Gone

The window sitting area was lacking curtains, no books on the shelves, no plants, and no cozy stuff to sit on... Some weird Beastfolk strangers walking in front of it. What was happening? Ivaylo squeezed the keys in his hand, grabbed the bag from the sidewalk, and rushed upstairs.

At the top of the staircase, he slowed down. His ears perked up in a straight direction, as he listened to the conversation from inside the apartment. The entrance door was slightly ajar so he had no problem.

Landlord: "You can move in right away... I will give you a discount on it of course."
Stranger couple: "This apartment is super adorable, but that human stench..."

Those words infuriated Ivaylo and without thinking he barged in. Pushing the door with a thud. The trio turned and looked him up and down. The Beast female held a scarf up to her mouth and the male pinched his nose.

Flustered Ivaylo collected himself. "Good Evening! Nice to meet you! I would like to know, what is going on here..." He took the keys out of his pocket. The landlord understood. The couple weirded out excused themself and left. They were sure, they had to continue with their search. They didn't wish to live in the apartment, where a human stayed before them.

If looks could kill. Ivaylo already turned them inside out in his mind. How dare they! They walked past him and closed the door behind them. The old Beast landlord held his hands behind his back. "You must be the Beast guy the girl mentioned before."

Ivaylo swallowed a lump that built up in his throat. "Where is she? What happened to that human woman?!" The landlord looked over the empty unit. "She canceled the lease last week and stayed an extra few days because she waited for someone. I guess, now I know at whom. She left yesterday..."

So, she was gone?!

Baffled Ivaylo brushed over his hair with his fingers. "Can you tell me, where she went?! Or at least her name..." That question caught off guard the landlord. "You claim to have stayed with her but you do not know her name?!" He got suspicious of Ivaylo. Who was that young Beastman?

He recalled, how she pleaded with the landlord to stay, till the end of the weekend but he needed to find new tenants by Monday, so he let her stay just until Thursday. Now, here was the one she waited for, but he expressed some strange behavior.

"I am sorry! If you don't know her name, I can't disclose her personal information." Ivaylo protested, but the landlord didn't budge. He didn't want to get into trouble with the laws. What, if Ivaylo was some weird stalker or pervert and he bothered that human girl?!

"Well, I can't help you. I just have to find someone new for this unit. In the storage, there is the old furniture, which was too heavy or big for her to take. If you want something from that you can take it." He waved his hand on Ivaylo.

"Because of her human smell, it can be only disposed of. Nobody would take or buy it. I must say, it's such a waste because all that stuff is in pristine condition. I would take some for myself, but you can't get rid of the human smell so easily. Probably I have to renovate this apartment too, to rid it of that human odor."

Every such sentence just infuriated Ivaylo even more. How dare he insult her like that! The old Beastman continued with his monologue. "Despite her being a human, she was a very good tenant. There were no complaints about her and she paid on time. Oh, well..."

Ivaylo didn't hesitate anymore. "I will take it! Let me move in!" He turned to the surprised landlord. "One more thing... Can I take a look at the furniture she left behind?" The landlord just gladly showed him the way to the storage.

Ivaylo's heart sank as he saw the furniture. It was all there... the bed with the night tables, the TV table... her Kotatsu... and some other stuff. It still emanated her scent. "I will take all of it." The landlord was taken aback.

"I am happy about that! You saved me some money. You see, the disposal costs something. I will make sure you will have it back inside by tomorrow." Ivaylo clasped the landlord's hand in both his. "Thank you very much!"

After some paperwork, Ivaylo officially became the tenant of that apartment. The landlord handed him over the second set of the keys, which once belonged to that human girl. Left standing alone in the apartment Ivaylo began to contemplate, what he got himself into.

Why did he make this hasty decision? He should be back working at the headquarters in the city center, which is one and a half hours from here. What about his condo in the skyscraper? He pondered about it.

During weekdays he can stay over there and for the weekends he can come here. He makes enough money to pay rent even for ten apartments. Money isn't the issue... so in the end, it wasn't a bad idea.

He can relax here and search for that human woman... Did he just express the need to search for her? What is happening with him?! His own feelings... confused him. Ivaylo had to admit that she got deep under his skin.

He walked up to the sitting area stripped of its coziness. He closed his eyes to remember how it looked and felt. Now there was only the hard wooden bench, which was cold to the touch. The empty bookshelves looked sad at him and he also missed that flower cascade that once hung over his head.

This weekend he will go shopping and buy everything he can remember to recreate it. His mission was clear, but also he needed to find out what happened. The landlord clearly told him she was waiting for him.

Before that, he had doubts at first, that she left him as soon, as she got that opportunity. Deep down he was glad he was mistaken. The snow began to collect on the outside rim of the window. Will he find her soon? He looked out at the street questioning it.

Right! That stranger from across the street! Ivaylo ran out to confront that guy. He remembered which floor it was and banged on the door. A weirded-out human couple opened the door. It wasn't him but he could smell the reminiscence. It was the right apartment.

"Where is the man who lived here?" The startled man and woman looked at each other. "We just moved in..." Ivaylo didn't say anything more, turned with his back to them, and left. It was just a dead end.