A Nice Person - Short Story

She was looking for a perfect house for last two weeks constantly, going through all possible websites, ordering countless brochures and making appointments whenever she believed the property is up to her standards and within her financial range.

She could only visit them on weekends so she had to wait until Saturday to see what she thought might be promising. It was all a little tricky as she could only look for properties participating in a special first time buyers scheme.

Well, she could look for others as well but then she would have to find more money and the mortgage payments would probably kill her as the rate would be much higher.

Her latest findings were located in a nearby town so she asked her best friends to go there with her. She needed them to support her and to give their opinions, it's always better to see things from different perspectives.

First house was quite nice and the estate was situated very close to the train station so it was a big plus for her – she didn’t drive and she needed to commute to work in other town every day. Unfortunately it was also located between rail track on one side and the speedy road on the other. The agent said it's not a main rail track and that the trees along the road will keep the road noise down but she wasn't convinced it would work. She didn't want to live in a place where she couldn't open her windows or would suffer from small earthquakes every time the train would run. No, it wasn't for her.

Next on the list was a huge tower with wonderful apartments. It used to be an office building and they have adapted it for flats - thanks to that they were very spacious and with huge windows. They have seen many different layouts but one thing they all had in common was a view on the train station and roads around it as the tower was located almost in the town centre. Yes, it had its advantages but then again – windows would have to stay close all the time.

She would still consider it as the flats were awesome, with open plan living room and magnificent kitchen, but then she found out there was no plumbing for a washing machine. There was a laundrette in the basement of the tower she would have to pay for and she was not allowed to have her own washing machine. She didn't like it and when they went into the laundrette which was damp and gross, she abandoned the idea of buying this place completely

She could see a few more towers but her friends were running out of time so on a whim she decided that it would be the best if they took her to one distant location where she couldn't easily get on foot. She had seen photos of this place online and the area was beautiful so she just wanted to see it with her own eyes. She knew it would be a nightmare to get to the station from there so she didn't really consider it as an option.

They've got to The Gardens, the countryside like location she has seen on pictures, and they all fell in love with the area immediately. It was truly green, grassy and full of old trees. Colourful flowers could be seen all over the place and it was soaked with this relaxing and soothing atmosphere. The birds were singing and crickets chirping, it felt like a holiday in the countryside.

They found an agency that was offering houses in the special scheme she was going after and while they were waiting for an agent to be free to talk, they have checked the brochures. Almost immediately one of the floor plans put her in awe. 'Wow, this will be my place' she whispered with firmness in her voice, 'It's spacious and has open plan living room with a kitchen! Just perfect.' she added and couldn't wait for getting more details on this house. Her friends also liked the design and the area but they have decided to stay in the nearby town where they all lived. She had no strings attached and she was determined to get this place.

The only downside so far was the distance from the station but everything else was like in her dream. 'I can always learn to drive and buy the car' she thought and turned to the agent for more details. She was told that she has to come back with the required paperwork as soon as possible as those Oaks houses were selling quickly and there were only two left to reserve.

She hasn’t wasted following week and on Thursday booked a house viewing for the coming weekend as she was certain she will get her paperwork signed by house association by Friday. All went according to the plan and she went to see a show home to make her final decision. While the agent was showing her this beautifully decorated house and explaining all the details, she also mentioned that it was a last moment as only one house from Oaks design was left for selling, the other was already reserved. 'So how do you feel about it?' agent asked. 'It's perfect and I definitely want to make a reservation now' she answered with a happy look as she felt she finally found her home.

They went back to the office where another agent had bad news for them – in fact the last house was also reserved and there were none left. 'Oh no' she said with desperation in her voice. She was so close but now it was too late, just a few hours too late!

The agents were really sympathetic and promised to put her on a hot list so if anyone cancelled their reservation, they would give her a call.

It was something but not much really. She felt really upset. She came here with a decision to buy and while she was seeing the show home, her love for the design became even bigger. It was in a conservation area so they had to reuse some materials from the old buildings and keep the style. As a result the houses had lovely timber windows much bigger than usually while streets and pavements looked like those from the old Victorian towns. So pretty and so unreachable!

In following weeks she has seen many more places. Her legs travelled many miles and she was really tired. Yet she kept looking as she hoped that one day she will find something that she would like. At the beginning she was waiting for a phone to ring and the voice telling her someone resigned but with passing days she started to realise it won't happen. She has seen many houses - some better some worse - but every time she was comparing the new place with the one she felt in love with.

More than a month passed since her visit to The Gardens and she started to run out of options. The scheme was putting certain requirements on builders so only few offered houses on such terms. On Friday morning on her way to work she started to come to the conclusion that she may need to reconsider the location enclosed by the rail track and speedy road as it was her best shot. She would still need to wait a few more months as houses were not on sale yet.

Then the phone rang. She picked up and heard a female voices saying ‘It’s Marie from The Gardens. I’m calling to ask you, honey, if you were still looking for a house as the reservation for one of the Oaks houses was cancelled.’ She couldn’t believe her ears! ‘Hello Marie, yes, I’m still looking and I’m very interested in this house’ she said with excitement in her voice. ‘So when could you come and have a look honey?’ agent asked. ‘I would love to come today after work if it’s possible, would 5pm be OK?’ she answered determined to seal the deal as quickly as possible to avoid another disappointment. ‘Sounds perfect honey, see you at 5’ Marie said and hanged up.

She couldn’t hide her excitement but she also felt anxious. She was worried that someone else would manage to reserve the house before her so she couldn’t wait till 5.

She has got to The Gardens well before time and had all the possible legal papers with her as she was determined to get the deal. The agent took her to the show home again just as a refresher and so she could have a chance to ask about more details. She took this opportunity to ask for any incentive they could offer her like flooring or bathroom tiling. She did it a bit hesitantly as she didn’t want to jeopardize her chances but as she read somewhere - if you don’t ask you will not get it. ‘I was expecting this question for quite a while honey’ agent answered smiling. ‘No, we cannot offer any incentives on this scheme but I can offer a discount and because it is the last house from the Oaks, I give you the maximum our company offers so you will be able to do your flooring and bathroom tiling with this money’. ‘Wow, thank you so much!’ she said really happy with the situation. She wasn’t expecting that much!

They went back to the office to start with the reservation process and to go through all the necessary papers. It was going quickly as she had most of the needed signatures and papers already. Marie was really pleased with that and while they were casually chatting she suddenly said. ‘You know honey, I really like to deal with you, you are fully prepared and you are such a nice person.’ Then she added ‘I tell you in a secret that the reservation wasn’t cancelled at all but there was this one client who was delaying everything horribly. He was questioning everything and was never happy.’ she said with obvious distaste in her voice.

’He was fussy about the deal he had and was late with every possible piece of paper. He hasn’t even started the mortgage procedures yet. We were really fed up with him and we suddenly remembered this really nice person that was dying to buy the house.’ Marie said looking at her with a smile. ‘So we decided to cancel the deal with him and offer the house to you honey. In the end who says we have to sell to everyone!’ she finished with a question mark in the air but not really expecting the answer.