The place was a dump. In her overly hormonal state Jen was close to tears, but this was no time to break down. She gathered her strength and walked into her new home. It was filthy, dust, dirt and bugs were all over the place. She could see why the landlord had hinted that it would be alright if she painted the place, all the walls had a yellowish tint.
"Are you sure about this Jen?" Tommy stood beside her holding a box.
"Yeah I'm sure." There was no use in mopping about so Jen started with sweeping the floors so she and Tommy could bring her things in. She was glad everything was either hardwood, linoleum or tile; easy to clean.
It took Jen and Tommy hours to clean and air out her apartment; it still looked like crap though. Painting and refinishing the floors was definitely going to happen. It would have to wait until later though.
"I'll call you tomorrow okay?" Tommy held Jen by the shoulders and peered down into her face.
"Okay." He kissed her on the forehead and gave her a quick hug before leaving. Jen set up a pallet on the floor and drifted to sleep.
She woke up to a queer feeling on her left foot. Throwing back her blankets she saw a cockroach crawling up her legs. Jen jerked up and swept it away shuddering. Her stomach rolled and she rushed to the bathroom to toss her cookies.
"This place is so disgusting." Jen mumbled as she washed her hands and brushed her teeth. She hurried out to her car with her purse tucked securely under her arm and drove into town to find a Home Depot. It wasn't hard the huge orange sign was like a beacon. She parked close to the door and went inside. It was over whelming.
"Can I help you with something?" A very tall middle aged man in a home depot apron asked smiling.
"I need paint and something to fix hardwood floors, and linoleum, and tile and lots of bleach."
"Well let's start with the paint." He ushered her to the paint swatches. "So what are you painting?"
"A living room and kitchen, a bedroom and a bathroom."
"Apartment?"
"Yeah."
"Well what were you thinking for the bathroom?"
"Bluish."
"This whole section is blues, what jumps out at you?"
"This one, Swimming." Jen holds it up and looks at it picturing it for the bathroom.
"You sure?" She nods. "Okay then you said a bedroom."
"Yes."
"What color were you thinking?"
"I like this one. Springtime." A really soft green color would look pretty.
"Alright last but not least living room and kitchen."
"Yeah, I want to keep it a neutral color."
"Well with I would suggest this White Flour. It isn't too stark."
"I like it."
"Good that was easy, then huh?"
"Yeah, I guess so."
"Let's give this to Peter and he'll get you your paint, meanwhile tell what's wrong with your floors."
"The hardwood is and dull and the kitchen linoleum is gross and yellowed, my bathroom tile is gross and grimy."
"Well, you can use a tinted floor wax to fix the dullness, the linoleum should be replaced and so should the tile."
"I don't know how to do that."
"I'll show you let's get you everything you'll need."
It took Jen weeks to finish fixing up her apartment, with the much appreciated help of Tommy. She was glad she got finished before school started. She sat down heavily on the new soft beige sofa she bought and propped her feet on the new birch coffee table that matched the floors. It was quiet times like this that made her think back to that night two and a half months ago.
