Meredy called him two days after Ultear promised to give her his phone number. Jellal was grateful she called at the hour she did because he didn't want to have to multi-task the way he would've had he still been at work. She sounded younger than him and very excited about her job. He hoped he wasn't about to disappoint her.
"I don't know how much Ultear told you or if you can even help me, but I'm not really looking to buy a house or a condo –"
Meredy laughed. "She did tell me that much, Mister Fernandes, and I get a commission either way. Why don't you tell me what you're looking for and I'll see what I can do."
"Please just call me Jellal. I hear Mister Fernandes all day long."
"Ultear mentioned you were a teacher. Jellal it is, then. What are your requirements?"
"Well, I would like something with two bedrooms and preferably reliable utilities."
"Reliable utilities?" She hesitated and sounded confused.
"My current building seems to have some issues with water distribution and there are a lot of outages."
"I can see how that would be troublesome. Do you have pets?"
"I do. A cat that stays indoors. So no in-house cleaning services or anything like that; I can't have her escaping." Milliana brushed against his leg and hopped onto his bed.
"And do you smoke at all? Or require a balcony to do so?"
"No, I don't smoke but I'm not opposed to a balcony."
"And what kind of price range are we looking at?"
"If you could keep it under seventeen-hundred, that would be great. I'm paying a whole lot less than that now, but I think it's obvious I'm getting what I pay for." Meredy laughed again and he decided he liked her. "Do you think you can help me?"
"Absolutely! I have a couple of ideas that I should follow up on before sharing them with you, so how about I call you tomorrow and we can schedule a time to look at some locations?"
"Sounds great to me. I have a free lunch hour at noon, and I could leave the school as early as three-thirty."
"I will definitely have some leads by then. I'll talk to you tomorrow, Jellal!" When she hung up he tossed his phone to the side and pulled Milliana into his lap.
"Looks like we're going to be moving, Milli-girl. How do you feel about that?" Milliana turned in a tight circle on his thighs before settling. She looked up at him and meowed languorously. "I think you'll be happier with some new scenery. Maybe I'll be able to finally take all my books and shelves out of storage. I bet you'd like that, huh?" The cat simply squeaked at him in her way before closing her eyes.
The next day he met Meredy at an apartment complex clear on the other side of town. She wasn't hard to spot and it wasn't even her cheerful, pink hair that gave her away. It was the entire package. Meredy was a small woman with a bright smile and she appeared at his side as if out of thin air as soon as he stepped from his car.
"It's so nice to meet you, Jellal!" He shook her hand and noted that she smelled strongly of floral body spray. Not an unpleasant thing, but he suspected the scent would linger on his clothes. "When Ultear described you to me, I didn't expect you to be so tall! That's a fantastic tattoo, by the way! Very unique."
"Uh, thanks. It's a family… thing." Her perkiness made him feel a little bashful.
"Well I've already borrowed a key to the layout we'll be looking at here so if you'll just follow me this way." Meredy led him through a series of vine covered archways, across a courtyard, and up a flight of stairs. The very idea of dragging all his belongings through such a complicated path made his eye twitch.
The apartment was very nice, but the floor plan didn't appeal to him. He didn't want the only bathroom to be right off the kitchen. It felt odd. Meredy didn't flinch or cringe when he told her he didn't like it. She only smiled and gave him directions to an apartment building in a neighborhood he knew to be near the school.
Jellal spent less than five minutes touring the empty unit before deciding he wanted it. No carpet for Milliana to shred, a much more comfortable lay out and private laundry facilities. The application process was shorter than he expected and Meredy seemed pleased that he'd been so decisive.
"I'm sure you'll be very happy here, Jellal. It's a newer building and the amount of time you've worked at the same place will help speed things along. I'd say it won't take more than a couple of days to hear back from them."
"I hope so. I need to give my notice to vacate by the end of next week if I want to move this year." Meredy shook his hand again and promised to call him as soon as she got his application back before leaving him alone in the parking lot. As he drove home he decided that Ultear was right. He would absolutely hire a moving company. Jellal wanted no part of hauling any of his stuff up three flights of stairs.
The following afternoon, as he was packing up his bag to leave his classroom for the day, he received a text message from Meredy that he'd been approved for the apartment. He was so engrossed in replying he didn't hear the knock on his classroom door or the clicking of heels across the linoleum floor.
"Mister Fernandes?" A voice he could swear he'd heard somewhere before startled him and he not only dropped his phone but sloshed fruit punch flavored vitamin water all over his white shirt. He turned around quickly and immediately wanted to sink into a hole in the ground. Erza stood on the other side of his desk looking apologetic. "I'm so sorry; I didn't mean to disturb you. The receptionist said I could find you here…" She quirked an eyebrow at the hasty way he wiped at his shirt with a handful of napkins. "Is this a bad time?"
"Uh, no! No, of course not. I'm…" He sighed and tossed the wad of napkins in the garbage. The shirt would have to be soaked later. "I was just distracted. What can I do for you?"
"Are you sure? Because I can come back or if email is better…" Erza trailed off.
"Now is perfect. I'm just on my way out." She smiled and Jellal desperately tried not to be enchanted by it.
"Well, it's not a big deal or anything but Rogue mentioned you were looking for volunteers to help with the school's fund raiser booth at the Harvest Festival next month and I just wanted to see if there was anything you needed help with. The receptionist mentioned you were on the board."
"Uh, right. The board. Yes. I am co-chair and this is the first year I've been in charge of anything…" He dug through the stack of papers on his desk looking for the packet of information. "Forgive me, I'm a mess today. This carnival thing is more of a beast than I thought it would be when I took it on."
"It's fine, Mister Fernandes –"
"Jellal. You can call me Jellal, if you want."
"How about I give you my email address and phone number and you can get back to me on what you need? I work from home most of the time so I'm usually available unless I'm meeting with a client."
"That would be nice of you. I can't seem to find my notes right at this second. I'm sure they're at home where my cat has made a bed of them." He handed her a pad of sticky-notes and watched her write out her contact information. His interest was purely professional. Professional! Erza returned the pad to him and his fingers brushed hers briefly. He hated the way he loved it.
"Please let me know if you need any help with anything. I want to be involved and Rogue is very excited about the carnival."
"Have you been before?" The question slipped out before he could consider the personal nature of it.
"No, we only moved here from Crocus a few months ago just after school started. I've been meaning to meet with you, actually. I've only spoken with your aide before the paint incident."
"Ah, right. Yes, I was home sick that week Rogue started. It seems like big things only happen when I'm out."
"Besides the occasional spat with Sting, he's adjusting well?"
"He is! I'm pleased with the progress he's made and I think being exposed to a multi-age classroom is good for socialization. He's… quiet."
Erza's eyes fell to the floor and her shoulders sagged. "I'm afraid that's partly my fault. Before we moved I had a job that required a lot of office hours and, as I said before, his father wasn't much of a presence. We weren't even together by the time Rogue was born –" She paused and her cheeks reddened. "I'm sorry that's probably too much information. My point is Rogue spent a lot of time with a caregiver at home. It's important to me to make up for that as much as I can. It's why I work from a home office now."
"He's very intelligent, Erza, and reads at a second grade level. Juvia, my aide, has been working with him on some more complicated reading material."
"I'm pleased he's fitting in, then." She smiled at him and he didn't realize he was smiling back like a stupidly smitten schoolboy until she cleared her throat and stepped back from his desk. "Well, I'll be going then. Please let me know about the volunteer work and I'll contribute as much as I can."
"Right. Of course."
"Goodbye, Mister Fernandes." She left him alone in his classroom still grinning and feeling ridiculously light headed. Later when he finally looked at the sticky-note he saw her last name differed from Rogue's. Erza Scarlet. He couldn't think of a lovelier name. There was no denying it now. He had it bad.
