House Shopping

Elle let out a yawn as she awoke the next morning. The room was still dark but the light in the adjoining bathroom was turned on and leaked into bedroom. Elle stretched her sleepiness away before getting up and walking into the bathroom. Inside Adam was standing at the sink and brushing his teeth.

"Good morning." Elle said. She walked over and wrapped her arms around his chest, leaning in to bury her face into his back as she did.

"Morning." He replied unintelligibly with his mouth half full. He quickly finished at the sink while Elle watched with an amused expression. Afterwards he turned and held her loosely in his arms. "You're already up?

"I could ask you the same question. You worked even during our vacation, don't you want to at least sleep in on the weekends?" She asked gently.

"I can't sleep in. I'm too used to having a busy schedule I suppose. I have trouble being still."

"You don't have to work today?"

"No."

"What do you usually do on the weekends when you don't have to work?"

"I go for a run first. Want to join me?"

Elle didn't think much of it and agreed, thinking they were only going for a casual jog, but thirty minutes later she was panting as she struggled to keep up with Adam.

A few more minutes passed and she gave up, collapsing into the grass beside the track. Adam finished his lap before sitting down beside her, stifling a laugh as he watched her chest rise and fall with her labored breathing.

"You really do this every weekend?" She asked incredulously in between her pants.

"I missed a few once we began dating but other than those days, yes, I do."

"I suppose there had to be a reason that a man who sits at a desk all day long would be in such good physical condition."

"You're out of shape." He teased.

"I kept up with you for the better part of thirty minutes." Elle said in her defense. "I'm not out of shape, you're just a monster."

Adam laughed as he stood up. "Come on, let's go back in." He said, extending his arms to help her up.

Once they were back upstairs the two quickly fixed a light breakfast. While they ate Elle kept sneaking glances at Adam, waiting for an opportunity to tell him something that had been on her mind for a little while now. She was in mid-gaze when Adam's voice suddenly interrupted her thoughts.

"You have something you want to tell me?" He asked.

"Huh? Oh. Um. Not really." She blurted, as she was taken by surprise.

Adam looked and Elle hopelessly and set down his fork. "I'll give you one more chance. If there really is nothing then I'm going to go shower."

"Is it that obvious?" Elle asked.

"I just know you well. I know your tells."

Elle took a moment to muster up her courage before boldly announcing, "I'm thinking of getting my own place."

"Why?" Adam asked immediately.

"I just think it's time for me to have my own place. I don't want to always feel like I'm intruding on you."

"You're not. You know that right?"

"I know. This is just what I want."

Adam gauged her expression for a moment, Elle looked back at him with determination.

"Okay." He said after a moment.

Elle blinked with surprise. "That's it?"

"What? Did you expect me to insist you stay here? Maybe tie you up so you couldn't escape?" He asked with an evil smirk.

"I don't know what I expected." She confessed.

"If that's all." Adam said, pushing away from the table.

"Ah, there is one more thing. I was wondering if you would come check out a few places with me after lunch."

"Of course." Adam said. He got up from the table and went upstairs to take a shower. He ruffled her hair lightly as he walked past her. Elle smiled to herself and quickly finished her own food with a new found eagerness.

~~

Elle had narrowed her search down to a few dozen places. She didn't want a house, there was too much upkeep involved. That let her narrow her search down to condo's.

The first place they went to was a cute and cozy place. Perfect for a single person to live in. Not perfect for her who had Adam to consider.

"It's too small." Adam declared as they walked back out to the car after the showing. "A double bed would barely fit in that bedroom."

"Agreed."

The next place was much better. It was roomy and had lots of windows to let the natural light in, but once again Adam veto'd it.

"No." He said as soon as they came back out of it.

"Why not?" Elle asked.

"The security in the building is awful. The neighbourhood isn't that great either."

Elle couldn't argue with that so she reluctantly agreed and crossed it off her list. They saw two or three more places after that. None of them too bad but none of them overly appealing either. Afterwards the couple went out for dinner together.

"This is harder than I thought." Elle complained.

"I'm sure you'll find something soon."

For once Elle was the silent one throughout dinner. A lot was weighing on her mind. Finally, she decided to check at least one thing off her list. She reached into her purse and pulled out her phone to finally reply to Abby's text.

'I'm back home now. Let's have lunch together tomorrow.'