Arriving home from the store, I walk to the back of my black four seat-er and pop the trunk. Removing all bags, I begin to make my way towards the door. As I approach, I hear loud noises reminiscent of things falling and hastily moving feet through the door. It swings open and she stands looking at me before swinging open the door and standing aside.
"Thanks." I mutter, making my way into the kitchen with my hands heavily weighed down.
"What is all that?" Cat calls into the room curiously as she enters.
"Lumber. Screws. Wood finish. Supplies for your room." I begin to pull things out of my bag. "I've got a mattress in the spare room. You can use that to sleep. Just for a few weeks until the craze dies down. Then I will set you up in one of the other rooms." Reaching into one of the bags, I retrieve a white bag with a yellow M on it. "Here. More food."
"Okay... So where we doing this?" She asks pulling a circle of wrapping from the bag and tearing it open forcefully.
"The attic. It's a little cliche, but it is the best place to hide you for the time being." I get up and walk towards a door in the wall. Opening it I look into the closet and retrieve my tool kit.
"You keep your tool kit in your kitchen?"
"I haven't got a tool shed or a garage. So yes. I keep my tool kit in my kitchen." I pile the box as well as all of the supplies into my arms and walk away. "Now follow me. And yes. You are allowed to take your food." Exiting the kitchen I reach the stairs and begin to make my way up them. "I figure if we go up now and start, I can have it done by late tonight and you can get a good nights sleep. I'm sure it has been a while since you did so." Reaching the landing at the top of the stairs I turn to Cat and ask her to pull the string to open the stairwell to the attic.
As it opens, I ascend and find myself in a dark and dank space built primarily from now old looking wood. "It's been a hell of a while since I have been up here..." I mutter as I hear footsteps approach from behind.
"I love it. It's almost exactly the same as mine at home."
Chuckling I make my way to an empty side of the room and kneel, placing the contents of my arms on the floor. "Glad you like it. You will be up here for a while." Standing up I take a step back and inspect the space. Dark brown wooden planks make up the walls and the floor with pine two by fours being the primary material in the ceiling supports. "Just take a seat in the corner and eat. I will tell you if I have any need for you."
And with that I set to work. Returning to a kneeling stance, I unlatch my tool box and begin to pull out the instruments in which I would construct the room. Long planks begin to get screwed into the floor with two feet separating them to create the framework for the wall, before more long planks are placed horizontally over the supports. A small door between two vertical beams is constructed to be inconspicuous from the outside. Picking up a screwdriver, I un-cap the finish can and dip a paint brush into it starting to cover the horizontal wood with a thick coating to make it blend in with the floor and the walls surrounding. Hours pass as I complete this and some time far later I finally stand back and admire my work. The wall blends seamlessly with the walls and looks as if it is built to be there. "And there is your room." I call with a distinct sense of confidence and self satisfaction, turning around to see Cat's reaction. She lays spread out on the cold hard floor and coddles her head in comfort.
A smile flashes across my face as I pick up a pen and paper, to scrawl a note on a scrap piece of packaging. "Press about four feet from the left wall to enter the room. Tomorrow you will have your mattress. Do not leave the room unless I come and get you. Goodnight. Sleep tight. Don't let the bed bugs bite."
I trod back down into the kitchen and fix myself a glass of water before returning to the second floor and strolling into my room. My computer sits abandoned and waiting with a white glow from when I left it earlier.
For the first time since my mom left, I walk past the screen and to my bed pulling back the covers and sliding in. "What an interesting day."
My eyes begin to drift shut and I start to fall asleep thinking back to that day months before when had met the passionate and peculiar girl.
