by Diana Kane
Catherine is waiting for me at the door as I step onto the large front deck. “Any trouble finding me?” She greets me with amiable smile, one that is impossible to not respond in kind to.
“No, although if the trees still had their leaves I’d likely have missed it. I cannot believe how large this place is.” I struggle to take everything around me in. I notice that the walls are largely empty except for the few art pieces here and there. No real personal effects such as family photos anywhere. Some people would likely consider it bare or cold, I personally find it to be perfect, no clutter, no distractions. I realize that Catherine and I might have more in common than I initially thought.
“I will admit that it is a bit much. Shall I give you a tour? Would you like something to drink first?”
“Just some water would be great.” I take off my shoes and leave them on the mat near the door. Catherine takes my coat and hangs it in the closet.
“You sure? I have all sorts of juice. I might even have some coffee if I look hard enough.”
“Yeah, just water. I don’t drink coffee.”
“Me either. The kitchen is this way.” My head is on a swivel as she leads me to the kitchen. I see that she enjoys things neatly kept, the house hardly appears to be lived in.
“Wow…this is amazing!” Kitchen is probably an understatement for what Catherine has led me to. It isn’t just a kitchen, it is a dream. Everything I have ever wanted in a kitchen is here. Dark marble counter tops, all new stainless steel appliances, the large island in the center of the space, a griddle, stove top, and two ovens. I am fairly certain that the kitchen and dining room combined are larger than my first apartment.
“Do you cook?” My awed reaction must be obvious. Catherine is looking at me with that smirk on her face again.
“I do. I cook and bake. I take it you cook as well?”
“When I can. I enjoy it. I have never been very adept at baking though. Ice?” she asks as she grabs a glass.
“Please.” Catherine has an ease about her that I’ve never seen at work. The confidence she wears like a shield at work takes a back seat to the comfort she clearly feels in this house. I feel a familiar twinge as I take Catherine in, my attraction to her stirring my hormones. She is wearing a pair of jeans and a light blue v-neck t-shirt that hugs her curves perfectly and makes her eyes pop.
“Well what would you like to see next? The apartment or the rest of the house?” If Catherine senses me checking her out she doesn’t let on.
“Whichever is fine by me.” I’m still awestruck by the kitchen.
“Very well, let’s head downstairs first.”
Catherine leads me to the basement. She had not be joking. The first thing I see is a large open space with a fireplace, fully furnished with a couch, TV, coffee table, and two chairs. She hadn’t mentioned the bar area, which I discover also houses a small refrigerator. The bedroom isn’t just large, it is massive and has two dressers and a king size bed, all stained in a dark cherry color. The walk in closet is larger than I remember my dorm room being. Shelves line one wall of the closet, they would work great for my vast shoe collection. The bathroom is also extensive. It contains a whirlpool tub and boasts two sinks at the counter. It would be easy to temporarily crash here.
“Well what do you think?”
“I think you understated the size of this place. I thought you said small apartment. This might be larger than any apartment I ever lived in.”
Catherine laughs. “I suppose it is all relative. In comparison to the rest of the house it is small.”
“True. This can’t span the entire house though, the house seemed larger when I pulled up.”
“You would be right, it does not. We will get to that. Shall we continue the tour?”
“Sure.”
Catherine guides me from room to room. After four bedrooms (one being her master suite), three bathrooms, a sitting room, a living room, a laundry room, and two storage rooms we finally arrive at the end of the tour. “I promised you that we would come back to your basement observation. This should answer that for you.”
I am not prepared for the indoor swimming pool. I didn’t even know that people actually owned indoor pools. However here it sits and it is beautiful. Natural light drifts in from the countless windows and the familiar scent of chlorine tickles my nose. The water looks cool and inviting. “So this is hidden on the back side of the house?”
“Yes. Privacy on all sides. I own several acres of land surrounding the place. I wanted peace and quiet when I relocated here.”
“I don’t mean to be rude, but isn’t this a lot of house for just you? Were you planning on living here with someone?”
Catherine laughs. She is much more relaxed than I have ever seen her. Somehow I find her even sexier like this than I do any other time. “It is. It is so much more space than I require. However the price was perfect. The previous owners relocated and were desperate to sell. I likely would have passed on it had it not been for the isolation and the pool. The pool really sealed the sale for me. I swam until I finished undergrad. I missed swimming. Now I don’t have to. I justified the rest by telling myself that it would be easier to sell a larger house if I ever decide to relocate again.”
“Makes sense I suppose.” The thought of Catherine relocating bothers me, when I know that it shouldn’t. I should take it as the final sign that this is a bad idea, but I ignore my subconscious screaming this fact at me.
“So what do you think?” She asks me this as the sunlight trickles through the windows, highlighting her hair and lightening her eyes. I want to tell her I think she is beautiful but instead I just enjoy elegant visage before me.
“How much are you thinking?”
Catherine looks at me confused. “How much what?”
“Rent. How much per month?”
“Nothing. I offered the place to you. You do not need to rent it from me.” I look at Catherine, my expression relaying my confusion to her. “Why is that upsetting to you?”
“I wouldn’t feel right not paying something. I’m not a freeloader.”
“I did not mean to make you feel like one. I don’t need your money. I have the means to help you out, you need a place to stay. There isn’t an ulterior motive. It would be nice to not be the only person living in this place though.”
“I have to pay you something, otherwise I would feel like I’m taking advantage.”
Catherine doesn’t look thrilled by my insistence. “Alright. What about $100?” I can hear a measure of irritation in her voice.
“A week?”
“No a month. I can already see you are going to argue. What if you add those cooking skills into the mix? So $100 a month and you cook dinner on the nights that I operate and you are not working late?”
I think about it. Part of me knows it isn’t a good idea. Moving into Catherine’s house would eliminate a barrier between my work life and private life. The other part of me argues that it would be nice to not live alone right away once I move out of Elena’s, and that I’ll likely never stay anyplace this nice again. “Yeah I can do that. When would I be able to move in?”
“Whenever you’d like. I can help you Thanksgiving day if you’d like.”
Catherine
Thursday morning arrives and with it move in day for Alex. I stop by her place after rounding so I can take a load of stuff back to the house with me. I am excited to have her moving in. Finally there will be some life in the house other than myself.
I arrive just as Alex emerges from the house with a few boxes. I quickly kill the engine and jump out to open the door of her Impreza for her. “Good morning Alex.”
Alex barely musters a smile. Her sadness is coming across clearly. In my excitement to have her at the house I have forgotten about how difficult this would be for her. “Hello Catherine. Thanks for offering to take a load back to yours for me. Anything brewing at the hospital we need to be ready for?” Her tone is flat and I feel my heart ache on her behalf.
“Not yet. Good start to the day thus far. Hopefully it will stay quiet for us.”
“Yeah.” Alex turns to head back into the house. “I don’t think this will take too long. I’m a pretty big minimalist so if we pack up both cars just right we might get everything in one trip. I already have everything boxed up in the laundry room and entryway.”
My first impulse is that I want to give her a hug. I debate this as we make our way to the first stack of boxes. I decide to go for it. I stop Alex from retrieving the top box by gently grabbing her arm. This forces her to turn back in my direction. I take advantage of this and immediately pull her in. Alex initially goes rigid and tries to fight it, but quickly acquiesces, sighing deeply as the resistance goes out of her. “I’m sorry this is so difficult for you. I promise you will get through it.”
“I know I will. I have known this was coming, I just didn’t realize how bittersweet it was going to be. I have lived here for nearly five years. Five pretty good years. I have a lot of great memories involving this place.” Alex breaks off the hug and grabs a box. She moves past me and heads back towards the cars, but not before I catch the tears welling in her eyes.
“Can I ask why you are the one moving out?”
“It is Elena’s house. Her parents purchased it after Elena and her sister left the nest for college. It was meant to be their downsized retirement home. They lived here for eight or nine years when they decided they had enough of winter and relocated to Arizona. By then there was only a year or so left on the mortgage so they let Elena take it over.”
“I see.”
“I’m sorry, can we talk about anything else? Distract me.”
“Absolutely. What do you want to talk about?” I’m more than happy to help distract Alex, I’m just not certain what topics will lead back to her failed relationship.
“I don’t know, anything. You said you had a sister. Tell me about her.”
“Taylor lives in San Francisco. I think I told you she is a lesbian. She is 37 but typically acts like she is 22.”
“It doesn’t sound like you two are particularly close.”
“We are not. We are polar opposites in so many ways. She is wild, makes rash decisions, flits from one woman to the next, and lives impulsively, unconcerned about the future. I think you know enough about me at this point to guess that I do not understand her behavior. I am sure she feels the same way about me.”
“Maybe she is just living the life that feels right to her. Being her truest self.” Alex makes a point that I have never considered.
“Perhaps. I think she is planning on visiting for Christmas. Not sure what your plans are, but last we spoke she mentioned coming here.” Knowing Taylor she will change her plans at least a dozen times in the next month.
“Oh that could be nice for you. Maybe the two of you can find some common ground. Not visiting your parents then?”
“No they went abroad for a few months. I haven’t planned on taking much time off around the holidays. I took call on Christmas day for Dr. Hastings so he could spend it with his family. What are your plans?”
“Nothing really. I’m sure we will end up having a gathering of some form either at Dahlia and Derrick’s or Shannon and Kevin’s house. Aside from that I really haven’t planned too far out.”
“Do you not have any family to spend the holiday with?”
“Sometimes your real family is the family you chose, not the ones you share blood with.” Alex’s words and tone more than tell me there is a lot about her past I know nothing about.
“No siblings? Parents?”
“I’m an only child and I haven’t spoken to either my parents in over 15 years. My mother disagrees with my sexuality and the decisions I’ve made. My father never really took an interest in me. Drinking and philandering were always his top priorities. I’m not missing anything there.”
“I don’t understand. You are their child. Do you miss them?”
“I certainly do not miss my mother’s judgement or constantly pressuring me. My father isn’t a good person, nor did he ever make an effort to be a part of my life. I got over all of it a long time ago. There are some people that you are better off not having in your life and those people aren’t worth the emotional expenditure they cost you.”
I think about everything that Alex has just told me for a minute. While I’m not particularly close to my parents or Taylor I have no doubt that they would be here in a second if I needed them. I hope they know I would be there for them as well. “Wow, I am failing miserably when it comes to distracting you with something better to talk about.”
“No worries. We only have a few boxes left to load anyway. 35 years on the planet and I can pack everything I own into a pair of Lezbarus.” Alex eyes our vehicles and the sadness deepens in her features.
“Lezbarus?” I have no idea what she is talking about.
“Surely you have heard the stereotype about lesbians driving Subarus? Well just combine the two and you have Lezbaru.”
I can’t help it, I laugh uncontrollably. It is absurd, yet after the dismal conversation topics this morning a much needed relief. “I’ve never heard that before.” We are grabbing the last of the boxes when I notice Alex picking up a storage chest. “That is beautiful. May I ask where you got it?”
“I made it.” She says it so matter of factly that I almost feel like she is kidding me.
“You made that? Do you make things and sell them?”
“Not really. I enjoy woodworking as a hobby. If I need something and can make it, then I make exactly what I want. I’ve made a few things here and there for friends when they’ve needed shelves, display cases and what not though.” She shrugs and turns towards the door with the chest in her hands.
“Impressive. I could think of a few things I could commission you to make. What do you use yours for?”
“I wouldn’t charge you. You pay for the materials and I can make you whatever you need. I just store some personal effects in mine.”
“Well feel free to set up a work space in the garage if you would like to. That is all the boxes right?”
“Yeah, that is everything.”
“Ok. I will see you at the house. Here are your keys and one of the garage door openers.”
“Thanks. See you in a few.” I want to hug Alex again. I can see the pain in her features. Instead I get in my car and leave Alex to say farewell to her home of the last five years in private.
Alexis
I don’t realize how hungry I am until I start the car to head to Catherine’s. Unsure if Catherine has eaten anything yet, I stop to grab some bagels. By the time I get to the house Catherine is already hard at work unloading her Outback. “Hey I grabbed some bagels. Not sure if you are hungry.”
“Lovely, I could eat for sure. Thanks.” I follow Catherine into the house as she hauls one of my boxes in. “Hope you don’t mind that I started unloading stuff and taking it downstairs.”
“Not at all. You didn’t have to, but I really appreciate it.” We situate ourselves for our late morning breakfast. “Were you still interested in grabbing dinner and seeing the movie tonight?”
“Absolutely. Have you looked into showtimes yet?”
“The movie shows at 9:15, so I was thinking of heading to dinner around 6:30 or 7. There is a sports bar open that has a few different fares if that works.”
“Yeah that would be fine.”
“Great. Well I’m going to get back to unloading and unpacking. I won’t be able to stop until things are where they belong.”
“Understandable. I can help you get everything downstairs.”
“Are you sure? You’ve been a huge help already, I don’t want to take up your entire morning.”
“No big deal. I am used to being busy all day anyway. Happy to help out.”
“Thanks. So out of curiosity are there any ground rules or anything I need to know about? Any areas of the house you want me to stay out of or something?”
“
The house is yours now too. Feel free to use the pool when you want, the kitchen when you want, really no restrictions.”
“Ok. Well just as a heads up, before we land in an awkward situation, I sleep naked. So just beware if you are downstairs at night, there is that.”
“No big deal. I do the same. I think we will be fine though.” I’m immediately distracted by images of Catherine sleeping naked. I lose track of time, my bagel, everything. “Anything else?” Catherine is wearing her smirk again and eyeing me.
“Well if I am doing anything that is irritating you just let me know.”