The House Hunter, Seth
Andy has great taste. That's for sure. He's picked a gorgeous woman as his wife. I'd marry her too if I was a few decades older, but I'm not. I share Andy's taste in homes, too. My name is Seth, and I bought Andy's house recently.
It might seem odd that I was invited to the wedding. People don't usually befriend the guy who comes along and buys their home. No, that's almost weird, but there's more to the story, for sure. See, I didn't make the connection until I waked through the house with my realtor. Normally, some people put away their pictures and all when selling their home. The realtors say it makes it look less cluttered, but whatever. I don't mind pictures. Lucky for me, Andy still had his out.
I'm a firefighter here in LA and am trying to start my life. I've been a firefighter for almost 10 years now and decided recently to buy a house. I'd been living the bachelor lifestyle in an apartment, acting more like a frat guy than a young adult, and I decided it was time. So, I started shopping for a house. Now, I will say the one thing I did right was save. I started saving way back when. My parents taught me that much, so I've been saving. I don't make a ton of money as a fireman, but aside from the bare essentials, I don't really have expenses. And, I haven't taken a vacation or trip in-well, I can't even remember when. So, I had a decent amount saved for a down payment. I'm not into clothes or electronics. I enjoy working and working out. That's about it. I don't even date much with my odd work hours right now. I'm hoping that changes when I go to days at work in a few months. Anyway, I was walking through Andy's house, or now my house, when I saw his family pictures. I stopped only because I recognized someone.
"Hey, I know her," I told my realtor. My realtor stopped and turned back to me, almost irritated that I was looking at something in the house, but not AT The house.
"Who? The mom or the daughter?" she asked.
"No," I shook my head. "I know that's not her mom, maybe her stepmom, but the daughter, I went to high school with her. Nicole," I smiled. "I haven't seen Nicole in years. Is this her house?"
The realtor checked her notes and shook her head, "No, it belongs to a bachelor," she said. "I suppose it belongs to her dad?"
"I guess," I nodded. "Huh," and I remember shaking my head.
I'd always had a crush on Nicole that hadn't worked out, but it appeared she now was happily married. I studied the several pictures at the house that day. It looked like she had a family of her own, and that I was looking at buying her dad's place. I fell in love with the place. It had a great yard, a big garage, and the rooms were updated, but not crazy like some homes. The best thing for me was that it was in my budget. So, to make a long story short, I made an offer. By the end of the day, I found out the place was mine.
Like it does for most mortgages, it took a month to complete the sale of the home, but in the interim, I asked my realtor if I could get a message to Andy. I didn't know his name then; I didn't know he was involved much in Nicole's life. She and I had most of our classes together our junior and senior year, and the only thing I remember her saying about her dad was how she hated having to go see him for the weekend. She liked her mom back then, but by the looks of the pictures, it looked like she and her dad had repaired some of the damage. My realtor told me I could ask him whatever I wanted, but she had no guarantee he would respond. I understood. It was a little creepy, I suppose, that I was wanting to tell a guy that I'd had a crush on his daughter and was now buying his house. I wrote the quick note, and I was pleasantly surprised to get a call from him the next day.
"Is this Seth?" I answered my phone to the unfamiliar number.
"Yes, this is Seth," I replied. I usually hated answering my phone with strange numbers, but I've learned that while buying a house, people call you like crazy needing things.
"This is Lieutenant Andy Flynn, LAPD," he told me. I froze a second before I heard the name. Flynn. Oh, I knew exactly who this was calling me.
"Lieutenant," I told him and smiled. "I'm Seth, and I'm buying your house."
"Yeah," he chuckled. "I've been told. I got your note, and you know Nicole? This isn't some creepy stalker situation is it? My realtor spoke with yours and said you are a fireman, so I'm trusting you are a decent human being."
"Yeah," I chuckled. "I promise you I'm an upstanding citizen. Go ahead and run a background check on me."
I heard him laugh before he replied, "My girlfriend would kill me if I did that."
"I'm sorry?" I said. I'd lost him at that point.
"Oh," he chuckled. "My girlfriend is my boss. Yeah, I know how it sounds, but she's the captain here in charge of Major Crimes. She'd kill me for doing that without cause."
"I gotcha," I nodded. "Girlfriend. Oh, is she the one in the pictures too? I'm sorry. I promise I wasn't snooping, but when I was touring the house, I noticed you had all your pictures out on display. That's how I saw Nicole, and with her, I saw a lot of other family members. I contacted you because I went to high school with Nicole, and I haven't seen her in years."
"Yeah, you explained some of that in your note. I verified with Nicole, and she was really surprised to hear you were buying the house. She's doing well and would like to catch up with you. Yes, Sharon was in many of the pictures at the house too. I've got a great family. I'm selling because I'm moving in with Sharon. I love that house. Sharon and I both love that house, but I would like to be closer to Nicole. It was the right thing to do. Sharon's condo is close to Nicole's house. So, you went to high school with her?"
"I did," I nodded as I continued to speak to him on the phone. "We were in a lot of classes together. We lost touch after she went off to college, and I floundered for a couple years before decided to go to the fire academy. I should have gone to college too, but I didn't. I was a whiz at math, but I told myself there was no job in it. Nicole was even better at it than I was. Did she major in something math related?"
"Yeah, she did," Andy said. "She's an accounting supervisor now for a large firm. They work closely with the Dodgers."
"You're killing me. Really? She works with the Dodgers?" I asked. I am a huge baseball fan.
"She does. Huge fan myself. You?" Andy asked me.
"Oh, I'm a huge fan," I told him. "Wow. Crazy. So, it looks like life is going well for her? She has a couple kids?"
"Right," he told me. "She and her husband, Dean, have two boys. I'll give you her number. She told me I could. She sounded excited to hear from you."
"We were good friends," I told him. "I took her to Homecoming our junior year, but we decided we were better as friends. She was always a good one."
"She spoke highly of you. Crazy you are buying my house. It almost makes me feel better about selling it, not that I was worried about it, but it's always hard to sell something you love. I mean, I'm thrilled to be moving in with Sharon, but that was my house. All mine. I bought it after I got sober, and I've done so many updates to it over the years. It was therapeutic."
"Ahh, that explains all the detail," I told him. "I saw your woodworking area in the garage. I'm going to create a massive home gym," I told him.
"Hey, I'm glad to sell it to you, a guy my daughter admires. You should stop by this weekend. Sharon and I are going to pack up the kitchen and living room. You can meet her, and maybe Nicole and the kids will stop by too," he invited me.
"I'd like that," I smiled.
And, I did. Not only did I stop by that weekend, I called Nicole to catch up with her. It was really good to speak with her. She'd moved away for college while I tried to figure out my life. By the time I got myself together, I really didn't think about her, knowing she probably had a great career and life. I'm really happy for her. She didn't stop by Andy's that weekend, but I did, and that's when I first met Andy and Sharon.
I remember walking up the sidewalk that day, looking at the house, almost in disbelief it was going to be mine. There were cars in the driveway and boxes on the front porch. Clearly, the move-out process had started, which was good considering we only had three weeks until closing. I remember knocking on the door and a guy answered.
"Umm, hi, I'm Seth. I'm the guy buying this place. Lieutenant Flynn told me to stop by," I explained.
"Oh, hey," he flashed a grin. "Andy," he turned and called over his shoulder. "Seth is here." He turned back to me, "I'm Rusty. Andy is ahh, umm," he stopped when a hand was put on his shoulder.
"Andy is right here," I looked up and smiled at Andy. He stuck out his hand. "Seth, good to meet you. Here, I'm just Andy."
"Okay, Andy," I shook my head. "Great to meet you." Rusty still stood there, looking at us, feeling a bit in the middle. Andy gestured to him.
"You met Rusty? He's the heavy lifter today," he chuckled. Rusty rolled his eyes.
"Someone has to be. You'll kill yourself otherwise. I don't need that. I've already scraped you off the bathroom floor. Let's not have a repeat performance," he smirked. "Andy is," and he turned to Andy and continued, "what are you? I'm not going to call you my roommate. That's creepy. I don't think saying the guy sleeping with my adopted mother is right either."
I chuckled. I was getting the picture, but watching these two was pretty funny. I looked up and saw Andy frowning and shaking his head.
"Let's not let Sharon hear that, okay? Maybe we just go with that I live with you? We can just look like the happy little family. Who knows," he shrugged and continued, "maybe one day it will be a different title."
Rusty studied him and narrowed his eyes, "If you are talking about what I think you are, we all have a bet going. Just don't freak her out. This is a big enough change right now. You know anything else will freak her out."
"Hey, hello? I'm very aware of what will freak her out, and what do you mean you have a bet?" Andy asked him. I continued to stand there and chuckle. The banter was hilarious, and they had almost forgotten I was there.
"Rusty! I have another box of books here," I heard and tried to look over their shoulder. The guys snapped out of it and looked to me.
"I'm sorry," Andy shook his head. "Come in. Rusty, go help your mom." Rusty nodded and disappeared. I stepped into the house and looked around. It looked different, a good different, like it was almost ready and empty for me.
"Sharon," he called out down the hall. "Seth is here." I heard Sharon giving some instruction to Rusty, and then she appeared with a huge smile on her face. The few times I've met her, she's always been smiling. She's a lovely person, and I could tell right away, she loved Andy. The look she gave him when her eyes met his that day, I won't forget. She smiled at him, really beamed at him. It was sweet to see. Even as a young single guy, I can see things like that.
"Seth, how lovely to meet you," she extended her hand. I shook it. "Your call was a lovely surprise, and Nicole has told me all about you."
"Really?" I smiled. I caught Andy frown at Sharon.
"Nicole told you all about him? I barely got anything out of her," he shook his head.
Sharon shrugged, "Girl talk," she winked at Seth. "It was all very positive. She is so glad the two of you reconnected. It sounds like you were great friends in high school."
"We were," I nodded. "Yeah, she said they were busy today, but she invited me over for dinner on Monday night. I'm looking forward to meeting her family."
"Oh, well, you will love those boys," Sharon almost squealed. "They are so fun. I bet they will love hearing you are a fireman."
I grinned, "I have hats for them. WE have some field trip items at the fire house, and I thought they would enjoy them," I explained.
Sharon grinned even more, "That is perfect. Now, come in, and take a look around the place. We are thrilled you are buying it. Maybe Andy could tell you a few things while I check on Rusty," she looked to me.
"Sounds great. It already feels like home," I smiled.
It has felt like home, right from the start. It's funny that a house filled with things that aren't yours can feel like home, just as an empty house can feel like home too. I love my house, Andy's house. It's perfect for me. Andy did take me around that day and explained some of the projects he'd done to the place. I really appreciated that, almost like getting the story of the house. Yes, it's a little unconventional for a seller and a buyer to become friends, but we have. Nicole was the key to all of it. I should have known anyone related to Nicole would be a good person. She was and is still a wonderful person.
I finally saw her that week for dinner, and we had the best time catching up with each other. Dean is a great guy, and it's no wonder she is so happy. I'm happy for her. We had a lot to catch up on, and we talked for hours. Sharon was right that the boys would love the hats. I'm really glad I took them to the boys. I heard all about their play police outfits from Grandpa Andy and Grandma Sharon. I also heard a lot about Andy and Sharon. It was cool to hear their story, especially from Nicole's perspective. I'm sure Andy and Sharon would have told it differently, but I enjoyed hearing about their happiness. It made buying the house even more special.
Since that time, I've become a friend to the whole family. The closing on the house went smoothly, and I told Andy he was always welcome to stop by the place. Like Andy, I enjoy projects, and my first was to remodel the bathroom. I remember telling him that, and he grinned at me.
"I've thought about doing that for the last few years," he shook his head.
"Oh, yeah?" I asked.
"Yeah, but between work and spending time with Sharon, it wasn't that big of a priority. When Sharon and I talked about my moving, she even brought up the bathroom and said it could be an issue when selling the house," he explained. "The bathroom drives her crazy. It's clean, but she hates that old, outdated tile."
I nodded, "Yeah, I have to admit it looks like my grandparents' house," I shrugged. "It's the first project. One of the guys from work does some plumbing. He's going to help, and I can easily take a sledgehammer to that tile."
"I can't wait to see it," he smiled.
I completed the bathroom in three months. Yes, that's a long time for a bathroom, but I work crazy hours too. It looks awesome. I'm really happy with it. It's modern and updated, and yet, it still fits the style of the house. It felt good to do a home improvement project in my own home, and I'm going to start on garage renovation soon. I'm going to outfit it as a home gym, and I'm really looking forward to it. I promised to have Andy and Sharon over to see it when I finish.
Here, today, I'm excited about the wedding. I was a "family" invite, really, a guest of the whole family. I'm looking forward to seeing Nicole and her family again. I'm touched that Andy and Sharon invited me. The invitation was in his handwriting-I could just tell, and I'm sure it was weird to send it to an address he had known well for years.
Today is going to be a great day. I'm going to celebrate with new and old friends. I'm very thankful I bought my house. It has brought me so much already, and I promised Andy I would take good care of it. I'm looking forward to decorating the house for Christmas, which I plan to do tomorrow. Andy left me all his decorations, saying he didn't need them at the condo for a couple reasons, mainly that Sharon had enough Christmas decorations for half of L.A, and that she'd even bought a lot of the decorations he was leaving behind. I'm sure that is true. What I've already seen from Sharon tells me that she would go all out. Her touches and her things were all over the house when I bought it. I remember that, and I have no doubt she could decorate half the city with her decorations. Looking around the church today, I can see that she has done the same here. The church looks perfect; it looks ready for a wedding. It's crazy to think I bought a house and gained so much more. I'm so glad my new home came with friends, old and new. Today, I'm going to enjoy celebrating them.