Two of a Kind

Chapter 3

After breakfast, which Skylar ate alone as Juice hadn't come back to the apartment, she decided to check out the thrift store to see what kind of furniture they had for sale. She found the place with the aid of her GPS and pulled into the lot. The store was huge and she took her time browsing the merchandise. The furniture was rather nice, better than what she was expecting for a thrift store, and she found all the furniture she needed for her own apartment. The bedroom suite came with two bedside tables, a dresser, and an armoire. The living room set came with a couch, loveseat, and two recliners. She also found end tables for the living room and a coffee table. She found another couch and a large L-shaped desk for her office. When she paid out, she set up them holding her items until she was able to come back for it. They could hold her items for two weeks before it all went back on the floor to be resold. After finding her furniture, she decided to head out to go look at apartments. She started with the complex Juice lived in but there were no apartments available or coming available soon.

She GPS'd several more complexes in the area and began her search in earnest. The next complex she visited was run-down and not well kept. She nixed it immediately. Driving to the next place, she hoped she'd find something soon. The third place she looked at didn't have the amenities she was wanting. The fourth place was well within her price range but was very small. It, too, was nixed. The last apartment complex she visited was nicely maintained, had all the amenities she was looking for including covered and assigned parking for the residents, and was surprisingly within her price range. After speaking with the apartment manager, she was happy to hear that there would be three apartments coming up for rent within the next several weeks. She did all the paperwork for one of the soon-to-be empty apartments, paid the first and last month's rent out of her savings, and was assured that as soon as the apartment was emptied and cleaned, he'd give her a call to come in and get her keys. She thanked him before leaving. It was past lunch so she headed to the local diner to grab a quick bite. She was very excited to have secured an apartment and most of what she'd need for her new place.

She opted for a chef's salad with ranch for her lunch. Her mood was elevated as she'd found herself a permanent residence, she'd found some furniture to furnish her new place, and things were looking up. As much as she loved Juice, she couldn't wait to get into her own place. Decorating it the way she wanted, wearing as much or as little as she wanted around her place. After she finished her lunch, she headed back to Juice's apartment. She needed to decide on what to make for dinner. Feeling so exuberated, she opted for something fun. Nachos! She took out a pound of ground beef to start thawing. Everything else she had on hand or could make as the meat cooked. With everything she wanted to get done, done, she headed to her room to start her afternoon stream even though it was a little late. This afternoon, she opted to play a game that was still in Beta testing called Star Citizen. Once she logged into the game and started her stream, she greeted everyone and asked how their day was going. She answered everyone she could and told them about her day and that she'd be moving into her new permanent residence in a few weeks and how happy she was to be having her own place again. Most of her subscribers were thrilled to hear her good news.

Around four pm, she bid her community a good afternoon so she could make and eat dinner. She told everyone she'd be back on around six and that she'd love to see them at her nightly stream. After she exited out of her game, she headed into the living room to start dinner. The meat was thawed to her satisfaction so she got the meat cooking on medium high heat. She added some salt and pepper to the meat as it cooked. While the meat was cooking, she opened up three cans of nacho cheese sauce and got that heating up in a sauce pan on medium-low heat next to the meat. Next was making some homemade Pico di Gallo. She diced a small onion, a large tomato, cilantro, and two jalapenos before adding in the lime juice. She mixed it well and set the large bowl in the fridge for everything to set. She stirred the cheese sauce, making sure it didn't burn or stick to the bottom of the pan, then stirred the meat so it all cooked evenly. Once the meat was cooked through, she drained the meat, then put it back in the skillet. As she was seasoning the meat with her spice blend for tacos, Juice came home. It had been a long day for the IO and he was more than ready for a good meal and to relax with some games.