Furniture Serendipity

So you know how you go to the mall for shoes sometimes and end up buying a couch? Well that happened to us recently. To be fair, we’d been toying with the idea for a long time. A long time. Because you know, there’s always a better use for the money, right? Anyway, it all started in the Bay, when hubby went to the bathroom.

I’m in line to buy a housecoat to replace the one that got amniotic fluid on it when I was in labor with baby #3. (She’s in second year university now. Don’t worry, I washed the housecoat.) Hubby texts me. Meet me in furniture. Ah yes. You have to go through the furniture department to get to the washrooms.

Be right there I respond. Shouldn’t be long; there are only two women in front of me. The first one has three bras from three different tables and one second AFTER the cashier completes the sale, exclaims, “Hey. They’re supposed to be on sale.”

“Sorry,” says the cashier. “The ones ending in .98 are excluded.”

“That can’t be right,” says the woman and proceeds to usher the cashier to the various tables, arguing with her about it. This goes back and forth for awhile.

You coming? texts hubby. I want to show you something.

Seen it I respond.

No, not that. It’s a couch.

The woman with the bras is considering whether or not the $2.50 is going to make or break the deal. She goes with break and stalks off, affronted.

“Wait!” calls the cashier. “I need your credit card to void the purchase!”

A chase ensues.

A few minutes I text.

Hurry he responds.

They get rid of the bra-less wonder, finally, and what do you know. The next one is using a gift card that may or may not have expired.

On my way I tell him. The tide turns. The gift card works. My housecoat is on sale. All is well in my world.

We cross paths on the escalator, he coming down to find me, me going up to meet him. He leaps the divide and drags me over to this enormous Natuzzi sectional.

“Sit,” he says. “Isn’t it comfortable?”

“You win the lottery?” I ask, running my hands over the buttery-soft leather.

It’s solid, big and gorgeous, just the kind we’ve been drooling over forever – and way, waaayyy more than I want to spend. Ever. For that money, it should have wheels.

“Look,” he tells me, pointing to the tag. “Half price.”

Okay, I’m impressed. But it’s still more than I want to spend. But he has a triumphant, hopeful expression on his face. He takes me over to another sectional. It’s disassembled, so it looks a bit sad, but it’s exactly the same as the one I just sat on.

“What?” I said. “It’s the same one. Still too expensive.”

He points to a teeny, tiny scuff mark. “See that? Twenty percent off the sale price. The sale price!”

Whoa.

We go home, take some measurements, think about how to rejig the room. And yup, two days later, it came home. We spent the day moving stuff, reorganizing and cleaning. My back hurt but you know what? I got to alternate hot and cold packs while sitting on an awesome new couch!

What do you think?