In Denial | Alex Turner

XLVIII

I'd been texted the address of his new house by him earlier that day, while I was still taking my breakfast. When the clock pointed around eleven, I started getting ready, as the hotel I was staying wasn't quite close to his house anyway. Swinging my leather jacket over my shoulders, I grabbed my keys and phone, taking off for the taxi that was waiting for me underneath the hotel.

My finger pressed on the bell and soon the tall door opened after a key was heard turning in the keyhole, revealing the familiar figure behind, with a happy and excited smile plastered across his face.

"Was startin' to worry you wouldn't actually come," he opened the door more, getting out of the way so I'd walk inside. I smiled slightly at his comment as I was too focused on taking into my surroundings. 

"I'm here, though," I huffed a laugh as I slid my arms out of my leather jacket, handing it to him so he could hang it.

"Let me show yer around, c'mon," he urged, starting to walk in front of me this time. "We'll start from upstairs, so we end up at the balcony or summat," he explained, and I nodded, happy he was just as excited as I felt.

He guided me up the stairs that were located in the back of the living room, telling me when and why he bought the house there, also justifying it by saying Miles lived close. 

As he walked up in normal pace in front of me, I had the chance to admire his back muscles and how well his plain black t-shirt hugged his figure tightly, but by the time I realised I'd been staring for long enough, we'd already reached the top of the staircase.

We were faced by a long, long corridor. Doors were spread across the corridor walls, him opening every one and showing me inside, explaining what each room and door was for. I was genuinely curious to see how he lived, and how his house was structured, otherwise I wouldn't be the bit interested.

Guest bedroom with its own bathroom, practice room with all his guitars and such, a kind of office, another guest bedroom with another bathroom, and then, after the right turn at the end of the hall, his bedroom, along with its own bathroom, of course. He guided me downstairs again, as he didn't want to make it too awkward by being the only one who spoke, showing me the living room and then the kitchen, and lastly the yard, which looked a bit like Matt's, except his was way bigger.

As expected, a big swimming pool stood right in the middle, with a kind of bar alongside the wall beside us and a sign that wrote 'High Green' with bold lettering. A couple of sunbeds by the pool and such, everything looking rather expensive.

"It's actually bigger than I'd imagined," I said, still admiring the house when we moved to the kitchen to make a couple of coffees. "And it has a strong hint of you, y'know," I added, which made his head turn around and take a brief look at me with a smile before turning back to his espresso machine.

"I almost imagined you'd say that," he confessed as a smile appeared on my lips. I pressed my back against the counter just a few steps away from where he was making the coffees. 

"Yeah, I guess I'm predictable," I chuckled at myself, hearing the machine's small beep. "So, Miles lives close then?" I decided to question, not wanting the air between us get awkward.

"Yes," he replied simply as he was too focused not to spill any coffee as he quickly exchanged the two espresso cups underneath the machine. "He was the one who insisted I bought one 'ere, honestly," he added, the machine now stopping before the two espresso cups were placed beside it. "It was convinient, too, since we were recordin' around LA."

"Yeah, I get that," I nodded before taking a last look out at the backyard from the small window of the kitchen. "It looks really nice, though," I turned my head to look at him stretching out his hand for my coffee. "I bet it was great in summer too," I smirked.

He just nodded before taking a sip of his coffee, now leaning back on the same counter too, us side by side. "You know me, I love the sun, love," he turned his head, smiling at me, and I nodded.

"Yeah, January gives you the blues," I recalled. "Last winter was really hard," I admitted, and he nodded.

"It was hard, yeah," he nodded with a sigh. "It wasn't as harsh 'ere in LA, but when I was off to London, it definitely was worse," he added, looking away as he sipped some more coffee. "How was New York without us?" he decided to ask right after. 

"Boring," I confessed shamelessly. "I had no one to drag me outside at ten every night," I snickered, making him smile widely. "The only good thing that probably happened was me reuniting with my cousin," I shrugged.

"Ah, right," he nodded, shifting his body a bit more to his right so he was facing me clearer. "How'd that happen?" he asked, genuinely curious from what it seemed.

"She just reached out to me, found my number somewhere and told me she was in New York, searching for a house to live in while she finished her studies, so I offered her my apartment," I replied. "It was too empty just for me anyway, I could use some company," I shrugged, and he nodded understandingly.

"That's good, though, that you saw 'er again," he pointed out, which made me nod.

"Definitely got me through the year, sort of," I added with a small smile as a gap of silence followed, allowing us to take in the prescence of each other, trying to realise whether we were hallucinating or not. "What about you? How was your year?"

"Fast," he replied one-wordedly. Now it was my turn to shift my body so as to look at him better. "It all ran by, honestly," he shrugged. "Writin', recordin', filmin', bein' dragged outside by the others, all sorts of stuff," he added with a small smile. "But as I told yer yesterday, dull," he shrugged, looking away.

"Yeah..." I muttered. "Mine too," I added lowly, earning his gaze once more. The conversation seemed to come to a halt as things were left unspoken, lingering around the air between us.

"Anyway, let's go talk out on the yard, shall we?"