Miracle of miracles! Got my deposit back on Tuesday night, after weeks of believing I might never actually see it again. I had to pester my old landlord again and again just to come to Paris, but she finally did--though she only let me know the day after she arrived and had already gone into the apartment and showed it to a bunch of other people. (The poor souls, they have no idea what they have in store for them...) It was my long day, and then I had babysitting afterwards, but as soon as I got the text that I could come by later that night, my heart rate keep up a galloping pace for the rest of the day. I ended up getting off from babysitting a bit later than usual, so I was rushing a bit, but I brought Alejandro with me in case she turned out to be crazier than I thought she was and pulled a knife on me or something. (Ah, the things paranoia with conjure...) That, and she also wanted me to pick up the carpet I'd 'forgotten' (read: purposely left behind in the hopes she would get rid of it for me) and some sheets, which aren't mine or Alejandro's...maybe ISA's?
So I got there kind of in a rush, but had Alejandro stay out of sight on the stairs so as to not make her more paranoid than she already was.
Pretending to be nice to her...was weird. In my mind, I'd composed again and again my 'goodbye and good riddance, paranoid bitch' speech, but had kind of been half ignoring the fact that I wasn't going to do that until I had my check safely in hand.
Well, the first few minutes were just her giving me my stuff, and basically going over things that I could have done better before leaving.
Finally, as I picked up the carpet, I couldn't take the whole dancing around the bush thing any longer and just asked her if I was going to get my deposit back. The pause as she looked unsure was probably one of the slowest of my life. But finally, she slowly--ever so slowly--said yes. Now I can assure you I didn't collapse into a puddle like I wanted to, but I can't say that the relief wasn't plain on my face as I remember letting out a relief-laden 'thank you'. Not that she deserved it, but hey, fake niceties, remember? And it's not like I had the check in hand yet, either.
Speaking of which. As we're about to exchange the keys for the check and she's extending the check towards me, she recoiled and said 'Maybe you should hand over the keys first.' Ha! The witch. I'm pretty sure I let out a half exaspererated laugh, but remember thinking, hey, I can always call the police if she decides to get coy about handing over her share. That, or as I outmatch her in height and strength, I could've just knocked her lights out and taken my check...kidding!
I handed her the keys, and the next seconds? The second longest in my life. But then the next thing I knew she was extending out her hand again and this time I was taking it.
And then, after a few more half-assed pleasantries, I was out of there with my carpet and junk and down the stairs with Alejandro, heading towards the nearest BNP to immediately deposit the check.
Now here's the funny part: so on the way, Alejandro told me a little story about how he'd once received a fake check. (Thanks for the extra paranoia Alejandro..)
Well we get to the first BNP a few blocks away and it's closed. Annoyance. I decide to play it safe, as it was getting late, and so instead of trying to guess at which one may have one as well, we just headed to one I know for sure was still open, about 15 minutes away. We get there, it's still open, and I proceed to deposit my check.
And it doesn't take it.
It didn't take it!
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.....the first time.
In the few seconds it took me to decide to try putting the check in another way, I was already planning my frantic return to the apartment, hoping Alice hadn't already skipped town, or something like that.
But then it took it, and it was in.
I'd almost had a heart attack, but in retrospect, I think my reaction was kinda funny. Alejandro certainly thought so..
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Anyways, I now have money again! And while it's tempting to go splurge, I've since only since used what I got back on paying my phone bill, and food. As soon as I saw the check go in, I decided to treat ourselves to a little celebratory sushi dinner next to our apartment, so that was nice. I think it's better if I save my money for now and at least wait until I get my last financial aid fisbursement at the end of this month.
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Hup! Well I'm glad I got that taken care of before my first French test of the semester on Thursday. Think I did, ok, but we'll see on Monday..
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Cheers!
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Rachael
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