Eight months ago, my sister May got a teaching job in a small town near our parents, so I decided that rather than renting another apartment, I’d buy a townhouse. It didn’t take me long to decide on my place after I settled on a location, but I did have to wait for my unit to be built, which was not exactly ideal. That said, it was worth the frustration. My twenty-two hundred square foot home is unique in lots of ways, but my favorite feature is the fact that, with the press of a button, a wall opens up in my living room, giving me indoor/outdoor living that looks kick-ass, especially with a view of the forest behind my place.
Settled at my outdoor table, I turn on the news for background noise while I eat my breakfast and scroll through emails on my phone. When I see that Maxim has written me back, I open it up and smile as I read his reply to the latest list of homes I sent him to look over.
April,
Though I appreciate your use of my entire budget, I have no desire to raise horses or cows on two hundred acres. I would also rather not be over thirty minutes from the nearest grocery store. What would happen if I needed to run out to pick up milk in the morning? I think you need to go back to the drawing board. We can talk about what you come up with next and catch up tomorrow evening over drinks.
Refusing to think about why the idea of coming face-to-face with him makes me nervous, I quickly email him back.
Maxim,
I would like to remind you that you didn’t like any of the homes I previously sent you. I believe your exact words were “I don’t want neighbors in case I decide to skinny dip or walk outside naked.” In regards to purchasing milk, there is a Dollar General ten minutes from that estate, where you can easily buy milk, or if you did decide to keep the cows, you could go out in the morning and get it fresh from the source. You could even do that naked, if you so desired. All that said, I aim to please, so I will continue to search for the perfect house for you.
As for drinks, I’m not sure that will be possible. I’ll let you know.
I press Send, then set my phone down and eat what’s left of my breakfast before going back inside to dump my dishes in the dishwasher and finish getting ready for work.
Forty-five minutes later, I pull up and park in front of the assisted living housing unit Harris and his wife Molly moved into a year ago when they got married, then shut down the engine and grab my bag off the passenger seat. I get out and head up to his front door, and before I can even ring the bell, I hear a loud bark, then a moment later the shuffling of feet before the door opens.
“A-pril.” Harris gives me his handsome smile, hugging me with one arm before opening the door to let me inside. Two years ago, I met Harris when I started working for his father’s realtor office, and it didn’t take us long to become fast friends. Before him, I had never met someone with Down Syndrome, but I learned quickly that people like him are more than just an extra chromosome and identifying facial features. He and his wife are two of the kindest people I have ever met in my life, and their positive outlook and determination to succeed despite having what most consider a disability only made me respect and love them more.
“Where’s Molly?” I ask, petting Ox, their black lab, before stepping around him.
“I- am here.” Molly comes around the corner, her smile as charming as her husband’s. “What are y-ou and my husband doing today?” she asks. They both have difficulties with certain words because of the anatomical differences in their mouth area due to their bonus chromosome, but I understand them perfectly.
“Just going to show some houses.” I follow the two of them into the kitchen and take a seat at the island. “Do you want to come with us?”
“No,” she answers simply. “My mom is coming over w-ith groceries. She goin-g to help me cook.”
“That’s fun.” I grin when her nose scrunches. “You don’t think so?”
“I… don’t like coo-king.”
“But you like eat-ing,” Harris says, smiling at her.
“So do you.”
“I’m a growing boy.” He holds his round belly, and she and I both laugh along with him, then he looks at the clock. “We need t-o leave.”
“You’re right.” I look at Molly. “If you want to escape, call my cell, and we’ll come over and rescue you from cooking,” I tell her, and she smiles.
“Thank you.” She gives me a hug when I stand, then kisses and hugs her husband.
When we get out to my car, Harris gets into the passenger seat, and like he always does, he changes my music to his. “Are you trying to put me to sleep?” I whine playfully.
“Frank is classic.”
“Classically boring.” I sigh dramatically, enjoying his laughter. “Are you ready to sell some houses today?” I put my phone away after confirming which house our clients will be meeting with us first today.
“Yes, Molly wan-ts to go on vacation.”
“Oh yeah, where does she want to go?”
“The Bahamas.”
“Nice.” I turn to smile at him. “It’s beautiful there.”
“I… never went there before.”
“Well, let’s change that.” I press down on the gas, and he hoots, making me laugh.
“Shoot.” He whistles as we pull up in front of the first house on our list today. “This is nice.”
“It is,” I agree, pulling up the listing information on my phone and reading over it. When I see there is no one living at the address, I get out, and Harris follows me to the front door. “All right, do you want to turn on the lights down here or upstairs?” I ask after using the code to let us inside.
“Down here,” he says, already walking down a long hallway.
I head upstairs and go through each room, double checking they’re as they should be while flipping on the lights. I get downstairs just in time to meet our clients, then with Harris’s help, we walk them through every room, take them out to admire the in-ground pool, and go over the cost associated with the neighborhood, which they don’t balk at. Personally, I would never pay over seven thousand dollars a month for the use of a golf course. Then again, I would never buy a ten thousand square foot home, regardless of how beautiful it is, unless I was planning on filling each room with a child. And ten kids would be eight kids too many for me.
By the time we finish showing them around, they ask us to put in an offer for twenty thousand over the asking price. A year ago, that would have surprised me. Now, it’s not even a little shocking. Homes are hard to come by, and buyers learn fairly quickly that if they love a house, they need to put in an offer, or it will be gone by morning.
Once I write it up, Harris and I take off to our next showing, and by the time the day comes to an end, we have three offers out to sellers, which means his trip to The Bahamas is even more possible than it was this morning. When I drop him off a few hours later, I can tell he’s exhausted, so I walk him to his door, say a quick hello to Molly and her mom, then take off.
Unlike Harris, I have no one to get home to, I just have work to keep me occupied until I call it a night. And even though I tell myself that I’m not lonely I know, deep down, that I am.
Chapter 2
April
I WALK INTO Frank & More and stop in front of the receptionist, trying not to get annoyed with the pretty blonde behind the shiny counter when she doesn’t even acknowledge my presence. As I listen to her talk to someone who is obviously a guy she hooked up with a few nights ago and not a client, I fight the urge to reach over and hang up the call. If I weren’t here for a listing, I would do it. After what feels like minutes but is probably seconds, she tips her head back my way and covers the receiver, plastering a plastic smile on her face.