m/m New Roomate

[Guest]

            I was unloading some thrift store furniture I had bought from my car when I saw him pull up. I’m not a car person so I have no idea what kind of car he drove but even I could tell it was a really old model (at least as far as cars go). Maybe something from the 80’s? He stepped out and slammed the door extra hard and I assumed it didn’t shut well. Aaron wasn’t tall but he was taller than me by about three inches at around 5’11”. He had slimmer shoulders and long limbs with a physique that suggested he might have been a track athlete at one point but had softened up due to a few years of inactivity. If his brown hair was longer some might call it the “Beiber Haircut” but at this length it framed his face nicely. He smiled at me with a crooked smile and I set down the rocking chair I was moving into the house to wave at him.

          Our friendship had started at the gym. I had seen him there a number of times and after a few weeks of small, polite acknowledgements we both decided one day we knew each other enough to start having more friendly conversations.  I was surprised he sound so interested when I had casually mentioned that my friend/landlord was looking for another roommate. Landon, the previously mentioned friend, had just bought a house and had been looking for another guy to move in. I saw his post about it on Facebook and immediately shot him a message. I was going to college and living with my parents but I wanted to get out. I didn’t pay rent there but you can only live with them for so long, right?

            The house was small enough to be cozy but not so small that we would feel like sardines. 3 beds, 1 bath, all the standard fixings. The previous owners had seemed desperate to sell it, adding a bunch of “upgrades” in order to make the house seem more desirable. An air conditioning system, a new bathroom vanity, even a fresh coat of paint, all of which were hastily, hastily installed. They’d painted over everything they could and didn’t bother to try and not paint over screws and even hinges on the doors and kitchen cabinets. I had moved in a couple weeks ago and had helped get the house to a better state. It was still a little bit of a mess but it no longer looked like a disaster unless you looked closely.

            “Need a hand?” he offered, gesturing to the bentwood rocking chair I had bought for my room. With its light design it had to have weighed maybe 20 lbs.

            “If I need a hand with this then I need to cancel my gym membership because obviously it isn’t working.” I teased, placing my hand on the back rest and giving it a rock. He laughed and shook his head.

            “No! I just mean it looks awkward and might be weird to carry.”

            “Don’t worry Aaron, it’s a chair. I think I got this one. Bring up that offer at the gym though.” I winked at him, grabbed the chair, and started to head inside. “Has Landon given you the official tour yet or do you still need one?” Aaron followed me in and stood in the entryway as I crossed the living room to put the chair in my bedroom.

            “He didn’t say anything about a tour, only that I could move in whenever and he would figure out the rent from there.” I set the chair in a corner and turned to look at him.

            “Yeah that sounds like Landon.” Landon was studying to become a director and was trying to build his videography business. Everything else he was pretty nonchalant about. I headed back into the living room and spread my arm wide. “We might have to skip the east wing but I think I can show you the whole house tonight and still have time for you to move your stuff in!”

            Like I said before, it wasn’t a huge house. The front door opened to the living room which was connected to my room and a hallway. Down the hall were the other two rooms, the bathroom, and the entrance to the kitchen and dining room. The dining room connected to the family room and the laundry room as well as a door leading to the outside. It took maybe 5 minutes to show him everything. Landon had decided to take the smallest room since he wouldn’t be around all too often. The other two rooms were either carpet or hardwood so I chose carpet, which meant Aaron would get the hardwood floors but he also got the biggest room in the house. I was a terribly boring tour guide but Aaron seemed excited as we looked around.

           “The place I’ve been staying at is okay but the landlord charges WAY too much.” He explained as we sat down in the family room, him on the couch and me on the recliner. “Makes me almost regret moving to Utah.”

            “Why did you move here?” I questioned, realizing I had never asked him. He wasn’t going to a school here and wasn’t dating anyone from here. All his family still lived back in Oregon. There wasn’t really a reason I could think of that would have made him make the move. He smiled at me sheepishly.

            “The skiing.” He shrugged and I laughed. Although I am not a skier I do know that that is one thing Utah is known for.

            “Well we’ll have to get you moved in so you can do that! You’ll probably give me the same answer I gave you but do you need a hand with anything?”

            “No,” he said, giving me a large smile. “I only brought what would fit in my car when I moved so I don’t have anything unmanageable. Bring up that offer at the gym though!” he winked and slapped my leg as he walked by to start bringing his things in. I rolled my eyes with a smirk and went back to my room to try and clean up my new chair. Although the structure still seemed to be in good condition the whole thing was a dusty mess.

            I began working the wood over with Clorox wipes, trying to get into all the joints. I was cleaning the whicker seat area when I noticed a spider creeping its way towards me on the back rest. I felt my throat get tight and the adrenaline started to pump. I was not a fan of spiders. I don’t like to kill them unless provoked though, so I grabbed a piece of paper and a cup so that I could try and take it outside. With trembling hands I inched the paper closer, trying to coax it onto what would be the main vehicle for its release. It sat for a moment, then suddenly skittered down the paper and onto my hand.

            “What?! What happened?! What’s wrong?!” Aaron yelled as he raced into the living room where I had shot like a bullet. I didn’t realize how loud I had screamed. I could feel my throat starting to ache. Embarrassment welled up; my neck and face begin to burn and I couldn’t help but laugh.

            “I am so sorry! A spider touched me and my body reacted before my brain could!” His shoulders relaxed a little, but the concern didn’t leave his face.

            “A spider? Where is it now?” This only made me laugh a harder.

           “I don’t even know! I shook my hand to get it off of me and tried to get as far away as quickly as possible. It probably landed on my bed and is now plotting its revenge.” I could feel the adrenaline wearing off now and I felt stupid and tired. What a lovely impression for his first day of moving in. The look of concern faded for a second and his brown eyes twinkled as he grinned.

            “It’s going to crawl into your mouth tonight for sure!” he teased and gave me a couple friendly jabs. I laughed and fought them off.

            “Eugh! Don’t even say that! Whew. Okay. I’m good. Sorry! As you were!” I straightened my shirt and cautiously headed back into my room. I tried not to think too hard about the look of concern that had fallen back on Aaron’s face as I did so. I hope he wasn’t regretting moving in. He seemed like a really cool guy and I didn’t want a freaking spider to be the downfall of our budding friendship. He was pretty quiet for the rest of the night as he unpacked his things. He was even quite at our workout but that might have just been that he was trying to get in a really good one, he was hitting everything really intensely. I made a mental note to ask Landon to call an exterminator.

[arpeejay]

Great start! Looking forward to more-more-more!

[Jtchef2]

I agree with RPJ