"Stephanie, we need to talk," Maryse stammered as she threw her car keys down on the counter, "I know I just got home from work, but I keep bringing this up but you just keep blowing it off. We need to talk about what's going to happen here," she took her black pumps off and threw them towards her bedroom door.
"I'm not trying to blow you off again, but," Stephanie glanced at her 4-year old daughter, "I'm willing to talk to you about this, but I don't want her to hear anything."
"Fine," Maryse put her hands on her hips, "once Sofia is in bed, we're gonna have this conversation," she sighed and opened her bedroom door, kicking her shoes into the room, "what's for dinner?"
"Sofia asked for spaghetti," Stephanie put her head down, "with real garlic bread, not the fake stuff."
Later that night, Stephanie was washing that night's dishes when Maryse walked into the kitchen and sat down, "can we talk now?"
"Yeah, we can talk now," Steph put another plate in the dishwasher, "is this about me?"
"Well yeah, kind of," Maryse struggled with how to word what she needed to say, "I'm getting married to Mike in two months, and the lease here is up in one. There's not an easy way for me to say this to you, but I'm gonna be honest, you have to stop acting like this isn't a big deal. Once the lease is up, I'm moving in with Mike and I should be excited about that, but I can't stop worrying about what you're going to do once I'm gone."
As stubborn as Stephanie wanted to be, Maryse was right. She was moving in with her soon-to-be husband in a month, which left Stephanie and Sofia no choice but to find a cheaper, smaller apartment, or move in to Stephanie's parent's house, "I know, I keep putting it off because I'm worried and I don't want to think about it. I let it go too far."
"I know you're worried and scared, but, these things happen, I'm sure you'll find something, but you need to start looking like, now, or you're going to run out of time."
"Where do I even start? Should I go out and find one of those free 'For Rent' magazines? Or I could go on Craigslist, but I've heard some pretty poor ratings about Craigslist."
"Do both, but I would just suggest that you be careful with Craigslist. I would really make sure everything is good and legit before you move in or give any money. I've heard bad things too, but then I can't say everything is bad, because that super nice house that my brother rents was off of Craigslist."
"Paul found that house on Craigslist? Stephanie's eyes widened, "I would have never known that. Well when I'm done with these dishes, I'll get my computer and see what's on there.
Stephanie sat in her bed, the only light was the light emitting from her laptop as she scrolled through the 'for rent' listings on Craigslist. Most of the houses were slightly above her price range, whereas the apartments were only one bedroom. Sofia definitely needed her own bedroom, she had so many toys and random knick-knacks that one bedroom wasn't enough, "damn," she sighed as she closed the computer and put it on the nightstand, "I have one month to find a place, why did I do this to myself?" She exhaled again and closed her eyes, thinking of how she would word her situation to her parents if she had to move in with them. No matter what she said, she knew what their reactions would be, they would be supportive, but they would find something about her to complain about until she moved back out. She just didn't feel like dealing with that.