Away

30. Farewell

Brett and Eddy only woke up at 10am. Eddy was awake first. He didn't want to wake Brett, so he just lay there for a while staring at Brett's peaceful face. Eventually Brett stirred a bit, groaned a bit, and then slowly opened his eyes. "Morning, Bretty", Eddy said with a smile. "Oh no, cheesy so early in the morning", Brett groaned. With a mischievous smile he gave Eddy a peck on the nose and got up to use the bathroom.

When he returned, he got right back under the covers and closed his eyes. "Oh no you don't", Eddy said. "We have stuff to do". "Just 5 minutes please", Brett pleaded. "By the time I come back from the bathroom, you better be up and dressed", Eddy says in his best Asian Mom voice. "Mmmffffmmm", Brett mumbles as he covers his head under the pillow.

Eddy freshened up, put on a decent T-shirt and then goes to find some coffee, giving Brett a few more minutes to wake up. He finds Sue in the kitchen, glaring at the oven. "That looks serious", Eddy jokes. "Mmm? Oh, no. I'm making muffins and the last 3 minutes seem to last 3 hours. I know as soon as I go sit down, the timer will go ping. But now that I'm standing here, it's not moving. Let me boil some water for coffee", she says as she picks up the kettle and walks over to the sink to fill it. Just then the timer runs out with a loud "ping". "See, just as I said", Sue laughs. "Here let me", Eddy says as he takes the kettle from her so she can tend to the muffins.

The muffins smell amazing. Eddy switches on the kettle, and prepares mugs for 4 people. He only adds coffee powder, as he had no idea how Sue or Johan preferred their coffee. Sue turns the muffins out on a rack to cool down, and comes to help with the coffee. Just then, Johan comes in through the kitchen door, watering can in hand. "I swear it's so hot out there, I might have to water the flowers three times today", he says as he wipes his feet and then closes the door behind him. "Ah, Eddy, good morning. And Brett, morning to you", he says as Brett appears in the doorway.

"Dude, have a seat at the kitchen table. I made coffee", Eddy says. Johan takes a seat as well, as Eddy brings over the coffee mugs. Sue puts the muffins in a small basket and brings that, butter, jam and some small plates and knives.

"How did it go with the apartment?" Johan asks. Eddy gives him the highlights of their efforts. Brett groans. "I swear, if we have to go shopping again, I'm gonna scream. Every time we enter the apartment, we notice something else we didn't buy yet", Brett adds. "Dude, I already have a list again", Eddy laughs. "We need laundry liquid, surface spray, dishwashing liquid, some basic groceries like coffee, sugar and milk. We need water and some juices or soft drinks ...". "OK, enough", Brett says as he covers his ears. "I'm doomed to spend the rest of my life in a supermarket".

"Why don't you do what I do?" Sue said. She fetches her phone and shows Brett an app he can install. "It searches for places in the vicinity that does delivery. You can then pick what you need, pay, and wait for the delivery". "Sue, you are a lifesaver", Eddy says. "Otherwise I would've listened to complaints the rest of the day". "Hey", Brett says as elbows him in the ribs. "The abuse I suffer", Eddy complains. They all laugh as they start preparing some muffins. Eddy is sad that they have to leave today. Sue and Johan are some of the nicest people he ever met.

"In a few months, when we have more furniture than just a couch and 2 plates, we will invite you over for dinner", Brett says, slightly embarrassed.

"You have more than we had when we got married", Johan says. "I was still studying, and Sue did house cleaning part time. This house belonged to my parents back then. Sue and I lived in the room you are staying in for the first two years of our marriage, as we couldn't afford to get our own place yet. It was miserable. And when we finally moved out, we could only afford a small 1 bedroom apartment."

Sue laughed and said "We shared it with a small population of cockroaches as well." "Eww", Eddy says, pulling a face. He hates cockroaches more than anything else on earth. "Bretty, what if we have cockroaches in the apartment? We didn't check for that" he says with big eyes. "Dude", Brett laughed. "You should see your face right now. There's no pests. Trust me". "Well, if you do, Bretty here can kill them for you", Johan chuckles. Eddy can feel the red of embarrassment creeping from his neck up his cheeks and to his ears. He didn't realize he used "Bretty".

"I'm just teasing", Johan says. It's sweet you call him Bretty. Isn't it, Buttons?", he says, smiling at Sue. "If I may ask, why buttons?" Brett asks, eager to change the subject. "After we got married, as I said, Sue was working as a cleaner. Every now and then she would find loose items people wanted to throw away, like buttons, socks with no mate, and so on. She kept all of it, but the buttons remained over the years. She still has a tin full of them somewhere. Somehow, the nickname also stuck around".

"We have to get packing", Eddy says. "There's still lots to do. At least we are saved from another shopping trip". "I have a favor to ask please", Brett says. "We will pack up everything, but can we leave our stuff here for a while though? I have to go and see my parents. Might as well do it before we go over to the other side of the city". Sue nodded with a smile.

"Eddy", Brett says as they reach their bedroom. "Will you come with me please? I'm scared". Eddy wraps his arms around Brett from behind. "Of course I will".