Page 8 of Cuffed to my Roomies
“Is that a yes?” he said.
“Yes,” I said, “as soon as you tell me what the rent is.”
“We can keep it pretty low. We’ve got this set up where the property taxes and the mortgage and everything is covered between the two of us, and we split utilities. I guess we can divide those three ways instead of two, and you can pay what you planned on spending on the room you intended to rent.”
“No way, this place is way nicer,” I said, “I don’t want any handouts.”
“You cook a really good breakfast. I’d be willing to take fifty bucks off the rent if you’d make breakfast once in a while,” Derek said.
“I’ll make breakfast once a week,” I said, “Sunday morning.”
“Deal,” he said, shaking my hand.
I sat down, grabbed some chopsticks and rubbed them together.
“You trying to start a campfire with those?” Brett asked playfully, scooping his food up with a fork.
“Nope. I’m trying to scrape off the splinters. I always do that with cheap takeout chopsticks.”
“Does it work?” Brett said.
“I never had a splinter in my tongue so I’m gonna say yes,” I said. Satisfied with my scraping, I scooped chicken and broccoli into my mouth and made a sound of approval.
We ate in companionable silence for a while and then Derek and Brett talked about a case they were both working, careful to avoid names to keep confidentiality around me. I knew they had to, but I was curious to know more, like the journalist I was.
“If you’re gonna talk about the case, I’m going to shower,” I said, “Otherwise I’ll ask way too many questions. I’ve watched a lot of Law & Order, and I’ll start trying to solve the crime.”
I went to sleep that night very happy. I had a safe, nice place to live. I liked my roommates, and I knew that Derek, at least, was attracted to me. There was nothing wrong with a little fun flirting as long as it didn’t go anywhere. It was harder to tell about Brett—he was more reserved, not as flirtatious. He seemed like a nice guy, like he had potential to be a good friend. Although he’d definitely be the sexiest friend I’d ever had. I would have to get my hormones under control if I didn’t want to act like an idiot around them, drooling when they were shirtless or working out or generally walking around the loft . I wasn’t the kind of girl who ogled men. At least, I thought I wasn’t until I met these two hunky cops. The next thing I knew, I was having a naughty dream about Derek—the two of us working out together, Derek showing me how to lift kettle bells, one thing leading to another, and then Brett walking in! When I woke from that dream, my face was hot with either embarrassment or arousal. I was afraid to wonder which one.
5
For a part-time gig, the unpaid internship at Envy kept me busy. I learned so much at the first staff meeting that I got into the habit of going to any meeting I was invited to. I got to know a lot of the writers and designers, and I even got to sit in on a marketing meeting for the web site. I did a lot of responding to unsolicited emails and spec articles with a polite not-at-this-time message. I picked up coffee and people’s lunches, went to the post office a couple of times and once to a pharmacy to pick up a prescription for an editor who was in a meeting. I’d learned the bus route pretty well with my car out of commission, and I started to wonder if I should just sell my car when it was repaired.
The only problem I really had was making it to my waitressing job on time. Theoretically I could make it if I left the internship on time. But I didn’t want to be unprofessional by leaving an email half-written or skip a stack of copies I’d promised to do that day. So more often than not, I had to run from the bus stop and still walked in a few minutes late. The fourth shift in a row that I didn’t report until nearly ten minutes after my shift started, the manager pulled me aside.
“I’m sorry,” I said, “I should have left earlier.”
“You seem to be having trouble balancing your responsibilities at the magazine with your shift here,” Ben said. He wasn’t unkind. I was pretty lucky that I hadn’t been given a work-ethic and responsibility lecture before the fourth day in a row.
“What if we adjusted the schedule so I started half an hour later, but I stayed to do the vacuuming or work on the dishes or something for an extra half hour?” I offered.
