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“It’s cute,” Debbi said. Clearly, she preferred the complex with all its shiny new features and upgrades.
But Colby was drawn into the small space. The apartment wasn’t huge, but had a lot of light and was clean. It was being rented unfurnished, so probably looked a little bigger than it would with furniture in it. The whole main area was open. A large window that hadn’t been visible from the street was near the kitchen, which managed to be both small and spacious feeling. Nothing fancy—some kind of vinyl countertops that mimicked granite, clean, white cabinets, and a small island with two bar stools. Colby really wanted room for a bigger table like the one at Liz’s house. It might mean having a smaller living area, but it’s not like she needed more than a couch. She didn’t entertain a lot.
“Let’s go in,” Colby said. She had a feeling that Debbi was waiting to turn around and go back to the car, but she went inside, looking around at the beige walls and the carpet, which looked and smelled like it might be new.
The back of the apartment had a small bedroom, just barely big enough for a bed and dresser, and then a bathroom that was surprisingly roomy and held a stackable washer and dryer as well as a shower and small linen closet next to the vanity. Nothing was particularly design-worthy, but it was all new and clean.
Debbi met Colby’s eyes in the bathroom mirror. “Do you like it?”
Colby appreciated how hard Debbi worked not to wrinkle up her nose. She laughed. “Your face! Yes, I do like it. I know it’s not what you would pick, but honestly, anything is better than those terrible, bland apartments.”
“This one is pretty bland,” Debbi said.
“Yeah, but it’s not. Not like the other eighty apartments I saw.”
“We looked at three.”
“Well, I couldn’t tell the difference between any of them. This feels more like a home to me.” Colby walked out to the main living area as she spoke. Debbi trailed behind her.
“It’s all about you. I’ve got another garage apartment if you want to look. Just to compare. To be honest, this is the first garage apartment I’ve looked at. I mean, besides the one I lived in down in West U before we all moved in together. But I feel like the garage apartments there are a little different.”
“That’s because it’s West U,” Colby said, rolling her eyes. “Everything is swanky. This place doesn’t have high-end anything. But it’s clean and nice and a little quirky. I like that, but I know that isn’t your style.”
“It really isn’t,” Debbi said. “It’s so much harder to do this with a friend! I mean, I do a great job distancing myself from other clients, not inserting how I feel.”
“It’s okay,” Colby said. “We know each other well enough that I don’t mind being honest, even if we disagree. Let’s go see the other place. But I’m making a prediction now—I think this is the place. I can see myself here.”
They returned the key and saw the second garage apartment which was, as Colby predicted, not as alluring as the first one. Debbi called the owner of the first garage apartment back and handled everything. She would email the paperwork and Colby could sign electronically later.
“Looks like you’re not homeless!” Debbi said as she drove toward a sandwich shop for lunch.
“And I even have a place I like. Thanks to you!”
“Well, if it were up to me, you know I’d have picked that second place with the really great hot tub and tennis courts.”
“I don’t even play tennis.”
“But you could.”
They both started giggling again and it felt so nice to have time like this. Colby really didn’t think about being lonely but spending time like this made her realize just how little she actually hung out with other people. Lonely had become her norm.
“Oh, and did you hear about Manuel?” Debbi asked.
“Who?”
“Not who, what. Manuel’s a hurricane. It’s supposed to hit in like two days. They thought it was going toward Mexico, but it turned up and looks like it’s coming straight for us.”
Colby groaned. Storms made her crazy nervous. Lightning especially, but also just big storms in general. Growing up in Virginia they sometimes got remnants of storms, which were damaging, but nothing like riding out a hurricane here. When Harvey had hit the year before, she had flown home to stay with her mom in Virginia, watching from afar. She hated spending that much time with her mom, who seemed to revel in the destruction, like it fit in with her dark, pessimistic view of the world. But anything was better than actually being in Houston for the storm.
It had been surreal, as she sat glued to the television watching the damage from a distance while it was sunny and cloudless in Virginia. Two weeks later when she flew back, it was to a city torn to pieces, but picking itself up, the way she had learned that Texans always did. She had driven around to see some of the places after and watched drone videos on YouTube, flying over neighborhoods where people were out in boats, leaving their homes that had water up to the second story. Even now, the city was still recovering from the damage in a lot of places. She shuddered.
“It could still turn, right?” Colby asked. “Go down to Mexico or east to Louisiana or Mississippi?”
Debbi glanced at her. “Sure it could, but it doesn’t look that way. Listen, I know we have kids and being stuck in a house with kids during a hurricane wouldn’t be ideal, but we have a guest room if you don’t want to be alone.”
“I’ll be fine. I’m sure Liz would want me to stay anyway to watch the house or whatever. I’ll have to ask her if she wants me to do anything. Do you guys tape up windows or board up things? I don’t really know what to do. I’ve always been in apartments where it didn’t matter or they took care of it.”
“We don’t do much. Robbie is an optimist. He likes to assume we’ll be fine. Of course, he has a generator, just in case. But he doesn’t do much to prep, other than to make sure he renews insurance every year. Anyway, think about it. Our house is open if you don’t want to be alone.”
