The Apartment Which Knew Part 1

No outstanding issues - or were there?

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Blah. Ordinary. Old, and nothing spectacular. So was the work.

And I was used to that.

The building was in working order. Nothing seemed wrong with the lifts or doors.

No malfunctioning doorknobs.

It was functioning, which passed for reassurance.

There seemed nothing urgent. People moved through it with regulated indifference.

It looked as though it could manage without me.

I didn’t receive the block in a typical handover. Most things were unexplained.

There were issues. Settled. But no one quite explained how. All anyone told me was that there was absolutely nothing to worry about. The complex was on the up and up.

Tenants went missing. Recorded as absent. Just scheduling matters.

I did my first round of the complex. Everything was in order.  But not the same as looked after. 

Repairs had been completed by my predecessor before I took the complex over. Carefully enough - to settle any arguments. Some areas were clean, but never used, as if purposely kept that way. 

Oh, it was maintained. Functional. But not comfortable. 

At least, not for the soul. 

The tenants showed great gratitude for my work - as if I was continuing it for the other guy. I hadn't known him. 

But when I asked who had done repairs before, they wouldn't say a word. 

I assumed it was that other guy. And left it there. 

Then, the calls. Too many of them. 

Mould. From the same unit. 

The mould appeared too often for coincidence to explain it. It had been gotten rid of - too many times. 

Why the same date?

Someone had kept the books in order - too much in order. 

The paperwork shouted "done." The building -silent. 

My role had already been decided before I started work. Just janitor. Caretaker. 

But my name wasn't there. The computer's records didn't show who had filled my role before. It was as if I had been just - slotted in. 

Every task had been recorded as completed. 

There was nothing urgent - at all. That was the gap. 

Nothing written about it - just assigned. 

Not concluded. 

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Original Microfiction Series by Michelle Liew Tsui-Lin. AI tags are coincidental.