The Private Serials Box Set(61)
“I knew Hawaii was an expensive place to live, but this is a little daunting,” she said, taking a sip from her latte.
“Yeah, I know what you mean. Some of the single listings are a little scary. I don’t mind living alone, but when I think of what kind of place I could get for fifteen hundred dollars back home…” My voice trailed off as I thought about the tall apartment buildings in Portland.
“Where are you from?”
“Oh, uh, Portland, Oregon.” Her question had caught me off guard. In fact, most everything caught me off guard these days. It was hard to trust people because I’d learned that I obviously was a terrible judge of character. I wasn’t sure I wanted to share personal information with her.
“I’ve heard great things about that place,” she said with a smile, then turned back to her phone. “Oh, here’s a good one. It’s close to the bus line, utilities included, new carpets, and walking distance to the beach! And it’s in the area you wanted, too.” She looked back up at me. “Wanna go check it out?”
“How much is the rent?”
“Fourteen.”
I sighed. But then I straightened my shoulders. It was time to bite the bullet. I didn’t want to live in squalor, so I was going to have to pay a lot for an apartment. Hopefully, once my paychecks started coming in, it wouldn’t seem like such a burden. “I guess we have to start somewhere.”
“Great! Let’s go.”
Thirty minutes later, we found ourselves outside a building that looked like it housed about ten individual apartments. It looked cozy. I imagined everyone who lived there knew each other’s names and borrowed cups of sugar from one another. They kept an eye out for their neighbors and baked them cookies. I could use something like that in my life.
A very round, short, balding man met us out front.
“Hi, I’m Becky and this is Lena. We called about looking at the available apartment.”
“Sure thing, ladies. This way,” he said, motioning to the building behind him, walking toward a small staircase at the side. Once upstairs, he let us into an apartment and my eyes took in the empty dwelling.
It was beautiful. It had a ton of natural light, it was clean, and it embodied the cozy feel I’d picked up from the building on the outside. I walked into the living room and looked out the big picture window and all I saw was blue: blue sky and blue ocean.
“Lena, this place is perfect.”
I smiled at Becky because she was right; it was gorgeous and perfect. There had to be some sort of catch. I wandered down the hall, which led to the bedroom. It was spacious and had the same beautiful view as the living room. I looked through the rest of the apartment, not finding anything to complain about. There was even a washer and dryer in a little closet right off the bathroom.
“I’m a little surprised. Is there something I’m missing? Why is this place even still available?”
The man shrugged. “I just listed it yesterday. They do tend to go fast, though.”
“Lena, if you don’t take it, I might have to,” Becky said with a friendly smile.
“You’re both looking?”
“Yeah, we both just moved here.”
“Well, this is the only one bedroom I have available, but there’s a two-bedroom unit just next door. Nearly same floorplan, just an extra bedroom on the back end. One bathroom. That one has furniture in it you can use if you’d like. Rent’s twenty-two hundred.”
Becky’s eyes got big as she turned to face me. “That’s only eleven hundred each!” She turned back to the landlord. “Can we see the two bedroom as well?”
“Sure,” he said with a shrug. I followed, but my shoulders tensed and I got an empty feeling in my stomach. I didn’t know Becky, and I thought it was a little strange that she wanted to share an apartment with me. I could be a serial killer for all she knew, or she could be one.
We walked next door, and sure enough, the two bedroom was just as beautiful as the one. It did have some furniture: one couch, a coffee table, a queen-sized bed in each bedroom, and some end tables. It wasn’t much, but it was more than I had in the world. Becky was practically jumping up and down with excitement.
“What do you think, Lena?”
“Are you sure you really want to live with someone you just met?”
She laughed a little and then smiled. “What’s the difference between living with you or living with someone I meet on craigslist? I need a roommate, regardless of who it is, and you seem way more normal than some of the people I’m sure post their vacancies on the internet.”
She had a point. I had considered meeting people from the internet and looking for a roommate that way. This, meeting her just yesterday and now looking for a place to live together, just seemed a little too convenient. However, my mind started focusing on the price. My brief research had shown eleven hundred dollars for a place this nice, with a washer and dryer, this close to the ocean, was a steal.
“I don’t know…”
“Want me to agree to a background check? Want a drug test?” She asked the questions, but it was obvious she was joking. “Lena, honestly, if you’re uncomfortable, I get it. It’s just a really great deal. If you don’t want to room with me, I’ll just get the two bedroom and look for a roommate myself. But I’d rather just room with you. You’re the first friend I made on this island.”