*Two weeks later*
"Ev! You ready?!" Jimmy shouts from the hallway. I'm just grabbing my medication bag and Summer's bag to go out. She's sat beside me in her vest, ready to go.
"Yep! Coming!" I call out, heading into the hallway and quickly slipping my converse on.
"Right, see you later guys!" I call out to Sam and Jack who call 'see you later' back at us. We head out into the car. Once we're all in and ready to go, I look over and Jimmy and squeeze his hand with a smile.
"You ready? Let's go view this place!" I smile.
"Let's do it!" I agree as he starts the car and we begin our short drive. We're viewing our third place today after a bunch of searching for somewhere good for us. When I spoke to my therapist, she was a bit worried about how ready I am for it but after some careful discussion and a deep dive into my feelings around everything, she agreed that the plan is solid and that she thinks I can do this with just her support since I was discharged from the intensive home care team four weeks ago. The first place we viewed, last week, was pretty good. It was close, only two miles away and a ground floor flat however it was so tiny and cramped that it felt like we could barely move so we decided against it. The second place was nice and spacious, a first floor flat however the landlord was pretty strange, only talking to Jimmy and not me and didn't seem happy with Summer despite him advertising the place as pet friendly. This place looked nice on the advert and the landlord seemed really nice when we arranged the viewing. It's a one bedroom house, semi detached, and seems pretty nice and big for a single bedroom place. It has two bathrooms, a small one downstairs with just a toilet and sink and a larger one upstairs that has a bathtub and shower, a toilet and sink and a good amount of space. There's even a nice garden, not huge but not too tiny. It's less than a mile away from Sam and Jack's place and the price is £550 a month. Not too bad.
I stare out of the window with a smile on my face for the whole journey. When we finally arrive, I'm excited. From outside, it looks great. The small front garden is fairly tidy and the gate seems wide enough to fit my wheelchair through as well. There are two steps up to the door however we can easily get a ramp for that. The landlord is outside waiting for us and waves as we get out of the car.
"Hello lovelies! It's so nice to meet you in person! And who is this gorgeous girl?" The landlord, a sweet looking middle aged woman, greets us both and smiles at us all, including Summer.
"Hey, it's so great to meet you! And this is Summer, she's my service dog," I smile at her, shaking her hand.
"Well she is beautiful, just like her owners! And she seems like a very smart girl too. Well, come on in! I'll show you around and I can answer any questions you'd like me too! The house is part furnished, it has an oven, sofa, coffee table and some garden furniture outside that the last owners kindly offered to leave as they didn't need it when they moved. I've given everything a good clean since they've left and before you got here as well so don't you worry about that!" We both thank her and follow her in. She gestures us into a room to the left of the front door that appears to be the living room. There's a mock fireplace on display, a black fabric sofa with a few random grey cushions scattered on it facing towards it. The black and white painted wooden coffee table is in front of the sofa with a decent amount of room to walk between the two and sit down.
"So this is the living room! You've got the sofa there, and the coffee table. Now that fireplace there isn't real, only for display however there's two radiators in this room to stay warm. One behind the sofa on that wall there and another by the window too to keep that nasty winter cold at bay. Down there you can see those glass double doors which open up into the garden, I'll take you out there after showing you the rest of the house. Now there's no curtains yet and nothing much on the walls for decoration yet unfortunately but if you do move in, you are free to paint and decorate however you'd like providing you don't knock down any walls or build anything into the house. But you can hang things on the walls, get whatever curtains or pictures you'd like and go wild!" Me and Jimmy both smile at eachother looking around.
"Thank you, it's lovely! I love the sofa too," I say. Jimmy nods.
"Yeah, that's perfect!" He agrees.
"Ah yes, it is quite comfy too! The last owners got a new one when they moved, same with the coffee table so they are yours to keep! If you do choose here and eventually move out, say you have any kids or anything and need a bigger place, you're welcome to take or leave them!" I nod happily.
"Thank you! That's great!" She smiles.
"Here, let's take you back into the hallway and show you through to the kitchen though there's also a door on the other side of this room if you look down there that leads into the kitchen." She explains before leading us back out into the hallway.
"You've got the stairs here too that take you upstairs and a small bathroom under them with your toilet and sink, nothing too interesting," she says, opening the door to show us. Once we've both nodded with approval after having a look, she closes it again.
"Now, into the kitchen" As we follow her through, I reach my arms out to gauge the distance between the two walls. I look back at Jimmy.
"There's plenty of room to get the wheelchair through here too, Jim," I say. The lady looks back at us as she reaches the doorway.
"Ahh, do you have a family member who uses a wheelchair? Would they be okay with the stairs?" She asks. I shake my head with a small smile.
"I'm actually the one who uses one, I have a health condition which is also why i have Summer here. On my bad days, I use a wheelchair to get out and about and sometimes need to use it in the house too if it's a really bad day. Well most likely get a foldable ramp to use when I need it though, if we do choose here," I explain. She nods and smiles.
"Ah I see, you should be okay getting around the ground floor then! Will you need a lift fitted for the stairs?" She asks, concerned.
"No no, it's okay! I can get up and down them slowly with help if needed on my worse days. Where we live currently has stairs which I use to get up to the shower and everything." She nods and smiles again.
"Ahh okay! Perfect! So, here's the kitchen. It's not too spacious but the two of you shouldn't have any troubles moving around in here though I'd say to put your dinner table in the living room down the end next to this door that goes from the kitchen into there. You've got the windows here that see into the garden and the oven right there. There's space for a washing machine, tumble dryer and dishwasher underneath these counters and the gap for the fridge there. You've got four cupboards up top here and three down near the ground plus your sink and draining board. The counter is a nice mock marble too! Plenty of room for your kettle, toaster, and everything else up here plus three drawers by the sink for cutlery and utensils! What do you think? As you can see, both the kitchen and front room and all black and white themed. The last people enjoyed that colour palette and most of the house sticks to it!" I look over at Jimmy who is looking around, interested. He checks out the cupboards as I speak.
"It's great! Plenty of room for us here too, I like it. Jim?" I ask, looking over at him as he closes the oven door which he was just looking inside. It's spotless both inside and outside, like it's brand new. It has clearly been well taken care of and cleaned up. It's also electric which I prefer to gas.
"I like it! It's great, lovely and spacious for a smaller place too," he says with a grin.
"Well that's wonderful! If you follow me through this door back into the living room, I'll take you three out into the garden." We both thank her and follow her through. She opens the double doors and leads us outside.
"This is lovely!" I say. The garden is well kept, the grass cut nice and short with a cobblestone path splitting the grass down to the end of the garden where a small wooden shed sits near the back gate. There's patio by the double doors with a metal table and some metal chairs which all has a large umbrella stood in the middle of the table covering it all. There's also some rose bushes along the right side of the garden and some shrubbery along the left. A small apple tree sits at the very back of the garden on the opposite side to the shed.
"Isn't it just! I've kept the plants watered and trimmed whilst it's been empty, it would be great if you'd like to do so too, they really bring it to life! The garden is about 25ft long and 15ft wide so plenty of space to chill out and for the doggy to play around in too!" I look over at Jimmy with a big grin. We've only seen the ground floor so far but I already absolutely love the garden.
"Right, let's head indoors and I'll show you upstairs if you're ready?" Jimmy nods.
"Lead the way!" He says with a small laugh. We follow her in and head up the carpeted stairs which are white on the sides and black down the middle. I go slowly as not to set myself off too badly. Once we get to the top, Summer is focussed hard on me to make sure I'm okay.
"So, here's your upstairs hallway. You've got black carpet here which matches the bedroom and living room as you saw though the hallway was the black wood and both the kitchen and two bathrooms is that black and white tile floor. In here is your upstairs bathroom!" She says, opening the door at the front of the house on the top floor. It's a spacious bathroom with a nice deep tub and to the right of it, there's a shower encased in part frosted glass walls with a frosted glass door containing a rainfall shower head. There's a small frosted window up on the wall that faces the street for ventilation too. There's even plenty of room to move around and space to add a shower chair if she lets us.
"I have a question," I ask anxiously. She turns to face me with a smile.
"What's that, love?"
"Would we be allowed to fit a shower chair into that shower cubby there?" I ask, worried she may decline and this place could be out of our grasp.
"Oh of course, that's perfectly fine! You're welcome to add whatever accomodations you may need. The only rule is no knocking down walls or altering the house itself but adding things like stair lifts, railings, shower chairs, hoists or anything like that is 100% allowed! Whatever makes this house safe and comfortable for you to live in, you go ahead with! Since this is a long term rent, if you do choose here then you will sign a contract that means you'll stay the owners here for at least a year though, you can either leave or continue to rent here outside of any contracts after, did you read that in the listing?" We both nod.
"That is absolutely perfect, thank you!" I say.
"And yes, we noticed that in the listing and that's okay, we want somewhere long term anyway." Jimmy confirms. I nod in agreement.
"Ah perfect! Ready to see the bedroom?" She asks us whilst leaving the bathroom. We agree and follow her.
"Here it is! Plenty of room here for a nice king bed and a big wardrobe or set of drawers! Your window looks out into the back garden though you'll need to add curtains for some extra privacy." I nod as she speaks.
"It's great, plenty of room in here too, that'll be perfect. I can put a desk in for studying too," I tell Jimmy.
"Yeah, that would be great!" He replies. I can tell he likes this place too.
"Oh lovely, what are you studying?" She asks curiously.
"I'm starting a face and body piercing course soon!" I inform her. I've sent off my application so I should begin the course in a couple of weeks if I get accepted.
"Oh that's amazing! And makes sense considering you have so many. My son has started getting some piercings too,"
"Ah nice! Once he gets one, he's not going to be able to stop though, just a warning!" I laugh.
"Oh yes, I've heard you get the bug! But hey, he's twenty now so he pays for it all himself, he can get as many as he wants if he uses his own money for them," she jokes.
"Ah good, otherwise you'd be going bankrupt!" Jimmy exclaims.
"Oh yep, no thanks! Anyway, there's just one more room to show you now and then you can fire away with any more questions you may have." She leads us back into the hallway and opens a door at the other end.
"This is the cupboard to store all your bits and bobs! You've got two shelves to store things like towels and linen and the free space down here for whatever else. So, that's all! Do either of you have any questions?" She asks us both.
"I don't think so, Jimmy?" I ask, looking up at him. He shakes his head.
"Nope, all good!" She smiles.
"Ah perfect, well I'll let you both go but if you have any questions feel free to pop me a message! And once you've made your decision, go ahead and send me a message too. Take your time though, okay? No pressure. I haven't got another person coming to view until next week and there's no other people interested yet so you have time," she informs us. We both nod in agreement.
"Well, thank you so much for this! We'll be back in touch soon, you've been so lovely and we really appreciate it!" We say, all of us heading back downstairs.
"You're most very welcome, goodbye and have a safe journey home!" She says as we stand in the doorway.
"Thank you, you too!" Jimmy says and I agree. We head back to the car with smiles on our face. We both seem to have made our choice...
[UNEDITED]