S E X L E S S

HOUSE HASSLES X MORE PETTINESS

Margot was going crazy. She was now the mom of her eighteen-year-old transgender niece and homeless.

"Breathe, Margot, Margot."

Margot turned to face her friend, "Vanity, sister; I'm out of my wits here. I better find an apartment quick time. I'm tired of seeing Nathan parading as though his Jungle Book's King Louie."

Vanity closed her eyes and put her hand on her chest.

"Babe, what's wrong?" Margot asked.

"I'm so touched by your words, I never thought I'd live the day where you would see that man for what he is, and that is a narcissistic womanizer."

It was peculiar how a person could love and see their partner as the most exquisite human being, only to switch to detest mode the minute after and see their flaws.

At that instant, Nathan had one quality and one only being handsome. Margot couldn't take that away though she hated him. But his beauty no longer appealed to her. The woman was immune to it. Margot preferred to be alone than see his face every day.

"Hello there, sorry ㅡI'mmeh laiㅡte," the woman voice distorted like a cassette that had the magnetic film going berserk when she stopped in front of them.

Margot and Vanity waited to visit a loft two tram stations away from Nathan's.

The apartments she visited were cute but tiny or with too many curves. Margot appreciated modern architecture people could keep their Haussmannian stone buildings. She preferred recent, with ecological material, cube shapes without winding corridors or columns someone could hide behind. Without forgetting light, yes, Margot loved feeling like a superstar under the spotlight of a sunbathed living room.

The door the agent unlocked hid precisely that; the building was only a year old and had all the commodities Margot needed, including parking space and bicycle rack.

"So, what do you say?"

If the agent weren't present, Margot and Vanity would have hugged while squealing as though they won the national lottery, but stare Margot managed a very tamed, "it's very nice."

Sophie, the agent, smiled, "it's a sought-out area. I have a lot of visits this afternoon."

The woman spoke with a pinched tone as though Margot had insulted her, "the rent is moderate considering what it is."

Moderate how could two thousand and three hundred euros be reasonable. The apartment was barely 80m2.

"The conditions are standard. All we need is your last tax receipt, three last payslips, a photocopy of your I.D., three times the rent for the warranty, an advance on rent, and this month's rent.

Money wasn't the issue. What bugged Margot was going back to being a tenant. She preferred to purchase, but the process took time. Finding the place one could call home was a psychological endeavor where one had to envision themselves a few years into the future.

She imagined a future with Nathan, Margot saw how they would evolve in the space. Back then, the woman even thought of conceiving a second child. Now all she wished was for her ovaries to be plucked out and thrown overboard somewhere in the Atlantic sea. It was a selfish thought, how many women wanted to experience birth, but her story with Nathan crushed all her dreams of children and having a happy home. Nathan took it all, and even if she wasn't ready to admit it, Diva's attitude contributed to her resolution as well.

She blamed herself for not being the mother her daughter wanted. Margot forgot that being a mom wasn't a popularity pageant but a role where sometimes one could not be their child's favorite person.