PERMANENT - Leonardo DiCaprio

Chapter 56 - 'renaissance'

11.20am Tuesday, 31st March (1 week later)

I waited for the estate agent to turn up, in Leo's Jeep, spinning the car keys that I had taken out of the ignition around my index finger, as he gazed at the house ahead of us next to me in the passenger seat.

"You think this'll be the one?" he broke the silence, nodding towards the house.

I followed the direction of his stare, looking and admiring, scanning and analysing the mansion that lay before us.

"I hope so. I want you to help me choose the place before you go away. Which means I have a week left."

We had looked at about 20 Malibu homes in the last week, but there was always something - not feeling homely enough, too far from the water, too small, too big etc.

This one was very clearly modern, a large crisp white property with lots of glass. The path leading up to the front doors was impeccably neat, and lined with little lights in the ground, and small topiary trees.

The estate agent, Chris Garcia, who I had spent an hour on the phone with last night discussing the perfect property after our so far fruitless search, stepped out of his car that he had parked directly behind ours.

I watched him approach our car in the wing mirror, so I opened the door and jumped out, slamming the door behind me.

"Hi, Chris." I smiled warmly, and our hands met in a firm handshake.

"Ready for this one?" he nodded towards the house, as I heard Leo hop out to join us.

"More than ready. I don't want to look at anymore homes, I'm tired."

"Alright, if you're both ready we can go on in."

Leo nodded, turning back to lock the car as he held his hand up in the air, car keys pointing to the jeep. It flashed, and we all headed in.

Even upon entering, this house felt different. It was light and airy, and although it was large - larger than any house I'd ever lived in before of course, it wasn't stupidly big, with more room than I'd know what to do with.

As Chris led us through each room, I had become convinced that this one was perfect. The main living area was basically more glass than wall, which brought in so much beautiful light, and so could only imagine how lovely that would be in the summer months, which weren't all that far off.

The property was right on the beach front, and overlooked the ocean, and it had the most beautiful view.

The main bedroom, much like most of the house, had a whole side that was glass, and the whole room felt luxurious.