It had been a long day. I'd arrived in Sydney on an early flight Thursday morning and spent most of the day in meetings.
I was tired and hungry, but the thing I needed most right now was a drink, swiftly followed by a shower.
I'd arranged to stay at a friend's apartment, or more accurately my wife's friend's partner's place. Hotels can be so soul-crushing week after week and I'd jumped at the chance when it was offered a few weeks earlier.
My wife's friend Lyle shared an apartment part-time with his partner David. Lyle also had a house out of town and he went back there Thursday to Sunday. David said he didn't mind at all if I stayed when Lyle wasn't there, but that he was going to be home late as he was going out for a work dinner. We teed up the details via email.
I took the train to David's place, picking up some Thai food and a bottle of wine on the way. The spare key was under the matt as arranged and I let myself in.
The apartment was immaculate and stylish as I knew it would be. The furniture was vintage and tasteful, but not ostentatious. David obviously had an eye for design. There were a lot of paintings and drawings on the walls, some in frames, others simply pinned up. Many were life drawings, mostly male nudes in charcoal. Some in slightly erotic poses, but again, tasteful. I recalled hearing that David liked to draw. Some of these could be his, I thought.
I ducked into the kitchen and put my takeout on the bench before continuing my exploration of the apartment.
I found the spare room as described in the email with a towel set out for me at the foot of the bed. The room had an en-suite. Small but functional and immaculately clean. I dropped my bags in the bedroom and went back to the kitchen.
I ate the Thai food straight out of the container at the kitchen table. A couple of generous glasses of wine later, and my need for a shower could no longer be ignored.
I undressed in the spare room and went into the en-suite to shower. It took me a minute to adjust the temperature to my liking, which was fiddly. One millimetre to the right and I was scorched, one to the left, frozen, but I got there in the end. I appreciated the powerful water pressure and the shower helped me relax from the day. I closed my eyes and put my face up to feel the warm jets gush over me as the shower screen gradually misted over.