Luka Brenner had thought he was adjusting to his new job, new city and new place just fine. In fact he loved his new job. The hours were good, the pay was decent and he felt he was really making a good impression on his boss and colleagues. He had even made a few work friends that he sometimes grabbed lunch with or even the occasional beer after work.
Most of them had wives and children, so Luka didn't quite fit into their lifestyle beyond lunch and after work beer. He needed to make some buddies that would have more free time to go out. He also wouldn't mind meeting a nice lady to share a little pleasure with. It wasn't that he wanted to get into a relationship though. Luka was still kind of reeling from the fallout of his last relationship. No, no long term relationships for a while. But a friends with benefits thing would be nice.
Luka had decided her would put a little effort into finding such a lady, but in the meantime things were going well. He had found a room for rent in a big house in his new city. His landlord (and roommate- one in the same) was a nice guy. They even had dinner together sometimes. The other guy renting in the house came and went, and was never around on weekends. Luka felt comfortable there. It was a pretty nice house, well maintained and in a classy area. The rent was affordable. It was a good fit.
Yup, all was good, until the holidays came along. Now, Luka suddenly felt very lonely. The holidays had a way of doing that. They could make you suddenly feel very isolated. It was as if the holidays just put a spotlight on something that was probably already there but you had otherwise managed to ignore.
There had been some work parties of course, and Luka had enjoyed those. He even went to a few of the guy's places for casual get togethers. A few people had asked him what he was doing for Christmas day, but instead of telling the truth he had lied. "Oh I am going to my aunt's place for dinner. She lives not too far from here." Everyone had bought the lie easily and seemed appeased that he wouldn't be alone for the holidays.
If fact he didn't have an aunt living nearby. He didn't have any family living nearby. He just didn't want any pitiful looks or pity fueled invites where they'd make room for him. He didn't want to watch happy families enjoying their Christmas traditions and feeling like an outsider. Luka figured it would just be better to stay home.
When Luka's mom had died it had changed his entire family. His father had remarried almost instantly, which understandably didn't sit well with Luka and his siblings. His sister was already married so she took to just spending her holidays with her husband's family. Luka's brother was seeing a girl and they seemed to like to take off on vacations for the holidays. Luka had lived closer back then, so he did in fact go to an aunt's place for the holidays. Sure, he still felt like a bit of an outsider, but at least he was related to those people.
However, here in his new home town he was just surrounded by strangers and casual acquaintances. Christmas was going to be a bit of a lonely affair for Luka this year. He planned to stay home, eat junk and watch a movie marathon on Netflix. He had even bought some beer. He would drink alone. He didn't care what anyone thought. No one would know anyway.
Christmas was going according to plan. Luka wasn't even all that bothered. He had had a few beers, ate some pizza and chips. He had some cheese cake planned for later. Movie number four was playing. It was pretty good. Luka had even bought himself some gifts. Such as a new cellphone and a new pair of shoes. Of course he hadn't wrapped them or anything ridiculous like that, but he was happy to have them all the same.
Movie night rolled on. The roommates were all out, so the house was quiet every time Luka went down to the kitchen to grab a beer. He wasn't drunk, but was feeling pretty good. He had a slice of cheese cake and selected his next movie. A comedy to follow an action flick. He was also getting a bit tired, but wasn't quite ready to sleep.
One more beer was what Luka decided around two in the morning. He would have one more beer, finish up the comedy which was better than he had expected and then he would sleep. All and all being alone on Christmas wasn't as awful as he had thought it would be. He paused the movie and went down the stairs to the kitchen. It was on his way back upstairs that he noticed car lights out front of the house. Then he heard a crash on the stairs out front of the house.
Luka put his beer down on the hallway table and made his way toward the front of the house. His socked feet were silent on the hardwood floor.Someone was stumbling around on the porch, Luka could see their shadow through the curtains on the doors. It seemed highly likely they were drunk, whoever they were. The car pulled away, and Luka realized it was likely a taxi or a friend dropping someone off. He wondered if some drunk fool had the wrong house?
The shadow out on the porch seemed to be searching it's person for something. Most likely keys. Luka debated just taking his beer and going back to his room, but then thought better of it. This drunk fool probably needed to be directed to his own house so he didn't freeze on the porch.
Luka picked his way quietly down the hallway without turning on any additional lights. Just in case the person was not some hapless drunk, Luka didn't want them to know he was there. He took the four steps down into the wide entrance area and peeked out the curtain. The man on the patio was still fumbling about drunkenly. Luka unlocked the door as quietly as possible, and opened it cautiously. The outside light was on and created a soft pool of light on the step.
Luka smiled when he saw his landlord still drunkenly searching his pockets for his keys. In fact, Cody didn't even notice that Luka had opened the door. Luka stood watching his landlord as the cool night air started to filter in around him. Feeling the chill, Luka crossed his arms over his chest and tucked them under his arms. He cleared his throat which brought Cody's head up relatively quickly.
"Ohhhhhhh heeeeeey buddy!" Cody slurred.
"Lose your keys?"
"Probably back at my folk's. Didn't know you'd beeeeee home."
Luka stepped back to let Cody come inside. He closed the door and locked it as Cody struggled uncoordinatedly to pull off his boots. Several times Cody almost fell while tugging at his laced boots. Luka caught him each time and righted him. Cody wasn't a small guy though and he was a heavy drunk.
"Lil help here, buddy..." Cody said while looking down at his boots. Luka chuckled at how drunk the other man was.
"Sure, sit down on the steps." Luka guided Cody to the steps. He got Cody situated in a sitting position before kneeling to untie the boots.
"I woulda brought ya if I had known you were gonna be home, bud." Cody's voice was loud and made Luka wince a little. Bud and buddy must be things Cody says when he's drunk, Luka thought. Since, Cody had never called him either before.
"Nah, it's fine. Looks like you had a good Christmas." Luka glanced up at his housemate, and then tugged off the first boot. The second one followed right after. Luka sat them together out of the way.
"Was okay. My family is not easy to take without booze." Cody's voice was sleepy and very slurred.
Luka stood and waited for Cody to attempt to stand too. After several long moments it was clear that the drunk man was going to need a little extra assistance getting back up. Luka was amused by this situation. He had never seen his landlord anything but totally sober.
"Come on, Cody." Luka said as he leaned down to haul the other man to standing.
Things didn't quite go according to plan. When Luka bent down to take Cody's arm, Cody moved with surprising accuracy and grabbed the back of Luka's head. Cody was gentle but his hold was firm all the same. Much to Luka's complete shock Cody brought his mouth to his and kissed him squarely on the lips. Attempting to pull back, Luka sputtered with shock. He pulled away and stood up. He used the back of his hand to wipe at his lips.
