Page 2 of Walk the Line

I still have a few more houses to go check after this one anyway; thought I’d get it all in on the same day so I don’t have to keep doing a back and forth situation here in Wild during my summer.

This next house is looking promising, which is why I’ve already made some preemptive plans for it, if I find that it’s what I think it is. If not, then I better say yes to any of the ones I’ll be checking out after.

This letting agent needs to hurry up though. I have no business standing out here with the sun beating down on my skin no matter where I go. It’s not even wise to complain about the heat when winter is bad.

But then again, I complain about everything.

“Julius?”

I turn to find a man who is probably what I would imagine a letting agent called Greg would look like.

“Yeah, that’s me,” I say.

“Sorry I’m a little late. Just got caught up with a few things but we can head inside now if you’re ready.”

“Yeah, I’m definitely ready.”

I’m already at the door, so he catches up and turns the key in the lock.

The house does have a fresh smell. It’s the first thing that greets me so I’ll give it that.

“Okay, so let me tell you a little bit about the house while we make our way in,” Greg begins. “It’s one of a few that have just made it to the market, with some of the others being a little further away. It’s a new build, all furniture and amenities are new. The rent is five hundred and twenty five pounds a month for a non student and three hundred pounds a month for a student because it’s open to all. There are four bedrooms and two bathrooms. Two bedrooms upstairs and one downstairs, one bathroom upstairs and then one downstairs.” He faces me. “I remember in our initial conversation you said you had already spoken to someone about your interest in the house, right?”

“Yeah, I think when I first saw the house, it was listed with another letting agency. The guy I spoke to, he took me on a tour over the phone and I told him I wanted to reserve the biggest room at the top. But the landlord switched letting agency and he agent told me he would let update the new agency about my reservation.”

A nervous look crosses his face. “Ah, I see. So that was unfortunately never communicated with us at any point, so we actually…we do have someone who has moved in already. Just today, actually, but their room is the top room in question, unfortunately.”

“They moved in today?”

“Yes.”

I sigh. “It’s annoying that wasn’t communicated.”

He looks kind of nervous as he says, “We definitely would have helped you out if we knew.”

I like things to go the way that I planned, and getting that room was one of them.

But I’m not about to kick up a fuss about it, especially to this guy.

I get the topic back on track by asking, “But the other three rooms are still available, yeah?”

“They are, but we do have a number of viewings now booked in, so I do think the remaining rooms will get claimed quickly. This is the hallway,” he says, which is the moment I realise we’ve only walked a few feet into the house. “Then we have one bedroom right here so that gives a view to the parking area outside and anyone coming to the front door from that side.” I step inside the room, letting myself visualise living here, before I catch up with the agent. “If we go a little bit down here, we have another bedroom here. It’s a little smaller than the one occupied upstairs and a little bigger than the one you’ve just seen.” Walking into the bedroom I’m met with a wave of something I don’t recognise yet. “Then just over here we have the kitchen, which as you can see is very spacious with all fresh new equipment and appliances. You’ve got your fridge and freezer, stove, microwave, and then there’s also the boiler in here, just in case you need to take a look at it at some point. Then outside the kitchen just over here in this little room, you have your washer and dryer, and a small storage room here. If you — Oh, one second,” he says, as he looks down at his ringing phone. “It’s the Landlord for this place calling me actually. I’ll just go outside and take this really quickly, but feel free to still have a look around as you please. Just knock if you wish to see the bedroom on the top right as that’s the one that’s in use already.”

With those final words, Greg heads outside, closing the door behind him. I see the garden out there, which tracks with the video tour I’ve already had. I might as well go out there before I head upstairs, although questions run through my mind as to whether I even need to do that. There was something about the room I was just in that seems to be enough for me. There would be one extra available room to check out upstairs, which is feeling like a waste of time at this point.

Maybe I’m just trying not to go up there because I there’s already someone living in one of the rooms, and I don’t intend on talking to many other people today even if they’re my potential roommates. I’ve reached my quota for socialising for the day, that’s for sure. I can only take what I’ve endured so far today and it’s even too much, so no way I’m adding any more. Not to mention the just reduces the heat for most conversations that have no importance in my eyes.

I place my hand on the garden door, working my fingers to twist and open it, but before I know it a noise from behind grabs my attention I’m quickly flipping around to catch who I’m guessing is Greg.

“What the fuck?”

Yeah, this doesn’t look like Greg to me.

The last time I checked, no letting agent I’ve seen today had dark brown skin that glowed against tight shorts and figure hugging T-Shirt. I’m usually the one who has to look down to people, but the woman before me stands at almost my height, which makes it impossible for me to miss the glare in her eyes.

“What the fuck are you doing?” she repeats and it’s only now I realise I haven’t said anything since she walked in and instead I’m standing here staring and probably looking like some kind of creep. Now that I’m paying attention, it’s pretty hard to miss the stick in her hand.

“I’m going to assume you’re the tenant,” I say.