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"Uh, yes," answered Sam, a little bewildered. "I saw the advert and was hoping it was still available?"
"Sure!" replied Vikki brightly. "The advert went in only yesterday so you're actually the first to call. It'd be great to meet you. You free at the weekend? How about three o'clock, that good for you?" Her voice was pleasant and assertive. Sam liked the sound of her – she'd been worried that she'd get off to a wrong start with this potential new friend.
She was also caught a little off-guard by Vikki setting the time. "Let me just double-check," she said, catching her phone on her shoulder and grabbing her diary from by her bed. Another short burst of static came through the phone whilst she flipped pages.
"Woah, I have got to sort that out, apologies! It's some work I brought home with me, I'm in computers and sometimes you need to make it work at home to meet your deadline." Vikki didn't sound that sorry, but Sam found she didn't mind all that much. She knew what it was like to end up bringing work home.
"Right," said Sam. "Three o'clock is fine by me. What's the full address?" As Vikki read out the full details, along with a little bit of information about the best way to get there, Sam noted it all down. "Thanks, Vikki, see you Saturday."
"Looking forward to it. See you Saturday!"
Sam was delighted to find, a few minutes later, that Vikki had texted over the details of the address to make sure she'd got it correctly. She appreciated someone with that kind of attention to detail and care for others.
***
Come Saturday, Sam found herself in a minor quandary about what to wear. Professional? Relaxed? Comfortable? She knew that first impressions were important and had got it in her head that this was a good opportunity. She also knew from previous experience that she was unlikely to be the only person viewing the flat, and wanted to make sure she succeeded.
"The hell with it," she said out loud in her room. "With my luck, the other person will be a cute guy. Let's take a chance on it."
One pair of tight black jeans, high quality dark blue buttoned crop-top showing just a little bit of stomach and a fair amount of cleavage, knee length black boots and freshly-washed hair tied back in a long pony-tail later, she set out. The weather forecast had predicted a warm day for late April and the sun warmed her arms and face as she caught the Tube. Something at the back of her head wondered that she'd dressed herself more for a date than a house viewing, but she ignored it. A half-hour later, she was outside the door of her potential new home.
It looked good from the outside. Fresh-ish paint, tidy (if tiny) front garden, no rubbish cluttering up the front porch. Sam stepped up and pressed the doorbell.
The woman answering the door was a couple of inches shorter than Sam. Dark hair tied back in two pigtails, breasts that Sam couldn't help but with the way they were pushed out at her in a very short red top, and bare feet at the end of her leggings. Her gaze flicked over Sam from top-to-bottom and she grinned, extended her hand and said "Hi, I'm Vikki! Please to meet you! Come in!"
Shaking hands, Sam stepped into the house, past Vikki and into a short hallway. Vikki pointed off to one side, closing the door, and gestured for her to go through. Stepping through the open door, Sam found herself in a decent-sized lounge area. Three-person sofa, spare armchair, TV stand and a bookcase to one side holding DVDs, books and CDs. A mirror over the fireplace. Looked well cared for. Vikki went and planted herself in middle of the sofa, before immediately bouncing back up.
"You look warm, such a nice day today with the sun. Want a drink? Make yourself comfortable on the chair and I'll be right back. Haven't got anyone else in today so there's no rush." Leaving Sam no time to answer she bustled through another door.
Sam sat carefully in the armchair and found it extremely comfortable, soft without being the kind of chair you were worried about being able to get out of. As she always did in a new house, she glanced along the bookshelves to see what she could work out. Mostly well-known films and books, couple of ones she hadn't heard of. On the stand by the TV was a DVD case left open for a film called "Secretary". There was also what looked like some kind of technical manual on the sofa armrest.
Vikki nudged the door open and emerged from the kitchen holding two glasses. She reached across and passed one to Sam.
"Cheers!" she said, raising the glass. "Here's to sunny days."
Sam smiled back and sipped the Coke. She had been a little warm and appreciated the gesture. There was something ever-so-slightly odd about the taste, but then for all she knew it was own-brand Cola from a supermarket, so she ignored it.
"So, to business," said Vikki. "The basics you already know, about the rent and so on. We've got WiFi throughout and all is included in the monthly rent, due on the 1st of each month. It's me and Laura at the moment after the last flat-mate moved out about a week ago. I'm sure you'd like to look around and we'll do that in a minute. Any immediate questions?"
"Is Laura around today? I did wonder about the other person I'd potentially be sharing with and it'd be good to meet her before making a decision."
"She's a little busy but I'm expecting to see her soon. You could say she's a little tied-up at the moment." Vikki glanced up at a clock on the wall. "Yeah, she should be around in about half an hour or so."
Sam asked "I see the technical manual on the armrest there. What sort of job do you have, if you don't mind?"
"I think I said, I'm in computers, mostly software. Actually, this is a really good time to mention this, and I hope you don't mind but I'd really like to test this out. My area of work is in augmented reality."
"Uh, I don't know what that means."
Vikki reached down to the side of the sofa and picked up what looked at first glance like a large set of goggles. The strap had some sort of what looked like earphones dangling from it on each side. Sam couldn't see through the lenses. However, by the way Vikki handled them, the goggles had to be fairly light in weight.
"Right, now I know this looks a little weird but trust me. Augmented reality means doing something with electronics and computers to provide additional stimulus on top of what you're already experiencing. These goggles, for example, provide both additional auditory and aural stimulus."
Sam looked blankly at her. "My experience of computers is going on the internet and buying books or using social sites. You're going to have to back up a step."
Vikki smiled. "Of course! Look, I may as well just show you as try to explain it – it's really obvious once you see it for yourself. Let me put these on you." She pushed herself up from the sofa and moved over to Sam, bringing the goggles with her.
Sam couldn't see any reason to say no and allowed Vikki to reach around her head and fit the strap just over her ears. The goggles fitted neatly over her eyes and were well padded and surprisingly comfortable. They acted like sunglasses a little bit, making the room slightly darker.
