"This one better be good," I threatened Tiff as we finally pulled up to the last house. It was another one that the owners were renting out. It was a single story with no garage. It had a small back and front yard and just two bedrooms. This owner was a woman not that much older than us, renting it since she had gotten married and was moving out of state with her husband.
"It's smaller than the others, but the owner was really nice when I talked to her. I thought it was worth a shot," Tiff said. I was living alone so really one bedroom was all I needed; the other would just stay empty. The owner, Gloria, led us through the space. The kitchen was small but big enough, central cooling and heat, two bathrooms, one attached to the master bedroom, and it was a fifteen-minute drive to school.
"I think this is the one," I whispered to Tiff as the tour came to an end. Gloria was apologetically telling us about some fire damage that the house had gotten twenty years ago. I didn't care. I was sold.
"Are you sure? I can come up with some more places to see tomorrow."
"We'll take it," I said loudly, cutting Gloria off.
"You will?" she asked, relieved that I was taking the place off her hands.
"How soon can we put it on paper?" I asked. Tiffany tried to interrupt, but I didn't let her. This was the place. Chances were it was going to be temporary, but I still liked it. It had character. Gloria said I could sign for it immediately if I was ready. Half an hour later, Tiff and I were back in her car on the way to my dad's house. I had to pack; I was going to start moving out the next day.
"I still think you should have held out," she said from the passenger seat.
"You didn't like it? Good. That means I don't have to deal with you coming over to hang out," I joked.
"As long as you like it, I guess," she said. "The kitchen was small, but it had a nice stove. The little patio out the back was cute, too, you know; for dates and stuff," she said.
"Dates? I haven't been on one of those for years."
"I think you should get back out there."
"I just got back, Tiff."
"But you were deployed. Wasn't it just a sausage-party for a whole year over there?"
"There are female service members, Tiffany," I said, shaking my head.
"They don't count. You can't get hot and heavy in the middle of a war zone," she said.
"Please stop," I said, not really wanting to discuss my sex life with my little sister. I didn't want to tell her she was right, I hadn't been with anyone since Veronica, but I also didn't really want to tell her what a lot of other people got up to when we were deployed. When you put men and women together in one place for a long time, the inevitable happened. Sometimes with other service members, sometimes with locals, mostly consensual, but sometimes not. That was what nobody liked to bring up when they talked about deployed service members overseas.
"I'm just saying, you should go on a date. Start meeting people again."
"Tiffany, first you play real estate agent and then you play matchmaker? What gives? Why are you trying to get rid of me?"
"I'm not. I just thought you would maybe like to get into a normal routine. Meeting people, having normal relationships, and becoming a civilian again. I don't know what you saw over there or what they made you do. It's just... I've heard what happens to a lot of veterans when they come back home."
"Tiff, you have nothing to worry about, really," I insisted.
"It's still going to make me feel better if I know you're doing normal stuff and can still talk to people."
"What do you think happened over there?"
"Come on, Roman," she said sulkily. She was serious. I could tell she meant what she said when she said she was worried about me. I didn't want to tell her not to be because that wouldn't convince her.
"I'm fine. I swear. Just to show you. I'll go on this date with your work friend."
"She's great, you're gonna love her."
"Whoa, I said I would go on a date with her. No one said anything about love."
"Whatever, you know what I mean. She's a nice girl. I know you'll hit it off."
I admired her confidence, but the jury was out on that one. I didn't know who this person was that she was introducing me to, and besides, all I had agreed to have was a date. Just one. I had just gotten back and just gotten a house. I was still getting my feet back under me; I wasn't trying to date, get a girlfriend and shit. I needed to set myself up before I could start dating again.
That said though, dinner with a pretty girl... I wasn't going to say no to that. Yeah, deployment wasn't a sausage party, but the guys outnumbered the girls and since we weren't there to eat dinner, chat, and have a good time, spending time with a girl on a date would be nice. Maybe I had been out of the game too long.