How weird is Ben?

On the way home from work, I drew out the cash to pay the deposit on my new place in Chorlton. As with paying the deposit on Emma’s place, I zipped the wedge of cash into my chest pocket, and strolled over to the house. Three hundred quid seemed oddly heavy in my pocket as I strolled down past the roughneck Nell Lane Estate. Eeek!

Becky seemed very nice, a little quiet, which is probably to be expected on a first meeting. She seemed to spark up a bit when I mentioned playing chess though, so we'll see I guess. Ben, on the other hand, seemed like a bit of a weirdo. He’s got a sort of nervous manner, and started off being a bit of a hard-ass about Rachael, the girl who’d just moved out, not handing her keys in. Not that big a deal, really. Maybe he was fronting up to show his sternness off to a new tenant. Odd. And then he was sort of off with Becky about some damp she’d pointed out. Again, no need really. He was maybe fifty, maybe forty-five. And then, the killer blow.

“So Ben, shall we sort out signing the contract then?”
“Erm… can you just put the money into my account and we’ll sort out the contract once it clears”
“Actually, I’ve got the cash now. In my pocket.”
“I’d rather you just transferred it, thanks.”

What if you rip me off, I thought. What happens then? Still, what choice did I have?

“Okay, what are your bank details.”

Why would he not want me to pay the deposit? Walking out of the house, I found myself trying to get my head around his weirdness. Carrying the massive pile of cash in my pocket was sort of making me tense too. Look at all those scallies on bikes on Nell Lane, not good. Did I trust Ben? If not, I’d have to start again with all this tedious house hunt bollocks. Could I be bothered to start it all again? I went for a thoughtful pint in the Railway, and then it clicked: he was waiting to find out whether Becky liked me. Could she live with me, he wanted to know, before he got me to sign up. Of course, that made more sense. And she would probably say yes to that, as she is secretly moving out soon anyway (secretly, as in Ben doesn’t know). So I went home and paid up. I really hope he’s kosher.