Excerpt from "The Survivalist" - Jack's Apartment

Jack lived atop a stately old building located in the heart of the theatre district. Jack's apartment had once been a caretaker's residence but had fallen into disrepair over several years. The building just happened to be en route from Jack's previous residence to his office and was located on a corner of a city intersection that was surrounded by other theatre and office buildings, a hotel and some convenience stores, restaurants and coffee bars for the convenience of theatre goers. Jack had often driven past this old building and looked up at the caretaker's residence and wondered if anybody still lived there.

From the street the apartment looked quite remote and safe and looked like a sanctuary in the heart of this busy metropolis. He had thought each time he passed through that intersection that it would be a very romantic place to live. He had almost begun to feel an affinity with the place. When he was stopped at the traffic lights, Jack could see from his car that the long rectangular apartment was sitting inside the building line way up on the rooftop and a balcony that afforded views in all directions surrounded it.

After Jack had started his company and it had turned out to be very successful, he had made inquiries through business connections in the property world and discovered that the caretaker's residence had been deserted for many years. Sources had said that the last caretaker to live in the apartment had left in 1974 and since that time the apartment had remained vacant. Jack had arranged an inspection and was saddened to find the place in such a state of ruin. The interior of the apartment was far from what Jack had imagined. Crumbling solid plaster made defective by water seepage and weather, rotting timber floors and a dank smell that seemed to escape from everywhere and that’s was caused by years of abandonment. At the time Jack had thought this was quite funny as the interior of the theatre below the apartment was so grandiose and opulent and had recently been refurbished back to its original splendor.

The apartment consisted of a large living area completely surrounded by floor to ceiling glass. The room was located near the corner of the building facing the intersection that afforded 270-degree views of the surrounding neighborhood. At the end of the living area and adjoining the main apartment was a small kitchen and adjacent laundry. A hallway led from the living area past a generous dining room placed within easy access to the kitchen. Opposite was a separate sitting room that looked quiet and peaceful. It had smaller windows and Jack could tell that this space would be a good place to do some reading or thinking. Further along the hallway and located on the street side was a large room that appeared to have been used as an office. Across the hallway was two bedrooms separated by a bathroom complex.

What had also caught Jack's attention was the large space at the far end of the hallway that seemed to mimic the living area. This space was also walled in floor to ceiling glass and had two glass doors leading to the external balcony. Upon further investigation it was found that this section of balcony was totally secluded from all surrounding buildings. It faced a blank side of the neighboring office block and had a two metre high garden wall on each end, both with a gate providing the privacy that would be so delightful in a busy city environment.

Jack had fallen in love with the place immediately and arranged for negotiations with the theatres owners and had made proposition to them that he would purchase the caretakers residence and live there himself after he restored it.

Following discussions, the theatre owners had been so delighted with the result and Jacks generous offer that, upon learning that Jack had a passion for classic cars, they have included six car parking spaces in the private section of the basement carpark where Jack's collection could be kept.

The work on the apartment had taken seven months to complete.

Firstly, Jack had arranged for an architect friend of his to inspect the apartment and make suggestions for its restoration and for making some small change to the layout. Jack's architect friend Sean had done a marvelous job to the place and had opened up the living space into the kitchen, separating both with an island bench. Sean had also improved access from the living area to its balconies, turned the large vacant space at the other end of the hallway into a multipurpose room used for relaxation, a music studio and home theatre complex. As a final touch he had designed a lap swimming pool on the large balcony within the enclosed garden wall space.

Other improvements had included totally refurbishing the bathroom complex and including a spa. Sean's interior designer wife Suze taken up the challenge to create a space for Jack that was welcoming yet private, faithful to the '30s era of the building and yet had modern finishes and clean lines, and in particular, had an Asian and Oriental theme.

The work involved stripping most finishes back to bare surfaces. Hard plaster was removed and replaced. Timber floors were stripped back and, where necessary, replaced with original timbers from demolished buildings on the same era. Roof tiles were replaced in the same fashion. Fortunately, the tiled surfaces on the balconies had remained intact and undamaged and these could be reused with little repair work.

The refurbishment had involved a number of colorful characters who Jack had come to know and like over the course of the following months. In addition to Sean and Suze, there were a number of people that seemed to have their own handle for their name. There was Beau the Builder, Fred the Painter, Tom the Tiler, Pru the Landscaper and a number of others, everyone seemed to have been given a nickname or a handle and the whole crew had got on well together. Even after the work had finished, Jack still got together with these people on a regular basis for a coffee or a chat. In Jack's own way of thinking, he much preferred to be in the company of real people like these rather than in the corporate and sometimes plastic world in which he needed to circulate because of his business circumstances.

Access to the apartment was provided either by a private stairway that led both to the street level, theatres entry foyer and the private carpark below, or by using the goods lift that serviced every level. Jack had arranged for controls to be installed into the lift management system to control access to his apartments level. Only Jack and a few of his trusted people had a card that would allow them to the apartment level.

Once the work had been completed, Jack moved from his previous residence located just outside the city limits to the renovated apartment. He immediately felt at home there and felt a love for the old theatre and the apartment building in which he now lived. Even now as he would catch the goods elevator from the basement carpark to his apartment he always looked forward to walking into his home and feeling a sense of safety and security. It was now two and a half years since Jack had moved in and still every time he came home the felt the same feeling.

Jack smiled to himself. He thought to himself that he had a wonderful life. He had been very fortunate following his slippery slide into his alcoholism. He was well aware that along his path of life that there were as many snakes as there was ladders, he also knew that he could just as easily slip back to where he had come from just as well as he called climb further up the ladder into a satisfying life.

The only thing that seemed to be missing from his life was someone to love. He had been aware of an emptiness in his life for some time and he hoped that at some stage in his future that he might meet someone with whom he might truly fall in love.