Confessions

Part 3: Moving Day

2 WEEKS AGO

The key takes no effort to unlock the door and, startled, I stumble into my new studio apartment clumsily. But as soon as I catch myself and have a chance to look around, it is exactly what I had pictured. My face brightens up and I cant help but let my jaw drop. "I knew you'd love it!" my best friend Anna exclaims as she walks out of the en-suite. She was obviously hiding to scare me but got too excited and just walked out instead. With a huge smile on my face, I reply "I really do, thank you so much!". I got Anna to come down here before me and decorate my apartment before I got here so it felt more like home.

I take my time to look around again at the beautiful apartment. On the far wall there was a beautiful floor-to-ceiling window which looked over the city. The apartment was on one of the higher floors so the view looked like it should be on Pinterest. Next to the window is a beautiful queen-sized bed with clean white bedding and decorated with sage green cushions plumped perfectly near the pillows. I love that look, and Anna knows me so well that she got it exactly right! Above the bed are two dark wooden shelves, one above the other, which are displaying my beloved plants and some photos of me and my friends.

Next to my bed is a matching bedside table with my Alexa and my favourite clock from when I was a kid. A wall next to that with a full length mirror separates the main room from the en-suite, which has a beautiful lagoon theme, just like one I had on a holiday a few years back. When I turn around from the bathroom, I see the amazing kitchen, with an exposed brick wall, plants, and clean marble countertops. Exactly what I had asked for, and exactly what I made for all my sims when I was younger. The TV is on the other side of the same wall, across from the bed. On another wall next the window is my dream workspace. A simple wooden shelf is attached to the wall as a desk. A pencil pot, some small plants, a few notebooks and my laptop are all the things I need on it, and I smile at how simple but beautiful it looks. A corkboard with some pinned pictures of my friends hangs above it, below 3 shelves which hold a few of my books that I decided to take with me. The lack of sofa creates so much space and makes the place exactly what I wanted – minimalistic but detailed at the same time.

A fresh start was exactly what I need. This place is unbelievable, and the only way I can afford it is with the money my grandparents left me. I have always been close with them, they practically raised me. My parents are both surgeons, so I didnt see them a lot when I was a kid. I kept close to my grandparents even when I got older, and when they died a month ago, I couldnt believe it. I was the most distraught out of all my family. I thought my mum would be more upset than she was seeing as they were her parents. She seemed sad at first but after about a week she just went kind of back to normal. Her and my dad started acting more like normal and I found it very strange. They hid the coroners report from me, so I still dont know how they died, and when the will was read, they were abnormally angry with how much I got compared to them. Money was never an issue in my family, my parents had good salaries and my grandparents could always help out if we needed it. But suddenly my parents were very angry that I got such a lot of money and I started to get quite scared of them.

I think my grandparents would have wanted me to get away from them, thats why I am using money from them for this apartment. I dont know why but I felt like they were trying to warn me of something before they died. Anna happily helped me move, she knew I needed to get away and she wanted to come to live with me too, but she found a job in Southampton instead. Its not that far away and I can still see her, just not as often as I had hoped when I first decided to move. I quit my job working for our police station back home in a place outside Nottingham called Bradmore. I only rode around in a patrol car and it was getting boring anyway, but I heard there was a job opening at a police station near my new apartment that Im going to apply for. Hopefully, there will be more to do there than in Bradmore.

After a long chat and settling in a little, I have to say goodbye to Anna. When I get back in the apartment, I collapse onto the bed and immediately open my laptop and decide that the best way to make this place feel like home would be to watch some Netflix. I am OBSESSED with The Crown at the moment. As it loads, I get a really strong feeling I am going to love it here.