Chapter 21 (6/16/16)

“What do you mean?” Erica asked over the phone.  I could picture her face, puzzled.

“I mean that it was awful,” I whined.  “Seriously, so bad.  It seemed like he had no idea what he was doing.”  It was two days after my date with Mike ended in bedroom disaster, and I was only now getting a chance to tell Erica about it. 

“Maybe he was nervous?” Erica suggested.  “I mean, I’ve met him, and he doesn’t seem like the type to not know what he’s doing in bed.” 

“But he didn’t,” I told her.  “I guess he could have been nervous, but I don’t think nervousness is enough to make anyone completely forget that a thing called a clit exists, Erica.”

“Oh, that is bad,” she said.  “Well…” She trailed off, unable to complete her sentence.  We were both quiet for several seconds and then she said, “Are you going to give it another shot?”

“I like him otherwise,” I replied.  “He’s really funny, and he’s smart, and he’s really nice to me…Well, to everyone.”

“You didn’t answer the question, Jen.”

“Yeah, I will.  Maybe he was just nervous.  I shouldn’t get rid of someone just because of one bad round of sex, right?” I felt like I was trying to talk myself into it, and I probably was.

“No, not someone who is otherwise awesome,” Erica said firmly. 

I sighed and nodded, even though she couldn’t see me.  I was really disappointed that the sex with Mike had been awful.  You know how when it’s good, even if you don’t get off, you still enjoy yourself?  Yeah, there was none of that.  There was very little that was enjoyable at all.  Making out with him was fun, but that’s where it stopped. 

“Sorry, Jenna, I have to go,” Erica said, interrupting my self-pity party.  “John is going to be home soon and I have to figure out what we’re going to do for dinner.”

“Okay,” I replied.  “Well, I’ll let you know how round 2 goes.” 

We said goodbye and I got on with my evening, making myself some dinner and then eating and cleaning up the kitchen quickly.  I was eager to get back to my computer.  I had stopped returning Dan’s calls and texts (and he had only called once and texted once before he got the picture) but had just started talking to a new guy from the dating site, and so far he had my interest. 

I plopped onto the couch and opened my laptop.  After I logged into the dating site, I clicked around, looking at a couple profiles before I went to my messages.  I saw the guy I had been talking to was online, and we started chatting.  By the time I went to bed, we’d set up a date for Friday, and I also had scheduled a date with Mike for Saturday.

On Friday, I walked into the bar where I was supposed to meet Chris, the guy from the dating site.  I looked around, not recognizing anyone.  “Jenna?” I heard a tentative voice say, and my head snapped towards it.  “Hi!” said a person who looked vaguely like the pictures of Chris on the site…and I realized the pictures were taken about 5 years and 50 pounds ago.  He stood and I walked over.  He looked me up and down and then said, “You’re even prettier than your pictures!”

“Umm, thanks,” I said, thrown off by the fact that he barely looked like his at all.  “You do too,” I said automatically, quickly following it with an awkward laugh when I realized my mistake. 

Chris immediately started laughing hysterically.  “Well, I’ve never been told I was pretty before!” he said, laughing away. 

“Me neither,” I said.  I actually smacked my forehead when I realized what an idiot I sounded like.  I left my palm over my eyes for a couple seconds and hoped that Chris was laughing too loudly to have heard. 

“Anyway, I ordered you a drink!” Chris told me.  Everything he said sounded like he was incredibly excited about it.  “I didn’t actually know what you liked, so I just got you a gin and tonic, because everyone likes those!”

Everyone except for me, apparently.  I smiled politely and took a sip, forcing my face to stay neutral as I swallowed the disgusting concoction.  “How considerate,” I said, putting the drink down.

“You’re welcome!  I also ordered us an appetizer!  I hope you like shrimp!”  This date had only been going on for 5 minutes and it was already the worst date of my life. 

“Oh, great,” I forced out.  “You really thought of everything.  So, um, what do you do again?”

“I work in finance!” he replied proudly.  I tried my best to be polite and friendly, and he gladly droned on about his job for the next 20 minutes.  While he mentioned his 6 figure income several times, he didn’t even notice I’d barely touched my drink or the appetizer. 

When he got up to use the bathroom, I signaled to our waiter, who came over.  I shoved a $10 bill and my mostly full gin and tonic at him and said, “Can you take this and bring me back a vodka soda with a lime?  If you can make it happen before he comes back, you’ll be my hero.”  He gave me a knowing grin and hurried over to the bar.  I watched him lean over the bar and talk to the bartender, then he slid behind the bar and made the drink himself.  He returned with the drink and my change, which I waved off.  Just as he left the table, I saw Chris approaching from the bathroom.  I took a long drink out of my glass, relieved that it didn’t taste like Christmas. 

“Did you miss me?” he asked, sitting back down.  He didn’t wait for me to respond, just started laughing.  I took another long drink, closing my eyes so I didn’t roll them.  Now that I enjoyed my drink, it was gone within minutes.  “Waiter!” Chris called, spotting my empty glass.  “Waiter!” He waved at our waiter, making me cringe.  When he approached, looking bemused, Chris said, “Could you bring the lady another G and T?”  G and T?  Really?  I gave the waiter a weak smile as he strode away.

“You won’t have to wait long,” he assured me.  “People understand the importance of working quickly around people like me.”

“People…like you?” I asked, unable to hide my confusion.

He smiled at me and patted the back of my hand like I was a child.  “Important people who work with large sums of money,” he said slowly.  I wasn’t sure what had happened in the bathroom, but I did know that he went in brimming with enthusiasm and came out as a condescending asshole. 

Our waiter returned quickly, and a sip of the drink told me it was another vodka soda.  I gave him a grateful smile and he winked at me before he turned to leave.  “See?” Chris said.  “People don’t keep me waiting.”  He gave me a pointed look when he said that, and I sputtered a little in surprise.  Then he grinned widely and said, “I’m just kidding with you, Jenny!”

“It’s, uh, Jenna, actually…” I said. 

“That’s what I said,” he told me, waving his hand dismissively. 

“Oh,” I replied.  “I thought—“

He cut me off, saying, “But you don’t have to think tonight!  Tonight is for fun!  Oh, let me tell about this time that my coworker lost a major account and I…” I tuned out as he blabbered on and on about work. 

When I finished my drink, I yawned.  “Oh man,” I said, interrupting his 17^th story about how an incompetent coworker screwed something up and he saved the day.  “I’d better get going.  Can’t drink anymore, I need to drive myself home.”

“Well, why didn’t you take a cab or something?” he asked, looking really perplexed.  “I’m thinking about getting a driver, actually.  Did you know that—“

“Really, I need to go,” I said firmly, interrupting him again.  I pulled out my wallet.  “Here, let me—“

It was his turn to interrupt me.  “Don’t be silly!” he said.  “I never let a beautiful girl pay for her drinks.”

“Of course,” I replied.  I considered just throwing some cash on the table and running, but decided this was not a hill I wanted to die on.  I just wanted to get the hell out.  “Thank you,” I said, forcing a smile.  “Have a good night.”

“Wait,” he said, looking confused as I stood up.  “I can walk you out.  When can I see you again?”

I shook my head and said, “Thank you for the drinks, but I’m not interested in seeing you again.”  I took advantage of his obvious shock and hurried towards the door.

I got to my car safely, but as I was unlocking the door I heard someone call, “Hey, wait a sec!” I yanked the door open quickly, ready to make my escape, before I realized the voice didn’t sound a thing like Chris’s.  I turned cautiously, and saw our waiter hurrying after me.  I waited to see what he wanted.  He slowed when he approached me.  “My name is Ryan, I don’t work in finance, and I make a mean vodka soda,” he said, winking.  Then he shoved a cocktail napkin into my hand, turned, and jogged back towards the restaurant.

I stood in the cold, not sure how to react.  Finally, I got into my car, turned on the light, and smoothed out the crumpled napkin.  Scrawled across it was “Ryan” and a phone number.  He was cute, but he looked young.  I tossed the napkin into my purse for now and headed for home.

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Chapter 20 (6/12/16)

I was still so upset about Kevin’s comments that I didn’t even want to respond to Mike’s text the next day, telling me that he’d had a lot of fun and was looking forward to seeing me again.  I felt so bitter and angry that I was worried it would come out sideways in my response to him.   Instead, I spent the morning finding someone to come replace my water heater.  The earliest someone could come out was early afternoon, so I did a little more unpacking and organizing to pass the time until he came.  4 hours and several hundred dollars later, I had a functioning (and non-leaking!) water heater.

Running had taken a backseat to packing, and the now significant amount of snow on the ground didn’t help motivate me either.  Snow aside, I admitted to myself that as much as I hated it, running sort of regularly had really helped my mood.  I checked the weather and saw a high temperature of 9 degrees today.  I didn’t think I could run in weather that cold, but I bundled up and went for a quick walk.  Despite the cold, it was a bright, sunny day and my short time outside did help cheer me up a little.

When I got home, I took a shower to warm up, heated up some leftovers for dinner, and texted Mike back, suggesting we go out Tuesday or Wednesday.  I already had a date with Dan on Monday.  I had completely skipped the early 20s “dating around” phase and was sort of embarrassed to admit that I got a bit of a thrill out of the idea of dating two men at the same time.  I had no intentions of being shady about it, and both of them knew I wasn’t interested in anything serious, but it still gave me that exciting “doing something wrong, could get caught” feeling.  Ridiculous, right?  I know.

When Monday rolled around, I was tired and cranky from my less than ideal weekend.  I kept to myself at work and had to give myself a pep talk before getting out of my car at the restaurant where I was meeting Dan. 

He was, as usual, already there.  He was one of the only men I’d ever dealt with that was consistently early.  He stood as I came in and greeted me with a smile and a kiss on the cheek.  He looked especially good in a dark blazer, crisp white shirt, and no tie.  “You look fancy,” I commented, checking him out.

“Thanks,” he said, chuckling.  “Big meeting today at work.  I had to impress the important people.”

“And did you?” I asked, cocking an eyebrow.

He shrugged.  “I sure hope so.”  Then he changed the subject.  I thought it was a little weird that he didn’t tell me what the meeting was about, but I quickly forgot about it when our server came to get my drink order. 

After dinner, I invited Dan over to see my new house.  I took him on the tour of the house, conveniently ending it in my bedroom.  “Very nice!” Dan said sincerely.  “I’m glad you finally found something.” 

I stood near my bed, willing him to come over.  Instead, he lingered in the doorway.  Finally, I gave up and walked over to him, sliding my hands up his chest and linking them behind his neck.  He grinned at me and kissed me, and I slipped my hands into his hair as I kissed him back.  We kissed for several seconds, then he pulled away, kissed my forehead, and said, “Want to watch a movie or something?”  Then, while I stood there and stared at him, confused, he turned and started for the stairs. 

I huffed out a frustrated breath, and he turned, puzzled.  “What?” he asked.

“Nothing,” I replied, turning off my bedroom light and following him to the stairs.  “Do you have a movie in mind?”

“Why do you even bother continuing to see him?” Kelly asked me the next day.  We were having lunch together early in the afternoon.

“I don’t know, but it’s not like I can pressure him to have sex with me,” I exclaimed, much too loudly for the small restaurant we were in.  More than one head swiveled my way in surprise as I blushed. 

“I’m not telling you to pressure him to have sex with you,” she replied.  “But if that’s what you want and he’s not into it, then you guys want different things and you should probably just move on.”

“Dating is hard and stupid,” I grumbled.

“Not if you move on from the guys that there’s no point in dating,” she pointed out cheerfully.  “And anyway, you said you had a great time with Mike, right?”

“I did,” I confirmed.  “And we’re going out again tomorrow.”

“Focus on that.  See, dating isn’t that hard.”

I rolled my eyes.  “Easy for you to say,” I replied.  I changed the subject and she didn’t push it, which I was grateful for because I was irritated.  No, irritated wasn’t the right word.  Discouraged.  It seemed silly (even to me) to be discouraged about dating already, but I hadn’t been anticipating that I wouldn’t actually enjoy dating.  The idea of getting to know someone enough to be truly comfortable with him was daunting.  And I knew that I wasn’t to that point yet, and had no intentions of doing any serious or exclusive dating, but it was still hanging out in the back of my head, taunting me.  I managed to put it out of my head and enjoy the rest of my lunch with Kelly.

Despite my complaints of the day before, I found myself a little giddy before my date with Mike on Wednesday.  I’d had such a great time with him on our first date, and I was definitely looking forward to this one.  I went straight from work to the restaurant we were meeting at—after touching up my makeup in the bathroom at work, of course. 

I arrived first and waited in my car until he texted me to let me know he was there.  I got out and found him on his way to the door.  “Hi!” I greeted him cheerfully. 

“Hi, Jenna,” Mike replied, smiling warmly.  “It’s good to see you.” 

I grinned.  “It’s good to see you too,” I said.  “I’m glad we were able to see each other tonight.”  When I originally suggested tonight, Mike thought he had a work obligation, but soon realized it was actually on Thursday. 

He pulled open the door to the restaurant and held it for me, and I gratefully stepped inside.  It was seriously cold today.  “I’m completely over winter,” I complained as I shed my winter gear at the table we’d been shown to.   “Can you find me a new house somewhere warm?”

Mike looked at me with mock horror.  “Do you have any idea how hard it was to find the one you bought?” he asked jokingly.  “I’m never going to be your realtor again.”

I laughed.  “And I thought I was going easy on you,” I teased him.

We bantered back and forth until our drinks arrived, and then we settled into calmer conversation.  Mike still had me laughing throughout dinner, and I loved his sense of humor. 

When we finished, he asked me, “Do you want to go grab a drink somewhere?”

I shook my head.  “How about heading back to my place for a little bit instead?” I asked hopefully.

Mike grinned.  “I’d love to,” he replied.

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This week's post

I haven't forgotten about you guys!  But this week seriously kicked my ass, and now we've got some bad storms hanging out.  My power went out so I'm posting from my phone and it's so hard to edit on my phone.  I'm going out of town tomorrow, but I'll have a post up for you guys on Sunday, and should have two posts next week to make up for this week.  Sorry!!

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Chapter 19 (6/2/16)

I got ready for my date with Mike with Erica sitting on my closet island watching me.  “You should really wear red lipstick with that dress,” she advised me.

I wrinkled my nose.  “You know I hate red lipstick,” I complained. 

“You hate all lipstick,” she pointed out.  “Just put some on.  If you hate it, take it off.  Easy!”  So I put some on.  And I hated it and promptly took it off while Erica rolled her eyes and sighed dramatically. 

Erica left shortly before 7.  Mike had insisted on picking me up, even though I had warned him I wasn’t interested in anything remotely serious.  He opened my car door, opened the restaurant door, and even pulled my chair out for me.  Unused to this, I felt a little awkward but appreciated the gesture. 

Once we got settled, I realized he knew a lot more about me than I did about him.  I asked him a few basic questions, and the conversation quickly got rolling.  As it turned out, Mike actually wasn’t boring at all.  I could see how he could come off that way, compared to Kelly and her husband, Darrin, who were both on the boisterous side.  But Mike was smart, witty, and had a great dry sense of humor that I loved.  His random one-liners had tears rolling down my cheeks more than once during the meal.  I’m pretty sure our server thought we were insane, but I didn’t care at all. 

After dinner, we moved to the restaurant’s bar area and sat for awhile longer, talking for what felt like maybe an hour, but was probably more.  Finally, Mike said, “I should probably be a proper gentleman and get you home.”

“I guess, if being a gentleman is important to you,” I replied with a shrug and a raised eyebrow.  He laughed and dropped some cash on the bar for our drinks, then held out a hand to help me off the barstool. 

When we got back to my house, I invited him inside.  “I’d really love see the place with furniture in it,” he said, smirking at me, “but I have an open house in the morning and if I don’t go home now I’m going to be really sorry.  In fact, I probably already will be really sorry.”  He leaned forward and gently but deliberately pressed his lips to my cheek.  “I will take you up on that offer next time though, if it still stands.”

“That’s awfully presumptuous of you,” I replied.  “You assume that there will be a next time.”

“No,” he corrected me.  “I hope there will be a next time.”

I grinned.  “I’d like there to be a next time.”

Reluctantly, we said goodnight and I headed inside.  I went straight up to my room and washed my face, brushed my teeth, and changed into my pajamas.  Then I remembered I had a load of laundry in the washer that needed to go in the dryer before I had to re-wash it.

I went down into the basement to switch it.  I opened the door to the utility room and immediately stepped in a puddle.  “Goddamn it!” I yelped, flipping on the lights.  I looked down and saw a half-inch of standing water covering most of the utility room floor.  My first assumption was the washer, but it seemed to be coming from the water heater.  “Oh shit,” I groaned.  “Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit.”  I stood there helplessly for almost a minute before I turned off the light, stepped out of the room, and shut the door firmly.  I ran upstairs, pulling off my wet sock as I went, and grabbed my phone.  Without thinking of the time, I called my parents. 

The phone rang 5 times, and then their voicemail picked up.  I hung up and dialed again.  This time, on the third ring, my dad answered, sounding sleepy and worried.  “Jenna?  Jenna, what’s wrong?”

“My water heater is leaking,” I said, suddenly feeling a little silly.

My dad was silent for several seconds, then I heard muffled talking.  “Jesus Christ, Jenna, we thought something was wrong.  Do you know what time it is?”

“No, I don’t,” I admitted ruefully.  I pulled my phone away from my head and saw it was almost 1am.  “Oh my god, I am so sorry,” I told them.  “I just saw the water and panicked.  I’m so sorry, go back to bed.”

I heard my dad take a deep breath, then he said, “How bad is it?”

“There’s about a half-inch of water covering most of the utility room floor.”

“Is your water heater gas or electric?”

“I…” I paused.  I had no idea.  This was a thing I should know.  “I don’t know.”

“Okay, well if it’s gas, it should have an on/off switch or lever or something on the actual heater somewhere.  You need to turn that off.  If it’s electric, you need to flip the breaker for it to turn off the power to it.” 

I ran back downstairs and tugged off my other sock before stepping into the puddle.  “I don’t see a switch on it,” I reported. 

“Open your breaker box,” my dad instructed.  I did, and of course nothing was labeled.  I told him this.  “You’ll have to try them until you find the one for the heater.”

“How will I know?”

“Jenna, this is really hard when I’m not there and have never seen your set up.  Is there someone there that can help you?  Or can you look up one of those YouTuber videos or something?”

“I don’t know,” I said hopelessly.  I was near tears.  My dad tried to help me troubleshoot for a few more minutes, but we both became increasingly frustrated by my fumbling around and his inability to see the problem.  Meanwhile, the water kept coming.  Finally, dejected, I accepted his good luck wish and hung up.  Then I called the only person I knew who would be awake at this hour.

“Jenna?” I had never been so relieved to hear Kevin’s voice.  At least, not in the last several months.  It meant not only was he awake, but he also wasn’t at work.

“Hi,” I started.  “I’m sorry to call so late, but my water heater is leaking pretty badly and my dad couldn’t help me over the phone, and I have no idea what to do.  And I didn’t know who else to call.”

I heard him sigh heavily, and then he said, “Give me the address.”  I did, and for the first time since I’d moved out, he knew where I lived.  “I’ll be there in 20 minutes,” he assured me before we hung up.

Of course, 20 minutes passed, then 30.  Then 45.  Finally, nearly an hour after we’d hung up, there was a knock at the door.  He came in without apology for his lateness, but I wasn’t complaining.  It was 2 in the morning and he was here to help me.  “Jenna, this is where you live?” he asked.  “This is…”

“It’s fine,” I snapped back.  “I didn’t ask you to come here to judge my house and my neighborhood.  I asked you to come help me.  So please, help first and lecture later.”

“Okay,” he said, holding up his hands in surrender.  “Where’s this water heater?”

I led him down into the basement and opened the utility room door.  I flipped the light on and he surveyed the mess.  “Well, at least your floor is concrete,” he muttered.  He stepped carefully into the room and then asked the same question my dad had.  “Is this gas or electric?” 

“I have no idea,” I admitted, "but I think it's electric."

He turned and looked me, and sighed again.  “Maybe you should just go upstairs.  I’ll call you if I need you.”  I was more than happy to comply, and I went upstairs.  I stayed there through his swearing, through the kitchen lights briefly shutting off and then going back on, and through a huge crash that concerned me greatly.  But if there was one thing I’d learned in the 10 years I’d spent with him, it was that all those things meant it was far better for me to stay put unless directed otherwise. 

30 minutes later, he came upstairs.  “You’re going to need a new water heater,” he informed me.  “I’ve got the power to it off and the water shut off.  That will be all your water, so you might want to try to get someone here tomorrow if you can.  Also,” he continued, fixing me with the condescending look he wore so well, “you should take some time to figure out your breaker switches and label them.”

“Okay,” I said, despondent. 

“You need to learn some basic maintenance and make a collection of numbers to call if something like this happens again.  I also saw that your water softener is almost empty, and I didn’t see any salt for it.”

“Salt?” I asked, completely confused.  I clearly wasn’t cut out for home ownership. 

“Oh, Jenna,” he muttered.  “What were you thinking, buying a house?”  Good question. 

“Thanks for coming over,” I said, hoping he’d get the hint and get out of here.

“You’re welcome.  But I can’t do this for you every time something happens.  And you know, this isn’t a very good neighborhood.  You should think about getting a security system, or something.” 

Pushed to my breaking point, my mouth was open because I could stop myself, and I muttered, “What do you care about my safety?”

His eyes narrowed and he rubbed his hand over his short hair.  “Believe it or not, Jenna, I care about you a great deal.  I know I’ve been pretty shitty at showing it, but if something happened to you because of where you live…and you live here because of what I did--”

“You’d blame yourself?” I snapped, incredulous.  “This is about you, isn’t it?  It has nothing to do with my safety, and everything to do with how bad you’d feel about how the choices you made indirectly caused something bad to happen to me.”  There was venom in my voice as I spat the words out, no longer concerned about being polite.

He laughed bitterly.  “I see very little has changed in the last couple months.  Goodnight, Jenna.”  He walked towards the door, pretending—as always—that he was right and I was wrong.  That he was the adult and I was the child.  That he was the kind and benevolent helper, and I was an ungrateful brat.  In that moment, I hated him more than I ever had.

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Chapter 18 (5/31/16)

In thanks for your patience over the last...well, I guess the entire school year, if we go back to when I was still writing Liv's story, I have a few posts planned for this week!  The story is progressing a bit slowly at this point as well, as I develop the characters and get Jenna settled, so might as well move through it with some extra posts.  This is my third post in the last week, so make sure you're all caught up, as that is highly abnormal for this blog so far :)  Enjoy!

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“You’re doing what?!” Kelly said, surprised.  We were sitting on the counter in my kitchen (because I didn’t have a table yet), eating Thai takeout and waiting for Erica. 

“Going on a date with Mike,” I repeated.  “Is that weird?  I thought it might be a little weird.”

“No,” she said quickly, shaking her head as if trying to convince herself as much as me.  “It’s just surprising, I guess.  He’s a good guy,” she continued, nodding this time.  “If a little boring.”

“Maybe boring is okay,” I replied.  “I think I’ve had enough excitement in my life lately.”

Kelly chuckled.  “Yeah, that’s true.  So are you done with Dan or what?”

Now it was my turn to laugh.  “No.  I figured that I missed out on dating around in my early 20s, so I’m going to dip my toes into the world of going out with more than one person at the same time.”

“Ooh, watch out world!  Jenna is acting like a normal, single human being!” she teased me.  I was about to respond, but was cut off by a tentative knock at the door. 

I jumped off the counter and went to the door, expecting it to be Erica.  Instead, I pulled it open and found myself face to face with the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen.  I just stood there, staring blankly at him.

“Hi,” he said, smiling a disarmingly perfect smile. 

“Hi,” I croaked, completely unable to make any more words come out.

He pushed his hand through his hair and then said, “My name is Brian.  I just wanted to introduce myself to you.  My wife and I live next door.”  He motioned to the house to the right.  “We saw your moving truck yesterday but didn’t want to come over while you were getting everything moved in.”

I had regained my faculties by now and returned his smile.  “Nice to meet you, Brian.  I’m Jenna.  Thanks for coming over to say hi!”

He grinned and leaned against the doorframe.  “We’re a pretty close neighborhood, so we’ve all been speculating about who might be moving in.”  He then pointed out the houses around me and gave me a brief summary about each house’s occupants.  “We have a really great neighborhood here,” he finished up.  “I hope you like it!”

“Thank you,” I said.  “So far I’m a little too overwhelmed with the moving process to have many thoughts, but I’m looking forward to getting settled.”

“Well, I’ll let you get back to whatever you were up to.  If you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask.  My wife’s name is Hannah, and we’d be happy to help you out!”

I thanked him again, and just as he was leaving, I saw Erica’s car pull up.  She parked on the street and got out, so I lingered in the doorway.  “This neighborhood is sketch, Jenna,” she said, looking around as she stepped onto the small front porch.  “Well, this part isn’t so bad, I guess.”

I rolled my eyes.  “I was actually just talking to the neighbor and he seems really nice.  He was telling me a bit about the neighborhood and it sounds kind of great, actually.”

Erica looked like she wanted to say more, but she bit her lip instead.  Then she smiled and said, “Well, the house is adorable, at least!  I can’t wait to see it!”

Kelly had been waiting for Erica’s arrival to get the full tour, so once Erica had dropped her purse on the counter, I took them through.  They both loved the master closet, of course, and overall they seemed impressed.  “I was put off by the neighborhood at first, but the house is really nice,” Erica said.  “The previous owners did a lot with it.”

“And that closet,” Kelly said wistfully.  “I want a closet like that.  Darrin can have the little closet that was originally there.  And when he pisses me off, I’ll take an air mattress into the closet and just live there for a little while.”  We laughed, but there truly was enough space for it.

Erica and Kelly stayed for a couple hours, helping me with a little organizing.  I’d actually made a lot of headway on unpacking the day before, and I already had all my clothes, kitchen stuff, and bathroom things put away.  Erica, an amazing organizer, gave me some ideas for ways to maximize the minimal space I had, and together we made a list of things I needed to pick up, and prioritized them, because there were too many for me to get all of them right away on my budget.  I realized I was being an idiot when I thought I was doing this alone. 

When we had collapsed on my couch, Erica asked, “Was it hard?”

“Was what hard?” I responded, confused.

“Moving out,” she clarified.  “I was worried about you yesterday.  I thought for sure we’d get some panicky texts by lunchtime.  When we didn’t, that just made me more worried.”

“It was, and it wasn’t,” I said.  “I had a moment when I thought I was going to lose it while I was watching the movers haul all my stuff out of Kevin’s house.  It was really surreal, and it sucked going through the house and telling them what was staying and what was going.  I wish I could have just slapped labels on things and not been there.  But as soon as they got everything inside here, I was over it.  I was so relieved to have my own space finally, and to get to decorate it and arrange it how I want.  I don’t have to walk on eggshells and tiptoe around.  I finally feel…free, I guess.”

“Not to mention that you don’t have to worry about his parents walking in on you while you’re having sex!” Kelly crowed, cracking up. 

“Or walking in on him having sex with some poor girl who has no idea what she walked into,” Erica added. 

“No kidding,” I agreed.  “It’s kind of scary being on my own for the first time ever, but it’s really exciting too.”  I’d gone from my parents’ house to the dorms to a house with 3 roommates to living with Kevin, so I’d never lived on my own before this.  This was a first.  And I was homeowner!

“And when you bang Mike, you can do it anywhere you want in the whole house!” Kelly said, grinning deviously.

“Wait, when you do what?” Erica asked, looking between us.

“Mike, my brother-in-law, asked her out after she closed on the house.  And she said yes.  She’s going out with my husband’s brother.  So that means that you get to hear all the sex details, Erica, because I am not interested in hearing about my husband’s brother’s penis!”

Erica looked slightly horrified and Kelly and I dissolved into laughter.  Erica joined us shortly, and once we had calmed down, she gave me a conspiratorial look and said, “He is pretty cute, and he has a great ass.  I’ve wondered if—“
            “Stop!” Kelly howled.  “Don’t do it!  Don’t wonder about my brother-in-law’s ass! Please!”

Now Erica and I cracked up while Kelly muttered something about “disloyal harlots” which just made us laugh harder. 

“Kelly,” I said, when I finally regained my breath.  “If you are really uncomfortable with me going out with him, I won’t.  I don’t want it to be weird for you.”

“I’m fine with it,” she assured me.  “But you know me, I’m still going to give you a hard time about it.  Probably forever.  As long as you’re fine with that, then go have fun!”  She paused, then added, “But I really don’t want to hear about his dick, seriously.”

“Deal,” I replied. 

After they left, I started to get ready for bed.  I hadn’t slept much the last two nights in my excitement for the new house, and then the strangeness of being alone in a new place.  I was exhausted and definitely ready for a good night’s sleep.

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