One Call Away

Chapter Three: Apartment Hunting

Looking at her phone at the directions, Caitlyn walked down the street towards the apartment block where she had a viewing in the next ten minutes and she hoped that she would make it. 

She might not have been in Chicago very long but Caitlyn knew that she couldn't stay at the hotel forever; she needed a place to live and she had applied for a couple of places hoping to get it. 

There were quite a few people looking for roommates and that's where Caitlyn had started; she knew that it would be her best bet if she was going to find an affordable place to live. 

Finally spotting the building, Caitlyn let out a sigh of relief as she made her way towards it; she was worried that she'd be late and she had been to two other appointments already. 

The places had made Caitlyn uneasy and she had been slightly worried that she'd get murdered at some point at the last one by the 'doowop group' that were sitting on the steps. 

Reaching the apartment block, Caitlyn was surprised how nice it was and she recalled the list on amenities that had been on the posting when she had answered it. 

Heading up to the tenth floor, Caitlyn wasn't sure what to expect when she arrived; in the two days since she had arrived in Chicago things had felt a little weird to her. 

Getting out of the elevator, Caitlyn checked the apartment number on her phone before she started to look for it; she was almost relieved that it wasn't that far from the elevator. 

The last thing she wanted if she liked the place was to find herself dragging her things too and from the elevator in an endless amount of trips. 

Knocking on the door, Caitlyn waited for a moment before the door opened revealing a woman around the same age as her; she cleared her throat hoping she had the right place.

"Hi. I'm here about the roommate advert?" Caitlyn asked checking the address that she had, she didn't want to end up at the wrong place and disturb someone who had no idea what she was talking about. 

The woman nodded her head and held open the door so that Caitlyn could come inside; she was relieved that someone had responded to her advert so quickly. 

"Hi. I'm Mercedes," the woman said smiling closing the door once Caitlyn was inside, her last roommate had ditched out without paying the rent and she had no idea what she would do if she didn't find a roommate quickly. 

Caitlyn shook her hand, the place was really nice and she was surprised that anyone would want to move out; she turned to look at Mercedes. 

The other woman was quick to give Caitlyn a tour of the apartment, pointing out their shared living quarters as well as the private space that she would call her own if she moved in. 

The room was a decent size and the only thing that Caitlyn had to worry about was finding a bed and some furniture; it was a lot better than trying to furnish an entire apartment with her savings. 

"So, rent is about $815 between us, that excludes things like our bills... electricity, water, gas, internet so say about $500 a month each that includes the food shop," Mercedes said listing off the way she usually did things money wise. 

She was open to suggestions but this was usually the easiest way that she found; she was sure that with the right room-mate that this wasn't going to be a problem. 

Caitlyn nodded her head, this place was perfect and she knew that she could see herself comfortable here; it was a lot nicer than her place back in New York. 

"Do you have any questions?" Mercedes asked, she had meet with several people so far and she was still deciding who she liked best.

There wasn't much time for her to decide who she wanted to move in with her, she wanted to make sure she wasn't moving in with a crazy person; she expected her future room-mate to have some good references. 

Settling on the couch for the next part, Caitlyn swallowed knowing that she was going to have to sell herself; she wanted to make a good impression and she had brought several references with her to be safe. 

"What do you do for a living?" Caitlyn asked curiously, the place might have been perfect but she had to make sure her potential room-mate would be okay. 

The last thing that she wanted was to agree to move in only to find that Mercedes wasn't capable of meeting her side of the bills leaving her to pay for everything. 

"Fact Checker at the Chicago Tribune," Mercedes replied, she liked her job and it was interesting but she hoped one day that some of her own pieces might appear in the paper. 

Caitlyn smiled at that, it was a good job to have and she knew that once she had an apartment sorted then her next focus would be finding herself a stable job. 

She had already sent out several CVs and she was hopeful that she would hear something soon; she knew that she wanted to cook and continue baking like she had done in New York. 

"How about yourself?" Mercedes asked picking up the application that Caitlyn had sent in, she had noticed that the job part had been left blank and that worried her a little. 

The fact that she was just moving from New York only offered her some explanation of why the other woman didn't have a job at present. 

"I was a baker... I'm actually hoping to go back into that field," Caitlyn reassured, she might seem like a risk to Mercedes but she hoped that the other woman would take a chance on her. 

She was determined to make a life here in Chicago and she just needed someone to take a chance on her while she found her feet; she was sure that she would make it here.

"Okay then. I still have a couple more interviews but I should be able to let you know in a couple of days," Mercedes said looking through the application, she wanted to make sure that everything was okay before she offered anyone the place. 

She still needed to check in with Caitlyn's references but so far, the other woman looked like the front runner in becoming her new room-mate. 

Caitlyn nodded at that, she still had time on her hotel room and she was working out how to ship her things over from New York without having to go back there. 

"Thank you for considering me," Caitlyn replied shaking Mercedes's hand, she was thankful that she had gotten the chance to come and meet her; she just hoped that she was the winner.

The apartment had been so much nicer than the studio apartments that she had seen that morning; she wanted to be happy and comfortable where ever she ended up. 

Mercedes led her to the door and showed Caitlyn to the door, she was sure that the next application would be here soon and she didn't want people bumping into each other in case it got weird. 

Waving goodbye to Mercedes, Caitlyn headed back to the elevator; she hoped that she would hear soon, she very much doubted that she would find a better place than this. 

Pressing the button on the elevator, Caitlyn reached for her phone and checked her messages; she pushed away the disappointment that she felt at no messages from her family. 

No matter how much she tried to convince herself that she was okay not hearing from her mother and Richard; she hated that neither had reached out to her yet. 

Stuffing her phone back into her pocket, Caitlyn stepped into the elevator as the doors opened; she only hoped that they would reach out to her soon.