Taking Chances

“Oh my God!” I exclaimed as Rebecca and I took the route up to the apartment building. It was made entirely of red brick, a bit of green ivy going up about ten feet of the side. In the front, the grounds were kept well, the grass a beautiful green and blooming flowers, neither of which was very common in London. “This is perfect.”

Rebecca chuckled at me. “Bailey, we haven’t even seen the inside yet.”

“But I’m getting a vibe,” I explained, taking in a deep breath and closing my eyes. “And it’s a good vibe.”

Rebecca rolled her eyes and pushed me toward the building. “Hurry up and get in the building before you start trying to make psychic predictions.”

I let out a loud laugh and pulled open the front door, urging Rebecca with a gesture to go in before me.

“Alright,” she whispered as we made our way down the red-carpeted hallway, “we’re looking for number 304.”

“That’s on the third floor,” I informed her. “Why are we walking down the first floor?”

“Did you see any stairs?”

I blushed and coughed. “Um…no.”

“Exactly. So let’s keep moving.”

I let out a sigh, but otherwise kept my mouth shut as I trailed behind her as she searched for a stairwell.

“Here it is!” she exclaimed excitedly, throwing open the heavy door to admit herself to the metal stairs behind it.

They were sturdy, the railing attached solidly. No squeaking. “See?” I started cockily as we climbed to the third floor. “If they take good care of their stairs, then they probably take great care of everything else, right?”

“Maybe,” Rebecca allowed distractedly. “Okay, so when we come out of the stairway, the apartment is the third on the right.”

I nodded silently as we stepped onto the proper level, taking a look around. Everything looked just as clean and well-kept as the first floor, the walls a clean shade of tan. “Rebecca,” I whined. “I love this place.”

“Will you stop?!” she chuckled, trying to get strict, but not succeeding much. “We haven’t even seen the apartment left.”

“Then let’s live in the hallway!” I offered with a grin.

She ignored me and entered the apartment. The door was unlocked, since the landlord knew we were going to take a look at it.

And we both gasped simultaneously.

The carpet was a really pretty dark blue, starting from the door and spreading through the kitchen, into the two bedrooms that branched off the main living room. The countertop in the kitchen was expensive-looking granite, the tiles a pretty gray shade to match. The walls were a cream color, which served as a good neutral force with the color of the floor.

And to top everything off, there was a giant window with a door in the middle, leading out to a porch that overlooked the city.

“Didn’t I tell you?” I exclaimed, using all my willpower to keep myself from screeching like a banshee. “I told you that I got good vibes from this place. Now look at it. It’s gorgeous.”

“It’s pretty incredible,” Rebecca agreed, running her hand along the countertop. “Maybe there was a misprint for the rent.”

“No. Misprints aren’t real life,” I denied. “That was the rent. And we are getting this apartment. Or flat. Or whatever the hell it is.”

“I think we can call it an apartment, since we’re very obviously American.”

“Alright, smartass,” I laughed. God, I was borderline giddy from this apartment. It was only the third place we visited, and it was absolutely perfect.

“I’m going to check the bedrooms for water damage,” Rebecca announced, always the responsible one.

“Okay. I’m going to go check out the deck,” I called back, moving straight ahead, my eyes fixed on the carpet underneath me. It looked really soft, and I wanted more than anything to take off my shoes and wiggle my toes in it, but I figured that wasn’t really appropriate.

I threw open the doors to outside and took in a breath of smoggy air. Although it was quite cold outside, I still loved the view I had. The cars and people were small, but not too small. And in the distance, a few lights were being turned on in preparation for the looming rainstorm that appeared to be rolling in.

“REBECCAAAAA!” I called obnoxiously when I walked back into the apartment, shutting the doors behind me before it started to pour, “we’re getting this place. Where do we sign the papers?”

“Don’t jump the gun, Bailey,” Rebecca chuckled. “We have to look at the plumbing and stuff. And we should probably ask the neighbors how the management is here to make sure that we’re not going to run into any problems there.”

I raised my eyebrows at her condescendingly. “Oh, is that so? Do you want to go ask the neighbors for information?”

A blush filled her cheeks, and her gaze drifted from my face to the floor. “Uhhh…not really.”

“Exactly. So why don’t you just call the landlord and tell him that we want this place before someone else snipes it from us?”

“Let me just check the sink first,” she insisted, brushing past me to go into the bathroom.

I let out a loud sigh and listened as she started the water, let it run, stopped it, let it run again, and then shut it off for good.

“Looks good to me,” she approved.

“What do you even know about plumbing? What if some nasty green goo had come out? What would that mean to you?”

“That we shouldn’t get the apartment…?” she trailed off in a voice as if I should have known that was obvious.

Which it kind of was. I laughed and shook my head. “Alright, you win. And your prize is that you have to be the one to call the landlord and ask when we can meet with him.”

“Why don’t we check to see if he’s in his office first?” she suggested.

“Where’s the office…?” I questioned slowly.

She stared at me for a second. “You didn’t see it when we were walking in? There’s a huge sign.”

“Nope.”

Rebecca sighed loudly and headed out the door. “Just follow me, Bailey.”

I pouted behind her back, even though she couldn’t see me, as we navigated through the building and down the stairs so we ended where we started.

And surely enough, there was a giant sign labeled OFFICE with an arrow pointing at a building across the street from the apartment building. It was actually disgustingly obvious.

“See?” Rebecca rubbed in smugly. “I told you.”

“Shut up,” I snapped back with a chuckle.

And an hour and a half later, Rebecca and I walked back to Zayn’s apartment one living space richer with the promise that we could move in the following week.

“I feel like such a grown-up,” I expressed with a content sigh. “We have our own apartment in a completely different country, far away from our parents.”

“The fact that you just said grown-up instead of adult just proves that you’re not one,” Rebecca pointed out. “And you had your own apartment in L.A. when your mother still lived in Boston.”

I turned to her with narrowed eyes. “Rebecca, I DIDN’T ASK YOU.”

She grinned widely at me, and I couldn’t help but snicker. God, I was glad she came to England with me.