227 Sabrina in Ashtons apartmen (1/2)

Ashton unlocked the door of his apartment and gestured for Sabrina to enter. ”Please ignore the mess.”

Sabrina wanted to say that it's not a problem, but she swallowed those words when she entered.

The first space is a kitchen with a small square dining table for four people, further down is a living area with one sofa and a television, and she can see the stairs which lead to the loft above what seems to be the closet and a bathroom.

The apartment is a nice and cozy studio, but the problem is that Ashton's clothes are everywhere. ”Lack of closet space?”, Sabrina asked.

Ashton avoided her gaze and moved like a flash through the living area while collecting things in his hands and pushing them into the closet. ”I am sorry, if I knew you will stop by, I would tidy up. I was dressing up for the party in a rush.”

Sabrina stifled a laugh because some of his clothes were on the dining table.

Three rounds of clothes-collection later, he gestured toward the sofa. ”Please, take a seat.”

Sabrina shook her head and smiled. ”Don't bother with a cleanup. Seeing it like this helps me to see what your challenges are.”

Ashton scratched the back of his head awkwardly and smiled. ”You should have said so from the beginning.”

Sabrina reached for the small piece of black fabric on the coffee table, hooked it on the tip of her index finger, and lifted it up. ”Speedo?”

Aston grabbed his swim trunks from her hand and flicked them inside the closet. ”I was thinking between these and a few other options. My final choice is at your house, in Mike's bag.”

”You were planning to go for a swim?”, Sabrina guessed.

Ashton shrugged. ”Not really planning, but if the opportunity presents itself I want to be prepared.”

”We have swim trunks for guests available.”

Ashton made a face. ”Yeah. I saw them. Wearing a US flag on my precious area is not my thing.”

Sabrina laughed. ”I see. You prefer black fabric over your precious area.”

Aston knows that she is talking about his speedo which he just hid in the closet. He didn't want to continue talking about it. ”Can I offer you something to drink?”

”Something strong…”

”The strongest I have is orange juice. With pulp. Or I can make a strong ginger tea.” He saw that Sabrina's face is unreadable, so he explained: ”I don't usually drink alcohol. An exception are parties, where I might have a beer or two. I can go and get something for you in the store downstairs if you are OK with waiting for a few minutes. Let me know what you want, so I don't get something random.”

Sabrina looked at him and blinked. ”No need. Orange juice is fine.”

She thought about how Jackson always drinks something with alcohol in it. And Jackson is prim and proper in front of others, while he is lecherous when no one is watching. No matter how she looks at Ashton, he seems to be a total opposite of Jackson. A nice guy. Sabrina frowned at her thought: Since when is she thinking of Jackson as a not-nice guy?

Sabrina leaned back on the sofa and closed her eyes.

”Is everything OK?”, Ashton asked Sabrina when he placed a glass with orange juice on the table in front of her.

She opened her eyes and watched him as he sat on the sofa, as far away as possible from her, like he is afraid to touch her.

”Why do you think that something is wrong?”

Ashton shrugged. ”Just a guess. Feel free to ignore it.”

Sabrina didn't respond. She eyed the space and asked: ”What are you trying to do with this?”

”As I mentioned, my lease will run out in one month and I was thinking of getting a bigger place, but the rents are crazy high. I can't afford a single bedroom and for a studio, this is as big as it gets. Most of my exercising gear is downstairs in the community storage and more than once it disappeared on me. I would need more storage, open and closed shelving and hopefully a place for my bike and skis, the rest are smaller things. The more storage, the better.”

Sabrina looked at the ceiling. ”There are options to put things up. With high ceilings like these, that is definitely an option. Depending on your budget, the storage can be motorized so that it lowers itself for easy access and it stays up to save you space… and this wall is not utilized…”

Sabrina started listing various options and Ashton listened carefully. He showed her the bathroom and the closet (which is now completely messy because he only dumped his things in there), and then Sabrina went up the stairs in the loft area.

Just as Sabrina guessed, the upper loft area is used as a bedroom. There is a mattress on the floor and low bookshelves on each side.

”Watch your head.”, Ashton warned Sabrina when she climbed up.