It was the third applicant today responding to the ad John had posted for a rental. The small cottage behind his house was a perfect studio apartment in a prime location, only a short walk to the ocean. The first two set appointments to see the vacancy later in the week, the woman standing before him decided to respond in person.
She likely stood around five feet, wore a red sun dress with flowers on it that laced up the front. She appeared to be of some Asian decent, yet her accent he could not quite place. At times he thought it might be British or even Aussie, but her 'V's' sounded almost like 'W's" when she spoke which confused him. She had full red lips and an ample bosom that made him make sure he maintained eye contact.
"So here's the room...um..." he looked in askance of her name.
"I prefer Ms. Wilde," she smiled back at him.
"Ah, Ms. Wilde then," he motioned her into the cottage, "feel free to look around and see if you like."
She walked inside while he waited in the doorway. It did not take long to view the whole space, but she took her time looking through the bathroom and examining the new air conditioner he had installed.
"Does this work?" her hand motioned towards the new unit.
"Yes, I just had that put in. The heat won't bother you a bit."
She looked around for another few moments, "I think I would like to rent it."
"Okay, if you don't mind coming into the house and filling out a background check we can get the process started." He held his hand out in the direction of the back door to his house.
He led her inside his house and to his dining room table," please have a seat I'll only be moment."
As she took a seat at the table he quickly went into the kitchen to where he had left the stack of background applications. Past experience had made him wary enough to ask for thorough checks on anyone he rented to. Returning to where she sat at the table he handed her the form and a pen," if you don't mind filling this out, I've had some bad experiences in the past with renters. Never can be to careful," he said almost apologetically.
"Oh it's no problem," she replied making him wonder again at her accent.
"Where are you from if you don't mind me asking?"
"I was living in England until recently," her attention on the paper.
"What do you do for a living?"
She looked up at him, "I'm a hypnotherapist," she smiled warmly.
"Trouble with addiction, that sort of thing?"
"Sometimes," her eyes were back on the paper, "sometimes I help with stress relief, help people to sleep."
"Oh man, maybe I need to come see you then," he said shaking his head," I always seem to have trouble sleeping."