They called it a luxury townhome, but the honey oak "wood" looked like it was bought off the floor at IKEA. The white linoleum had peeled in places in the kitchen and all three bathrooms. The carpeting was all the same boring beige and the walls painted an omnipresent eggshell color. John couldn't stand the suburbs. But being a stockbroker wasn't working well for him at the moment, having reached its lowest percentages since the Great Depression. So he and Chelsea had sold their SoHo loft in Jersey to relocate in Pineville, Massachusetts.
As Bill the real estate agent droned on, Chelsea nodding along with every word and smiling, John followed behind and tried not to look as negative as he felt. He attempted to distract himself with the scenery.
Though he would always prefer the city lights to the greenery, the landscape here wasn't too bad in spite of its fatal symmetry. The grass was lush. The trees were tall and thick and neatly clipped. There was the small veranda they shared with the family living in the townhome connected to theirs. Across the street were several townhomes exactly alike the rest, each with their own wraparound veranda, the only difference from one to the other being the vinyl siding that varied from pastel to pastel. A busty woman ran by in baggy pastel sweats, her off-white Labrador running alongside her. John appreciated the woman's bust that was still large despite the oversized outfit, but looked away well before she was out of sight.
He gaze eventually trailed back to his wife of six years. Chelsea Kinn was six inches shorter than John's 6'3" sturdy frame and she had once been lean. She filled out after the miscarriage three years ago. Since that traumatic experience and their decision to not try again, it seemed more so than ever that Chelsea had stopped trying in several other aspects as well. John didn't mind as much as he probably should. They had grown distant. Their marital bed had long since iced over.
Today she at least put on makeup, and there appeared something of a shine in her eyes as she hung on the agent's every word. John had to admit that the agent had a way with words. If he wasn't so dead set against the suburbs, Bill's flowery descriptions might have relit something in John's green eyes as well.
"Jonquille Valley here is a sparkling new development! Place for new beginnings, full of young couples like yourselves who've come to settle down and start a family. This particular home is a two bedroom, two bathroom, but if you're expecting your family to become larger then there are more developments I can show you with a yard twice this size and..."
John had to cut him off, becoming daunted at the prospect of appraising yet another townhouse that would look exactly like the nine others he and Chelsea had been looking at over the past three months.
"Thanks," he said, "But I think we've seen enough. Chels, I'm tired. Why don't we get back to the hotel?"
"You go on," she said, sending him a look that didn't even marginally shine. "It's early and I'm not tired at all. I can always take a cab, or..." Her blue eyes refocused on Bill, who had caught on long before John did.
"I can drop you off, Mrs. Kinn," said the aging real estate agent without missing a beat.
John felt his body temperature drop as he realized what had been going on right under his nose all along. However he didn't feel angry. Upset, sure, but even the hurt only registered as a dull ache in the back of his mind. Kind of like a sinus infection.
"Okay," he responded numbly, backing away. "See you later, I guess."