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London Entry #2 - Date Number Four (Revenge) - Part 1

Wednesday

"What was the price again?" my foxy fox asked our Realtor.

The female skunk named Sandy, who we had been working with for the past week or so, responded, "One-thousand dollars a month."

Foxy looked at me with a grin on his face, "We could do that!"

"Kind of expensive though, isn't it? I mean, your tuition is already astronomical," I responded.

Foxy's grin instantly dissipated. After a second, Foxy replied, "Well. If we pay any less, we're not going to get a good deal."

I responded, trying to cheer up my fox, "I've lived in a lot of bad neighborhoods. Trust me, a lack-luster house for the time being is not going to bother me."

"But you deserve better," my fox said, lifting his gaze, looking me right in the eyes.

A small grin appeared on my face. Foxy was always looking out for me and I knew it. Even if it was just as simple as helping me with my spelling, he always took time to spend time with me. Not once had he ever asked a favour in return. I knew I had gotten lucky to have such a caring partner, so in return, I humoured him for the time being, "Okay. Well, let's at least look at it."

"There's the spirit!" Sandy chimed in, "And besides, if you love the property, we can always try to negotiate the price down."

"That's true," I responded.

A few hours later, we stood in front of a medium sized brick building, located on the east side of the city right on a small river that separated the downtown area from the very rich area.

Ian, looking up at the building, his neck craned, spoke first, "I really like it. It has a lot of character!"

"I agree," Sandy said, looking down at several papers on a clipboard she was holding, "It says here it was built in the late 1800s and was recently restored. In fact this area we're in right now is one of the more historic area's of the city."

Ian smiled, "It's also really green too. I like that a lot."

I nodded in agreement. The street it was on was lined with fully matured trees. And the river had an equal amount of trees. Though there wasn't a near by forest like in our home town, this would have to suffice.

"So, want to go see the apartment?" Sandy asked.

"Sure," I responded. We began to walk forward toward the front door of the building.

I continued, "So, what floor is it on? I know you wanted to surprise us."

As we walked into the elevator, a grin developed on Sandy's face, "I still want it to be a surprise. So don't look at what number I'm going to hit."

I sighed, but covered my eyes with my paw.

"Good," Sandy said, clicking the button.

The elevator began its ascent gracefully, "Feels like the elevator's new," I said out loud.

"Yes," Sandy responded, "It was part of the restoration that happened recently."

After a few seconds, I said, "I guess it's pretty high..."

Another few seconds, "Geez! What are we going to, the top floor?" Ian said.

Suddenly, the elevator decelerated, coming to a perfect stop.

"I like this elevator," Ian said as the doors opened up.

I agreed, but asked instead, "Can we open our eyes yet?"

"No, just walk forward."

Both of us did as we were told.

After a few seconds, "Okay, now turn right."

We did as we were told. My shoulder rested against Foxy's.

"Ok. Open your eyes."

I moved my paw away from my eyes. I opened them and was forced to squint at the amount of light that was coming through.

"Jesus!" I exclaimed, "Is that a window!?"

Ian, whose eyes adjusted quicker, gasped, "It's beautiful. We must be at the top, because the other windows don't look that big!"

My eyes finally adjusted. "Wow!" I exclaimed, referencing the ginormous floor to ceiling window that went from wall to wall.

I walked forward with Ian until we were up against the giant window.

"Look at that view!" Foxy exclaimed, moving his head to get a better view out the clear glass window.

"Hey! I can see your school from here," I responded, my eyes tracing the river up through the city. About a mile up the river stood a building that faced the opposite side of the river.

Although the main building wasn't too impressive, it did have a bell tower that stuck up above the surrounding buildings.

"Oh wow," Foxy exclaimed, "This is gorgeous! I'm sold!"

"We haven't even seen the rest of the apartment," I responded, looking down at Ian. Today he was wearing a yellow t-shirt with green plaid shorts and a pair of flip flops.

Although ridiculous individually, somehow they managed to work very well together, especially with his orange-red fur.

His tail swished excitedly, as he turned to look at the rest of the apartment.

"I like the walls!" Ian exclaimed.

I looked backwards and I had to agree.

The apartment, although slightly narrow, was VERY long.

The wall on the left was multicoloured brick, ranging from deep purple, to firetruck red. The right wall was plastered over so that pictures and things could be easily hung.

"It has an open concept kitchen too!" Ian exclaimed, almost skipping across the long living room to the kitchen which was on the left side. Square in the middle was a spiral staircase.

As Ian looked over the kitchen, I asked Sandy, "What's upstairs?"

"It's really only a loft, but it's been converted into the bedroom. There's a half-bath too."

"So, is the bathroom to the right?" I asked, pointing to a door on the right side.

"Yes. It's really big actually. The back half of the apartment contains the kitchen, the staircase, a pantry, a kitchen nook and the bathroom."

"Impressive use of space," I remarked. I admit, I'm a bit of an architectural geek.

I walked forward towards Ian. I walked by the elevator and then seamlessly into the kitchen.

"Oh wow!" I exclaimed, referencing the incredibly modern appliances. Yet the kitchen somehow also retained much of its rustic charm.

"London! Look at this, it's like a restaurant booth!" Ian exclaimed, giddy. He was sitting on one end of the table.

I walked over and looked over the table.

I put my paw on the table and ran it over the sanded, but unstained wood, "That's high quality pine."

"Sit down, it's actually really comfortable even though it's just a bench."

I followed the command, and sat down on the opposite side.

Playfully I kicked Ian gently across from me, "Hey. You playin' footsies with me?" Ian laughed.

I grinned. The nook was actually really nice though. You'd think it was small, but there was enough seating for maybe six and there was plenty of foot room. Don't let my ability to kick Ian make you think otherwise. I _always_find a way to kick him, playfully of course.

"Mind if I sit?" Sandy asked.

"Sure," I said, moving over.

Sandy hopped onto the bench next to me.

"So how do you guys like it so far?"

"I love it! I was sold at the view!" Ian replied.

Ian looked at me. I shrugged, "If you like it, I like it."

"Good," Sandy responded, "Why don't you go take a look at the rest of the apartment but don't go outside the side door yet. I want to show you that personally."

"Sure," Ian said.

Sandy got up, "Over here is the pantry. It's walk in with shelves on three sides. Really nice."

Ian looked inside. I walked in after him. I was surprised. There was even enough for a third person and maybe a fourth to fit in.

"I'm going to have so much fun cooking," Ian responded.

"You know how to cook?" I teased, obviously knowing he could.

"Shut up! That's how I wooed you," Ian said, shoving into me.

Sandy smiled, then walked out back into the living area.

We followed. Once outside, Sandy responded, "This is the full bath. There's a half bath upstairs."

Ian walked in first.

"Oh, wow!" he exclaimed for like the fourth time, "London! There's a hot tub thing!"

Sure enough, as I walked in, a semi-hot tub lay in the far back. To the right was a double sink. The toilet lay next to the sinks.

Ian walked over to the hot tub.

"Neat! This is the first thing I'm doing once we're moved in."

"You'll have to sign the papers first," Sandy laughed.

"Big enough for the two of us?" I asked.

Foxy snorted, "Hell, yeah. It's massive!"

I smiled at that, "Hey, want to go check out the upstairs?"

"Sure."

Sandy led us out of the bathroom and up the beautiful, black spiral staircase.

I slid my paw up the curved railing, feeling the smoothness of the metal, looking for any imperfections but finding none.

At the top, right in front of the spiral staircase was the very large bed, "Perfect."

I admit, although I thought the upstairs was going to be small, it was actually quite nice. The space was used very efficiently.

I jumped onto the bed, and was almost immediately tackled by Ian. He laughed, clearly happy. I smiled in return. I wasn't lying before. If he was happy, I was too.

The right and left of the staircase was plenty of room for chairs or something. The left back corner was occupied by the half bath.

I got up and quickly looked inside. Simple but useful.

"Ready for your surprise, guys?" Sandy asked.

"Yeah, sure," Ian said, jumping off the squishy bed.

Ian ran down the stairs like a child on Christmas.

We arrived at the side door with Sandy. She grinned, then opened the door. A gust of wind washed over us along with more sunlight.

Ian's face beamed as he ran outside.

"O.M.G.!" Ian exclaimed, looking back and forth at the balcony that ran the length of the apartment.

"I am going to have the largest garden ever!!!" Ian yelled, throwing his paws into the air in excitement.

I snickered at his excitement, "And the view is amazing too," I added.

Ian, already filling the space in his head, commented, "We could totally put an outdoor table and two chairs right here. I could grow herbs and vegetables right here. And then the back half I could dedicate to a garden!"

"Go right ahead," I laughed.

Ian spun around and hugged me tightly. I hugged back, "Told you we'd find one you liked."

Sandy made a motion with her paw gesturing toward the inside. She winked and walked into the apartment.

I hugged back tighter, looking over Ian's shoulder at the expansive city views.

"I'm sold," I finally agreed.