Roommate Material: A Valentine’s Day Romance

by Nicole Casey

  “I guess that’s fair,” she finally said. Her voice was soft, gentle.

  I sat back, leaning against the chair. “Tell you what,” I started.

  “What?”

  “Why don’t you come work for me?”

  Tia laughed, bright and bubbly. It was music to my ears.

  “What?” she giggled. “First you let me live with you, and now you want me to work for you?”

  “I’m serious,” I chuckled. “I always say that first impressions are first impressions for a reason. If your first day at Richardson & Sachs was shitty, who’s to say it’s not going to stay shitty?”

  “Is that why you greeted me in your bath towel?” she quipped. “First impressions?”

  I smiled, lips stretched ear to ear. “That was an accident,” I lied. “You caught me in the middle of a shower.”

  “Oh, sure. I believe you.”

  She clearly didn’t believe me.

  “My firm offers very competitive salaries.”

  Tia picked at her nails nervously, a little tick that I had started to notice. I found it cute how fidgety she was when she was unsure.

  “I’m sure today was an off day,” she reasoned. “Who starts work on a Thursday?”

  “We also have an onsite gym and great health and dental benefits.”

  “You and your sister are way too generous, you know that?”

  “Don’t be so proud. I’m sure you’d be great with my father’s firm.”

  “I can’t accept any more handouts,” she mumbled, her expression falling slightly. My heart twisted in my chest, unsettled by how upset she had suddenly become. “It wouldn’t look good for me to up and leave after a day working there. I don’t want that affecting my career.”

  Ah, there it was again. Career, career, career. Molly really had been right about this woman.

  I laced my fingers together and placed them on the table, leaning in to capture her attention once more. “How about this?” I started. “If your second day is as bad as your first, then come and work for me. Maybe you’re right. Maybe today was an off day for them. But if not, we’ve got a junior associate position open and waiting for you.”

  Tia squinted her eyes at me, analyzing my offer. “You for real right now?”

  “As real as it gets.”

  I watched in utter amazement as Tia smiled, really smiled. Her eyes glimmered with unspoken delight, her cheeks dusted a light, warm pink.

  “Alright,” she said softly. “Sounds like a deal. But I want that in writing.”

  I threw my head back and laughed. “You’re such a lawyer.”

  5

  Tia

  I may or may not have had a little too much to drink. Okay, that was a lie. I definitely had a little too much to drink. My head was spinning, a wonderful warmth spread in my chest and across my face. I sincerely hoped I didn’t look as much of an idiot as I felt. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed his company, especially our little back and forth. He had been assertive, but not domineering. I liked that in a man. I liked a guy who could stand up against my arguments and could hold his own in the face of resistance. Alex had his arm around my waist, keeping me steady, as he guided me back toward our apartment. This close, I could smell his earthy cologne and feel the warmth of his body radiating onto my skin.

  He was sweet. Sweeter than I thought. Sure, he wasn’t exactly subtle about his attraction towards me. And yes, I told him I wasn’t interested. But as I leaned against his shoulder for balance, I could see his sharp jaw line, and the light dusting of freckles across the bridge of his nose. I wondered briefly about the possibility of us being a thing. If he tried to kiss me tonight, I may very well let him.

  “Man, breakfast first thing and then you treat me to dinner,” I joked. My nose feels stupidly warm. Was that normal? Was the smell of wine on my breath as bad as I thought it was? “Two dates in one day,” I slurred. “You’re a real keeper.”

  Alex chuckled, low and oh so sexy. His voice vibrated in my chest, shook me to my very core. I wondered what he sounded like moaning in my ear. I could definitely get him to moan, to call my name, to want so much more. I wanted him to pin me against the elevator wall, to press hard, lustful kisses into my neck. I bet he was a good kisser. He’d be firm enough to let me know how badly he wanted me, but soft enough to keep me yearning for more.

  “Let’s get you to bed,” he replied instead.

  We made it back to the apartment, the gentle glow of the city lights below flooding in through the massive windows. Alex continued to guide me down the hall, opening the door for me to allow me to slip inside. I leaned against the door frame, lifting my chin up to meet his fond gaze. Our faces were mere inches away; I could feel his warm breath on my lips. It should have been illegal for a man to smell as delicious as Alex did. We stood there for a moment, a tense quiet settling on our shoulders. His eyes were on my lips, attentive and yearning. Was he going to make the first move? Or should I be the one to kiss him? Was this finally going to happen or what?

  “Goodnight, Tia,” he said softly. He then turned on his heel and made his way back down the hall, disappearing into his room without another word.

  And I was so, so confused.

  I entered my room, leaning against the back of my bedroom door as I shut it closed. I tilted my head back, feeling the cold surface of the wood against the back of my scalp. My heart was in my throat, and there was a terrifying warmth between my legs. I was riled up –and he was completely at fault for it. My head swelled with a combination of embarrassment and the tiniest inkling of rage. Why didn’t he kiss me? He was so obviously interested in me before. We had been having such a great time. Did I say something wrong? Did I turn him off somehow?

  I shuffled to my bed, flopping face-first into my pillow. The bed creaked under my weight, a good indication that the springs worked just fine. I breathed deeply, closed my eyes as I tried to numb my thoughts into silence. It occurred to me, then and there, just how lonely it was in this big bed all by myself. The duvet Alex bought me was cold, unblessed with body warmth. I sighed in frustration, hot and bothered and thoroughly peeved that Alex didn’t take his chance. Because yes, I was definitely a little tipsy, but I knew now that I definitely would have kissed him back. I slipped under the covers, not even bothering to get back out of bed to brush my teeth or change into my pajamas. This was turning out to be an extremely exhausting day.

  I thought about my day at Richardson & Sachs. It wasn’t at all what I expected. My coworkers weren’t friendly, and I was pretty much just another desk jockey, assigned to do all of the boring paperwork for the real lawyers.

  The thought made my eyes water.

  I’m a real lawyer, I whined bitterly to myself. I am. I didn’t work this hard for so long to be swept aside by people like Eliza.

  Was Alex being serious earlier? If I asked, would he really offer me a position at his father’s firm? Would it be better there? Would the work environment be less hostile? Would I be able to do the work that I’ve been trained to do?

  I rolled onto my side, tugging the duvet to my chest. I simply couldn’t believe my luck. First Alex offers me a place to stay, and now he’s offering me a job. How often does life throw these kinds of opportunities at you? Rarely. Would it be so bad if I took him up on his offer? Or was this really just going to be a recipe for disaster? What if things didn’t work out? What if everything came crashing down and I was left with nowhere to go again?

  Just when I was about to drift off into sleep, I heard a door down the hall creak open. Footsteps shuffled about, made it roughly half-way down the hall before they stopped entirely. My heart was pounding in my chest. Had Alex changed his mind? Would I be expecting a knock at my door any second? I held my breath in anticipation, wondering all the while if this was really about to happen.

  But nothing happened. There was no knock at my door. Alex didn’t call to me from the other side. His footsteps shuffled back to his room, door clicking gently behind him. I swallo
wed, primarily out of confusion, but also out of frustration. The tension in my body had every muscle straining, yearning for contact.

  I didn’t get a very good sleep that night.

  6

  Tia

  The next morning, there was no sign of Alex. I woke up and hopped in the shower. Towel dried my hair as I got dressed for the day. I slipped into some dark pantyhose, pulled up just above my hips, before stepping into a dark grey pencil skirt. I buttoned up my white collared shirt and pulled a dark red cardigan over my shoulders –rather fitting for the Valentine’s Day weekend coming up—before leaving toward the kitchen to find something to eat. There was no breakfast waiting for me like the day before, no sexy roommate working his usual charm. There was, however, a tiny note left on the kitchen island.

  Got called into work. Will see you later!

  Alex had surprisingly pretty writing. It was loopy and elegant, perfectly legible despite the smudged ink. I glanced at the time on the microwave oven. It was 7:50AM. I sighed. I really needed to start getting up earlier. I made my way to work quickly. I figured that dashing to work on foot would be a hell of a lot easier than trying to flag down an Uber in the middle of rush hour. Besides, on my tight budget, I didn’t think I could afford to spring for a rideshare.

  Work was hell. In fact, I was pretty sure that it was even worse than yesterday. I didn’t even get the chance to sit down in my sad little cubical before Eliza pounced on me, ready for the kill. She slapped a fat stack of paperwork down on the desk in front of me, the sound so sharp that it made me jump in my seat. I blinked, and then immediately shot her a dirty look.

  “What’s this?” I asked.

  “Patent filing,” she explained simply. “Richardson wants you to review them and correct any errors.”

  Grunt work. Great.

  “Okay,” I replied anyways. At that point, I was willing to say anything to get Eliza off my back. But to my dismay, she didn’t leave right away. Instead, she leaned against the frame of my cubical, an accusatory sneer on her face.

  “So…” she starts, voice dripping with bitterness. “How do you know Alex?”

  I didn’t know what came over me. A sudden defensive wall built itself up in my mind. I crossed my arms in front of my chest, crossed one leg over the other, and leaned back in my cheap office chair with shitty lumbar support. I frowned, clicking my tongue before answering her.

  “What’s it to you?” I snapped.

  I could tell by the way Eliza raised her perfectly arched eyebrow that she was less than amused.

  “Excuse me?” she hisses.

  “You’re excused.”

  Eliza scoffed, thoroughly offended. “You’re sleeping with him, aren’t you?”

  I didn’t answer. Eliza wasn’t even worth the effort to correct her. No, I wasn’t sleeping with Alex.

  But I sure as hell want to.

  Eliza tapped her foot on the tile floor, a mischievously dark glint in her eyes. “This is clearly a conflict of interest,” she began. “You’re sleeping with one of Richardson & Sachs’ biggest rivals. You’re probably a corporate spy, aren’t you?”

  “What are you talking about?” came a man’s deep, booming voice. I looked over in stunned horror to find Harold Richardson approaching. He didn’t look amused.

  “I—That is–” I stammered. When did he get here? How much had he heard? I didn’t want him to get the wrong idea.

  Eliza pressed on, eager to throw me to the wolves to see if I’d survive. She pointed a sharp, perfectly-manicured finger at me. “She’s sleeping with Alex Peterson. I think she’s secretly spying on their behalf to get a leg up on our cases against them.”

  Harold looked deeply disturbed by this accusation.

  “That’s not–” I scrambled. The pit of my stomach had completely fallen out. I hadn’t even been at work for more than an hour and the day was already taking a terrible, terrible turn.

  “I think she should be fired,” snapped Eliza.

  “What the fuck is your problem?” I snapped. The words just fell out of my mouth, hot and heavy and desperate. I felt sick, a wave of immediate regret washing over me. That was no way to speak to a superior, and I knew it.

  Eliza smirked. “Insubordination will get you nowhere, Tia.”

  Harold pinched the bridge of his nose, stressed. “This isn’t working, Tia,” he grumbled.

  Oh, God. What’s happening? How did things get so messed up?

  “I hired you because my headhunter said you had talent. I didn’t realize how wrong that decision was.”

  “Wait, please, I can–”

  Harold raised a hand, stopping me from saying anymore. “I don’t think it’s wise to waste any more time and resources training you,” he continued bluntly. Every word was a dagger to my heart and ego. I just wanted to crawl into a ball, knees tucked to my chest while I hid beneath the desk of my cubical. This couldn’t be happening. Why was I blessed with the shittiest luck in the world?

  “Pack your things,” he instructed firmly. “I expect my employees to be professional, not bumbling idiots.”

  Okay. That hurt.

  Harold turned on his heels and left, leaving a mocking Eliza to supervise me as I packed up what little I had set out on my cubical desk. Hot, angry tears welled up in my eyes, but I willed them to keep from falling. I had never been so humiliated in my life. I hadn’t even been given the opportunity to defend myself, to call Eliza out on her bullshit. I totally could, if I wanted to. I could storm into Harold’s office and tell him that I wasn’t the only one with a pre-existing relationship with Alex. Eliza had been in a relationship with him, too –even if it had ended rather badly. Couldn’t I put Eliza in the same position she had placed me?

  I shook my head, sniffling hard to fight the tears threatening to pour from my eyes. I wasn’t like Eliza. I wouldn’t stoop to her level, no matter how badly I wanted to. I packed up my things, grabbed my purse, and tossed Eliza my building keycard. The satisfactory smile on her face made me want to punch her. It was just a shame that I was too delirious and embarrassed to think well enough to go through with it.

  I returned home, head hung low. My heart was crushed, caving in on itself to leave an empty space where it should be in my chest. I didn’t know what to do. I felt overwhelmed and on the verge of a mental breakdown. First I was kicked out of my apartment, now I was jobless. Was I about to get hit by an oncoming bus, too? Because that seemed perfectly fitting for the week I was having. If a bus came barreling toward me, I probably wouldn’t have even tried to jump out of the way.

  I somehow managed to make it back to the apartment, despite the distress clouding my judgement. I slammed the door behind me a little harder than I meant to, listening to the sound echo throughout the entire apartment.

  “Tia?” called Alex. He was in the living room. Concern was written all of his face. “What happened? Are you okay?”

  “I…” The right words failed me. I was dizzy. I wanted to throw up. Everything was falling apart at the seams. “I was…”

  Alex stood up from the couch and rushed over to me. He placed his hands on my shoulders, ducking down to try and look me in the eye. The contact was a wonderful comfort in light of recent events, warm without being overbearing. It was nice. And then it occurred to me that I was leaning into his touch, craving his undivided attention and soothing words. Alex had been there for me when I was on the brink of being homeless. He had offered me a job without a moment’s thought. He was really quite sweet, more than I deserved.

  “Tia,” he whispered. Gentle, caring, heartbreakingly tender. “What happened?”

  “Eliza had me fired,” I managed to blurt out between sobs. I was crying. I had been holding onto my tears so long that they escaped me without permission, violent and devastating.

  And that was when Alex wrapped his arms around my waist, pulled me into a tight hug. He rubbed his large, strong hands on my upper back and hummed in my ear.

  “It’s okay,” he said, “let
it out. It’s okay.”

  I closed my eyes, resting my face on his shoulder. I wrapped my arms around his neck and held him as tightly as he held me. I could smell his warm, rich aftershave. It filled me with a sense of calm, the horrifying memories of the day melting away like they hadn’t happened at all. I hadn’t felt this safe in months. He let me cry, let me exhaust myself until I had nothing left to give. Once my sobs had subsided, he pulled away slightly to look at me. I ached to have him in my arms again, to have him pressed up against me. I stared at his face, eyes falling upon his supple lips. I so desperately wanted to kiss him.

  “Tia?” he cooed.

  “Were you for real?” I asked him, voice shaky and weak.

  “About what?”

  “That job offer you made me. Is that still on the table?”

  “Of course,” he said adamantly. “Of course. I’ll set up a meeting with my father for you tomorrow. I’m sure he’ll give you the job on your credentials alone.”

  And then I leaned in and kissed him. I held my breath, unsure how he was going to react. But then I was left delightfully surprised when he kissed me back. His lips were wonderfully soft against mine, the tip of his tongue flicking across my lower lip to tease me. His hold around my waist grew firmer, holding me flush against him. As he pried my lips open with his tongue, I ran my fingers through his hair and groaned into his mouth. Our tongues explored one another, slipping and sliding as we reveled in the taste of each other’s mouths. I pressed my body into his, trapping him against the back of the leather couch. An obvious and deliciously tempting firmness in the front of his pants spurred me on. I wanted nothing more than this.