"If I don't find somewhere to go soon, I'll be homeless!" the bluehead emphasized, sitting at her normal table at the coffee shop. She ran her middle finger lazily around the rim of the mug her beverage was served in.
"Oh, Bulma... I wish I could help you! Who would have thought that every apartment in your price range would be filled!" Chichi replied helplessly, her mug gripped tightly with both of her hands. The ex-heiress watched as her friend stared sadly back at her for a moment, quickly redirecting her gaze as it grew uncomfortable. Bulma knew the brunette wanted her to move in with her desperately. She knew Goku would invite her in if she'd brought it up to him, but she couldn't bring herself to tell another soul about her predicament.
The company her family owned, Capsule Corp, had closed down earlier that week. Any projects they'd been working on had been leaked to their competitors, leaving them with no "fresh" designs. Dr. Briefs had fought tooth and nail to keep the business running steadily, but it was no use.
Snapping back to reality, Bulma shuddered, the finger tracing the lip of her drink pausing in one spot as she recalled the events from earlier that week. "I guess I'll have to find a roommate..." she said slowly and with a shrug. "I don't have any other choice. I can't live on the street." she said matter-of-factly. She felt a little silly saying it in such a way, as if people ever chose to live homeless.
She brought a folded newspaper up from her lap, spreading it flat on the table. Her eyes scanned the page it was permanently opened to, the wanted ads sprawled over the face of it. "Oh, here's one..." she said, placing her pointer finger to one of the small boxes. "It says 'wanted: clean, quiet, self-sufficient roommate,' and it's in my price range..." she murmured, reaching in to her bag and pulling out a pen. She made three dark circles around the text so she could come back to it. "I'll try that to start with... If that doesn't work, on to the next one, I suppose..."
Chichi rose a hand to rub the space between her eyebrows quickly, "Listen, I don't really like the idea of you moving in with a stranger either..." she admitted, narrowing her eyes, her chocolate eyebrows falling with her seriousness. "What if you move in with a psycho?!" she squeaked, folding her arms.
"Someone more psycho than you? Oh, Chich, no chance..." the genius replied, a large grin spreading over her face. She lifted an arm to guard her face from whatever was surely being launched at her for her comment. Scraps of muffin fell into her lap.
"I'm serious! I'm worried about you, Bulma... I know Goku and the others would be, too if they knew what kinda situa-"
"No!" the bluehead quickly stopped her friend, putting a hand up in protest. "You can't breathe a word of this to anyone. I'm already mortified as it is." she explained, dusting the pieces of food from her dark jeans. "The only reason you know is because you're my best friend... And I thought maybe you'd heard of some places that were available... But... Here we are..." she huffed, wadding up the newspaper again. "I'm going back to my apartment to pack some more shit... I have to be out of there in three days..." she stated, stuffing the paper and pen back into her bag. "Krillen said I could borrow his truck for a couple of days to move everything, assuming I don't have to sell it all."
"Bulma," Chichi whined, standing, her palms pressed against the table as she leaned over it. "Please... If you get any weird feelings talking to this person... Don't just stay there because you feel like you have nowhere else to go... Your friends would be happy to have you stay with them for a little while, until you're back on your feet."
Bulma pushed herself up from the table and looked at her friend, nodding slightly as she slung her bag over her shoulder. She hated being patronized in such a way, even if she knew Chichi meant well. The phrase 'back on your feet' rang in her ears for a moment. "You got it, Chich... I promise, okay? Thanks for the coffee..." Turning on a heel with her head held high, the ex-heiress walked to the exit and pushed the door open, walking out on to the bustling sidewalk.
Pulling down on the sleeves of her beige sweater, she walked toward her apartment building, weaving in and out of other pedestrians. At this point, she wanted to be home, comfortable in some pajamas with a book. She was going to relish in the things that others took for granted everyday, because she was terrified of losing them. She knew that she'd likely have to downsize the amount of things she kept with her if she had a roommate, but her parents offered to let her store her extra things with them in the garage of their one bedroom house.
Sure, they'd offered to let her stay there, but the prospect of living with her parents again put her off. She loved them, of course, but she'd grown so used to having her own space that she declined their offer. They honestly didn't have the room for her in the house, and the garage was uninhabitable in its current state. She decided they must have been offering just because they thought they needed to, it was their daughter after all.
The sound of people and the heels of her boots clacking on the pavement faded away as she felt her agitation rising. "I told dad to keep an eye on who he was hiring!" she internally scolded, her brow knotting up a little. "I told him that people are scum and don't give a damn who they hurt with their thievery. He insisted that he trusted his employees..." she sighed a little, a subtle sadness taking over her features. "He has such a kind heart... And tries to see the good in people... He was naïve to think everyone else in the world was like that... This was bound to happen eventually..."
After about 10 more minutes of walking, stopping for cross walk signals and maneuvering through the crowds, she was finally home. She dug through her purse and found her keys, sliding the one into the lock and turning it. She pushed the door open with little force, using her foot as a stopper as she pulled the key back out of the handle.
The blue haired woman drew in a deep breath and looked around her spacious apartment. It was an open floor plan, the only walls surrounded the bathroom and her bedroom. The kitchen had a bar and stainless steel appliances, the backsplash under the cabinets a chic granite pattern. Marble countertops sat atop the bottom cabinets, pulling the look together flawlessly. She released her breath and closed the door softly behind her, flipping the lock above the handle. "Take it all in," she said aloud to herself. "You'll be moving the day after tomorrow..."
She kicked off her shoes and walked over to the kitchen bar, hopping up on to one of the stools. She brought her bag up and sat it in front of her, pulling out the newspaper. She eyed the number in the ad she'd marked earlier and pulled out her cell phone, being careful to punch in the right numbers. When she heard someone pick up, she began, "Uh, hi... I was calling about your ad in the paper..."