Haunted Savannah

Chapter Twelve: Model Swap

Even though she’d texted her landlord on Saturday, it wasn’t until the following Friday that he finally had time to check in on her little doorbell issue. By then, it felt more like a ginormous issue, as it had been plaguing her with more and more frequent ringing.

Savannah had always been a solid sleeper; the kind who could sleep straight through the night and late into the morning if nothing woke her. Unfortunately, the doorbell didn’t seem to understand sleep schedules, and had no qualms about ringing every couple hours throughout the night on both Wednesday and Thursday. On those two days, she got better sleep in her classes than she did in her own bed, as most of her Professors didn’t care whether or not their students paid attention. It was their money, if they wanted to spend it sleeping instead of putting in work, that was their business.

Savannah managed to drag herself out of bed, where she had been laying awake and tracing the cracks in her ceiling, when her alarm let her know that it was nearly time for her appointment with the landlord. It had been a long six days, but from some of the landlord experiences her friends shared, she knew that she was lucky to receive such a prompt response. It was hard to feel grateful when she was running on three hours of sleep snatched in bits and pieces, and a big cup of coffee, but she thought she ought to at least make herself look presentable. It would only be worse if she scared the landlord off before he could fix her doorbell.

When the knock finally came, a fully dressed Savannah Rink answered the door. She hadn’t bothered with make up, as she didn’t think she owned enough concealer to cover the bruise-colored bags under her eyes, but she did manage to fix a smile onto her lips as she greeted her landlord.

Kevin was a short, trim man in his early thirties, with shoulder length blonde hair and a tan that gave him the look of a surfer - though Savannah and nearby Tybee Island weren’t really known for big waves. He was a former student who - after graduation - decided to stick around. At the time, he finished up his degree there were few opportunities in the arts, but plenty of opportunity in flipping or fixing up old antebellum homes and turning them into income properties. He now owned several houses on the block where Savannah lived, and even a small brick apartment building on Bull Street.

“Well, don’t you just look like death warmed over.” Kevin said, shaking his head a bit at her wan appearance. He had that casual, girl-friend style rudeness down to a T, and exercised it at will and with equal opportunity. He was generally good natured, though, so Savannah didn’t mind.

“And don’t I feel like it.” Savannah replied, the bitterness creeping into her voice, as well as her expression - her lips pressing into a flat, straight line.

“Sorry, I would have made time if I knew it was going to be this-” as Kevin spoke, the doorbell rang, cut itself off with a garbled tinkle, then rang a second time. “Bad…”

He looked up, then around, trying to gauge where the sound was coming from, and shook his head when he couldn’t place it. The cement floor and high ceiling let the sound bounce around the studio in odd ways.

“Huh. All right, that is disconcerting.” Kevin said, then nodded to himself. “I’ll take a look. You don’t have to stick around if you have somewhere to be. I can lock up.”

Savannah didn’t really have anywhere to be, but decided that anywhere that didn’t have a possessed doorbell would be a step up. She grabbed her purse, and headed out, leaving Kevin to exorcise whatever electrical issues were causing her doorbell to behave so erratically.

It was a beautiful morning in the city, the weather having finally gone cool. Savannah was glad she had the forethought to throw a sweater on over her thin t-shirt, and tucked her hands into her pockets as she walked down the sidewalk, skipping over the cracks as she went. 

She looked up, enjoying the feel of the sun on her face, and noticed that the trees seemed to have caught on to the change in weather, some of them beginning to show the faintest yellow - though not the live oaks, as they were evergreen. Unlike in Florida, where fall was a two week period between Summer and Christmas, autumn in the low country managed to stick around for a few months. It was a blessed reprieve from the oppressive southern heat, which Savannah had been looking forward to all year.

Although she hadn’t been planning on going for another coffee, having finished her second cup just moments before Kevin got to her apartment, her feet led her to the Sentient Bean of their own accord. Before she knew it, she was walking into the coffee shop, and breathing in the heady aroma of fresh ground coffee and scalded milk. She perked up at the sight of Mario, who gave her a friendly wave. 

 though his expression turned to one of concern when she approached to make her order.

“Anna, are you all right? You look like finals have started, and barely only midway through the semester.” Mario said, leaning over to get a better look at her. 

“I’m all right, it’s been a rough few days. My doorbell is broken and has been ringing non stop.” Savannah said, looking a little embarrassed. She yawned, shielding her mouth with the back of her hand, before continuing, “Ahhhm, nnn...Sorry. But yeah, the landlord’s looking at it now so hopefully I’ll be able to get some sleep tonight.”

“Coffee’s on me today, mi cariña.” Mario said, giving her a tender smile that did more to warm her up on the inside than the coffee was about to. “I’ll add an espresso shot too.”

“You’re the best, Mario.” Savannah moved to the end of the long counter, and waited patiently as the barista prepared her caffeinated goodness.

She watched him make her drink, and tried to do so without being too obvious that she was also checking him out. Being inexperienced at circumspect ogling, she was only partially successful at this. His uniform of a black shirt and pants with a dark blue apron over the top of it wasn’t exactly fetching, but the light stubble on his square jaw and the clean fade of his hairline was. He’d even styled his hair, which was medium brown with subtle blonde highlights, so that it had a lightly tousled texture - as if to say he woke up looking this good. Savannah found herself wishing that she could find out if that was true or not, and bit her lip at the thought. She quickly forced her eyes to shift away lest he notice the lust in them.

“You know, I am pretty good at what I do.” Mario said, raising his voice a bit so she could hear him over the loud hissing sound of the milk frother. “I’ve even got it on good authority that the collection I’m working on is going to be selected for the fall fashion show at the end of the semester.”

Savannah gave him a suitably impressed look, distracted from her thirsty thoughts as she replied, “Really? That’s fantastic.”

“It is.” Mario said, pressing the lid onto her coffee cup. He slid the stopper into place as he continued, “Perhaps I can interest you in modeling for me? For the runway show, I mean…”

Savannah’s eyes widened and she felt herself color up as she sputtered, “Me? Seriously?”

“You’ve got a pretty face and good figure…” Mario said, eyeing her appreciatively - and not in the clinical way that an artist might eye their model when trying to find where the darkest shadows and brightest highlights fall. 

“And you have such striking red hair. Perfect for this outfit I’ve planned… I made the sketch with you in mind, actually.”

Savannah’s blush crawled down her neck, and she fought to find something sensible to reply with. Her eyes landed on the flyer for the painting contest, and a thought clicked into place.

“I’ll do it if you’ll model for me too. For the portrait painting contest.” Savannah said, motioning to the flyer.

“You want to paint me like one of your Spanish boys?” Mario asked, lifting an eyebrow, the reference not lost on Savannah.

“Mario! No, I-” Savannah sputtered and looked around, horrified that someone might have heard his comment. Luckily for her, the coffee shop was fairly empty, the morning rush having ended an hour or so before.

“Relax, relax… I was just kidding. I’d be happy to model for you, though if you wanted me to model nude…” Mario said, laughing when she hissed at him from between her teeth.

“Oh, just give me that.” Savannah said, snatching her cup of coffee from his loose grip as she glared - though her glare came out more like a pout than anything. She was about as intimidating as a kitten. A damp, runty kitten. After a moment, she muttered, “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome, of course. And if you know any other cute girls who might want to model, let me know. Actually, I should give you my number.” Mario said, grabbing a napkin and pen to jot his phone number down on.

Savannah thought on this a moment, then her eyes lit up a bit as she said, “Ooohh, I think I do know a girl. My friend Marina is super cute, and I bet she’d love to model.”

“Really?” Mario said, sliding the napkin across the counter to her.

“Yeah,” Savannah said, taking the napkin and folding it so she could tuck it into her purse. “We’re going to the Rocko tonight, around seven, if you wanna join. I can introduce you.”

“Rocko? Is that the lounge on Whitaker?” Mario asked, wiping the counter down with a damp cloth.

“One and the same.” Savannah said with a nod.

“I’ll be there.” Mario replied easily. “Though I doubt this Marina could be cuter than you.”

Savannah nearly floated her way out of the Sentient Bean, high on sugary caffeine and even sweeter words.