The end of Simon's lease is coming up, and he needs to find a new place quickly. He cannot afford a home of his own, since he is in his last year at the University of Texas, Austin, and his primary source of income is the graveyard shift at a 7-Eleven convenience store, three nights a week. His experience with roommates hasn't been great. He currently shares his place with a 22-year old singer-songwriter who spends most of his days making playlists on YouTube, and a 25-year old office manager who chain smokes and complains constantly about her colleagues. He hopes to find a place where he can have uplifting conversations with others, and not be embarrassed when he bring friends over for a drink. Since he'll be graduating in 12 months, he's willing to pay a couple hundred more in rent, and live in a house instead of an apartment.
After fruitlessly searching for two weeks on Craigslist, Simon sees an ad for a room in a house that is only two miles from campus. It looks great: a two-storey detached house, a large bedroom, a huge living room, and a two-car garage. The potential roommates are the owner, an engineer in his fifties who retired from the tech industry, and a medical professional who has lived there for the past five years. Simon makes an appointment for the same evening, and shows up ten minutes early, dressed in his best khakis and a buttoned-down shirt.
"Hi, this is Simon."
"Hi Simon. I'm Gerald. Come on in."
As he walks in, he sees that the living room is as great as it looked on the photos; vaulted ceilings, a mezzanine on the upper storey leading to the bedrooms, and a grandiose fireplace.
Gerald shows him around the house; the bedroom is large, with enough room to put his bed, his desk, and even the weight bench that he currently keeps in a storage unit. The bedroom window overlooks a manicured garden that Gerald seems to take particular pride in. Gerald, it turns out, is friendly, well-rounded, and seems to occupy his days building and programming racing drones. After giving Simon the full tour of the property, Gerald goes through the list of house rules.
"As I mentioned in the ad, you'll have to share the bathroom with the other renter."
"That's what I've been doing for the last three years, so I'm good with that."
"Yes, well, I should warn you that she is rather particular about how things are arranged in the bathroom. She will most likely ask you to agree to a schedule for every morning and evening, you know, like when you're allowed or not allowed to shower."
"Ah. Well, I'm sure we can come to a mutually agreeable schedule."
"That's great. So, are you still interested?"
"Definitely! I really like the vibe of your house. It's exactly what I am looking for. And being so close to campus is going to make things easier for me on so many levels."
"Great. Well, maybe this is a good time for you to meet Carrie."
"Sure."
"Ahem, come with me."
Gerald walks with Simon to a door at the end of the mezzanine that overlooks the living room. He gives a light knock and waits. After about ten seconds, the door cracks open, and they see a strawberry blonde woman in her early thirties looking at them inquisitively.
"Yes?"
"Hi Carrie, I'd like to introduce you to Simon, who is interested in Tom's old room."
Carrie, at the sound of Tom's name, makes a smirk that betrays her disdain for her previous roommate.
"Hi," she says tersely, opening the door a little more and extending her hand.
"Hi Carrie. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Yes, did Gerald tell you about the bathroom rules?"
"Yes he did. I'm sure we can find a good way to share the space."
"We'll see. But there's no point discussing this right now. Not until Gerald approves your application and runs a background check. Gerald: let me know when that's all done. Bye!"
Simon barely has time to respond and the door is already closed. Gerald sighs and looks at Simon with frustration.
"I hope you are not offended. She can be standoffish at times. But she is a good person, and I think you'll be able to work things out. You want to come down and look at the paperwork?"
As they walk down the stairs, Simon starts feeling a bit uneasy about his first interaction with his potential housemate.
"You're sure this is going to work? Carrie doesn't seem happy about me moving in. Maybe she would prefer a female roommate to share the bathroom with?"
"No, no, no, I've tried that and it didn't work out—it was practically open hostility. She's been here for five years and a male roommate works best. She even says so. It's just that Tom, the last renter, became a bit belligerent, and they ended up arguing a lot. The way you introduced yourself tells me you know how to defuse tense situations. I would be happy to have you move in. Very happy."
"Are you sure? Okay, let's do this!"
Two weeks later, Simon has moved in with his meagre possessions. The first bathroom-sharing discussion with Carrie ended up being awkward, but she knew exactly what she wanted and they worked out a cabinet space allocation plan as well as a daily schedule. She seemed satisfied with his apparent willingness to abide by it. During the first three weeks, she only complains about two things: that he has left his toothbrush on the wrong side of the ledge near the sink, and that there is a bit of toothpaste on the floor. Simon is easygoing, so he doesn't mind, and he reassured her that he will pay closer attention.
In the evening, Simon usually grabs something to snack on, either after he gets home from school, or shortly before heading off to work. Sometimes, Carrie is seated at the kitchen table, eating her food and reading a book. The first couple of times they had met in the kitchen, they had barely interacted. Simon had asked innocuous questions, like "what are you reading?" or "how was work today?", but her terse answers indicated she had no interest in chatting. Then one evening, about a month after he'd moved in, Carried puts down her book, and asks him a few questions about his school programme. Simon is surprised, and thinks that she is only asking out of politeness, but she keeps talking, and by the time he must leave for work, it's been a pleasant hour-long conversation. Before long, they are chatting several times a week, always in the kitchen, during dinnertime. She sometimes alternates between her book and the conversation, but more often than not, she places the book aside as soon as Simon enters the kitchen area, and engages with him. She asks pointed questions and shows interest in his studies-- the type of questions one would ask during an interview. She never really smiles, or laughs, but Simon likes conversing with her nonetheless. It does feel at times like she's analyzing him, but she always has great recommendations about articles to read, or podcasts to listen to, on a variety of topics such as his exercise routine, his studies, his career prospects, or his culinary preferences. He likes the fact that she is interested in a variety of topics, that she keeps herself informed, and that she is willing to give him helpful advice. She even offers to let him use her yoga and stretching equipment, which she keeps in the garage.
After a while, Simon starts seeing Carrie in a different light. At first, she was so standoffish that he preferred to not think about her. Now that they had spent several evenings together in the kitchen, Simon notices that she is rather attractive. She has mid-length hair, and a svelte physique. He suspects that she has beautiful hourglass-shaped body, but it is difficult to tell given that she wears loose pants and sweaters when she is home. She goes running several times a week—when she comes back, she walks directly upstairs to shower, so he barely has time to see her until she changes back into her frumpy loungewear. When running, she wears leggings and a tight top, and keeps her hair in a knot. Simon has only seen her in her running attire during fleeting moments, with barely enough time to observe her butt bouncing up the stairs, but each time he concluded that she looked gorgeous.
Outside their evening encounters, Simon notices that Carrie and Gerald barely interact. Gerald is generally jovial, and it clashes with Carrie's sternness; she sometimes looks reproachfully at him when he makes light of things, such as when he suggested Simon was going to suffer Carrie's wrath for placing a half empty tub of hummus on Carrie's designated shelf in the refrigerator. Simon is glad he's able to have a good rapport with both of them, in spite of their differences.
One evening, Simon comes home at 7 pm after staying at the library for a team project, and doesn't see Carrie. He finds that unusual, since she always makes sure to be home before dinnertime. He assumes she went to visit some friends for the evening. Because his allotted time on the bathroom schedule ends at 7:30, he decides to jump into the shower.
