Adventures of a Non-Binary Author – What will Friday Bring?

We start the week with three viewings booked in. It’s my birthday next Monday, and we’re seeing my dad and step-mum on the Saturday. For lunch. Making it hard to book viewings around. But I have the Friday off. So we’re taking advantage of that.

Only one of the three properties neither of us have seen before. The other two my partner saw on Saturday. One contender, the three bed, is stronger than the other. At least in their opinion. The three bed would be more of a walk. But most of the rooms are spacious enough. And the walk, in their opinion, shouldn’t be too bad. Although they did get a lift there from my understanding. Still, I’ll be seeing the place for myself on Friday. By myself too. The booking is for two, whilst my partner is in work. The one neither of us has seen is at quarter to five. Then the two bed my partner viewed on Saturday is at five fifteen. Or at least, I’m pretty sure those are the times. They were the one to book them, and I’ve never been very good at remembering these kind of things.

I need a haircut. That was something I decided last week. But it’s hard to find the prices for the local salons. And those I can find the prices for are more expensive than where I’ve been going. So I make another decision. I have time to kill between viewings. It’s easier, and less expensive, to just stay in the city center once I’m there. So why not book in for a haircut between viewings? Seems like a very logical decision to make. But not one I need to commit to just yet. I do have all of next week off, after all. If I can’t get an appointment that works out, I can book one for next week.

The week flies by, as I count down to both the house viewings and my birthday week off. The three bed my partner already viewed is the first to cancel. It’s disappointing, but fine. It was the furthest away from the city center. Next to cancel is the one neither of us have seen. Again, disappointing, but that’s just the way the market has been going. The remaining viewing has been brought forward to five. This gives me the most range for booking in a hair appointment, provided there’s one available.

I call as soon as they’re open Friday morning. I ask for an appointment after two. There’s nothing available. But they can do one o’clock on Monday. I didn’t even realise they were open Mondays. I was pretty sure that wasn’t always the case. Either way I say yes to the appointment. It might be my birthday, but I’ve literally nothing else to do.

So, with the appointment booked, I continue on with my usual day off routine. There’s a lot of noise coming from downstairs though. They’re still doing… whatever to the boiler of the launderette. There’s not much I can do about that. But as the day wears noisily on, I start to worry that I haven’t really seen Zelly.

She’s old, and probably doesn’t much like all the noise or the smell that comes with it. That’s what I keep telling myself at least. But the brief moment I do see her, she’s looking a little wobbly on her feet. Wouldn’t be the first time. She gets a little wobbly whenever she stretches. And she was stretching, before going back to her hidey-hole. Still, even with all the noise it’s weird to only see her the once.

I manage to find where she’s hiding. There’s a good enough view for me to keep a periodic eye on her before I have to leave. I decide to walk in. I need the air. The noise and smell have been getting to me too. I always have a headache, but this one is starting to creep towards sick levels. Traveling by bus now would only make it worse. And I have the time to walk, so I might as well.

Walking doesn’t stop me worrying about Zelly though. But I try to focus my thoughts on the property we’re viewing. I don’t want to associate the two. I need to go in with a clear mind, so that I can really get a feel for the place. My partner thinks the place is a real contender. It feels homely, even if it’s not the biggest of places. The room sizes don’t look bad on paper either. I have a good feeling about the place. I try to hold onto those thoughts as I make my way into the city center.

Somehow I make it in a lot faster than I was expecting. I didn’t keep a close eye on what time I left. I know it was almost three. But I was expecting to reach the city center closer to four. Instead I’m at the edge of it by twenty to. If I were on my scooter I’d have made it to the other end in just under thirty-five minutes. I know I wasn’t quite as fast as that. But it’s still not a bad time considering. I just have a lot of time to kill until four-thirty, when I’ll meet my partner from work. So I pick us up some drinks, and go for a wander.

I’m honestly tempted just to wander over to the place we’ll be viewing, to scope out the neighbourhood. I don’t. Instead I just continue to imagine what this place is going to be like. Will we have finally found our future home? After all the bad luck we’ve been having, it would be nice to answer that with a yes.

To be continued…