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Barry lived in a gated community filled with townhouses. His home’s architecture was unique enough that she found it easily. It was a two-story, modern new-build that had seemingly been built of cubes stacked over each other.
Geez! Does he live here alone? Awed by the size of the place, Xolani parked her car in the driveway just behind his truck.
Barry must’ve been waiting for her. As soon as she rang the doorbell, the front door flew open.
And there he was.
Unlike her, Barry had no problems wearing a t-shirt and sweatpants in front of guests. That was probably because he looked good in whatever he wore. The black tee stretched over his broad chest like it was just struggling to keep up with all the muscles. Meanwhile, his gray sweatpants were out there, tempting her with hints of his dick-print.
Now that she thought about it; maybe the outfit was a deliberate choice. He was trying to seduce her, wasn’t he?
He didn’t say ‘hi’. He just leaned against the doorjamb and looked her up and down. His hooded gaze and slow building smile made it clear that he liked what he saw. It left her feeling fluttery and warm. He used his head to wordlessly ask her to enter the house. With a nervous laugh, she did.
“Oh!” She gasped when she was immediately hit by a variety of delicious smells. “What smells so amazing?”
“I started on lunch.” He closed the door, then moved closer to give her a quick hug. Too quick. As he stepped back, he finally greeted, “Hi.”
“Hi.” She smiled back. “Thank you for inviting me over.”
“Thank you for coming over.” He bent over a rack filled with shoes, picked a pair of pink bunny house-slippers, and set them in front of her. “You can change into these.”
“Are these yours?” she asked with a laugh while handing him the wine and kicking off her vans. It was hard to imagine him parading around his house with such whimsical footwear.
“No.” He grinned sheepishly. “I bought them specifically for you.”
He’d bought them for her? So, he’d already been planning to invite her to his house even before today? Feelings that were as fuzzy as the slippers fluttered in her stomach. She couldn’t help smiling as she followed him into the house.
They walked past a stairway to get to the living room.
Xolani loved her place with all her heart, but if someone asked her to move into this house for free, she wouldn’t even blink before packing her bags.
The living room was what dreams were made of. It was spacious and well-lit, with décor that was moody and masculine. The charcoal gray drapes matched the tall wall-to-wall bookcase that covered one wall. The bookcase had books on all subjects from fiction to encyclopedias, self-help guides to textbooks… it had it all.
A long, brown leather couch dominated the center of the room. It was flanked by armchairs with white cushions and whose dark-wood bones were exposed. A plush gray and white carpet covered most of the room to stop just a few inches from the wall where the TV was.
If the size of one’s TV determined how much one loved to watch it, then Barry could be classified as a TV addict. His TV was huge; so huge it would’ve fit perfectly in a home theater, so huge there was no space below it for a TV unit. His gaming equipment and remote controls were on the large, dark-wood coffee-table in front of the couch.
To the right of the living room was the dining room. A long, rectangular, glass dining table, with eight artistic wood seats surrounding it, occupied most of the space. A trio of industrial-style pendant lights hung low over the dining table.
There were doors on both sides of the dining room. To the right were French doors with frosted glass. The doors were open; revealing that behind them was the kitchen.
The kitchen itself was decorated in the same dark, moody style as the rest of the house. The dark green cabinets complimented the dark-wood island, and the white farmhouse sink matched the pure white counters. Two of the three pots on the island’s electric stovetop were bubbling. They were clearly the source of the delicious smells in the house.
To the left of the dining room were clear, sliding doors that looked out to the backyard. From where she was standing, Xolani could see outdoor furniture, a fire pit, and a small swimming pool.
“This is beautiful,” Xolani complimented as she opened the sliding doors to get a better view of the backyard. “You have an amazing place.”
“It better be amazing.” Barry, who was behind her, set the wine on the dining table. “It’s costing me all my organs.”
“Why do you have such a big place?” she asked. But on realizing how rude she sounded, she quickly added, “I’m not saying that you shouldn’t. Just that you’re single. Isn’t it lonely living in such a big place?”
“I’ve always liked a lot of space… trauma from being squeezed with other people all my childhood,” he said. And before she could unpack that loaded sentence, he added, “Besides, I consider this an investment. It will almost certainly appreciate in the future. If I ever want to move, I can sell it for a chunk and have enough to buy a new place plus leftover. I’d rather pay more now than later.”
“That makes sense,” she said with a smile.
Barry immediately noticed. “What’s the smile for?”
“I just realized how smart you are.” She explained, “When I was buying my place, all I cared about was not paying rent. I should’ve come to you for advice.”
