Jessie_(0)

I was looking for a new apartment. They had continued to raise the rent at my current place. In fact it had gone up almost 50% in 2 years. A new owner had purchased the apartment a few months after I had moved in. Although they had made a number of cosmetic “improvements”, painting, carpeting, hallway lighting, etc.; they had done little to truly upgrade or improve the apartments or the buildings. I had done some checking around and narrowed had my choices down to 3. I had already visited 2 of them and had an appointment at the third this afternoon.

I arrived a few minutes early. I walked into the office. It was nicely decorated and was very clean. There was a young lady sitting with her back toward me looking for something in a file cabinet. When she turned around I was pleasantly surprised. I recognized her immediately as my high school crush, Jessie.

I had had a crush on Jessie since the first time I had seen her during our sophomore year. She was a cheerleader for the football and hockey teams. Unfortunately I was a basketball player, so she never really noticed me and I was too shy to ask her out or even talk to her. During our senior year she was runner-up for homecoming queen. She was extremely popular and I was not. I had only seen her once since high school. At our 5-year reunion I worked up the courage to go and talk to her. She surprised me when we called me by name as I walked up to her. We had a short conversation, just small-talk. She soon was distracted by others and I walked away. On my way home I took off my nametag and wondered if that was how Jessie knew my name and who I was.

“Hi Ben. How are you doing?” she asked. “You’re here to look at an apartment, correct?”

I recovered from my surprise and managed to answer, “Yes!”

“It’s good to see you again!” she said.

“It’s good to see you again too!” I responded.

She grabbed a key and said, “Let’s go see the apartment.”

We walked out the door of the office after flipping the sign over to “BE BACK SOON”, then locked the door behind her. We walked across a circle to the building on the other side. We went inside and took the elevator to the 3rd floor. We turned left down the hallway. Whatever scent she was wearing filled the elevator. It smelled wonderful. I followed her noticing her hair. It was brown with blonde streaked highlights. I noticed her body. She was taller than average, maybe 5′ 9” or 5′ 10”. She had the curves of a woman with a great looking rear end. Her pantsuit fit her well, definitely flattered her figure. She stopped at the second to last apartment in the left side. She unlocked the door and we went in. The apartment was nice, though not much different than the others I had looked at earlier. I walked around. The walls had recently been painted and the carpet looked new.

Suddenly Jessie said, “You keep looking around. I have to go next door to my apartment and get something.”

Whether she knew it or not she just rented an apartment. It was “my dream come true” to be living next door to Jessie.

When she returned she asked, “What do you think?”

I pretended to think for awhile then said, “Yes, I am interested.”

“Would you like this apartment or one on a different floor?” Jessie asked. “First floor apartments are less expensive.”

“This apartment will be fine,” I responded.

“Sounds good,” she said, smiling that wonderful smile I remembered from high school.

Her face was so beautiful. Her glistening brown eyes, long eyelashes, perfectly shaped nose, full lips, and lightly tanned skin set her apart from almost every woman I had ever seen.

She walked toward the door and I followed. I again was mesmerized by her hips and butt. There was a slight bounce, but she was trim and well toned. Soon we were back in the office and I was busty completing the paperwork. I noticed her set down a doll and blanket on the file cabinet behind her desk. My heart sank. She had a child and was probably married or had a man in her life.

“What type of work do you do?” she asked in the melodious voice she had. (Can you tell I was still was enamored with her?)

“I am a computer programmer for a food wholesaler. I work with procurement, inventory control, and merchandising systems,” I answered. “Do you have a little girl?”

I pointed to the doll she had just set down.

“Yes. Emily. She is 7 years old. I have a date tonight and she wanted her doll to take to the babysitter’s apartment. One of the residents has a 15 year-old daughter that watches Emily for me after school,” she explained.

We had been out of high school only 8 years so she had her daughter soon after we graduated. I wondered who the father was but was afraid to ask her about it.

“Do you remember Tony?” Jessie asked.

I nodded. Tony was the best wide receiver on the high school football team. Then she just opened up and told me the whole story.

“Tony and I dated during the last part of our senior year and then into the Summer. He didn’t get any scholarship offers, so he had decided to join the Air Force. On his last night before leaving we had our last date. Things got very emotional and we went all the way. A couple of months later I realized I was pregnant. I wrote to Tony and then he called and I had the hard conversation with him. He wanted me to have an abortion. In other words he didn’t want to be a father or be responsible for a child. That told me all I wanted to know. I told him I was going to have the baby and he did not have to be a father in any way. I sensed the relief in his voice. Soon the call ended and I have not heard from him since. All my future plans changed. College and career were out of the question, at least in the short term. Next I had the hard conversation with my parents. They were disappointed, but very supportive. They agreed that because of Tony’s attitude that I didn’t want him in my or my baby’s lives. I lived with my parents for a few years until I got the job here as property manager,” she said and paused.

I could see tears in her eyes. I felt so sorry for her. I then noticed a couple of pictures on her desk. One was a picture of a baby. The other was a picture of Jessie and a young girl. Obviously it was her daughter. She was also very cute and looked very much like Jessie.

“She is very beautiful,” I said pointing to the picture.

“Thank you! I think so too,” she said.

I finished the paperwork. She took the paperwork and looked through it.

“So there will only be one tenant?” she asked.

“Yes,” I answered.

“I will get back to you after I get positive responses to your credit and background checks. When would you be looking to move in?” she asked.

“My current lease expires at the end of June, so July 1st,” I replied.

“I’ll start the lease for July 1st, but set the move-in date for Saturday June 28th,” she stated.

“Thanks! I hadn’t thought about the day of the week,” I said.

I thanked her again. We shook hands, the first time I had touched her. Her hand was soft and warm.

“I’ll get back to you in a couple of days when the reports come back,” Jessie said.

I turned to leave. Jessie’s daughter was getting off the school bus in front of the office. Jessie and I walked out together. Emily came running over and gave her mother a huge hug. Emily started talking a mile a minute telling her mom about her day. I waved goodbye, got in my car and left.

3 days later I received a call from Jessie. Everything had come back fine and she asked when I would like to come in to sign the lease. I tried not to sound too excited, but told her I would be there the next day.

When I arrived Jessie greeted me with a high smile. When I was about to sign the lease I noticed the lease amount was less than I expected. I asked about the amount. Jessie responded that she had given me the lease rate for a first floor apartment. I thanked her and completed the process. She surprised me by giving a hug before I left. Her hair and perfume smelled so wonderful.

A few weeks later I moved in on a Saturday. Emily was in the hallway watching as I was moving in. She was interested in and asked about every box and item as it went into the apartment. At lunch time Jessie came over from the office to get lunch for Emily.

“Do you want something for lunch? We are just having some sandwiches and fruit,” Jessie asked me.

“Yes, that would be very nice,” I quickly agreed.

Jessie’s apartment was the same layout, but was a mirror image of mine. Emily took my hand and led me over to a chair at the table. She was quite the little hostess. She put out the plates, bowls, cups, and silverware. She put a carton of milk and a pitcher of ice water on the table. Jessie finished making the sandwiches as Emily put a bowl of fruit on the table. They both sat down. Emily took half of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Jessie nodded to me to take what I wanted.

I took half of the ham and cheese, and half of the peanut butter.