Sunday, October 18, 2015

Open House

So! Time went on, one morning, I was sitting on the couch, doing my morning ritual; drinking green tea and updating my gratitude journal, Carly came in and was so frustrated. She told me that she really needs a car and wanted me to give her a ride to a few dealerships to view cars she had been looking at online. I didn't see that coming. I asked her what kind of car she was looking for. This is how she described it, "I want a white car! I really love white.  It my favorite color. Is that weird?" I was like, what's weird is that since your friend's birthday, yellow was your favorite color. Anyway, she went on to describe the car she wants as one with leather seats. She was describing my car but what are you gonna do? I told her to go ahead and get the car she wants. The fck do I care?


She wanted a smaller car with four doors so she could use It for Uber. I was like, you should get the car of your dreams, you already have a job and you have school, you won't have time to uber anyway, why do you care? She was looking at a few mini coopers. She wanted something really cute. I was like, do what you have to, girl! I for one am not crazy about really tall people squeezing themselves in Mini Coopers and Beetles but that's just me. There were also a few Beetles she was looking at. All the cars she was looking at had salvaged engines. I noticed that but didn't say anything because she talks to both her parents everyday, I'm sure she discussed her car shopping with them. If she likes Salvaged cars, then I love them for her! She showed me the cars, they were really cute but the salvage was a red flag for me. I told her to go and test drive them if she wanted to. I didn't know she was that serious about looking for  a car. As we were looking at cars, I noticed that amongst the cars she had bookmarked there were lots of apartments in the Beverly Hills adjacent neighborhoods. I found that rather interesting. There I was struggling to find a place to stay and she was secretly looking for a place as well on the side. Can you say sneaky?


When I saw the apartments, I said something along the lines of, oh so you're looking for an apartment too? She told me that she really didn't like living where she does. She wanted to move closer to her job. Her job is in Beverly Hills, meaning, she was looking for an apartment in Beverly Hills. How is that for interesting? At one point, she suggested I find a two bedroom and share with her. I told her thanks, but no thanks! She asked me for some car buying tips. I asked her why she didn't ask her father considering he is a man and had also just bought a car recently? Plus, he's her father, it's his job. She told me she didn't think her parents would be ok with her buying a used car. I was like, in that case, let them buy you a brand new car!


She talked to a friend of hers that night who warned her against buying salvaged cars. The following day, she brought that dog on computer to me in the living room and invaded my personal space again asked for advice again, The list had gone to zero as all the cars she was looking at had salvaged engines. She had a lot of Toyota Camrys and Nissans on her list. I was like, I thought you were looking for small cars? She told me she really loves Camry's. That's her first preference. Wow! You could've fooled me. I don't know if at 22 I would want to drive that car, again, that's just me. Also, I didn't even have a car at 22, so.


I saw an apartment that I was really interested in in Beverly Hills. The one thing I wasn't crazy about about the place was the fact that it was right by Beverly Hills High school. I wasn't trying to live by a school. Also, they only had street parking. I wanted to have my own spot. I didn't want no first come, first served type parking, where I would have to remember to move my car when there's street sweeping. I had to pursue it though, time was running out. I got the address. Even though they told me that the tenant hadn't moved out yet, I went for a spin in the neighborhood,  I parked outside the apartment, imagined myself living there, walked towards it. The gate was closed, I saw a nice lady parking in front of the apartment in a nice BMW X6.  I approached her and asked her about the apartment advertised, she gave me a phone number. I already had the lady's number, I had talked to her, she told me that she was going to let me know when the tenant moved out so I could go view the place. The agent had actually told me that she would see if I could go view the place when she does her final walk through, that way I was going to see it before everyone else. I thought that was really sweet of her. Maybe that was the place for me after all!


I didn't tell anyone about that place. I didn't want any weird vibes around my dream apartment. One evening, I got an email from the agent, she told me that she was going to be doing the final walk through the following morning between 9:00 and noon. The following morning, I woke up, meditated on the whole idea of getting the place, took a shower and headed to Beverly Hills with all my paperwork and some cash. You never know when you might need cash. Cash is King ;)


I arrived at the place around 10:00. I wasn't under pressure because I knew that I was the only one who was going to view in that time slot. I then called the lady, she wouldn't pick up the phone for sht! I noticed a lot of traffic in and out the gate. There was also very limited street parking that day, which made me suspicious. I walked towards the gate and came across a gentleman who asked if I was also going to view the apartment upstairs. I told him, I was. He told me he couldn't get hold of the lady. Turned out, it was open house! She lied to me! She probably told everyone that they were going to be the only ones there that day. That left a weird taste in my mouth! I am not a big fan of open houses. They don't make me feel good about my chances of getting a place. I felt like I was tricked into an open house situation.


The lady arrived, she called me by name, which was interesting. Maybe she had googled me. Who knows? We went upstairs, the apartment was very small. It was a 500 square foot one bedroom with an interesting setup living room/kitchen room. It had blinds running from either side of the counter. so the stove, fridge and sink are in a straight line and the blinds were against them. I guess when you're done in the kitchen, you close blinds and voila! You have a living room. Basically, it's a kitchen that had blinds making it turn into a living room. It was a very clever way of not making people feel like they are hanging out in the kitchen. The apartment was on the level above street level, some people call that first floor or whatever you call it. In my head, I had always been envisioning my apartment to be on the street level. That wasn't going to be a deal breaker though, the apartment had lots of lighting, which I loved and an ok view.


Thee bedroom was very small, so small, the closet was just outside the bedroom, then bathroom and that was it!  It was really condensed but It would do for a single person. I didn't have intentions to stay single for a long time but I was hoping to meet someone who had his own place, so, we could make the apartment work. Besides the school situation, it was in a pretty cool area, it had all these big streets around it; Santa Monica Blvd, Pico, Olympic and Wilshire. It's like, it's where all those streets meet. I could use the bus if I wanted to, and go wherever I wanted from that was kind of a plus if I intended not to use my amazing car that I loved. Which would defeat the whole purpose of getting a car, right?


I told the lady that I was interested in the apartment. She gave me application forms. I filled them out (or in, depending which English you speak lol). She wanted $30 application fee. Non refundable. I had to hope that I was going to get the place, that way, I wouldn't have to worry about giving away more application fees. I made copies of all my paperwork and already had bank statement print outs. She wanted the application fee in money order form. Great! I drove around trying to get a money order. Finally, I got it. By then, the lady had gone back to the office. She did agree to meet me back at the apartment.


I headed back to the apartment. As she was taking all my paperwork, the agent, informed me that someone else had already put in an application before me. I don't know when because I was one of the first people to get there that day, clearly, that person got there day before everyone else. Bad taste in mouth anybody? She told me that they were reviewing that person's application and if they were not approved, I was going to be considered. I wanted to die. After everything I went through, I wasn't even first in line! Kill me!


I drove back downtown. Halfway there, I remembered, sht! The money order! I didn't take it out of my wallet! Oh Lord! What do I do now? Traffic was starting to get crazy! Do I drive back to Beverly Hills and risk getting stuck in traffic on my way back? There's nothing I hate more than being stuck in traffic when I didn't have to be, like if I was at home all day, then decide to go to the mall in the evening, then get stuck in traffic. It's like are you kidding me? I could have done this three hours ago! Should I head back or call the lady and ask her to still consider me, I would pay her back later? Should I not say anything and wait for her to ask for the money order in case the first person was going to take the apartment after all?

6 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Sorry, thank goodness you were able to post finally!

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  2. OMG this Carly. You should have encouraged her to get the camry. Imagine a 22 year old driving a Camry. Maybe the American Camrys are nicer than the SA ones Lol

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    1. lol! Maybe I should totally have! They aren't any different,they are big cars just like in South Africa

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  3. Maybe it is a good thing you forgot the money order. The universe was probably saving you from paying an application fee only not to get the apartment. Things also work out the way they are supposed to.

    Can't wait to read more

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