MEANT TO BE

‘Just so you know…if we don’t get that house, we’ll try next year’, I made an effort to prepare him for the disappointment of yet another attempt at our moving out of this cramped apartment.

‘Okay’, he texted back. But I knew it wasn’t ‘okay’.

We both want a larger place, as this apartment was meant only as a temporary dwelling after the mold issue two summers ago. The time when we had to move from our three-bedroom apartment into the guest suite for a week until this two-bedroom apartment became available.

Though we tried moving to another unit with three bedrooms, this was denied due to some new rules by upper management. Our only choice is to either stay and deal with yet another rent increase or try to find another place to rent by next Monday when we have to sign the new lease agreement.

Before his hair appointment, I picked up my son from his father’s house and took him on a drive to see a house I had noticed on Zillow yesterday afternoon at a very low price. It’s far from the school but it’s a drive we have made before when we lived in that same neighbourhood. My son didn’t question why we were driving past the hair salon we discovered last week and where we made an appointment for his highlights and cut.

The house had most of the items on my wish list. Single story. A fireplace. Some wooden floors. A study. A backyard. A window above the kitchen sink. And a closet large enough to fill with yarns. Within two hours of it being listed, I noticed the house already had four contacts. I was glad when the lady texted me back with an appointment for today.

There was a story to the low price. The current tenant had to leave for personal reasons and the landlord did everything to make it easier for her. So, the house was listed at a low rate so that it could be rented quickly and thus release the tenant from her lease obligation.

My son was really excited about all the space we would have. I was too, but I knew there would be a chance I would not be approved. Rents have become so terribly high here in Austin that it’s almost impossible to stay here anymore. But I cannot leave and keep hoping to find a bigger place for us.

So now we wait. For the management to get back to me and for an approval for my loan application needed for the security deposit. If it’s meant to be, it will. If not, we will try again next year. As for my son’s hair appointment, it turned out better than expected. He loved it. As did I. A definite change for the new school year.