He smiled warmly at her.  "Lizzy?"

She nodded.  "Mr. Grigson?"

He held out his hand, expecting her to shake it, which she did so with nervousness.  She was always nervous around men, unless they were over 55.  Well, at least men that she found attractive.  He did have the odd eyes, but they were a warm black--how could black eyes be warm, wasn't black a cold color?  And his hair was short, also black.  His hands were a bit rough.  She wondered if he worked in construction or something like that, where he was always using his hands at manual labor.  He wasn't skinny, nor stocky, so she supposed the phrase "medium build" would apply. 

"You didn't have any trouble finding the house, did you?" he asked. 

She shook her head.  Wow, she was being a great conversationalist!  But then, she was only here as a prospective renter, not to become his new best friend.

"Well, let me show you the apartment."  He closed the door behind him and stepped out onto the small porch, proceeding her down the stairs, and she followed.

Lizzy Davies stood on the sidewalk looking up at the large white house with its surrounding deck porch.  She could hear dogs barking from inside, several, by the sound of it, not big dogs.  Yes, there in the front window, a beagle head appeared, then another, and another, and another.  Gracious!  FOUR dogs?  She glanced again at the scrap of paper in her hand to confirm the address:  4218 Grant Avenue.  Yes, this was the correct house.  Hm....living in the basement, hearing all those dogs barking....However, the rent was very affordable, only $600.  And it was close to a good bus line, and also walking distance to several stores. 

Drawing a deep breath, she climbed the stairs to the front door, and tentatively rapped on the door.  The door opened almost immediately, answered by a man not much taller than her, with eyes that she immediately noticed were slightly large in his face.