By Allie X

by Anna Samuels

  ‘I know…I’ve considered the same thing,’ she told me softly, ‘but the only conclusion I can come to is that, at the moment, that’s not on the cards for either one of us. We’re wasting our lives by sitting still and doing nothing right now so we either take a chance with this or hold on, waiting for some imaginary perfect life and partner to come along. I’d rather go with real possibilities right now.’

  I met her eyes and considered this. Deep down I knew I wasn’t waiting for some imaginary partner to come along. I had already met her and she was sat before me. I wondered what Allie would say if I told her how I was thinking. I wasn’t ready to though, and worried she wasn’t either. I decided to say nothing and hope that if we moved in together, our relationship with solidify even more and possibly grow to something even more significant. ‘I think you’re right,’ I replied, ‘we’re living in the here and now and this is a chance for now. If anything changed or happened in the future, we’d just have to deal with it then…’

  ‘Exactly,’ she smiled.

  ‘So, we’re doing this?’ I asked.

  ‘Unless there’s anything else you wanted to discuss?’

  ‘Uh, no…I mean, that was all my concerns.’

  ‘Well, great! Shall we put an offer in then?’ she asked me.

  ‘Yes! Shall I deal with it?’ I wondered. ‘I’m used to negotiating these things…’

  ‘Yeah, that sounds great! Are you going to try and talk them down a little? I can afford asking price but it’d be nice to bring down the price a little bit!’

  ‘Oh definitely! I’ll try and bring them down a lot! We’re in a very strong position as we have no chain and can pay a cash deposit so we’re an excellent option for the seller.’

  ‘I hadn’t thought of it like that!’

  ‘Well, we are…I’ll go and get on it if you like. I have the rest of the day free so I could do some phone calls today.’

  ‘Great plan! You’re welcome to stay here if you like while I head back to work. You could let me know how you get on.’

  ‘Okay!’ I replied, liking the idea of staying in Hope for the day.

  ‘Well, I’ll head back to the gallery but come over if you have any news or I’ll be back around four…’

  I glanced at my watch. It was 2.45pm. ‘Perfect. I’ll see what I can arrange.’

  ‘Brilliant,’ Allie said, standing. ‘Okay…see you in a bit, roomy,’ she laughed.

  I chuckled at her words. ‘Roomy…’

  She smiled at me and headed out the door. I sat back down and reached for my phone. I was after a good deal on our house and determined to get one.

  I put in our first offer after a long conversation with Pete on the phone. He had advised me on the purchase and we had discussed what we considered possible. We had gone in a little lower than we thought they would say yes to and taken a chance on it. When my phone rang, I answered it and expected a no answer.

  Ten minutes later, I hung up with a new offer on the table. As expected the seller had said no but we had gone in with a higher offer which we expected he may take. I hung up and waited nervously. My body felt tense but deep down I felt like we were doing the right thing. This seemed right, somehow. I felt like it was meant to be in some way.

  As I waited in the lounge, I paced a little, feeling anxious for the return phone call. As I paced, I paused at the bookcase. I read the titles of Allie’s books and found she had similar reading tastes to my own. I lingered at the window and stared out to sea, picturing a time when this view was what I would wake up to every morning. It was a few minutes later that my phone rang.

  ‘Hello?’ I answered, snatching up the phone quickly.

  ‘Hey, Cass, it’s Pete.’

  ‘Oh hey, Pete!’

  ‘Right, so, I put in your offer…’ he began.

  ‘Yes,’ I replied, feeling tense.

  ‘And explained that you have no chain and it would be a quick, cash sale for him…’ he continued.

  ‘Yes?’

  ‘And he’s accepted!’

  I gasped in stunned surprised. ‘No!’

  ‘Yes! I told him it was your maximum offer and final offer and that seemed to do it. I think it’s a fair valuation of the property too. He had set the price higher to try and get more but £520,000 is a good sale for him.’

  ‘I can’t believe this! Thanks Pete, this is amazing news!’

  ‘I thought you’d be pleased!’ he said joyfully.

  ‘Ah, I can’t wait!’

  ‘So, we’ll get things moving then now, shall we? The mortgage and the paperwork?’

  ‘Yes, go for it! I’ll get everything sorted my end and get the paperwork in to you…I’m also going to be staying in Hope until the house goes through so I won’t need to commute in to work now.’

  ‘Oh, that’s brilliant news! Well, I look forward to hearing from you! And of course you’ll be starting in two weeks, right?’

  ‘That’s right,’ I said, grinning wildly.

  ‘Well, we look forward to welcoming you on board, Cass. I’ll let you go so you can celebrate!’

  ‘Thanks Pete! Talk to you soon!’

  ‘Bye Cass.’

  ‘Bye Pete! Thanks again!’ I said and hung up.

  Once I had put the phone down, I danced around the living room doing a victory dance. We had bought the house! I couldn’t quite believe how easy it had been!

  I celebrated for a moment longer and then grabbed my bag. I was going to buy some champagne for us to toast the happy moment when Allie got home from work.

  I locked up Allie’s home and put the key safely in my pocket. I then headed to my car with a wide smile on my face. I had an idea and I was going to make it happen.

  I went into the nearest town of Kingsbridge and quickly busied myself by going around the shops in search of a few essentials to celebrate our good fortune. When I was done, I loaded my goodies into the car and drove back to Hope.

  Once I was there, I parked again and made my way up the hill laden down with surprises for Allie.

  Inside her house, I scattered helium balloons with ‘Congratulations’ written on them in every corner. I then took the cake I had bought to the kitchen and after unboxing it, got out the cake decorating kit and wrote ‘Cass and Allie’s house! 2017!’ on it. I then placed on the coffee table.

  Next, I placed a bottle of champagne to chill and unboxed the flute glasses I had bought and put them all on the coffee table too.

  Finally, I went to the kitchen and laid out all the ingredients required to make a celebration dinner for us to share. I began preparing the meal while listening out carefully for Allie’s arrival back home.

  Half an hour later, at four thirty, Allie arrived home. I realised I had locked the door because she knocked and called out to me that she was home.

  I hurried to the door with a huge smile on my face.

  ‘What on…’ Allie trailed off as she stepped in and saw the balloons, the cake and the champagne. She gasped and looked at me with a stunned expression. ‘The house…?’

  ‘We got the house! The offer’s been accepted!’ I exclaimed, my voice full of excitement.

  ‘No!’

  ‘Yes! We got it, Allie! We did it!’

  ‘No way!’ she gasped, tears in her eyes. ‘We really got it? It’s ours?’

  ‘Yes! Yes!’

  Allie threw herself into my arms, shaking and delirious with joy. We held each other close and both cried with the excitement of the moment and knowing the change this would bring to our lives.

  When I finally released her, she looked at me with bright, wide eyes. ‘So, tell me everything!’

  ‘There’s not much to tell,’ I smiled. ‘I put in a low offer and it was refused and then the next offer was accepted. We’ve got it for a really good price though,’ I told her.

  ‘Go on!’ she said excitedly.

  ‘Guess,’ I told her.

  ‘Uh…£575,000?’

  ‘Lower,’ I murmured.

  �
��£550,000?’

  ‘Lower.’

  ‘No way!’

  ‘Yeah! Lower still…’

  ‘Uh, £525,000?’

  ‘Close…we got accepted at £520,000!’ I revealed.

  She gaped at me. ‘£520,000?’

  ‘Yeah! I know! What a deal!’

  ‘Oh Cass, you’re amazing!’ she said, hugging me close again.

  ‘Just lucky,’ I told her smiling.

  ‘And look what you’ve done to the place!’ she exclaimed.

  ‘Well, we’re celebrating, right?’

  ‘Damn right, we are! Wow, balloons, cake, champagne! You’ve outdone yourself!’

  ‘I was in the mood to celebrate!’ I told her happily. ‘I’m making a celebratory dinner too! You just wait!’

  ‘I could get used to this!’ she smiled, looking around.

  ‘You won’t have long to wait! Two weeks and we’ll be living here together and less than three months I predict we’ll be in our house.’

  ‘Three months? Can it be that quick?’ she asked.

  ‘Absolutely! We’re cash buyers with no chain. It’s going to be quick, Allie.’

  ‘I’m so happy right now, Cass,’ she told me, beaming. ‘And it’s all because of you.’

  I smiled at her happily.

  ‘Thank you, Cass. You’ve brought so much to my life, I can’t begin to thank you enough.’

  ‘Don’t be silly,’ I smiled. ‘Think what you’ve done for me!’

  She smiled. ‘Well, we’ll just be grateful for each other then.’

  I returned her smile. Life in that moment, seemed perfect.

  Chapter 14

  A deeper friendship

  Two weeks later, I finished my job in Ryebridge and was given a farewell dinner from my old colleagues. After getting in late that night, I spent an hour before bed packing up the last of my belongings. The following day I was moving into Allie’s little home and we would stay there together until the house was ready…a move which seemed imminent. Things were moving incredibly fast due to the lack of a chain.

  The bulk of my belongings was going to be stored in Allie’s mother’s garage. She had kindly offered the space so that I could move out of my rental property and live with Allie until it all went through.

  I went to bed at eleven on Friday night but barely slept a wink because I was so excited about moving in with Allie. By the time six o clock came the following morning, I was wide awake and out of bed. I hurried around the house gathering up belongings and packing last minute items. With keys to the garage where I would store my things, I began loading my car so that I could start my house move early.

  By ten o clock, I had loaded Ava’s garage with the bulk of my belongings. Ava and Pete had helped me when I arrived early and carried items into their garage to store. Two car loads was all it took to move everything.

  I then drove back to Ryebridge and collected my two suitcases which would keep me in basics until we moved into our new house. I loaded them into my car, locked up my rental house and said a mental goodbye to the place which had been my home for many years. Despite the fact it had been home, I wasn’t sad to leave. I was moving onwards and upwards and felt pleased about that.

  I drove to the rental agency and dropped off my keys before getting back in my car and driving over to Allie’s house. After parking in the car park, I heaved one of the suitcases through the village and up the hill to her house. It was hard work but worth it I thought to myself. I was not only saving a month or twos rent, but I was also getting to live with Allie and be in her company all the time.

  When I reached her house, I unlocked it with the spare key she had given me. I then went back down the hill to collect the second suitcase. Once that was in the house, I slumped onto the sofa feeling exhausted. One look at my watch showed it was quarter to twelve. I had moved in the space of a morning. I had done well, I mused.

  I sat there quietly, soaking up the atmosphere and taking a well-earned break for the next twenty minutes. When I heard the lock in the door, I knew Allie was back for lunch.

  ‘Cass!’ she exclaimed happily.

  ‘Hey!’ I smiled wearily.

  ‘You look knackered! Did it go okay?’

  ‘Yes fine, just exhausting!’ I laughed. ‘Lots of hefting stuff around but at least I’m done now!’

  ‘I’m so sorry I couldn’t help! I had a delivery this morning and Mum couldn’t come by either…’

  ‘No worries, Allie! It was fine! There wasn’t that much to move, really. Your Mum and step-dad were really helpful too when I dropped my stuff off.’

  ‘Oh good, I’m glad. They like you, you know,’ she smiled.

  ‘Do they?’

  ‘Yeah…’ she laughed. ‘Mum’s words were, ‘You couldn’t have found anyone nicer to move in with,’ she smiled.

  ‘Ah, that’s nice!’

  ‘Yeah…they think highly of you…especially considering they haven’t met you many times.’

  I smiled. ‘I’m glad they like me. They’ll be seeing me much more often!’ I chuckled.

  ‘They sure will.’

  I smiled at her happily.

  ‘So, how did the leaving meal go?’ she wondered.

  ‘It was lovely thanks…but I’m still glad to be moving on. It’s time,’ I told her.

  ‘Yes, you’re right. And you’re moving to a lovely area and going to be working for a really nice boss.’

  I nodded. ‘Exactly. I couldn’t get much happier,’ I smiled, leaning back against the sofa.

  ‘Oh…well, I won’t burst your bubble then…’ she began, frowning a little.

  ‘Oh no…what?’ I said, sitting up a little straighter all of a sudden.

  ‘Well, we’ve been invited out tonight…a barbeque at Emma’s house. She invited us both once Katie clearly told her we’re together.’

  ‘Oh,’ I murmured,’ that isn’t great news…’

  ‘No,’ she sighed.

  ‘What did you say?’

  ‘I said I’d check with you first. We don’t have to go, Cass. We really don’t, we can just make an excuse.’

  ‘We could,’ I mused, ‘but maybe we should…we can put on a show for an hour or so and then make our excuses and leave. Maybe it would be good to shut them all up once and for all. We can fake being the happy, loving couple and then they’ll stop setting me up on ridiculous blind dates and you can stop feeling like Katie is looking pitifully on you…’

  She nodded, ‘It would be good, if you don’t mind going…and pretending a bit,’ she said softly.

  ‘I don’t mind at all…I’m going to relax this afternoon anyway so I’ll feel better about going out by this evening.’

  She nodded, smiling. ‘Thanks Cass. It’ll help my situation and like you say, it’ll shut them up about yours too…’

  ‘Good all round then,’ I smiled.

  She nodded.

  ‘So, are you going back to work this afternoon?’ I asked her.

  ‘Yeah, I should for a while…will you be alright?’ she questioned.

  ‘I’ll be fine.’

  ‘I cleared out this chest of drawers,’ she said, rising and heading over to the drawers she was talking about. ‘There’s room for your clothes at least.’

  ‘Oh thanks, Allie! You didn’t have to do that!’

  ‘I want you to feel at home…make yourself at home. Don’t feel like you can’t make yourself comfortable! This is our place now, not mine. You settle in…’

  ‘Thanks, Allie. That’s really kind of you to say.’

  She smiled and headed for the kitchen. ‘Well, I’m going to make a sandwich and then head back. Do you want one? Tuna and cucumber?’

  ‘Yes please! I’m starving!’ I exclaimed.

  ‘Right. Sandwiches coming up then.’

  I sat back against the sofa, loving being back in Allie’s company. I smiled to myself feeling happy.

  I spent the afternoon at Allie’s unpacking and generally making myself at home. Once
I was organised, I chilled in front of the television and relaxed. It had been a busy day and I needed a little down time before facing my judgemental friends who would have a hundred and one questions about my relationship with Allie, no doubt.

  When Allie returned home, we made dinner together and then sat down to eat. We didn’t plan on spending too long at the barbeque so had decided to eat before going. We both took showers and dressed up a little for the occasion. When I finally came out of the bathroom, Allie whistled at me with pleasure.

  ‘Cass, you look gorgeous!’

  ‘Oh, this old thing?’ I laughed, twirling a little in my skirt. It was one of my favourites and I always started wearing it when summer was near and the weather warmer.

  ‘Yes! You look perfect! I’m so glad they’re going to see you looking so wonderful! They’ll all be jealous of me,’ she grinned.

  ‘I doubt it, but it’s good to make the effort every now and then,’ I commented.

  ‘It sure is. Shall we go?’ she asked, offering me her arm politely.

  ‘Yes, let’s go! Better late than never, right?’

  ‘Right! We’re sure going to make an entrance!’

  I smiled, thinking about the reaction of my friends. They were going to be surprised tonight, I thought to myself.

  Forty minutes later, we pulled up outside Emma’s home. We climbed out of the car and Allie took my arm before we walked up to the door.

  ‘Try not to look so nervous,’ she whispered down to me.

  ‘Sorry…they put me on edge,’ I told her.

  ‘Don’t let them. Focus on me,’ she said as I looked up at her. ‘Remember-you adore me, right?’

  I chuckled softly, thinking how true that actually was. ‘I adore you,’ I told her.

  ‘Good…keep it up, girlfriend.’

  I smiled happily, and that was when Emma answered the door.

  ‘Cass! Allie! Come in! We’ve been waiting for you! How exciting!’ she said gleefully.

  We stepped inside and headed through the house to the barbeque.

  Out the back in the garden, the barbeque was in full flow. As we walked through the house, Allie took my hand in hers and smiled squeezed it supportively. She smiled down at me and I returned the gesture. With her by my side, this was going to be fine, I decided.