CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
AN: I am reposting this currently, it is complete as are the several sequels. I am trying to start writing more but as of today 04 April 2021 it has been almost 2 years since I wrote a word in my universe so my first thing will be go back and re-read everything I have written to date. Who would like this to be all posted in one giant chapter?
After waiting for Al and Cam to arrive we head to the garage, Donna backs her car up, unbuckles the kids and heads to the office to chat with Gemma while Al, Cam and I sit in the car and wait.
"We're only looking at 2 houses, they both needed a serious clean when we saw them on Thursday but apparently Mandy has cleaning crews that have worked all weekend on both of them."
They are both still stuffing their faces with the buns I only gave them when they smelt the bag that I handed to Donna to take to Gemma. I hear grunts of acknowledgement, but nothing else and I really pray that they will get out when they're done to brush off any crumbs.
Al's finished first; she may have a models body but she talks and eats like a trucker. "Oh my god S that was amazing...anymore?" She peers over the seat hopefully and spots the bag that's on the floor for Mandy.
"Nope, that's not for you. Remember Al, one or you'll end up on a sugar high and we all know what happened last time."
Donna's just climbed in the front seat and hears the end of the sentence. "I don't know, what happened?"
I look at Al and wait for her to explain her not so finest hour but she throws herself back in the seat and I know it'll be up to me.
"I made sugar cookies and cinnamon buns once for a fund-raiser for the kindergarten my bosses' kid went to. I stupidly left them on the bench while I showered and got changed intending to take them over when I was done. Well I came back into the kitchen and Al had eaten 4 buns and 6 cookies. She seemed okay for a while, so I packaged up what was left...thankfully I had made extra...and made her come with me."
Cam is giggling in the back seat as we drive through the middle of Charming towards Mandy's office "So, Al was doing okay for about 30 minutes, then the sugar must have dumped itself in her body all at once, which probably would have been okay, if not for the fact we were surrounded by children. In the 45 minutes that Al was the hyped up sugar fairy she had her face painted like a fairy, somehow convinced one of the other chefs to give her his white coat, got the person doing the face painting to paint wings on it and then spent 30 minutes dancing and spinning in circles with the kids. She then stumbled out of the circle of them, threw up on a New York Police Officer and passed out."
By now Al's face is buried in her hands and the little I can see of her cheeks they are the pale pink she always goes when embarrassed.
Pulling into the car park of the office I see Mandy is just unlocking the door. The four of us get out and head over, the bag holding the bun in front of me, but the memory of Al waking up in a drunk tank is obviously still in her mind. The cop she vomited on was not convinced it was only sugar making her act like she had, until she woke up hours later and told him the whole story.
After the door is unlocked we all traipse into her office I introduce her to Al and Cam and she lets us know that she just has some phone calls to make to the cleaning company to double check it was all done, and to the owners of the properties to let them know another walk through is being done today but that she'll be ready to go in about 30 minutes.
Donna and Cam both look at me before announcing that they need more coffee; taking orders from all of us they head down the road to Lumpy's. It's only about 12 storefronts away so they're back in 15 minutes, 5 steaming cups jammed in a carry tray.
Mandy makes the phone calls while eating the bun I brought her, occasionally stopping and telling me how good it is and that I should make them for her every morning, I just laugh and drink my coffee slowly.
When she's ready to go, keys in hand we head outside, deciding not to try and all fit in her tiny Honda and go in mine instead, given that it's more comfortable for those in the back.
We go to the houses in the same order as we had before, the 4 bedroom first. It looks like the cleaners have been in again, there is a bit less carpet on the floor and the walls still look like they're going to collapse. I can see the way I would remodel it if I choose this house, but Donna has stubbornly refused to move from the front door while Al and Cam have been exploring the house.
After looking through the house we all climb back into the car and head towards Donna's neighbourhood, pulling into the driveway I can tell that the maintenance done over the weekend has made a huge improvement. The grass is shorter, it looks a bit patchy but having been long for months it's had a shock being mowed, but I know a couple of months of regular mowing and a bit of lawn fertiliser and it will be fine.
Mandy unlocks the front door and ushers us in, and the change is stunning.
The carpet that I couldn't tell the colour of turns out to be a deep red, it runs right through the hall on the lower floor and up the stairs. The windows on each side of the front door have been cleaned so light floods into the entrance way.
I look over at Donna who looks just as stunned, "Upstairs first?"
She nods so the four of us head up the stairs, turning to follow the hall we head right to the back of the house and start working our way forwards, the back isn't very interesting, it's got 4 of the 6 bedrooms, 2 of them share a tiny bathroom consisting of only a toilet, basin and a shower that looks like it would be for a limb at a time. The rooms themselves are decent sizes; they each have built in closets. The other 2 rooms are quiet small in comparison, and neither has its own bathroom, but there is a full-sized one just down the hall, it's got an enormous claw foot bath that we didn't see last time, it was covered with a sheet and full of what we thought were empty paint cans.
Walking towards the front of the house there is a larger bedroom on one side of the hall and a small room which could be a study I think. It's got built in bookshelves around 2 of the walls.
The carpet has continued right through the whole upstairs, bar the bathrooms which are tiled with white tiles. The walls have all been painted a cream colour that looks dirty from the years of living that the house has seen.
Heading back into the hall we open the double doors to the master bedroom, it's right at the front of the house at the top of the stairs, the carpet has continued but thankfully the walls aren't white in hear. I'm not sure if it's a good thing or not though looking at the colour, they seem to have been a dark leafy green at some stage but have faded over time. They look horribly next to the carpet, but the attraction in the master bedroom is still the same thing that kept me looking for 5 minutes of the time we were last here. On one side of the room is a set of French doors opening to a balcony that is only accessible from here, it's paved in a terracotta coloured tile and has a twisting wrought iron waist height wall at the edge. I guess that's why the master suite is at the front of the house, from standing here I can see the street at the end of the driveway, but only just, the trees that have been carefully trimmed form an arched gateway.
Turning back around I see that Cam has found the bathroom and seems to love it, its tiles are black which is a welcome difference to the white through the others. There is also another deep bath, but I'm not sure if it would be safe or not, looking at the few cracks in it I can see it would need some work, or probably just replacement. There's a his and hers sink which cupboards under it which could almost stock the entire makeup counter from Bloomingdales. The toilet is set behind a half-wall divider and the shower in the corner is huge, it's only got one head in it, something I know I will have to change.
Heading back towards the hall I'm almost yanked off my feet by Al who seems to have decided she's going to live in one of the closets. I'm not surprised though, it was the one area of the house which was almost dust free when we came in, the doors sealed when the previous owners left. Along one wall is floor to ceiling rails set at 2 heights, the opposite wall has rails set at the top, the back wall has been split in half, half of it is draws, 6 on each side, then a couple of shelves. But it's the wall behind us that has Al's attention though. On each side of the doors we've walked through there are built in shoe racks. Going from the floor right up to the ceiling there are at least 16 shelves that can be filled with shoes. I wonder if they'll be able to hold the massive collection of shoes I own. I vaguely think that I can always turn the matching closet on the other side of the door into shoe storage if I need to.
I shake my head at her laughing as I walk back out of the room and down the stairs. Donna and I hadn't spent much time down here with our last look; it was too hard to see anything past the dust. As I head towards the back of the house Donna appears, with Cam behind her pulling Al by her arm. I hear them bickering about shoes not being the most important thing in the world. Cam owns about 5 pairs of shoes, most of which have been brought for her. She says that as long as she has a comfortable pair of black heels, a pair of sneakers, a pair of sandals and a pair of slippers that's all she needs.
I zone out of their discussion, it's one that Al and Cam have had many times before and I doubt it's going to change at all this time.
The bottom floor of the house is still obviously in need of a lot of work. The carpet has continued right through here as well, but it's looking worn, I can see the edges are lifting from the floor. The very first room I go into I would change to a gym, it looks out over the backyard and the area where I can already see a pool being built, it's not a large room, but it would be big enough for the few gym related equipment pieces I have regularly used and would consider buying.
The second room would be a living room; it's a fairly large room. I can see the impressions on the floor where there has been couches sitting for a long time. One end of the room has a fireplace, the end that backs on to the side wall of the house; I can picture the room with furniture in it, one side being used for a TV, and the other half being turned into a cosy area to sit in front of the fire, like 2 living rooms in one.
Heading back out I browse through the other 2 rooms that are down here, one which would be perfect as a storeroom for all my cooking gear, once I added shelving right round, it has the advantage of being right next to the kitchen. The other room I'm not sure what it would be, maybe a spare bedroom, not that I'd need one, with all the rooms upstairs. I vaguely hear Al and Cam talking with Donna and the words 'Man cave' coming from Donna. I scoff at her but don't say a word.
Heading past one of the ground floor toilets tucked between the living room and the unfuctioned room I wander silently through the dining room, which needs a fair bit of work as well into the kitchen.
I know this room would be the most work for me; I would have to completely strip it out and start again. The current set up of it is awful, the stove is at one end and the gap where the fridge would go is at the other end, a good 5 feet apart. While the room itself is a great size and I can see the potential I sit on the bench and wait. Cam finds me about 5 minutes later sitting there looking around the room.
The second she walks in the door I know she sees my problem. The kitchen is on an outer wall, but there is no natural light coming in. The windows are covered by cupboards installed on the inside.
She shakes her head looks over at me and says, "Lots of work to do here."
Donna and Al come in a few minutes later while Cam and I are opening cupboards and checking the size of the pantry. Donna starts ushering me towards the door, I'm not sure what's got her spooked but her face is white and she looks worried.