Chapter 13
By July of the next year, I was no longer Mrs. Colin Seaver, and I was on my way back home to Baton Rouge with Micah, both of us enrolled at LSU for the fall semester. We found a motel to stay in while we looked for jobs and a suitable place to live. One day I found the perfect ad in the paper for an apartment. It had two bedrooms, was less than eight hundred, and just off of campus. I was so excited by the prospect, I could barely dial the number.
“Hello?”
An older woman’s voice crackled through the receiver. I had a long moment when I was sure that my tongue wouldn’t unfreeze in my excitement, but by the middle of the third hello, I was able to calm down enough to speak.
“Yes, um… Well, it says here in today’s paper that you have an apartment for rent. Do you still have it available?”
“Do I what?” The woman sounded more than a bit confused, but after a few seconds of hearing her mutter to herself, she seemed to realize what I was talking about. “Oh! Oh, I know, the apartment! Yes, well Jenny Forrester on the third floor just got married to some fancy man out in Pearl River, and she moved out last week. Haven’t gotten ‘round to cleanin’ it up yet, but I’ll get to it. Why do ya’ wanna know?”
I had to smile a bit to myself, despite the woman’s waspish and gritty voice as she barked out a smoker’s laugh. I caught myself thinking, if only she forgets things this easily when the rent’s due!
“Um, I’d like to see about renting it. How many bedrooms does it have?” I asked, wondering if this was the right ad. If it was, the answer would be two.
“No. Sorry, but no. Only rent to the college kiddies. Doin’ a public service here, ya’ know.”
“But I am! I’m a college student. I just moved here from Texas and I-“
“Who cares? I’m from south Philly, but no one’s lettin’ me cry on their shoulder about home. Well, what’s ya’ name, college girlie?”
My temper flared a bit, but hey, I’m only human. I felt the acid of my words before they even formed on my tongue. Swallowing them took a real effort.
“Tabitha. Tabitha Grenoux. And I really am serious about wanting to view the place. I need a place to stay immediately.”
A long silence echoed, broken by the woman’s harsh cackle. Relief flooded through my system as I got the answer I’d been looking for.
“Alright, girlie, no need to get those panties of yours in a twist. It's a two bedroom. Come by today and we’ll see what’s what. But do it after one and before three! My shows go off at one, I take a nap come three.”
“I’ll be there at two.”
From there I thanked her and hung up. It was all I could do to not get my hopes up. I told Micah as soon as he got back from his job interview. We actually did a little happy dance for a moment as we imagined the perfect place for us to live.
When we showed up at two, Micah nearly fell out of the car, he was gawking so hard. The place turned out to actually be an old plantation home, converted into individual apartments, with one central front door. The grounds were surprisingly well kept, and the house was surrounded by cypress and oak trees hanging heavily with Spanish moss.
The windows that covered all sides of the house sparkled in the sunlight, and Micah and I looked at each other, knowing that we'd found our new home. I walked toward the door, and was greeted by a little ginger haired old lady with a shotgun.
“No trespassers!”She screamed, firing a warning shot into the air. Micah froze behind me, and I began waving her down.
“No, we're here about the apartment! I talked to you on the phone this morning. I'm Tabitha.”
YOU ARE READING
Keeping Tabs
Romance“What, boy?” I yelled as I opened the door, trying to sound as angry as possible so it would hide my excitement. I was momentarily awe struck by his sheer attractiveness, and then his mouth was on mine, moving with fervor that I hadn't known existed...
