deep dish (III)

I draft up my ad. Cozy room in bright apartment. I insert pictures of the homes view from the front door, the heart of the home. I keep the ad short and sweet. I mean, this isn’t a dating site. Am I being too curt? I start to scroll through the other ads. I wonder why everyone else's room is empty now of all times. What makes everyone have an empty room, and wish to fill it? Is it a choice? Is it intentional? I keep scrolling through, asking more and more questions, crafting more and more conclusions, until I’m drawn in by an ad: “Introvert seeks urgent housing”. I open it up and I see a picture of them they added, accompanied by some pictures of flowers and other intimacies. Okay, I like this. “Gemini, 24, introverted” Wow. Same age as my son. I wonder what brings them here at this time. It says housing is needed urgently so maybe I should send a message now. If they don’t want to respond, it’s fine. Maybe I was guided here to see this ad. I wonder why they’re alone? I do have an empty room. I wonder what their circumstances are. Is it kismet? Must be some random alignment. Another picture of them at the end of the ad. Milky coffee colored skin, kinky curls and a slight twinkle in the eye accompanied by a bit of somber. I recognize that glare. Okay… message sent. Before I could even return to my ad, I heard a ding from my email. Wow, urgent indeed. I open the ad and I quickly noticed that I wasn’t even focusing on the words they wrote as much as I’m focusing on the sense of calm that came over me as my eyes scanned the response, not quite taking anything in.  I don’t really know what it is, but this feels right. I have so many questions. I begin to prepare the house before I even respond. I give the room by the front door another layer of sweeping to be sure all the dust is really gone now. I open the window, despite the freezing weather, and let in some fresh air. This all feels so scary.. so new. Looking back, I wasn’t ready to admit how excited I’d been to respond with my address for our first meeting. There was something about sending this piece of information out that excited me. Will they drive? Take the bus? Should I meet them downstairs or open up the door from up here? I hope they like tea.