5 minutes after I leave the restaurant with Kendrick and make my way through more close and compact trash and graffitied covered alleyways in the drizzling rain, another opening appears with a motel- hotel cross appears before us, going towards the stairway.
"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 respond as I walk up the stairs with him, walking 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 36 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 glass window covered by blinds in the back where a table and 2 chairs are. The steadily increasing rain still continuing to hit the small balcony outside the window. 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 with a wine bottle on 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.
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 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 and a shower ingrained into the wall similarly to the closet and bookshelves in the previous room with a small indent inside the shower to hold the few products I own such as a razor, soap, Shampoo, conditioner and face wash.
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 because I doubt you'll wanna go back to whatever penthouse you live in, in Kabuki or Japantown or wherever else in this weather with no car." I respond with a nod, 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 is 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 remaining sat on 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'. You not worried I'll kill you in your sleep considering you hate me?" He swallows his beer before remarking with a snicker and an amused smirk, crossing his arms.
"Trust me. You couldn't kill me if you tried. 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.
"There are 2 types of Corps. A corpo. And a Corpo." 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 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, I eventually grab my pistol and go to the bathroom and look myself in the mirror before taking a shower.
What stands in the reflection is a curvy and cute 22 year old woman with tired and bored pink eyes with long, wavy, straight light-brown hair down my shoulders and behind my back, holding a pistol in hand and small freckles dusted over my slightly pert nose and soft lips. As Kendrick said, an extremely attractive woman.
Before going to my bedroom I dry myself off and do some other miscellaneous activities like brushing my teeth and skincare before heading to bed in preparation for the next day whilst Kendrick sleeps on the couch in my living room.