Page 258 of Steeling Her
Now, I just have to decide on a home.
I’m finding it hard to find the right one. I have been everywhere in LA trying to find one, and I keep coming up short. One after another, none of them are to my taste. No light drenched home with the perfect scenery. No cozy vibe that screams out for a family. No level of privacy that is to my choice; I’m particular in everything I do. I want it all in the way I’d like it.
I’m on my way to another potential home in Bel Air, which seems to be the way I want to go. It’s exclusive and is very much a private place to live in, but I haven’t found the right one that ticks all the security boxes for me. I’m a private person and yet my face is plastered all over the tabloids. I could be standing next to a woman I don’t know and they’ll say we’re dating just for the fun of it, hoping to get a reaction or a comment from me. They’re like vultures.
Mansions upon mansions fill the streets behind the tall gates and palm trees. I drive down the road with barely any traffic on it until I get to my destination. I have the address in the GPS system already punched in, and it tells me to go a little further up the hill. I take one last left turn and see the home as the GPS tells me I have reached my destination. The gates are already open, and I see a car parked up in the entrance down the long driveway. I notice that it’s the real estate agent’s car when she slides out after she sees me pull up.
The driveway has a stretch to it and diverts down to the entrance of the home where a nice fountain pours water from the top. Once I find a space to park up, I turn the engine off and unbuckle myself to get out and greet her.
“Good morning.” She smiles as her heels click across the pavement to greet me.
“Morning.” I grunt because I’m a little tired and annoyed. I pull myself together when I truly get a look at the exterior of the freshly renovated home. Both of my eyebrows raise in surprise. It has a more modern feel to it, but there is an air of homeyness not far behind. It has fresh white walls with high windows hidden behind a cast iron electronic gate that is open for the showing.
“Yeah, I know. It’s nice, right?” She gauges my reaction and runs with it.
Fresh and crisp white paint, check; a modern design, check; large windows, check. Yet, there is an air privacy too; double check for that. All off to a good start. I’ve got a good feeling for this place compared to any of the other houses. I like it.
“I got news of this one yesterday and came to check it. It’s not on the market yet but it will be soon. I’ve asked the owners to give you a private viewing. They’re fans, by the way.” I stare at her with a deadpan look. She should know that I don’t want too much hassle from fans, which should include them, but Carrie rolls her eyes and smiles while walking away from me and toward the front door. I tuck my hands into my pockets and follow her.
“Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.” She giggles as she walks to ring the doorbell at the side. “This house has the standard intercom system, and this doorbell has a camera here. There are two more at the front gates and a few more around the property too,” she begins to rattle off and points to the places where she knows there are camera for the owner’s protection.
I get another quick look around the property from the outside before I enter and finally make up my mind. I check out the neatly kept garden that’s off to the side just behind the fountain, the garage with a space wide enough for five cars to park up comfortably along with the garage door rolled down to keep it tidy.
The house is huge; it may be a little too big for just me, but it’s worth a shot.
I look out towards the gated entrance where there is a good plot of grass. The trees hide the home for privacy. I never thought of having trees but they look useful for the privacy.
The two owners open the door and I fear for my life at first. The both of them are dressed in black with leather shoes to pair, and with a pair of smiles from the two men behind the large brown oak door, they open me up into another world. Grey and white walls surround us, and a ton of modern paintings hang eye level with us. Sculptures sit proudly on tabletops and on the floor, inviting me to come in and look around.
The inside of the home is exactly what I envisioned.
“Hi, Mr. Jackson, welcome to the house. We are both such big fans of yours,” they greet me. I shake both their hands and thank them for allowing me this viewing. “Not at all. Please, come in and have a walk around. We will be around the home, but I think Carrie knows the details anyway, so come on in and have a look around.” They stand back to allow me and Carrie walk in. I follow her. “We’ll be around the house, too, if you have any further questions,” the other guy says.
“Thank you, I like it so far. It’s what I’m looking for.” I admire the beautiful interior. “You’ve done an amazing job on it,” I compliment them on their work. “Did you design it yourselves?” I ask before I get shown around the home.
I’m standing in the large foyer with two grand staircases on either side of the room that lead to the second floor. White marble with beautiful sculptures and flowers decorate the table in the center underneath where the staircases meet. A lot of photos dot the walls next to the expensive paintings that seem to be a recurring theme. I’m not one for art, but I do think it brightens up the place.
“Yes, we designed it all. It took us over two years to get it done to what we wanted it to be. We had to get rid of some contractors at the beginning but we got there in the end.” They both chuckle like it’s an inside joke.
“Well, I think we should get started, What do you say, Nick?” Carrie opens her hand to point on the direction just off to my right so we can start to work our way around the house.
“Sure.” I nod and follow after her as I twirl my keys on my finger mindlessly. We walk into a room with three sofas, one of them being larger than the other two as the two smaller ones face one another, with a delicately small coffee table in the center and some coffee books stacked neatly on top. “The only thing is that the paintings and furniture are not part of the deal, but I can give you furniture recommendations and have that all sorted for you before you move in if you choose this house. This house has four floors; this is the ground floor, you have a basement and then you have two floors above this one. It’s a tall home with high ceilings, but it has a lot of space. Just what you wanted. This is what they call the sitting room. You know, to read books or to just have some me time. There’s no TV here but there are appliances behind if you choose to rearrange the rooms anyway and make it into something different,” she informs me.
“Gym?” I ask, she knows that this is a deal breaker for me.
“Follow me.” She smiles. She knows me all too well. We walk over to another door and she opens it to start walking down the stairs. “There is an elevator to get down, but I hate them.” She grips on to the railings as we head downstairs. She reaches over to turn on the lights and the stairs light up. “They have motion sensors, so it’ll turn on automatically when you start walking down. This is the gym; this is the only part of the house that will keep the equipment, so this part is part of the price,” she says as I happily admire the brand-new, state-of-the-art facilities of steel equipment mixed with dark grey plastic.
“You’ve got the full package for gym equipment down here. There is a sauna and steam room through those doors over there.” She points to where the doors are.
I walk down there to have a look. “And through here is an ice bath and cryotherapy chamber, all of which comes with the house if you choose it.” She opens the door and shows me the area.
“All of this comes with the house?” I ask and she nods. “I think you may have sold me just for this basement.” I smirk as I check it all out. Carrie laughs and shuts the lights off and walks down the other end of the room to open up another door.
How many doors does this place have?I wonder.
“Through here is just an empty room that they left unfurnished but they have said they planned to put a movie theater down here or a game room. It depends on what you want, there’s a lot of space to make multiple rooms as well.” I look at the large open space and start to think of all the things I could put down here.
I can see a movie theater, a games room, a pool table, and kids’ play room. I can see kids—my kids—running around down here.
