AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Would you like me to wait for you?” he asks and turns the volume down on the cabbie radio he has mounted on the console.
“No, no. I should be fine. Thank you, though.” I pass him a couple of folded bills and climb out so I can retrieve my things. I’ll worry about how I’m going to get everything to my new place once I’m done signing my life away.
“May I help you?” A young woman looks up from a desk positioned against the far wall as soon as I walk inside.
“I’m here to see Jeff. I have an appointment with him.”
I’m not sure if it’s the blank look on the woman’s face or the way she struggles to meet my gaze, but something about this situation doesn’t feel right.
“Jeff is no longer with us,” she finally says. “Is there something I can help you with?”
“I just spoke with him yesterday. Perhaps I have his name wrong.” I lower my backpack and quickly unzip the front pocket where I shoved all of the important paperwork I thought I would need. Staring at all of it, I realize it would be simpler to just open up my email to the last correspondence I had with him. I’m pretty sure there’s one where we discussed the time we agreed to meet.
“Perhaps there’s something I can assist you with?”
“Look, right here.” I turn my phone so she can see the screen.
“Sir, I do apologize and I see what your email says, but Jeff hasn’t worked here in over a week.”
A week? How can that be?
“Am I still able to get the unit today? Someone else can help me with that, right? I’ve come all the way from Alabama, my plane just landed not even an hour ago, and I’m supposed to start my new job next week.”
“I can certainly show you one of the models. Were you looking at a one, two or three bedroom?”
“The furnished studio. I believe he said it was a lower level.”
The woman shakes her head. “I’m really sorry, but none of our units are furnished. I can recommend someone that leases furniture and other household goods, but none of them essentially come move-in ready. I know this isn’t what you want to hear—”
I take a step back and scrub my hands through my hair.Fuck! I am so fucked!The urge to puke right now is real.
“What would a one-bedroom run me?” I’m not opposed to sleeping on the floor. I’m not against eating on paper plates, either, if it’s the only choice I have.
“Our lower level units run—”
“I’m sorry, but what did you say?” I hate asking her to repeat the amount, as if hearing it the first time wasn’t painful enough.
“Why don’t you have a seat over there and let me make a phone call or two.”
At this point, I should take the money I was planning to use for my deposit and first month’s rent and buy myself a plane ticket back home. Obviously, I’m not cut out for living here.
“Say that again.”
“Yeah, can you believe that shit?” I push the sleeves up on my shirt and walk to the end of the sidewalk while I share my news with Troy. “The lady here has been super nice, though. She put me in touch with another place and it’s a little more than I want to pay, but the guy said he’d help me out by giving me extra time for the deposit.”
“What’s the catch? Why do I get the feeling you’re not telling me the whole story?” Troy asks.
“The tenants that are living there now aren’t leaving until the end of the month.”
“So, you’re looking at four weeks before you can move in?”
“Or longer. Depends on how much work needs to be done to the place.”
“Fuck!”
“Tell me about it.” I blow out a deep breath. Frustrated doesn’t even come close to describing the way I feel right now. “At this point, I don’t have any other options. I’m going to callRoyce McMurray next and see if they’ll allow a little more time before I’m supposed to start. It’s not like I planned for any of this to happen. And if they say no, then I guess I’ll come back home.”
“No, dude. Don’t think that way.”
