An odd couple?

I've moved four floors up in the building I have lived in for twenty-two years. As buildings go it is not a small one nor is it a large one. There are 36 apartments in total, three per floor, and given that the occupancy turnover rate is low I imagined that I knew most, if not all, of my neighbours; at least by sight.

Yet my neighbours in both apartments on my new floor are as strangers to me. I simply didn't recognise them as people I knew to be living in the building.

The man in the apartment to the east of mine is named Js and is probably of a similar age to me. I'm not good at judging ages and I could be wildly wrong. Nevertheless, I'm pretty sure Js is of 'senior citizen' age. Or thereabouts anyway. He introduced himself to me and it appears Js has a job involving education. Somewhere in the western suburbs. Js wears one of those Marxist/Leninist style peaked caps. I've haven't seen him bare headed to date. I think I have seen Js wearing socks with sandals but maybe I imagined that.

In brief conversations with me Js referred several times to a flatmate named Rd. My gaydar suggested to me that 'flatmate' was a euphemism. I wasn't aware of anyone named Rd living in the building and wasn't sure if I had ever seen the flatmate. That changed on Friday.

The cable television company sent a technician to install, or was it transfer, my cable service to the new apartment. The point is not insignificant, at least to the service provider, who made numerous follow up calls to me on the matter because to them the correct answer affects what they will charge me for the transfer or installation. Don't ask me because their calls left me more confused than ever but the best bit is that they so confused themselves as well that they decided not to charge me anything at all. A rare win for me.

But back to the technician. He was rather officious to begin with and I was soon very short with him. I wasn't keen on what he was proposing and just as I was telling him so with a degree of oral force, Js appeared on the landing. Js was in a hurry and couldn't wait but when I asked if I could show the technician how his cable connection was installed Js readily agreed throwing open his apartment to us whilst simultaneously announcing our entry to the unknown Rd even as he raced back out to catch the lift.

Rd appeared by our side and he was nothing like I would have imagined. It was an odd couple moment.

For one thing Rd would scarcely be older than his mid twenties. There must be thirty to forty years difference in their ages. Then there is the fact that whilst Js is short, stocky, rather plain looking and of an Anglo-Celtic appearance Rd is tall, lean, gorgeous looking and possesses the darkest of dark complexions. Rd is of African or West Indian origin, I would think.

If Rd was curious as to these two strangers standing unsupervised in his apartment then he masked that curiosity supremely. One look at us and Rd disappeared into the recesses of the apartment not to be seen again.

Once the cable guy and I had exhausted our argument in Js' apartment we quietly made our departure. I wasn't sure whether or not to lock their apartment door and as Rd was nowhere to be seen I made the decision to lock it. Presumably Rd had the wherewithal to unlock the door later without the need to wait for Js to return and rescue him. Well, I hope that was the case.