DING~ DONG!
Rudy rang the doorbell, but even a few seconds later, there was no response.
He patiently waited for a minute before ringing the bell again. But this time, he heard footsteps.
However, the footsteps suddenly stopped.
SIGH!
Rudy sighed and activated his see-through ability to see who was on the other side of the door, and it was Lucy in her pajamas.
She was standing in front of the door but hesitating to look through the peephole or use the intercom.
DING~ DONG!
Rudy rang the bell again to let Lucy know that he was still waiting for someone to open the door.
But because of that, Lucy ran away.
"..."
"What happened?" Angelica asked with a curious look on her face after noticing Rudy squinting his eyes.
"It was Lucy…"
"Oh!"
DING~ DONG! DING~ DONG! DING~ DONG! DING~ DONG! DING~ DONG! DING~ DONG!
Angelica rang the bell like crazy.
"Stop it!" he whispered violently.
Rudy had his see-through ability activated so he could see the other side of the door. But even after ringing the bell so many times, Lucy never returned to check on the door.
A few seconds later, Joe walked out of the bathroom in his towel and hurried to the door.
He opened the door and saw Rudy standing there with an awkward smile on his face.
It took a while for Joe to comprehend the situation.
"What.. are you doing here?" Joe asked with a confused and puzzled look on his face.
"Can I come in?" Rudy asked in a calm voice.
"Yeah, sure."
Rudy walked in, and Joe closed the door.
Joe pointed his finger across the hallway and said, "Go wait for me in the living room. I will wear my clothes."
Rudy went to the living room and saw Lucy sitting in the corner of the couch.
"..."
She glanced at Rudy from the corner of her eyes as her eyes widened in surprise.
"Oh!" She first exclaimed and then said meekly: "Umm… hello…"
'She must have thought I was Paul,' Rudy scoffed inwardly. 'Poor guy must be eating rocks and getting his dick shredded between the mountains.'
"Hello," Rudy greeted back with a smile on his face.
A minute later, Joe returned wearing his nightclothes.
"Welcome," he said. "I am sorry I was late to respond to the doorbell. I was taking a bath, and Lucy was… well, she is always like this."
Joe sighed.
"So what's your purpose of coming here late at night in a city 15 kilometers away from your town?" Joe asked with a curious yet judging look on his face.
"Actually… I am here with a friend. He is waiting for me at the lounge. I came here to—"
Lucy brought a glass filled with water for Rudy.
Rudy grabbed the glass from the plate and smiled at Lucy before saying, "Thank you."
He took a few sips and continued, "I wanted to talk to you about the moving process."
"Oh, sure. But may I ask why? Rebecca had warned me not to involve kids in this matter. Did she tell you?" Joe asked.
"Oh, of course not. What are you talking about?" Rudy played dumb. "I just came here to ask how the process of moving out is going. Is something else bothering you?"
Rudy had already expected that Rebecca would have said something similar to Joe, so he played dumb to make Joe tell him everything by tricking him into thinking that he had already let the cat out of the bag.
"Uhh.. well…" Joe glanced at Lucy and said, "Can I have a private talk with him?"
Lucy nodded and said, "I was going to bed anyway."
Lucy went to her room, leaving Joe and Rudy alone in the living room. Of course, Angelica was there too, but she was exploring the apartment.
"So… what's going on?" Rudy asked in a calm voice.
"It's nothing. Just a small matter…" Joe replied while stuttering a little. He had realized that he spilled the beans, and now it was hard to fill them up again.
"You already told me enough," Rudy remarked. "Why not more?"
"Your mother is a scary person, and you should know that since she raised you." Joe sighed and said, "I cannot tell you."
"I didn't want to do this to Joe, but I guess I will have to do this.'
Rudy raised his brow at Joe and said, "I will tell mom that you told me."
"But… I didn't…" Joe stuttered.
"You did, a little, though…"
After a brief pause, Rudy said, "I won't tell her if you tell me everything."
Joe squinted his eyes at Rudy and said, "You are not like how Rebecca described you. But I guess everyone has their hidden side they don't want others to see."
"So, tell me everything."
"So the previous landlord died in an accident, and his brother took over everything. I wanted to move out, but the new landlord said I would have to pay for the next month's rent too. At first, I was reluctant, but I gave it anyway since I didn't want any drama."
"That was a mistake…" Rudy muttered.
"Then, he came back the next day and said he made a mistake. I asked 'what mistake?' and he said, 'You will have to pay for next year's rent, not next month'. He had also brought the documents where it was mentioned." Joe stated.
"That's ridiculous!" Rudy exclaimed. "Don't tell me you gave him—"
CLANK!
Rudy looked at the source of the noise to see Angelic had dropped a glass.
"..."
"I wonder how that fell…" Joe muttered under his breath.
"I wonder too…" Rudy let out a weary sigh while looking at Angelica. Then, he turned to Joe and said, "You didn't pay, right?"
Joe shook his head and said, "Of course not. And apparently, he had been asking the same thing to a few other tenants. We have decided to file a case of fraud against him in the court."
'For that, they would need strong evidence. The landlord has some kind of document, and they are obviously fake.'
Rudy pondered for a while and decided to give a 'visit' to the landlord.
===
Author's Note- Thanks, @Exoloty, @puremichigan, @Ok_Two, and @Oswald_Odoemenam_0721, for the gifts!
Bonus chapters on weekends!