasionally interacting with the residents of the lower floors, but generally minding his own business without interfering in anyone else's lives, he didn't need others interfering in his existence. However, all that changed on a random Thursday.
The day was gray and cold, Norton was coming back from work, the sun was already sinking into the horizon, a cold wind cut his face. Next to the building, there was an old Italian cantina, run by an old drunk named Antonio, also a resident of the building, Norton sometimes bought his dinner there, and since it was a cold day and all he wanted was to lie down on the covers and sleep, he decided to take whatever Antonio had ready. Antonio was a talkative and curious old man, at some point in the past he had been a violinist, but alcoholism destroyed his career, and since then he had been running the cantina alone by some miracle. Norton took a box of spaghetti for his dinner, while he paid, Antonio talked about his new neighbor.
-New neighbor?
-Yes signore! Finally someone rented old Lapadura's apartment!
Norton nodded, not paying much attention to what Antonio said after that, he paid for the food and left. The old building had an elevator that worked every other week, but this week it wasn't working, so there were indeed some pieces of furniture in the entrance hall, belonging to the new tenant. There weren't many, an armchair, two bookcases, a coffee table and a trunk, Burke's apartment still had several pieces of furniture that had been left behind, whoever had rented that apartment was very lucky.
Norton went up the stairs, on the second floor he heard the laughter of the only child who lived there, little Memory, a strange name for an equally strange child, daughter of an even stranger father. He didn't like children very much, so obviously the little girl adored him, always running to hug him when she saw him, he quickened his pace. As soon as he reached his floor, the apartment across from his now had a doormat at the entrance with "WELCOME!" written in huge letters, the sound of muffled music coming from inside the unit, but none of that was Norton's problem.
He entered his apartment, dark and cold. Feeling along the wall, Norton turned on the lights and then turned on the old heater that smelled like burnt hair; the old building had no central heating. He then sat down at the table to eat his dinner, which was already lukewarm. A brief thought of what his new neighbor would be like crossed his mind and he went on with his night, eating, watching a little TV and finally getting into his old bed and going to sleep, getting ready again for another day of work.
Life went on as usual; the new tenant's furniture remained there until Sunday morning, when it was finally taken to the apartment. During the weekend Norton had no contact with his new neighbor, but in any case he did not bother to go after him. It was only on Monday afternoon that their paths would cross. That Monday he was released from work a little early; the construction had finally been finished and the next day he would be on another project, so everyone went home early. He took the opportunity to stop at the market to buy supplies that were missing: coffee, milk, eggs, nothing too fancy, just what he needed to survive. He arrived at the old building around four o'clock. Memory was playing in the entrance hall, running to hug Norton, who couldn't dodge him because he was carrying some bags. Luckily for him, the elevator was working that week, and as soon as he got rid of the child, he got in the elevator and headed to his floor. As soon as the doors opened, a delicious smell filled the room, coming from his neighbor's apartment. His stomach growled loudly. He went to his door, putting the bags on the floor to unlock it. That's when he heard the door behind him open, and the delicious smell seemed to get even stronger.
-Good afternoon!
A gentle male voice reached his ears, he turned around, and standing there at the door of Burke's old apartment was a young man in his early twenties, with blond hair with faded streaks of what had once been red, now turning a dirty pink, and eyes that didn't match.
-Good afternoon.
-Nice to meet you! My name is Mike! I'm your new neighbor! I haven't had the chance to meet you yet, the other neighbors said you're quite reserved.
-You could say that.
Norton unlocked the door and opened it, picking up his groceries and entering his house, not paying attention to what the blond man was saying. He closed the door behind him, not thinking much about it all, just going on with his life. He put the groceries on the kitchen table and heard a knock on his door, to no one's surprise Mike was there, but what Norton didn't expect was that he had a freshly baked loaf of bread in his hands.
-Here, I made one for each apartment in the building, I hope you like it!
Norton took the bread and said a soft “thank you” before watching Mike return to his own apartment. The delicious smell was of fresh bread, and the bread looked delicious. Kindness was not something he was used to, but he did not refuse food, especially from someone who had dedicated himself to making a loaf of bread for each apartment in the building. He took a small piece to taste, it was a soft, homemade and delicious bread, something Norton had not eaten in a long time. He then cut a piece of bread and went to his refrigerator, looking for some leftover strawberry jam, the combination made that simple slice of bread even more delicious, taking him back to his childhood, when despite his busy life, he was still genuinely happy.
None of it made sense, how could a piece of bread made by a complete stranger awaken so many feelings in him?! Norton returned to the reality of his cold, lonely apartment, saving the rest in a jar to eat later, turning to the groceries he needed to put away.
The rest of the day passed like any other, but the next morning, as soon as he unlocked the door to leave for work, there was Mike, also getting ready to go to work. He smiled at Norton, a tender smile, Norton nodded back, the sun was still rising in the sky.
-It seems we have the same schedule.
-Yes.
The two took the elevator together, taking advantage of the fact that it was still working.
-What do you do for a living?
-Construction.
-Cool, I'm starting a new job at a fancy bakery in a neighborhood not too far from here, I really like cooking.
Mike talked a lot, Norton listened little. The two got to the ground floor and he didn't absorb even half of what Mike had told him, none of it was any of his business anyway.
-See you later!
Mike said goodbye, giving Norton a huge smile before heading in the opposite direction, to catch his bus. He nodded shyly, a strange feeling was forming in his spine, no one was ever that nice to him, Norton wasn't used to kindness.
He headed towards his bus stop, trying not to think about it all too much, maybe Mike was just like that, and he had a long day ahead of him anyway.