SETTING:
AN APARTMENT BUILDING - DAY
A cramped, slightly dingy apartment hallway. ADAM and PARIS are standing outside an open door, looking inward with expressions of profound disappointment.
CHARACTERS:
ADAM: Trying to stay optimistic but losing the battle.
PARIS: Realist, unimpressed, reading the broker's brochure.
[SCENE START]
(PARIS steps out of the apartment door back into the hallway, crossing their arms. ADAM follows a second later, peering back inside one last time before closing the door softly.)
PARIS
The listing said "cozy with historical charm."
ADAM
I mean... the peeling wallpaper is definitely historical. Might be from the 1920s.
PARIS
Adam, the shower was literally in the kitchen. Next to the stove. You could boil pasta while washing your hair.
ADAM
(Trying to find a silver lining)
It’s called efficiency? Think of the time we'd save in the morning.
PARIS
(Deadpan)
I am not showering next to where I make breakfast. And did you see the bedroom? You’d have to climb over me just to get out of bed.
ADAM
I already do that half the time anyway.
PARIS
Yeah, but by choice, not because the wall is three inches from the mattress.
(PARIS sighs, leaning their head back against the hallway wall, looking tired. The excitement from their dinner date has hit the wall of the actual housing market.)
PARIS
This is the fourth place we've looked at this weekend. They’ve all been disasters. Maybe we rushed into this.
ADAM
(Stepping closer, dropping the joking tone)
Hey. Look at me. We didn't rush into anything. The apartments suck, not the idea of us living together. There's a difference.
PARIS
I know. It's just exhausting. I don't want us to end up settling for a miserable space just because we're tired of looking.
ADAM
We won't. Look, the broker for that place on 4th Street just texted back. The current tenants are moving out early, so we can go see it right now. It has an actual separate bathroom. And a balcony.
PARIS
(Squinting suspiciously)
What's the catch? Is the rent double our budget?
ADAM
Nope. Fits right in the sweet spot.
PARIS
(Slowly letting a smile slip)
If there is a ghost or a weird smell in this next one, Adam, I'm making you pay the broker fee.
ADAM
(Laughs, grabbing Paris's hand and pulling them toward the stairs)
Fair enough. Come on, let's go check it out before someone else takes it.