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Chapter 3

Mr and Mrs Masen

I took my time getting ready the next day. Secretly I think I wanted to impress the couple I was going to see in about an hour. They were my last hope after the last two houses I had seen. I new I would quickly run out of money if I was stuck in a Premier Inn. Their names were Mrs Esme Masen and a Mr Anthony Masen. They lived in Barnes, a big-ish town near to London. It looked lovely when I viewed it on Google Maps. Their house was a medium sized town house, painted cream with a cute front garden. I could definitely see myself living there. It just boiled down to what the people were like.

I was definitely starting to get nervous. What if they didn't want me? What if I didn't like them? What if the neighbours were mean? what if they were really posh? The constant question flying through my head had kept me awake throughout the night. It took about 20 minutes to get there from town so I left hurriedly in order to catch the next tube.

When the train stopped at the station I quickly made my way through the crowd. The train was delayed slightly so I would need to hurry in order to get there in time. Being late was not a good impression. I finally found the right house with three minutes to go. I took a large breath. Letting it out slowly to calm myself. I knocked gently on the door and waited.

After a couple of minutes I knocked again. This time the door opened almost immediately and standing there was an extremely handsome man. He had golden blonde hair and the bluest eyes you have ever seen. He looked aged but it suited him. He was dressed immaculately in a navy suit and he looked kind. I hope this is Mr Masen. I mean who wouldn't want to look at that piece of eye candy every day?

"Yes hello? You must be Isabella? I'm Mr Masen…You can call me Anthony," he smiled. I couldn't help but smile back.

"Hello, it's nice to meet you Anthony…I prefer Bella"

"Okay then…Bella. Would you like to come in? My wife is finishing up in the kitchen, she'll be with us in a moment"

"Okay, yes" I gingerly walked in, following Anthony into the living room. The walls were a light beige. And they had dark Italian leather sofas. The Plasma took up quite a bit of the wall and down the far end was a small, baby grand piano. I was liking it already. There were a few family photos around. Most of them were from when their children were small. If I didn't have the proof, I'd swear Anthony wasn't old enough to have grown up kids.

We both sat on the sofa. I studied the photos more while we waited for Mrs Masen to join us. I could tell they had two daughters and a son. Anthony told me the daughters were oldest and there was a year difference between them. Their names were Victoria and Elizabeth. They both had fair blonde hair and were gorgeous. This family had good genes. The only pictures of their son were from when he was a small child to his early teens. He too had fair blonde hair and was very cute. Some of his features were familiar somehow…I could probably recognise them from his father. His name was Edward. A very good name if you ask me. But I'm not biased at all!

Mrs Masen joined us a few minutes later. She had very dark (what you would call dirty) blonde hair. Her eyes were a lovely light green colour and she had a pale blue dress on. I almost felt jealous of their beauty. She beamed at me when she entered the room and came over to give me a hug.

"Hello, Bella, I'm Mrs Masen…Esme to you though" she gave me a wink and I smiled back.

"It's lovely to meet you Esme. I was admiring the room. It is beautiful. I can't wait to see the rest of the house.

"Well we'll give you the tour in a moment. Would you like a cup of tea and some cake first, or after?" she gestured to a lovely Victoria Sponge she had brought in.

"Hmmm, hard decision," I laughed "later I think?"

"Yes okay then, later it is!"

"Would you like to know about us first?" Anthony asked.

"Ummm, yes sure" I answered.

"Well, we've been married for thirty years. I am 50 and my wife is 48. We have three children, two daughters, Elizabeth or 'Lizzie' who is twenty nine. She is our little pop star. Although she's not well known. She moved out a long time ago and is living in town with her boyfriend, Michael. Our other daughter is twenty eight. She has only recently moved out because her business has only now started to do well. She owns part of a magazine publishing company with a couple of her friends. Our son is the youngest. He's twenty five and he moved out five years ago. His name is Edward. He doesn't like to be called anything else. We have two rooms free. They join via a door. They were the girls rooms. We're keeping Edward's room for when he visits every now and again. Oh and we do have a dog. She's a really cute little Jack Russell Terrier called "Pattie". Edward named her and we still don't know why he chose that particular name…."

"Oh, I love dogs!" I told them excitedly.

"Well then, that's a bonus!" they grinned at me.

"We'll give you the tour now…" Esme said while standing up. She led the way to the next room. It was a dining room that had a table with six chairs, a drinks bar and patio doors out to the garden. The walls were a deep red, very sophisticated. I loved it. The garden had a patio with a small table a chairs and then the rest was grass (for the dog). I loved everything so far. Next stop was the kitchen. It was very modern. It had oak cupboards with silver handles and black granite worktops. The floor was black tile and the walls were painted a fresh, vibrant green. There was also a breakfast bar. It was gorgeous. I could imagine myself cooking in there.

There was a bathroom downstairs that was light blue with a white suite. It was nice. It had a bath inside with the claw feet on it. It looked like luxury. Upstairs was also amazing. The stairs and landing had cream carpet, a change from the wooden floor of the living room and tile of the kitchen. It was incredibly thick and I insisted that I would take my shoes off before walking up it. The walls were a neutral cream and all along the stairs were funny family pictures and the park and on holidays. It made me sad to think I never really had a family like that.

There were five rooms upstairs. The first was Edward's room. We weren't allowed to go in there. Apparently he was a secretive person. The next two rooms were the ones for rent. One was a light yellow, which had been set up like a living room. It had a large TV and bookshelves either side. On the opposite side was a large desk and a comfy looking cream material sofa, with lemon coloured pillows and throw. The light from the large window was seeping in, making the room glow. It was exactly what I needed. The second room was the bedroom. The walls were a Lilac colour. The king size bed was already made up with various cushions of all different shades of purple and cream. There was a dressing table and a wardrobe too. It was lovely. I gazed at it in awe.

"I guess you like it then?" Esme asked.

"Yes I love it!" I squealed in excitement. She laughed and showed me the bathroom which had a power shower and was orange in colour and it also had a white suite, before we went back downstairs for cake.

"I'll take it" I said immediately after she finished telling me that food was included in the rent price.

We shook hands, with the agreement that I would move in the next day. I couldn't wipe the grin off my face as I made my way back to the Premier Inn. I informed the girl at reception that I would be leaving the next day. I was excited to move in to my new home. And then find a job…hopefully.

Please R&R xx