Strictly Professional

58: Bachelorette

ELLE
That's What I Like-Bruno Mars

Niall was so eager to find a house, we started looking almost instantly once we moved back to London. I was just as excited, but I don't think he had realised it wasn't an easy process.

It was a big commitment, buying a house where you planned to settle in for the rest of your life. There was no room for making compromises, but that meant we'd have a hard time finding a place that met all of our requirements to the T. Niall was getting impatient after two months of looking had gone by and I constantly had to remind him that we were in no rush. We were still living at his house, since I decided it was better we began the process to sell it after we had gotten started on the paperwork for the new house. No one wanted to get out of that place more than Niall, and I didn't blame him. Though I did find his dislike for a house he's lived in for nearly a decade amusing.

My heart weirdly thumped in my chest as Niall drove up the driveway of the second and last house we were touring today. I stared at the structure through the window. It was a model of a traditional style townhouse close to the outskirts of London, making the area quieter and not as intense as the actual city. The house wasn't actually built yet, but I had decided we should expand our options in hopes of finding a place we both loved just as much. The places we've seen so far always lacked something. They were either too modern, too run down, too big or too small, or just simply completely inconvenient in their layout. It was beginning to become frustrating, but I kept telling myself the right house was somewhere out there, waiting to be discovered.

"That's nice, isn't it?" Niall observed the grey brick exterior as he unfastened his seatbelt once the car was parked. I agreed with a hum, taking notice of the real estate agent as she stepped out of the large wooden door with a bright smile. We got out of the car, walking up the cobblestone path leading to the entrance as she waited on us. Once we reached her, she extended her hand over to me first.

"Hi, Ms. Elle? I'm Clarice." She spoke in a bright, high voice without dropping her smile. I had talked to her yesterday over the phone to arrange our meeting today, thus why she knew me.

"Yes, nice to meet you. This is Niall." I quickly introduced, stepping into the house as she held the door ajar before shaking his hand as well.

"Welcome. Let's begin, shall we? We'll start at the family room. I just want you to keep in mind that most of the house is customizable shall you desire to change the flooring or the wallpaper." The brunette middle aged woman never lost her smile as she gripped her clipboard, pressing the edge of it to her stomach to have it ready in case she needed to write anything down.

"Does that include the layout? Can we add or remove rooms?" Niall asked, taking initiative on the matter. After going through almost fifteen houses, he had a good grasp on what questions to ask right off the bat.

"That depends. How many rooms do you have in mind?" Clarice clicked her pen, ready to take a note.

"We were thinking four bedrooms and an office?" I smiled and she nodded before taking a note. At first that number seemed excessive to me, but after thinking about it I had settled it was for the best. I'd prefer it if I could provide my kids with separate rooms in the case I had more than one, plus I'd really like to have a guest room in the case family wanted to visit. And with jobs like mine and Niall's, a home office would definitely not go to waste.

"That's definitely something we can figure out, but not all rooms will have their separate bathrooms."

"That's alright." Niall dismissed her worry with a wave of his hand.

"Great. Then we'll look into it once we go upstairs." She beamed before leading us to the kitchen. I paid attention to all the information she gave about the room as we walked around, noting how spacious it was, equipped with a kitchen island. It even had space for a small dining table and I liked how it was separated from the living room. I squeezed Niall's hand, signaling to him that I was pleased with it and we briefly smiled at eachother as Clarice led us through a door towards the formal dining room that provided access to a laundry room and a half bath. It wasn't a room I particularly cared for, but it was nice to know that it was there.