Chapter 23: A New House?

Just before two o’clock, as planned, James and Lisa arrived in Mark’s drive. Emma and Mark were sitting in the lounge, enjoying a lazy cuddle when Mark saw the Volvo SUV arrive on the security camera notification on his iPhone. They both went outside to meet them, as they got out of the car.

“How was the party?” Lisa asked.

“Epic!” Emma enthused.

“The best ever!” Mark added.

“Maybe you’d better spare us the details!” James said, laughing and then added “Mark, I’m sure Emma told you we’re taking Emma to look at a house we want to buy. Do you want to come along? It’s in your area so you might have some useful comments.”

“Sure, I’d love to” Mark replied.

He went back inside to tell Dan he was going out, grabbed his keys and joined them in the car. The house was only a short distance away, on the next road. James pulled into the semi-circular drive and Emma’s mouth opened in surprise. The house looked similar to Mark’s, before they had the extension. The front garden was well-stocked with flowers, shrubs and a couple of mature trees.

“You can afford this!?” Emma gasped.

“There would be no point looking if we couldn’t afford it!” James laughed.

They got out of the car and James rang the bell. It was answered by the estate agent, a young woman of about thirty. She welcomed them and invited them inside. The hall was a good size for receiving guests, with a wide staircase leading upstairs. They went into the modern, recently fitted kitchen first. It had a breakfast bar and small kitchen table, similar to Mark’s. Next they were led next door to the dining room which had french windows opening onto the patio and lawn with a view to the garden beyond. The next room was a large lounge, also opening onto the patio and the final room at the front was a bathroom and at the back a smaller lounge.

“I thought you might like this one for entertaining your friends” James said.

“Really! My own lounge!” Emma exclaimed.

Next they went upstairs, where the agent told them there were five bedrooms. The master bedroom was huge, with space for a king size bed and fitted wardrobes along the whole of one wall. It had a large ensuite bathroom. The second bedroom was a little smaller.

“We thought you would like this one Emma” Lisa said. “There’s plenty of room for a king size bed and it has it’s own ensuite.”

“It’s listed as the guest bedroom, but I can’t see why you shouldn’t have the one with the ensuite.” James explained.

“That’s so nice of you James!” Emma squealed. “I can’t believe I can have an ensuite!”

Emma went inside to find a large bathtub, a double shower, two washbasins and a toilet. Emma gasped, imagining bathing and showering there with Mark.

Finally, they were shown the other wing with the three other bedrooms and the family bathroom.

They all went downstairs and into the lounge where Emma asked “Why would anyone want to sell such a beautiful house when it looks as if it was just totally refitted and redecorated it?” Emma asked.

“The owner was offered a senior director’s position, in charge of the companies far-eastern operation based in Singapore, which he never expected” explained the agent. “He is keen to sell as soon as possible as he needs the money to buy a house there where they are ridiculously expensive.”

“So what do you think Emma?” Lisa asked.