Monday, July 27, 2009

"Basement" is the new extravagence

I was looking to move but wasn't having much success finding a new place to live in the area I wanted. I went to my softball game and my mom was there watching me play. In the middle of the game, she pulls me aside and tells me that she knows someone who is looking to rent and she made an appointment for me to see the place, but we had to leave right away. I didn't want to leave the game, but I knew I had to because my mother had stuck her neck out to try to help me.

We got to the apartment, which was in a building that was a little run down on the outside. We went inside the building and knocked on the door to the apartment, and it was the K. family (I played high school soccer with A.K., who was one grade ahead of me). They were renting out their "basement" apartment that was a five bedroom place, with a full deluxe kitchen, washer/dryer (in one appliance...?), several mini-rooms/offices, a loft, stairs (yes, the apartment was two-stories), a patio that overlooked the outside busy main street, a view of the river (which sloshed up against the double-pane windows; obviously on a different side of the building from the patio). They allowed pets, too, which was good since I had Cash and Diamond in the carrier and was cradling Raider in my arms. Each room was furnished and decorated like different rooms at IKEA - very organized and color-schemed throughout. I went to the sliding door that overlooked the patio and saw my softball game continuing without me and sighed.

I turned to A.K. and asked how much they were asking for rent. She told me, "one grand, that's it." My eyes just about bugged out of my head. I was about to ask who had access to the apartment, as it was the "basement" of the K.'s house, but my mother interuppted my thought by pulling me aside and asking me if I was going to ask Boyfriend to move in with me. She then proceded to ramble on about the kind of wedding dress material I wanted and I cut her off and insisted that Boyfriend and I were NOT getting married, even if he decided that he wanted to move into this absolute steal of an apartment.

Ex-boyfriend rears his head

I was at my high school as a new teacher and I didn't know it, but Fla.-J was also a teacher there. I was on my way to put my purse and gym bag in my locker (don't know why I had a locker with the students, since I was supposed to be a teacher) and I saw Fla.-J walking in the front door. I sprinted away so that he woudln't see me, but the image of him wearing a pink long-sleeve button down was burned into my brain.

I reached my locker - at the corner of the first hallway to the right in real life at my high school - and dropped my stuff down in front of it, relieved that I'd avoided Fla.-J for the time being. I reached for the lock and dialed the combo: 34-34-41. As I was putting my things into the locker, the double doors behind me opened and Fla.-J walked through. I froze as we locked eyes... I guess he hadn't known that I would be teacher there, either.

Cut to the near-by town... it was similar to a college town in that there were all sorts of little shops and restaurants surrounding the streets, which were full of people walking, riding bicycles, etc. As I was walking past a tea and coffee shop, Fla.-J walks out and dang near walks right into me. He started to apologize for almsot bumping into me - he thought I was just a random stranger - and then he stopped short as he realized that it was me.

I started to brush him off and walk away, but he grabbed my arm. He wanted to know why I kept running away from him, why I wouldn't make eye contact with him, etc. I looked at him like he had three heads. It was evident that a good deal of time had passed since we'd last seen each other or since we'd last spoken, but I was mystified as to why he would even have to ask why I wanted nothing to do with him.

Then he said, with sad eyes, "I just don't want to be known for two things: being a great tea maker and breaking your heart."

I started to cry as I told him it was too late for that, too late for apologies and too late for him.