Rando In the House!

RANDO IN THE HOUSE!

“He’s not your friend?”  

“No, man. I’ve never seen him before. I thought he was your friend.”

“No. Not me.”  

Jake and Aaron stared at the mysterious man standing in the living room, chatting up Ava, Aaron’s partner.

“You didn’t invite him?” asked Jake.  

Aaron shot him a look. “Dude, if I don’t know him, how could I invite him?”

Jake waggled his eyebrows. “He seems to be getting along really well with Ava.” He looked from Ava and the mystery man back to Aaron. “Maybe she invited him.”

Aaron crossed his arms across his chest. “She wouldn’t invite someone to the party without telling me.”

“You sure?”

Aaron was getting angry, now. “Shut up, man. Don’t be a dick.”

Jake put up his hands up. “Whoa! Just saying, Ava looks like she knows the dude, that’s all.”

Both men turned to watch the unknown guest lean into Ava, who was laughing at something he said.

“That’s it. I’m gonna find out who this guy is,” Aaron said, walking towards the living room. But just before he got there, the mystery man smiled at Ava and disappeared into the crowd.

Aaron watched the man make his way through the crowd as he walked towards Ava. “Who was that?” he asked.

Ava blinked, and considered Aaron’s question. “I have no idea. He said his name was Nick. Don’t you know who he is?” 

This was getting a little old. “No. I’ve never seen him before.” Aaron scanned the crowd, looking for the man, but had lost sight of him. “Why’d you think he’s my friend?”

Ava shrugged. “I dunno. Because he knew all about you—all about us. I thought he was someone you worked with.”

“Nope. Not me.”

Aaron and Ava had recently moved into their new home, renovating it while living in it. Instead of having a house warming party, they figured that since it was so close to Christmas, they would have a holiday party. They’d invited all of their friends and family, and had included a few of the neighbours they had gotten to know.

“Maybe he lives around here,” said Ava.

“I’ve never seen him around,” said Aaron, shaking his head. “I’ve met a bunch of the neighbours, and he’s not one of them.” Aaron continued to scan the guests looking for the mystery man.

Ava shrugged again. “Maybe he someone’s plus-one.” She looked at Aaron. “Who knows? Who cares? He’s not causing a problem. So, it shouldn't be a problem.” She looked towards the front door. “More guests! Gotta go greet them.” She walked away, leaving Aaron alone staring at the party happening around him.

He had to admit, Ava was right. Enjoy the party, don’t worry about one guy. But, damn it, the fact that the guy thought it was okay to crash his party was pissing Aaron off.

Ava walked by carrying a couple of coats. “Let it go!” she said heading into the office where they were keeping the guests’ outerwear.

Aaron decided that was best. Why ruin a party because of one guy? This was his home, his party, and he was going to enjoy the night. Except …

Aaron tried to move past it. He mingled with his guests. There had to be about fifty people, and they all seemed to be enjoying themselves. People were all over the house—in the living room, family room, basement rec room, and of course, the kitchen. What kind of party didn’t have a kitchen cèilidh going on during a get-together? And Ava was thrilled about the turnout—she loved a good party. Aaron would have been happy, except, you know … the guy.

Ava walked back to where Aaron was standing. “I’m so excited so many people came!” she gushed, looking at the crowd. “It’s so close to Christmas, I thought everyone would be busy!”

“People know you throw a mean party, sweetie,” said Aaron. He put his arm around Ava’s shoulder, and pulled her close. “You did a fantastic job planning. The food, the drink,” he nodded around the living room, “the decorations. It’s all fantastic.” 

Except there’s a party crasher around here somewhere, thought Aaron. Then he heard another voice, which sounded suspiciously like Ava’s saying, “Let it go.”

He at her. She smiled. “I know what you’re thinking about. That guy. He’s probably someone’s guest. It’s fine. Enjoy your party.” She kissed his cheek and went off to the kitchen to check on the food.

Aaron mingled. He found Buck and Emma, his neighbours who lived in the house to the left. They were retired, and had lived in their house forever. They were gushing over the great job on all the renos and upgrades that Arron and Ava had made to the house.  

“I really like what you did with the backyard,” said Emma, beaming. “That new patio and outdoor kitchen look amazing!” She said. “The previous owner, Zoya, wasn’t much into home maintenance. As you probably know.” she said, looking a little contrite for talking out of school.

Aaron smiled and chuckled. “Yeah, we figured that out, really quickly. A lot things were still original. Like the sixty amp aluminum wiring, the leaky pipes, the oil furnace and boiler, the newspaper used for insulation in the attic, the lead paint, the asbestos.”

The house had been a major fixer-upper. They finished the major systems before they had moved in—electrical, plumbing, HVAC. Now they were renovating one room at a time. But the pitiful shape the house had been in was the only reason they were able to get it so cheap. There was no way that they would have been able to afford the old Victorian if it had been in liveable condition.  

“Zoya lived her whole life in this house. Her parents had been the original owners, and Zoya raised her kids there. But she was a widow, and struggled to keep the place up. When her grandson, Nico, moved in we hoped that he’d help her maintain the place. But he never did a thing for Zoya, and the house suffered because of it.”

“After Zoya died, we were so relieved when the ‘For Sale’ sign went up on the lawn,” said Emma. “I was worried that the house would just sit empty and molder away. Or worse, Nico would inherit! Poor Zoya,” said Emma, shaking her head sadly. “Did you know that she wasn’t found for almost a week after she passed? She died in the back garden, but we couldn’t see her from our house because of all the weeds and bushes.”

“Emma!” said Buck. “Aaron doesn’t need to know that!”

Aaron smiled. “Our real estate agent told us what happened.”

Emma brightened up, looking at Aaron. “But, you bought it anyway, and are returning it to its former glory! So, thank you!”

Buck nodded. “I was worried that who ever bought the house would consider it a tear-down, and build something that wouldn't match the neighbourhood, like a McMansion, or one of those flat-roof modernist monstrosities!” He clapped Aaron on the shoulder. “Thanks for saving the old girl.” He paused. “And the property values!” 

The trio laughed.

“I can’t imagine anyone wanting to tear this beauty down,” said Aaron, looking around, smiling. He really loved the house. “There’s a ton of work that still needs to be done. It’ll take a while, for sure. But the bones are good, and the property is amazing. Ava and I are here for the long-haul.”

They talked about the ongoing renovations. Buck was particularly interested in the new HVAC system (who knew?) Aaron promised to have them over to show them all the work that they had done to bring “the old girl” back to her former splendour.

After he left Buck and Emma chatting with Ava’s parents, Aaron continued to mingle. He slid into a group of friends from school.

“Aaron! Great party!”

“Amazing, man. So cool!”

“Love the house! It’s amazeballs!

They talked about the house for a bit, and did a bit of reminiscing, Aaron made sure their drinks were topped up, and was moving on to the next group, when Allie, Jake’s sister cornered him and asked, “What about that Nick guy? He’s kinda cute.”

Aaron looked at her blankly, then he remembered Ava had said that the unknown guest’s name was Nick. “Why?” he asked.

“Well,” said Allie. “He asked me out, and I wondered if he was okay.” She smiled. “He seems okay, right?”

Aaron sighed. He’d had enough of “Nick” for one night. He needed to know who the dude really was, and why he was at their party. But, Allie first. “I have no idea if he’s okay. Ava and I don’t even know him. He just sorta wandered into the party.” Allie looked a bit crestfallen. “Allie, do you really want to go out with some rando who crashed a party? Does that sound smart?” He looked at her waiting for her answer.

“You’re right. Forget I even asked,” said Allie, returning to her friends.

Aaron decided that he was going to find out who this guy was. Right now. He started going from group to group, room to room, but no sign of Rando Nick, as Aaron had started to think of him.

He probably left, he thought. Aaron had to admit a part of him was a little bit disappointed, only because he really wanted to know about why the guy chose their party to crash. As he was returning to find Ava, his brother Cole stopped him.

“Hey." They bro hugged.  "We’re gonna hit the road.”

“Damn!” said Aaron. “We haven’t even had time to talk.”

“Don’t worry, bro. We’re coming over tomorrow. Jenna offered to help Ava with the clean up.”

"Cool." Aaron looked around. “Where is Jenna, by the way? You didn't send her out to warm up the car, did you?”

Cole laughed. “No. She went upstairs to get our coats. Ava put them in the spare room so that they’d be easy to find.”

“True! Have you seen the piles of coats in the office? Huge! You could hide a body in there under all those coats!”

They were laughing when Jenna appeared. Not carrying the coats.

Cole smiled. “Hey, babe, you, uh forgot something,” he said gently teasing her.

But she was not interested in Cole’s banter. She went up to Aaron. ‘There’s a guy upstairs in one of the bedrooms. I think he’s ransacking the place.”

Rando Nick! He knew it! “Where?”

“The room beside your bedroom.”

Aaron turned to leave. “Tell Ava,” he said, and ran towards the stairs.

He bolted up the stairs, taking them two at a time. At the top landing he stopped, listening. He could hear a commotion coming from the first room on the right. He tiptoed to the door. He looked around the corner. There was Rando Nick trying to pry the floorboards up in the closet.

Aaron stepped into the room.  “Whatcha doin’, bud?”

The man on the floor jolted, and looked up. “I, uh, dropped my, uh contact lens. I’m just looking for it.”

Aaron started walking towards the man. “And it fell between the floorboards, and that’s why you’re ripping up my floor?” Aaron shook his head. “I don’t think so. Get up. Hands behind your back.”

Ava walked into the room, and handed Aaron a set of handcuffs. “Thanks, babe.”

“What? You’re cops? No way! No one told me!” He looked at Ava. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Ava just stared at him, saying nothing.  

“Yeah, we’re cops,” said Aaron as he hooked Rando Nick’s up behind his back. “You chose the wrong place to burgle. Wanna tell us what you’re looking for?”

“No.”

“Fine with us. You are under arrest. It’s my duty to inform you that you have the right to remain silent, and not incriminate yourself. You have the right to counsel …”

Aaron continued to caution Rando Nick as he frog-marched him through the house to hand off to the officers Ava had called. When they got to the front room, Emma walked forward.

“Nico? What are you doing here?” she asked.

“Ha! I told you I saw him! You told me I was crazy!” said Buck. He squinted at Nico/Nick. “About time someone put a stop to all your shenanigans!”

*****

The next morning, Aaron and Ava were sitting at their kitchen table with Detective Terry Waits and Carlos Ito.

“So, what did he say?” asked Ava.

Ito shrugged. “He said that you invited him to the party, and the floor was already ripped up.”

“Yeah,” said Aaron. “And what about the crowbar he was using to pry up the floor boards?”

“Again, it was already in the room.”

“Fingerprints?” Asked Aaron.

“Only his.”

Aaron nodded. “We talked to the neighbours, Buck and Emma, last night after everyone left. Apparently, Nico or Nick, was in jail when his grandma passed. The lawyers sold the house and you took possession before he was out." He leaned in. "But, over the years Zoya told Emma there was something valuable hidden somewhere in the house, but she didn’t know where.  Zoya’s husband, Ivan, was a jeweller, and may have have kept some of the inventory at home in a hidden safe. At least that’s what she told Emma. In the last couple of months, when Zoya was really sick, Nick started tearing up the house looking for the lost treasure. Zoya called the cops on him. That’s why he was in jail.”

“Huh,” said Waits. “Was there anything under the floor boards?”

“Not that I could find. Just a lot of dust.” He shook his head. “Now we’ve got to figure out how to match the new boards to the old boards. Asshole ruined the floor!”

“Sorry on both counts, guys,” said Ito. “No treasure and a destroyed floor. That’s not cool.”

“Whatever,” said Aaron, looking extremely peeved. “If that asshole shows his face around here again, he’s gonna wish he was still in jail.”

Waits got up from the table. “I did not just hear you threaten a suspect.” She said, smiling at Aaron. “Time to clock out. It’s been a long night.” She looked at Ito. “Let’s roll.”

Ava and Aaron walked the detectives to the front door.

“We’ll let you know if there are any new developments,” said Ito as the detectives walked towards their unmarked.  

“Appreciate it,” said Ava.

Aaron and Ava watched the detectives drive away. When they were back inside Ava asked,  “Why didn’t you tell them? Terry and Carlos are our friends.”

Aaron just shrugged.