Chapter 27 Next Level
NEXT LEVEL
“Thanks for meeting with me,” Arik said two days later.
“Not a problem. I enjoy talking to clients in person before we view homes,” Stella Burke said. She was a realtor at Bond Realty.
He’d been emailing her for a few days while she searched properties for him.
Two were coming up on the market for a long-term rental. They hadn’t been listed yet and she was giving him first option.
“I’ve got time on my hands.”
Not as much as he’d had before, now that he was settling in on his puzzle app idea.
Even if nothing came of it, it’d be fun to work on it, then try to sell. He could launch it for a short period to just get feedback.
Between writing the code, he was researching the best way to launch and test.
It was eating into his days in a good way. One with purpose and excitement. If it fizzled, oh well, he’d just move on to the next thing.
“It’s hard to find long-term rentals on the island, easier if your budget is flexible.”
He hadn’t given a strict budget, just said he wanted to see what was available and go from there.
Anything would be more space than his suite, but it was easy living too.
Food at his fingertips, a clean space he didn’t have to do himself, and access to his girlfriend daily if he chose.
He chose to see her daily, but she wasn’t so keen on it.
Had to dial it back some, he knew.
He had the time, she didn’t. And maybe she wasn’t one who liked to have someone in her space daily either. Just because he was insecure about how this was all happening and that he’d forced it some without her knowledge, didn’t mean she understood him.
“Have a seat and I’ll pull up the two listings and we’ll check them out if you’re interested,” Stella said.
He planted his butt in the chair at the table while she typed on her computer.
She slid the laptop over to him and he viewed the outside of the tiny cottage in a neighborhood with lots of homes around it.
“Doesn’t look as if there is much of a view,” he said.
“This is walking distance to downtown shops and food,” Stella said. “It has two bedrooms and one bath, about a thousand square feet.”
He was sliding through the pictures. Quaint came to mind.
Charming.
Old.
Rustic.
It might appeal to him for a short vacation, but six months? Nah. He’d rather stay in the hotel.
Guess he was a bit fancier than he let on.
“Can I see the other one? I can extend my stay in a hotel for a bit longer if you think something else might come on the market.”
“It’s a tight market on the island,” Stella said. “Apartments might be the only thing to come up and there are waiting lists for them. Any place with more than one bedroom goes fast and people get roommates if they have to.”
She pushed the laptop back to show him another place. Much bigger. Looked like three bedrooms and two baths, two floors.
“How close is this to the water?” he asked scrolling through the pictures. More modern than the last but not anything special.
He supposed any rental wouldn’t have high-end touches not knowing how it would be treated.
“About two blocks. It’s higher on the street so you can see the water in the distance from two of the rooms.”
He flipped through and found those views. Not horrible, but nothing like he had.
Not sure why he thought he’d get that.
This was more about having a place to live while he and Natalie went to the next level in their relationship.
“I’d like to check this one out. Not the first. It won’t fit my needs.”
“We can do that,” Stella said. “Let me just check with the landlords and ensure that the tenants are out.”
“They are still there?”
“They will be there until the end of the month.”
That would leave him two weeks to extend his stay at The Retreat, if he could, or find another hotel. He was positive that wouldn’t be a problem.
It’d be worth it to get this place.
Worst case, he’d get a place off island in Boston. He hoped it didn’t come to that.
Or that Natalie would offer for him to stay with her.
That would be even better.
Though he knew they weren’t there. Not yet.
“That should be doable if I like it.”
“The cost is much higher,” Stella said. “Not sure if you noticed it on the screen.”
He had. More than double the first place. “Not a problem.”
“The landlords would require one month in advance as a deposit. If it’s only a six month lease, rather than a full twelve months, there is an additional fee.”
Geez. Maybe he should be a landlord on this island with the demand.
“That’s fine.”
He went back through viewing the pictures while Stella was texting on her phone.
“We can go over now if you’re available,” Stella said. “The current tenants are at work.”
“I am,” he said, standing.
It took less than ten minutes to get to the house. There were neighbors around, but not on top of each other as much as the other place.
No garage, but he wasn’t concerned with snow in the next six months either.
He and Stella walked up the front porch stairs, she unlocked the door and they moved in.
It was a pretty basic white saltbox home, black shutters, long porch, even a few rocking chairs.
They walked right into the living room, the stairs to the left some.
“It’s got a nice open space here, you can see into the dining room past it, the kitchen on the other side behind the wall.”
He walked through the area, the furniture in here big and not his style, but he wasn’t going to buy much and had been told furnished places were even harder to come by, but not uncommon since shipping things to the island cost so much.
The kitchen was doable. Better than he had. The appliances maybe five years old, tops.
“I can work with this,” he said.
“The primary is on the first floor off the entry.”
They went back through the living room and past the stairs, opened the door and he looked in.
“Could be worse.”
It had a queen-sized bed, two end tables and a walk-in closet.
“There is a full bath.”
“The only one on this floor?” he asked. Which meant guests would have to go upstairs.
He caught himself before he laughed.
What guests?
The only people he knew on the island were Natalie and now her family.
“Yes.”
He stepped in, saw the stand-up shower and single sink. It was modern enough for him.
“Let’s check the upstairs.”
One of them would be his office.
He popped his head into the hall bath, again, doable and had a tub that he wouldn’t use. The other two bedrooms were average size, had twin beds, no desk though. He’d move things around to fit one in there.
“This room doesn’t have a closet so it can’t be considered a bedroom though I know they are using it as such. There are a few roommates here and they are all leaving.”
Stella opened the door. Jackpot.
It was the size of the master suite directly below it but all one open space. A bed against one wall, a chair and TV on another wall, a desk facing the window that had one of those views.
He found his office.
“This works,” he said. “Where do I sign?”
“That fast?” Stella asked. “Guess you’re a guy who knows his mind.”
“I do. Once I get this squared away, I’ll figure out where I’m staying the rest of the month or extend my stay at The Retreat.”
“You’re staying at The Retreat this whole time?”
Dollar signs flashed in Stella’s eyes.
“I’ve got a little over a week left,” he said and left it at that.
Forty minutes later, he was back at The Retreat and on his computer getting to work on his app.
Having a purpose was much more rewarding than floundering as he’d done for the past month.
His time was going by faster, his energy was higher, his mood lighter.
Or was it Natalie that made him feel that way?
Her presence relaxed him, making him feel rested but revived at the same time.
She made him want to do more, be better, accomplish something.
He hadn’t felt like this since his last job. Where he’d worked himself to the bone to prove he had what it took.
That he didn’t have to make a name like his parents had.
That he could find a passion and cling to it like a lifeline.
But he didn’t cling. His lifeline became his noose.
That noose strangled him mentally and physically until in the end his account was flush, but his body weakened.
He wouldn’t allow that to happen again.
He knew the signs. He knew what to watch for.
And he knew beyond a doubt that Natalie would care for and nurture him if he took a step down that road again.
But was it fair to even put that thought into his mind?