Love For The Holidays

Chapter 3

Three

Frances

I checked the address on my phone against the number hanging next to the black front door. The little dead pot plant under the window and the row of doorbells confirmed that it was largely a student residence.

Confident that I found the place, I messaged Ivy that I was here. While I waited for her to let me in, I took a good look at the street. I liked the location, it was only a short bike ride to my campus and my favourite bar, Rainbow Central, was only a ten-minute walk away. Fifteen, when drunk.

The door shrieked open and revealed a much more casually-clothed Ivy. She shot me a pretty radiant smile as she invited me in. “Hey, you made it.”

“I did. Nice shirt,” I commented, gesturing to the colourful flowers on her blouse. If I remembered correctly, there’d been flowers on her dress when we met too.

“Thank you. Come on up.”

She preceded me up the narrow, winding stairs and I briefly wondered how anyone could get furniture up here. As we continued on, I made a conscious effort not to stare up Ivy’s ass either. Beyond being impolite, that was not a good way to start a housemate arrangement. From what I heard from Jenna, she was straight anyway so more reason not to check her out.

After two sets of stairs, Ivy opened the door to the loft and let me in. The flood of natural light instantly caught my attention as I stepped into the flat. The open plan living area was spacious with a weathered dark-leather couch arranged in front of a tv and a small kitchen to the side. The hardwood floors looked like they’d be pleasant to walk on with bare feet and I liked the large skylight at the front of the room.

“Wow, nice,” I commented, slowly taking in all the features.

“So this is the living area,” Ivy added, gesturing around. “Pretty self-explanatory. Jenna and I spent a lot of time in here but we’re also best friends. The rooms are big enough if you’re more of a private person.” She waved me along to the right side of the flat, opening one of three doors. “Bathroom. Toilet, sink, shower, no bath.”

I shrugged. “I don’t like baths.”

“Perfect. And then over here, the room.” She brushed past me to open the second door and I caught a faint whiff of her perfume. Floral, no surprise there.

She stepped away so I could have a look. I stopped in the middle, taking in the room, not that there was much to take in. The eggshell white walls looked clean and there was ample space for a double bed, a desk, and maybe some shelving. The large window outlooking the street was the best feature, no doubt.

“I like it,” I voiced, pleasantly surprised by the place. While I’d have preferred to move in with my friend, this was better than returning to my parents. And as much as I enjoyed living with my best friend and her girlfriend, I was starting to feel like I was intruding on their lives. “So rent is…”

“Three-hundred a month, that included utilities. The contract is until the beginning of August, but you can get out if you pay rent until we find someone to move in.”

“That’s not bad.” With another look at the wooden beams, I nodded. “Yeah, not bad at all. You spoke of other candidates so are there other applicants or…”

“No. I mean, I interviewed other people but they were weird,” Ivy responded. “One girl asked whether she could walk around naked and someone else wanted to know how I felt about him growing weed in a kitchen cabinet.”

I chuckled. “So no nudism and no horticulture. Got it.”

A smile curled around the other girl’s lips. “You can grow other things, just of the legal sort.”

“You don’t have to worry about that, I don’t have green thumbs.”

“But you like coral?”

“Corals are animals,” I corrected her gently.

She slapped her forehead and chuckled. “Right, of course. I knew that, I’m just nervous. Sorry.”

“No, I get it. Finding a new housemate is stressy.” I followed her back into the living room, already feeling surprisingly comfortable. “Sounds like I’ve got fierce competition.”

Ivy laughed as she settled at the rectangular kitchen table. She gestured to the chair across before getting up again. “I should’ve offered you something to drink. Tea? Coffee?”

“Just some water,” I answered as I pushed my legs under the checkered tablecloth.

“You sure? I’ve got some lemonade as well, I think.”

“Water is fine.”

“Healthy,” she commented as she grabbed me a glass and filled it at the tap. “Are you generally a healthy person?”

“Hmm, not overtly. I jog every now and then… I often end up ordering pizza after though,” I admitted.

“Ah, a girl after my own heart.” Ivy handed me the water and sat down opposite me, fiddling with her own glass. “So… Is there anything else you’d like to know?”

“Can I bring my aquarium?”

“Umm. Sure. Why not.”

“Great. That’s all I want to know.” I looked around the place and nodded. “Yeah. I could see myself living here.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

Ivy seemed a little unsure but not necessarily in a bad way. She flattened the tablecloth and smiled. “Okay. Alright. I guess we’re doing this then? When would you want to move in?”

“When can I move in?”

“Well, the room is empty so as soon as you want. It’s the middle of the month so we’ll just calculate rent based on the days left.”

I nodded. The whole ordeal felt surprisingly anticlimactic and I wasn’t sure why. I’d just found a place to live that was affordable and in a great location. I should be over the moon and celebrate, but I wasn’t sure if that was the right mood for the moment.

With a little finger drum on the table, I hoped to break some of the awkward tension. “Great. Great, great, great. I guess you should send me the contract and we’ll make things official and stuff? I’ll have to ask some of my mates to help but I should be able to move in next week.”

“Yeah, sounds good! Alright. Awesome.”

With a smile, I got up from the table. First meetings and arrangements like this were always awkward but they better get more comfortable quickly. I wanted to feel at ease in my own home.

Funny. This was my new home.

No, I shouldn’t get too attached. That happened with Kim’s place and that didn’t turn out well. I would only allow myself to imprint once the paperwork was signed.

Ivy escorted me to the door. “I’ll send the contract your way. It’s pretty standard but if there’s anything unclear, let me know. You can sign digitally. Do you know how?”

“Yup, that’s fine.” I lingered at the entrance. “Oh, could you send me the dimensions of the room as well? I want to make sure everything I want to bring fits.”

“Of course.” Ivy ran a hand through her strawberry blonde hair. “I guess I’ll see you soon then.”

I chuckled. “You will. See you soon.”