Their room consisted of a sink for washing-up, a single lamp suspending on the ceiling, and five single beds with two on top of the others, which were occupied by the other tenants. There were not many choices left, Cay took one just beside the only window and Judas took the one below a male who was busy typing on his laptop.
They did not have opportunity to introduce themselves since the only person who had not gone nor fell asleep were them and the person, who seemed too pre-occupied with whatever he was on. He looked younger than the two, discounted the stereotype of Asians seemingly looked younger than their Caucasian-counterparts. Without further a due, they unpacked and went straight to the shower, wearing only a towel around their waists and toiletries in both hands. The tight space in the toilet only allowed an individual occupant to enter and the latter most likely would take up everything in the shower. Cay went in first, the Judas after nearly five minutes, eventually the two managed to clean themselves off dried rain mixed with sweat and temporary worries.
The nap spent on their beds were uncomfortable, albeit sufficient for an evening’s worth of exploration. Judas had woken up before Cay stirred, by the time the latter managed to move his body into a sitting position, his companion had already begun putting on his jacket. The boy had left his bed while the two were asleep, probably for dinner outside. His laptop sat at the edge of the bed, not close enough to be considered of a falling hazard, it’s screen still illuminating whatever he had been working on for the past three hours before postponing it for a meal
The temperature outside felt colder than when they first arrived at the hostel. Even without much sunlight, the streets of Amsterdam were wet but had been warm in the afternoon. The coldness acted as a reminder to the two that they did not have much knowledge of Amsterdam, excluding the part which had made Amsterdam well-known throughout the world, prostitution. They boarded the number nine tram-line as shown by the man with the heart of a Spanish sun and headed straight to Red Light District, it was one of the only places left to visit around that time.
The fair for the transportation was paid upon boarding, which gave Cay a respectful notion of the efficiency of Western European countries. However, these notions conjured the context of history books revealing the context of foreign countries that invaded modern Asia for the sake of efficiency and personal gains.
The two arrived at the central station and continued walking South towards Red Light District and bought a couple of light meals from a takeaway store on the way. It did not require much navigation as they followed the large crowd, which eventually took them to the pavements of the district. Although unable to see the murky water just above the arched-bridges, the lampposts and cheap lights from sex shops and brothels illuminated brightly that each passing face could be recognised almost instantly. The bikes, assuming they had been there since afternoon, laid by rails and walls, silently staring at moving object with their sideway glances. Everything seemed to be alive when nocturn reached the city of Amsterdam.
There were more than they could fathom: Prostitutes positioned themselves behind glass doors like merchandises who would soon be borrowed by a customer for a certain amount of time, lonely men or groups of half-witted human beings staring at the skimpy outfits worn and what laid beneath them, and a store that caught Cay’s eyes ---- A tobacco shop selling ridiculously cheap cigars.
*
Jenna could not hold in the choking feeling welling inside of her as she laid in her comfortable bed, Stevenage had been plighted with heavy rain for the past few days. What other places in England had not seen that much rain before?
Tom, who was a tenant at Jenna’s apartment whom Jenna introduced to Cay before, just came back. Most likely from seeing his fiancée, Saturday nights were usually reserved for his outgoing activities. She felt lonely, the chesty ache did only to worsen how she felt then and wanted company and got dressed in a simple t-shirt and shorts.
“Hi! just came back?”, she called out as she closed her room door behind her.
“Yeah, went to see Anna and spent the entire evening at the cinema and dinner.”, he responded, stationing at the kitchen as the electric kettle boiled and switched off itself.
“Ah, that’s good. So, how was she? Is Anna well?”, Jenna had always considered herself as a good conversationist, as admitted by her friends.
“She’s well, she was at her parent’s yesterday. She seemed to be excited about the trip to Mallorca”
“She was like ‘Oh, Tom, we’re finally escaping this cold hell-hole to somewhere actually warm, even if it’s just for a few days.’”, he added, a large smirk formed on the side where Jenna could see. A genuinely happy smile.
“Oh, Mallorca!”, the mention of the Spanish Island brought back memories when she used to travel to the sunny country with her family.
“Apparently it’s the kind of heat you’ll expect in Indonesia and Malaysia. A few days of sweating may get you off the bitter feeling from this miserable climate.”
“Definitely.”, she felt unease after he mentioned Malaysia.
She left her room to distract herself from the sense of loneliness and the bitterness in her chest, but the slight mention of anything relatable to Cay set her off to the same negativity that she tried to avoid earlier. Tom noticed the slight change on her appearance but unnoticed the impact his last comment made on her. Instead, he dragged the conversation to a different topic but with the same context.
“Ever feel like traveling somewhere hot?”
“I’ve thought about it before, but it’s always the heat that refreshed and at the same time made me feel crap. I’m not too fond of the heat, although I would love to feel warm now.”
“Oh, that’s too bad. I see you work hard everyday and come back wearing thick jackets.”
“I genuinely hate it when Summer is over.”
“Me too, I could use a good amount of sunshine right about now.”
Jenna felt a pang on the chest, momentarily forgetting about the stuffiness, which had not been the worst she felt before Tom continued the conversation.
“Cay and I used to lay on the grass during Summer back at Bath.”
“Oh.”, Tom was slightly surprised by the change of topic
“How is he now?”, he continued.
“Good, he’s doing better than me.”, her eyes felt sunken a little.
ns 15.158.61.8da2
