chapter one of sparrow, edmund, and alister's backstory
casey wanted to start working on this as an actual story, and we ended up working on it together. i thought i'd post the first bit of it. i posted a little on flickr, but if you read it there, there's more now (and what i had posted has been edited a little). this is a mixture of both me and casey writing, but mostly it's me cuz i've had more time :P (casey and her family are closing on a house soon, etc.)
This would be his year, Edmund decided, staring at the remnants of his meager breakfast as they spiraled down the drain. He was in his third year of med school, working his way to becoming a doctor (though he hadn't chosen a specialty yet), was doing well living away from his family back in England, and was feeling pretty good about his luck lately. Morrow willing, maybe he would even find a nice girl to start a family with in a couple of years. As he finished rinsing his dishes, he supposed he really should take a class in basic cooking, so he would have more to eat at home than just tea and toast with marmalade. Resting one hip against the countertop, he added the dishes next to the sink with the rest of the stack eagerly awaiting the arrival of the new dishwasher. His inadequate culinary skills would have to wait until later, when he would have more time to Google some local cooking classes. Today was for setting up house.
Edmund had bought the house nearly sight-unseen a month before. His agent had definitely delivered -- it was in a quiet, well-kept neighborhood near the university and one bus stop from the hospital, and though small, it was certainly big enough for two people. The interior, however, was rather dated. He had enlisted the services of an interior design student to help him redecorate and pick out furniture, and so far the results were coming together nicely. All the painting had been done and fixtures replaced, but the furniture and new appliances were arriving any minute.
In addition to the furniture, Edmund had another matter on his mind: a roommate.
He wasn't certain he really wanted one, but it was rather necessary for appearances. He had, after all, come nearly 5,000 miles for a fresh start, and the image he wanted to present to people was not that of an over-privileged son of a British baronet. He could easily, of course, afford the house on his own -- had even paid cash for it -- but a normal person in his position wouldn't be able to rent it on their own, let alone have purchased and furnished it.
Thus, a roommate was in order.
Classes didn't start for another two months, but he'd decided to get it out of the way, and put up an ad in a few places:
HOUSEMATE WANTED
Male med student looking for studious roommate to share house near university.
3 BR, 2 BA, high-speed internet, cable, phone w/ personal VM, off-street prkg.
Must be clean, quiet. No partiers. Pref non-smoking, male. $800/mo, util incl.
Before buying his own house, Edmund had been renting with a gay fellow for the past two years, as well as his boyfriend, who had moved in about six months into the last school year. The pair had been decent roommates, though Edmund learned quickly that living with a couple was not the most satisfactory of situations. In addition to the, well, occasional embarassing incidents, it was typically a two-against-one argument whenever somebody was unhappy. Still, he'd stuck it out, and this year decided to take matters into his own hands. His hope was that he could find a nice, sensible roommate. Edmund was a little old fashioned; he wasn't really into loud parties or bringing girls home at all hours of the night -- though truth be told, having gay roommates had not helped his reputation in that department anyway -- and was looking for somebody who had a similar lifestyle.
As he passed through the dining area, he was met with several boxes in his living room. Unbuttoning his cuffs, he rolled up his sleeves so he could get to work clearing out the room. While he'd been in America for a little over two years now, most of his possessions had remained in their boxes, tucked away in storage. He'd pulled them out a couple of weeks ago, but without any shelves or tables he'd been unable to empty them. To make extra room, he opened up the back door and started stacking boxes on the patio. By the time the trucks arrived, he had worked up quite a sweat and was pleased with the amount of work he'd gotten done.
After letting the movers in, he made his way upstairs. At the top of the stairs was a small bathroom, with a bedroom on either side. He'd decided to claim the bedroom on the left, which was very slightly smaller but had a bigger closet, as it was over the living room instead of the study/guest room. He felt more comfortable not being above where somebody else might potentially be sleeping. After spending a few too many nights playing unwillingly audience to the noise of his roommates romping above his head, he was well aware of how much noise could travel through floors and didn't want to inadvertantly bother any guests with his restless sleeping or late night pacing.
Stripping off his sweaty white button-up shirt, he tossed it in the corner-- consequently smacking himself for forgetting his hamper down by the laundry closet again.
He paused a few moments in front of the mirror on the back of his door to flex. He was proud of how well he'd been able to keep up his lean, muscular build with the time constraint of his med classes. Back in England, he'd swam and played cricket, but stateside he'd had to settle for swimming laps at a local pool when he could afford the time.
His neat, black hair was starting to look a little shaggy around the ears. He'd have to remind himself to make a hair appointment later.
As the movers began banging around downstairs, he grabbed a plain tank top from one of his suitcases (his nicer things were hung in the closet, where they wouldn't get wrinkled) and pulled it over his head as he took the stairs two at a time on his way down.
In the kitchen, he quickly grabbed the phone while the refrigerator was being moved into place, and as he dialed he wandered back to the front door, where he watched as the furniture truck was slowly parked on the curb opposite of the appliance truck, and men got out to open up the back. As the phone rang, he couldn't help but grin.
"Hello?"
"Regina, good morning! You told me to call when the furnishings arrived. And, well...!" Edmund's heart was racing. Regina was the design student helping him with the house. The relationship had started out purely as business -- he helped her get some practice in for her classes, and she helped him avoid living with a stack of pizza boxes for a couch -- but he had to admit, Regina was rather foxy. She kind of had a little bit of a hippie-meets-yuppie vibe, but he wasn't sure what that was referred to as. Regardless of the term, she was rather endearing. Her enthusiasm for interior design was highly contagious.
"That's great! I'll head right over!"
The phone clicked and Edmund's grin spread wider as he set the phone on the stairs. The movers were bringing the dishwasher in through the back door so he couldn't go back to the kitchen just yet. Needing to work off his excitement, he went out to the furniture truck to offer his services until Regina arrived.
They had just gotten the pieces to his bed moved upstairs when he saw her little yellow jeep pull into the driveway.
"Regina!" He hopped down the stairs, waving his arm wildly out the front door. She sprinted up the walkway, bearing an infectious smile. Her hair was a natural ginger, cropped short in a chin-length bob that was shorter in the back, and she had a tiny diamond stud in one side of her nose, nearly hidden amongst the freckles scattered across her face. Edmund had to admit he rather liked the piercing; it was rebellious and exotic, and not at all something his family would approve of. She was wearing a bright yellow tank top beneath a grey, unbuttoned vest, exposing even more freckles that spread across her shoulders and arms.
"Edmund, hey! Are you ready to not only make your home livable, but lovable!?"
He stepped out to greet her as the furniture men filed out of the door. "Yes, absolutely! Lovable, I can't wait!"
One of the men gave him a bizarre sidelong look, and Edmund coughed awkwardly, leading Regina inside.
Over the next two hours, he watched as she bossed around the movers, placed everything just so, and magically pulled style out of otherwise simple pieces of furniture. He did what he could to help, but mostly kept to the sidelines so as not to get in the way. He also couldn't help taking some time to admire the cling of her skinny jeans as she fussed with a small round table placed at the foot of the stairs, muttering to herself as she moved it an inch to the left, two inches to the right, an inch back to the left...
The movers had all finished long ago, leaving just the two of them, and Edmund had been trying to muster the courage to ask Regina out on a date, but so far had not been having much success. Getting to his feet, he approached her as she set a small box on the stairs and began digging through it.
"Regina, I..." She pulled out a doily, setting it on the table with a small porcelain dish, before she turned to face him. Edmund grimaced, quickly turning her towards the kitchen, as he slipped the doily off the table and tossed it out of sight while her back was turned.
"Edmund, please call me Gina."
He continued, "I really appreciate all of your help. You're very good at, um... at furnishing."
"Why thank you, Edmund! I'm glad you asked for my help!"
"Well, you were on a list of people who respon... I mean... I'm, ah... I really like your... sleeve... things."
Gina held up her arms, looking confused. "My armwarmers? Thanks! I crocheted them myself, same with some doilies I br--" She trailed off, looking back at the now-stark table.
Edmund panicked. "Do you like food? I mean, with me? Dinner, that is. Would you like to do dinner?"
Stunned for a moment, Gina blinked a few times before laughing, bracing herself against the wall. "Oh, Edmund... Oh honey, you're too much!"
Unsure how to respond, Edmund focused on wishing the ground might open up and swallow him whole.
"Oh, oh..." Gina caught her breath, still laughing a little. "Edmund, sweetie, you're cute and your accent is to die for, but..." She paused, noticing the horrified look on his face, and smiled gently. "You're not so good at talking to girls, huh. Tell you what, we can grab some dinner later this week. Maybe Thursday?"
"Sure! Yes, Thursday's fine!"
"Great, I'll see you then. I'll come pick you up around four. I know a neat place!"
After walking her to the door, Edmund watched out the window as she drove away, feeling simultaneously ecstatic, embarassed, and miserably inadequate. Turning to the small table, he fished his keys out of his pocket, tossing them into the dish.
"Damn doilies."
* * *
Alister leaned on the cold granite countertop, placing himself at eye level with the toaster as he waited. The smell of toasted bagel mixed with the aroma of his coffee and made him ten times hungrier. He eyed the bowl of fresh fruit nearby, lecturing himself on the virtue of being patient.
The toaster popped, causing the bagel halves to bounce.
"Ah, finally!" Alister adjusted his glasses as he straightened himself and plucked his breakfast out of the toaster before immediately dropping the hot pieces onto the counter. Grimacing, he quickly transferred them to a plate.
The morning sun filtered softly through several small windows into the kitchen as Alister retrieved a butter knife from one of the dark cherry-stained drawers, and some cream cheese from the fridge built into the wall. The kitchen was massive, much bigger than it needed to be for the mere two people who used it, and Alister felt like even his thoughts could echo off the high ceiling and cast iron cookware. For now, it was quiet; the maid had already cleaned this part of the house, and Sparrow typically wasn't awake this early in the morning.
Pausing to grab a section of newspaper off the island, Alister made his way to a small table in the corner.
He sank into a padded iron chair in the brightly lit breakfast nook, setting his plate down in front of him and unfolding his newspaper. With the personal ads laid out before him, he spread a thick layer of cream cheese on his bagel as he went over each column carefully.
A sound from the stairwell leading upstairs made him pause; it seemed he would not have the pleasure of a nice, relaxing breakfast like he preferred.
The arrival of his sister was dramatic -- as everything Sparrow did, she did dramatically. She clung to the corner of the doorway, entering the room with exaggerated steps and one arm trailing through the air behind her. She was wrapped in a silk robe, her strawberry blond hair pulled back in a tight but messy bun.
"Good morning, Alister dear," she crooned. Her voice was still a little rough from sleeping, and her eyes were not quite open as she made her way to the breadbox. Rubbing her bare feet against her calves, she pulled out a bag of english muffins. "Heavens, this floor is cold. We should get some of that in-floor heating in this place."
Alister said nothing, instead turning his attention back to the want ads.
"Are you looking for a place still?"
He nodded, his mouth full of bagel, as he circled a prospective ad with a pen.
Sparrow sighed, pulling apart an english muffin and dropping it into the toaster. "I don't see why you can't just stay here. It's not like it's that far away or anything."
"Yeah, but," Alister swallowed, "When classes start it would be a lot less stressful if I was a lot closer, especially if I could manage being within walking distance. I wouldn't have to worry about finding some parking or catching a bus."
"I think you're being dumb. You'll just find some crappy place, and your roommates will turn out to be nasty, and then you'll be miserable. Meanwhile I'll be here all by myself."
"It's not like it's that far away or anything."
Sparrow glared, working her way over to the table. "It's too early for sass."
She paused to pour some coffee into an oversized mug.
"So how's the search going?"
Alister sighed, shrugging and tossing the pen onto the table. "There are a couple that sound like they might be promising, but nothing all that great."
"Y'know," Sparrow said, sitting at the table, "They make websites for this sort of thing."
She laughed as Alister grunted, taking a long drink from his coffee. She knew well enough how inept he was with computers. Sparrow spun the paper around so she could take a look at the circled ads. "Housemate wanted," she read, "Male med student, looking for studious roommate to share house near university... preferably male..." Grunting her disapproval, she took a bite of her muffin, looking up to watch Alister out of the corner of her eye. "Sounds like you were meant to be. When's the wedding?"
Alister ignored her, reclaiming the paper. "Do you really need that much sugar?"
Sparrow looked down at her muffin, slathered with honey.
"I like it this way. It's healthier than yours, at any rate. Bagels have, like, twice as many calories. Not to mention your cream cheese. You're going to medical school, you should know these things."
Alister frowned. "Mine is whole wheat."
"Well, mine is British. Everything tastes better when it's British."
Sensing a losing argument, Alister politely excused himself and relocated to the sitting room so he could make some phonecalls.
Sparrow watched silently as her brother exited the kitchen, taking only his coffee and newspaper with him. She looked down at the half-eaten bagel on the other side of the table and frowned. Alister hadn't been eating very much lately. She hoped it was just stress.
Getting to her feet, she tightened the belt on her robe as she walked softly to the doorway, through the great room, and stopped just outside of the study. The carved double doors were open and she peered in carefully, placing both hands on the corner of the frame. The heavy curtains were drawn, letting very little light into the room, and although he hadn't turned on any lamps, Alister could be seen sunk into one of the overstuffed armchairs, staring up at the ceiling. His golden auburn hair was extremely messy, like he'd been running his hands through it and pulling on it, and Sparrow wondered if he'd even washed it that morning. His eyes were deep set in darkened circles behind his black, thick-rimmed glasses.
She would miss him dearly when he moved out, even though he would only be an hour or two away.
Alister reached for the phone on a nearby end table, only to stare at it in his lap for a while before putting it back. He did this a few more times before throwing it and the newspaper against the chaise a few feet away. Sparrow bit her bottom lip. As she caressed the door frame with her fingertips, she wished desperately that she could comfort him, touch him, tell him to just stay home where she would take care of him.
Abruptly, Alister shoved himself out of the armchair and crossed the rug in two long, determined steps, picking up the phone and quickly punching in numbers. As he brought the phone to his ear, his back to the door, Sparrow couldn't help but smile. Alister had gone through many trials in his life before coming to live with her and her father, and only Morrow knew the burdens he bore, but while she couldn't always relate or understand his troubles, she hoped he knew she was always there to support him -- even if it meant cheering silently from the sidelines over something as simple as working up the nerves to make a phonecall.
His shoulders slumped, however, and he shifted his feet awkwardly as he cleared his throat. He seemed to be waiting for a voicemail recording to finish.
"Hi, uh, my name is Alister Bennett. I... I saw your ad in the pa-- the newspaper this morning, for a housemate. I'm a med student as well. Or, I mean, I... well, I'm a first year med student. I mean, I'm starting my second year. I..." Alister pulled the phone from his ear while he shook his head violently, chastising himself. He quickly recited a mumbled return number into the phone and hung up, throwing himself face down on the plush chaise, where he remained, unmoving. Sparrow watched for a minute or two, no longer smiling, before she made her way back to the kitchen.
* * *
The keys jingled, hanging from the door as Edmund pushed his way through, juggling a bag of Chinese take-out in one hand and pulling the keys from the lock with the other. As he kicked the door shut, he dropped the keys in the dish on the little round table and made a left through the living room. Gina really had done a marvelous job with the decorating, he thought with a smile. Passing behind the long leather couch and heading into the dining room beyond, he set the steaming bag of food on one of the dining chairs and unloaded its contents onto the table. He then picked up the phone and dialed his voicemail as he retrieved dishes from the kitchen for his dinner. A pre-recorded message sounded in a pleasant female voice:
"Welcome to the messaging service. Main menu. You have five new messages, and no saved messages. To--" Edmund pressed 1, cutting the message short. "First new message, received today at seven forty-five A.M.: 'Hi, my name is Chelsea, I'm calling in response to your ad for a roommate...' " He only half-listened to the rest of the message. Chelsea was a freshman pre-med, and sounded like she was about ten years old. Edmund pressed a button, deleting the message and moving to the next one.
"Yo, this is Konrad!" Edmund could barely hear Konrad over the steady BOOM-tss-BOOM-tss-BOOM-tss of club music in the background.
"Ugh," Edmund winced. "I said 'no partiers'." He didn't bother with the rest of the message.
"Teddy, dear, this is your mother. I couldn't remember if you said your new things were being delivered today or tomorrow, but I hope all goes well. I love you, darling. I'll call again tomorrow, and perhaps we can chat then." He smiled. He didn't miss London terribly, but he did miss his mum a bit. It was too late to call her back, but nice to hear her voice all the same.
"Hi, I'm calling about your ad for a roommate? I'm Lync Blackwood, I'm a grad student and adjunct professor at the university..." This one sounded promising. Edmund jotted down the number before moving on to the last message.
"Hi, uh, my name is Alister Bennett. I... I saw your ad in the pa-- the newspaper this morning, for a housemate. I'm..."
Listening closely to the stammering message, Edmund frowned a little but wrote the return number down anyway. He couldn't be too picky, after all, and couldn't fault somebody just for having poor phone or social skills. It wasn't as though his own were exactly stellar, and besides, he was a fellow med student. If he ended up renting to this Alister, perhaps Edmund could pass along some of what he'd learned so far.
He dialed Lync's number first, then held the phone between his ear and his shoulder as he opened the first of his take-out boxes. The fragrant aroma of sesame chicken made his mouth water. He spooned some onto his plate while the phone rang. Picking up the next box, he sniffed it. He was expecting the phone to go to voicemail when somebody picked up.
"This is Lyncoln." The young man's voice was crisp and professional, with just a hint of a southern drawl, though Edmund could not have said from where.
"Yes, my name is Edmund Gaites, I'm returning your call about my advert." He heaped a pile of brown rice next to the chicken.
"About the house?"
"Yes, that's right." The next box turned out to be his potstickers. He set them aside and opened the last box, full of steamed broccoli.
"Great, thanks for returning my call."
"You're quite welcome. You mentioned you're an adjunct professor? What are you teaching?" Half the broccoli made its way to the plate
"Zoology, mostly, but I'm doing the biology class for the summer term. I'm also working on my doctorate."
"Wow, that's rather a full load."
"Yeah, I'm not really home all that much. Actually, I'm on a date right now, can I call you back?"
"Oh! Um, actually I do have other applicants, so I wanted to set up a time to meet you in person, let you have a look at the place, and so on." Edmund forgot his food for a moment while he reached for a pen. "Do you have a time that's good for you?"
"I'm free tomorrow morning, if that works for you. Say, ten-ish?"
"That's fine. Shall I meet you at the Starbucks on the west side of campus? It's just a short walk from there."
"Sounds great. See you then."
Edmund hung up while he marked the meeting details next to Lync's phone number, and ate his dinner in silence while standing in the kitchen. His sound system had been set up today, but most of his CDs were still in boxes, and he was too hungry to go digging through them. When he had finished, he loaded his dishes into the dishwasher along with the others from the counter, and put the leftovers in the fridge before dialing the phone again.
A young woman answered. "Bennett residence."
"Yes, hello. I'm looking for an Alister Bennett?"
"Hmm..." The young woman had a nice voice, very smooth. She sounded friendly and Edmund wondered if she was perhaps a girlfriend. "May I ask who's calling?"
"My name is Edmund Gaites, I'm returning his call in regards to my advert about a housemate."
"Oh." The friendliness was immediately dropped from her voice, followed by a lengthy silence, during which Edmund checked his phone to see if the call had been dropped.
"Hello? Miss?"
"Yes, he's here." She sounded irritated, and he found himself growing irritated as well. "One moment."
There was a click, prompting Edmund to check his phone again, staring incredulously. The call remained intact, however; he supposed she must have either set the phone down or put him on hold. After an agonizingly long time, Edmund was debating whether or not to just hang up and call back later, when there was a loud shuffling as somebody picked up the phone.
"...Hello?" The voice was quiet, but Edmund recognized it from the message.
"Hello, is this Alister?"
"Y-yes. You're calling back about the ad?"
"Yes, my name is Edmund. How are you?"
"Fine, thank you." He sounded polite and friendly, albeit very nervous. Edmund was relieved that he wasn't as rude as whoever had originally answered. "I'm sorry about my message. I'm... I'm not some, uh, some spaz or anything."
"That's quite all right, we're none of us perfect. You said you're also a med student?"
"Yes, I live a little ways away and was hoping this year I could be a little closer. I've, uh... I've never had to do this before. This is my first time finding a place of my own. Right now I--" There was a loud clatter in the background, causing Edmund to jump. The phone become muffled for a moment before Alister was back, apologizing. "Sorry, my sister dropped something."
Edmund shrugged his shoulders and made his way to the living room. "What year are you in?"
"This will be my second year. What about you?"
"I'm starting my third year. Have you started registering for classes yet?"
"Oh, I see. I guess we probably didn't bump into eachother last year, then... I registered last week, yeah."
"I hope you haven't got Lee for pathology, she's a nightmare," he groaned.
"Oh, hm... I'm not sure who I have. It couldn't be worse than Rosenkrantz last year for Intro to Clinical Med, though."
"That's true," Edmund nodded. "Although I heard Simmons is taking that up this year. Wish he'd done that before I took it, ha!"
There was a light laugh at the other end of the line, and Edmund was glad to hear him lighten up a bit. He found himself already warming up to the fellow, and was looking forward to meeting him.
"So how close is your place to the university?" Alister asked.
"About a five-minute walk from the western side of campus, and one bus stop to the hospital."
"Oh! That's really convenient!"
"Yeah, my last place was 20 minutes away, so I've got a car, but I haven't even used it since I moved into this place, it's brilliant."
"That's really nice. Hmm..." Alister paused. "The west side, is it around that Starbucks over there?"
"Yeah, it's right on the way." Edmund could hear the girl's voice in the background, teasing Alister about being an addict.
"Nice! So um... What kind of stuff are you into? You said in your ad that you don't like party people, I'm not into that stuff so that's, uh, that's just fine, obviously."
"Oh, erm...I study a lot. I like to read, listen to jazz. I like to play cricket, but I haven't been able to find anyone 'round here who knows how." He laughed, fiddling with the TV remote.
"Me too! I mean, not the cricket. But, the reading, and I like jazz. I'm not really very athletic. But, uh, I'm not fat or anything."
Edmund laughed again. "I was made to be athletic. I had two very active, very rowdy older brothers. I had to be faster than them to avoid a pounding. So how far are you from campus now?"
"Oh, wow. I see. Um... I'm... I'm a little over an hour away. It would be really great to be a lot closer." Alister laughed nervously, and Edmund was reminded that they were strangers. He'd found himself chatting away like they were old friends.
"Would you like to come see the house? I do have another applicant coming to take a look in the morning, but you're welcome to come any time after that, or in the next few days perhaps?"
"Oh, I..." Alister's voice became very nervous again. "I, yeah, I can come by in the afternoon if that's fine. Or..."
"Sure, that's fine. Do you want to meet at the Starbucks, or would you rather come straight here?"
There was a long pause as he thought it over. "Um... I can just meet you at your house."
Edmund gave him directions and the street address, then they hung up. He sat for a moment on the back of the couch before heading back to the kitchen to hang up the phone and pour himself a scotch. It had been a productive day, and some relaxation was in order. Glass in hand, he went back to the living room, poked through the half-unpacked bookshelf built into the base of the stairs, and plopped onto the couch with a thick novel. He read until he became drowsy, then fell asleep with the book splayed open on his chest.
This would be his year, Edmund decided, staring at the remnants of his meager breakfast as they spiraled down the drain. He was in his third year of med school, working his way to becoming a doctor (though he hadn't chosen a specialty yet), was doing well living away from his family back in England, and was feeling pretty good about his luck lately. Morrow willing, maybe he would even find a nice girl to start a family with in a couple of years. As he finished rinsing his dishes, he supposed he really should take a class in basic cooking, so he would have more to eat at home than just tea and toast with marmalade. Resting one hip against the countertop, he added the dishes next to the sink with the rest of the stack eagerly awaiting the arrival of the new dishwasher. His inadequate culinary skills would have to wait until later, when he would have more time to Google some local cooking classes. Today was for setting up house.
Edmund had bought the house nearly sight-unseen a month before. His agent had definitely delivered -- it was in a quiet, well-kept neighborhood near the university and one bus stop from the hospital, and though small, it was certainly big enough for two people. The interior, however, was rather dated. He had enlisted the services of an interior design student to help him redecorate and pick out furniture, and so far the results were coming together nicely. All the painting had been done and fixtures replaced, but the furniture and new appliances were arriving any minute.
In addition to the furniture, Edmund had another matter on his mind: a roommate.
He wasn't certain he really wanted one, but it was rather necessary for appearances. He had, after all, come nearly 5,000 miles for a fresh start, and the image he wanted to present to people was not that of an over-privileged son of a British baronet. He could easily, of course, afford the house on his own -- had even paid cash for it -- but a normal person in his position wouldn't be able to rent it on their own, let alone have purchased and furnished it.
Thus, a roommate was in order.
Classes didn't start for another two months, but he'd decided to get it out of the way, and put up an ad in a few places:
HOUSEMATE WANTED
Male med student looking for studious roommate to share house near university.
3 BR, 2 BA, high-speed internet, cable, phone w/ personal VM, off-street prkg.
Must be clean, quiet. No partiers. Pref non-smoking, male. $800/mo, util incl.
Before buying his own house, Edmund had been renting with a gay fellow for the past two years, as well as his boyfriend, who had moved in about six months into the last school year. The pair had been decent roommates, though Edmund learned quickly that living with a couple was not the most satisfactory of situations. In addition to the, well, occasional embarassing incidents, it was typically a two-against-one argument whenever somebody was unhappy. Still, he'd stuck it out, and this year decided to take matters into his own hands. His hope was that he could find a nice, sensible roommate. Edmund was a little old fashioned; he wasn't really into loud parties or bringing girls home at all hours of the night -- though truth be told, having gay roommates had not helped his reputation in that department anyway -- and was looking for somebody who had a similar lifestyle.
As he passed through the dining area, he was met with several boxes in his living room. Unbuttoning his cuffs, he rolled up his sleeves so he could get to work clearing out the room. While he'd been in America for a little over two years now, most of his possessions had remained in their boxes, tucked away in storage. He'd pulled them out a couple of weeks ago, but without any shelves or tables he'd been unable to empty them. To make extra room, he opened up the back door and started stacking boxes on the patio. By the time the trucks arrived, he had worked up quite a sweat and was pleased with the amount of work he'd gotten done.
After letting the movers in, he made his way upstairs. At the top of the stairs was a small bathroom, with a bedroom on either side. He'd decided to claim the bedroom on the left, which was very slightly smaller but had a bigger closet, as it was over the living room instead of the study/guest room. He felt more comfortable not being above where somebody else might potentially be sleeping. After spending a few too many nights playing unwillingly audience to the noise of his roommates romping above his head, he was well aware of how much noise could travel through floors and didn't want to inadvertantly bother any guests with his restless sleeping or late night pacing.
Stripping off his sweaty white button-up shirt, he tossed it in the corner-- consequently smacking himself for forgetting his hamper down by the laundry closet again.
He paused a few moments in front of the mirror on the back of his door to flex. He was proud of how well he'd been able to keep up his lean, muscular build with the time constraint of his med classes. Back in England, he'd swam and played cricket, but stateside he'd had to settle for swimming laps at a local pool when he could afford the time.
His neat, black hair was starting to look a little shaggy around the ears. He'd have to remind himself to make a hair appointment later.
As the movers began banging around downstairs, he grabbed a plain tank top from one of his suitcases (his nicer things were hung in the closet, where they wouldn't get wrinkled) and pulled it over his head as he took the stairs two at a time on his way down.
In the kitchen, he quickly grabbed the phone while the refrigerator was being moved into place, and as he dialed he wandered back to the front door, where he watched as the furniture truck was slowly parked on the curb opposite of the appliance truck, and men got out to open up the back. As the phone rang, he couldn't help but grin.
"Hello?"
"Regina, good morning! You told me to call when the furnishings arrived. And, well...!" Edmund's heart was racing. Regina was the design student helping him with the house. The relationship had started out purely as business -- he helped her get some practice in for her classes, and she helped him avoid living with a stack of pizza boxes for a couch -- but he had to admit, Regina was rather foxy. She kind of had a little bit of a hippie-meets-yuppie vibe, but he wasn't sure what that was referred to as. Regardless of the term, she was rather endearing. Her enthusiasm for interior design was highly contagious.
"That's great! I'll head right over!"
The phone clicked and Edmund's grin spread wider as he set the phone on the stairs. The movers were bringing the dishwasher in through the back door so he couldn't go back to the kitchen just yet. Needing to work off his excitement, he went out to the furniture truck to offer his services until Regina arrived.
They had just gotten the pieces to his bed moved upstairs when he saw her little yellow jeep pull into the driveway.
"Regina!" He hopped down the stairs, waving his arm wildly out the front door. She sprinted up the walkway, bearing an infectious smile. Her hair was a natural ginger, cropped short in a chin-length bob that was shorter in the back, and she had a tiny diamond stud in one side of her nose, nearly hidden amongst the freckles scattered across her face. Edmund had to admit he rather liked the piercing; it was rebellious and exotic, and not at all something his family would approve of. She was wearing a bright yellow tank top beneath a grey, unbuttoned vest, exposing even more freckles that spread across her shoulders and arms.
"Edmund, hey! Are you ready to not only make your home livable, but lovable!?"
He stepped out to greet her as the furniture men filed out of the door. "Yes, absolutely! Lovable, I can't wait!"
One of the men gave him a bizarre sidelong look, and Edmund coughed awkwardly, leading Regina inside.
Over the next two hours, he watched as she bossed around the movers, placed everything just so, and magically pulled style out of otherwise simple pieces of furniture. He did what he could to help, but mostly kept to the sidelines so as not to get in the way. He also couldn't help taking some time to admire the cling of her skinny jeans as she fussed with a small round table placed at the foot of the stairs, muttering to herself as she moved it an inch to the left, two inches to the right, an inch back to the left...
The movers had all finished long ago, leaving just the two of them, and Edmund had been trying to muster the courage to ask Regina out on a date, but so far had not been having much success. Getting to his feet, he approached her as she set a small box on the stairs and began digging through it.
"Regina, I..." She pulled out a doily, setting it on the table with a small porcelain dish, before she turned to face him. Edmund grimaced, quickly turning her towards the kitchen, as he slipped the doily off the table and tossed it out of sight while her back was turned.
"Edmund, please call me Gina."
He continued, "I really appreciate all of your help. You're very good at, um... at furnishing."
"Why thank you, Edmund! I'm glad you asked for my help!"
"Well, you were on a list of people who respon... I mean... I'm, ah... I really like your... sleeve... things."
Gina held up her arms, looking confused. "My armwarmers? Thanks! I crocheted them myself, same with some doilies I br--" She trailed off, looking back at the now-stark table.
Edmund panicked. "Do you like food? I mean, with me? Dinner, that is. Would you like to do dinner?"
Stunned for a moment, Gina blinked a few times before laughing, bracing herself against the wall. "Oh, Edmund... Oh honey, you're too much!"
Unsure how to respond, Edmund focused on wishing the ground might open up and swallow him whole.
"Oh, oh..." Gina caught her breath, still laughing a little. "Edmund, sweetie, you're cute and your accent is to die for, but..." She paused, noticing the horrified look on his face, and smiled gently. "You're not so good at talking to girls, huh. Tell you what, we can grab some dinner later this week. Maybe Thursday?"
"Sure! Yes, Thursday's fine!"
"Great, I'll see you then. I'll come pick you up around four. I know a neat place!"
After walking her to the door, Edmund watched out the window as she drove away, feeling simultaneously ecstatic, embarassed, and miserably inadequate. Turning to the small table, he fished his keys out of his pocket, tossing them into the dish.
"Damn doilies."
* * *
Alister leaned on the cold granite countertop, placing himself at eye level with the toaster as he waited. The smell of toasted bagel mixed with the aroma of his coffee and made him ten times hungrier. He eyed the bowl of fresh fruit nearby, lecturing himself on the virtue of being patient.
The toaster popped, causing the bagel halves to bounce.
"Ah, finally!" Alister adjusted his glasses as he straightened himself and plucked his breakfast out of the toaster before immediately dropping the hot pieces onto the counter. Grimacing, he quickly transferred them to a plate.
The morning sun filtered softly through several small windows into the kitchen as Alister retrieved a butter knife from one of the dark cherry-stained drawers, and some cream cheese from the fridge built into the wall. The kitchen was massive, much bigger than it needed to be for the mere two people who used it, and Alister felt like even his thoughts could echo off the high ceiling and cast iron cookware. For now, it was quiet; the maid had already cleaned this part of the house, and Sparrow typically wasn't awake this early in the morning.
Pausing to grab a section of newspaper off the island, Alister made his way to a small table in the corner.
He sank into a padded iron chair in the brightly lit breakfast nook, setting his plate down in front of him and unfolding his newspaper. With the personal ads laid out before him, he spread a thick layer of cream cheese on his bagel as he went over each column carefully.
A sound from the stairwell leading upstairs made him pause; it seemed he would not have the pleasure of a nice, relaxing breakfast like he preferred.
The arrival of his sister was dramatic -- as everything Sparrow did, she did dramatically. She clung to the corner of the doorway, entering the room with exaggerated steps and one arm trailing through the air behind her. She was wrapped in a silk robe, her strawberry blond hair pulled back in a tight but messy bun.
"Good morning, Alister dear," she crooned. Her voice was still a little rough from sleeping, and her eyes were not quite open as she made her way to the breadbox. Rubbing her bare feet against her calves, she pulled out a bag of english muffins. "Heavens, this floor is cold. We should get some of that in-floor heating in this place."
Alister said nothing, instead turning his attention back to the want ads.
"Are you looking for a place still?"
He nodded, his mouth full of bagel, as he circled a prospective ad with a pen.
Sparrow sighed, pulling apart an english muffin and dropping it into the toaster. "I don't see why you can't just stay here. It's not like it's that far away or anything."
"Yeah, but," Alister swallowed, "When classes start it would be a lot less stressful if I was a lot closer, especially if I could manage being within walking distance. I wouldn't have to worry about finding some parking or catching a bus."
"I think you're being dumb. You'll just find some crappy place, and your roommates will turn out to be nasty, and then you'll be miserable. Meanwhile I'll be here all by myself."
"It's not like it's that far away or anything."
Sparrow glared, working her way over to the table. "It's too early for sass."
She paused to pour some coffee into an oversized mug.
"So how's the search going?"
Alister sighed, shrugging and tossing the pen onto the table. "There are a couple that sound like they might be promising, but nothing all that great."
"Y'know," Sparrow said, sitting at the table, "They make websites for this sort of thing."
She laughed as Alister grunted, taking a long drink from his coffee. She knew well enough how inept he was with computers. Sparrow spun the paper around so she could take a look at the circled ads. "Housemate wanted," she read, "Male med student, looking for studious roommate to share house near university... preferably male..." Grunting her disapproval, she took a bite of her muffin, looking up to watch Alister out of the corner of her eye. "Sounds like you were meant to be. When's the wedding?"
Alister ignored her, reclaiming the paper. "Do you really need that much sugar?"
Sparrow looked down at her muffin, slathered with honey.
"I like it this way. It's healthier than yours, at any rate. Bagels have, like, twice as many calories. Not to mention your cream cheese. You're going to medical school, you should know these things."
Alister frowned. "Mine is whole wheat."
"Well, mine is British. Everything tastes better when it's British."
Sensing a losing argument, Alister politely excused himself and relocated to the sitting room so he could make some phonecalls.
Sparrow watched silently as her brother exited the kitchen, taking only his coffee and newspaper with him. She looked down at the half-eaten bagel on the other side of the table and frowned. Alister hadn't been eating very much lately. She hoped it was just stress.
Getting to her feet, she tightened the belt on her robe as she walked softly to the doorway, through the great room, and stopped just outside of the study. The carved double doors were open and she peered in carefully, placing both hands on the corner of the frame. The heavy curtains were drawn, letting very little light into the room, and although he hadn't turned on any lamps, Alister could be seen sunk into one of the overstuffed armchairs, staring up at the ceiling. His golden auburn hair was extremely messy, like he'd been running his hands through it and pulling on it, and Sparrow wondered if he'd even washed it that morning. His eyes were deep set in darkened circles behind his black, thick-rimmed glasses.
She would miss him dearly when he moved out, even though he would only be an hour or two away.
Alister reached for the phone on a nearby end table, only to stare at it in his lap for a while before putting it back. He did this a few more times before throwing it and the newspaper against the chaise a few feet away. Sparrow bit her bottom lip. As she caressed the door frame with her fingertips, she wished desperately that she could comfort him, touch him, tell him to just stay home where she would take care of him.
Abruptly, Alister shoved himself out of the armchair and crossed the rug in two long, determined steps, picking up the phone and quickly punching in numbers. As he brought the phone to his ear, his back to the door, Sparrow couldn't help but smile. Alister had gone through many trials in his life before coming to live with her and her father, and only Morrow knew the burdens he bore, but while she couldn't always relate or understand his troubles, she hoped he knew she was always there to support him -- even if it meant cheering silently from the sidelines over something as simple as working up the nerves to make a phonecall.
His shoulders slumped, however, and he shifted his feet awkwardly as he cleared his throat. He seemed to be waiting for a voicemail recording to finish.
"Hi, uh, my name is Alister Bennett. I... I saw your ad in the pa-- the newspaper this morning, for a housemate. I'm a med student as well. Or, I mean, I... well, I'm a first year med student. I mean, I'm starting my second year. I..." Alister pulled the phone from his ear while he shook his head violently, chastising himself. He quickly recited a mumbled return number into the phone and hung up, throwing himself face down on the plush chaise, where he remained, unmoving. Sparrow watched for a minute or two, no longer smiling, before she made her way back to the kitchen.
* * *
The keys jingled, hanging from the door as Edmund pushed his way through, juggling a bag of Chinese take-out in one hand and pulling the keys from the lock with the other. As he kicked the door shut, he dropped the keys in the dish on the little round table and made a left through the living room. Gina really had done a marvelous job with the decorating, he thought with a smile. Passing behind the long leather couch and heading into the dining room beyond, he set the steaming bag of food on one of the dining chairs and unloaded its contents onto the table. He then picked up the phone and dialed his voicemail as he retrieved dishes from the kitchen for his dinner. A pre-recorded message sounded in a pleasant female voice:
"Welcome to the messaging service. Main menu. You have five new messages, and no saved messages. To--" Edmund pressed 1, cutting the message short. "First new message, received today at seven forty-five A.M.: 'Hi, my name is Chelsea, I'm calling in response to your ad for a roommate...' " He only half-listened to the rest of the message. Chelsea was a freshman pre-med, and sounded like she was about ten years old. Edmund pressed a button, deleting the message and moving to the next one.
"Yo, this is Konrad!" Edmund could barely hear Konrad over the steady BOOM-tss-BOOM-tss-BOOM-tss of club music in the background.
"Ugh," Edmund winced. "I said 'no partiers'." He didn't bother with the rest of the message.
"Teddy, dear, this is your mother. I couldn't remember if you said your new things were being delivered today or tomorrow, but I hope all goes well. I love you, darling. I'll call again tomorrow, and perhaps we can chat then." He smiled. He didn't miss London terribly, but he did miss his mum a bit. It was too late to call her back, but nice to hear her voice all the same.
"Hi, I'm calling about your ad for a roommate? I'm Lync Blackwood, I'm a grad student and adjunct professor at the university..." This one sounded promising. Edmund jotted down the number before moving on to the last message.
"Hi, uh, my name is Alister Bennett. I... I saw your ad in the pa-- the newspaper this morning, for a housemate. I'm..."
Listening closely to the stammering message, Edmund frowned a little but wrote the return number down anyway. He couldn't be too picky, after all, and couldn't fault somebody just for having poor phone or social skills. It wasn't as though his own were exactly stellar, and besides, he was a fellow med student. If he ended up renting to this Alister, perhaps Edmund could pass along some of what he'd learned so far.
He dialed Lync's number first, then held the phone between his ear and his shoulder as he opened the first of his take-out boxes. The fragrant aroma of sesame chicken made his mouth water. He spooned some onto his plate while the phone rang. Picking up the next box, he sniffed it. He was expecting the phone to go to voicemail when somebody picked up.
"This is Lyncoln." The young man's voice was crisp and professional, with just a hint of a southern drawl, though Edmund could not have said from where.
"Yes, my name is Edmund Gaites, I'm returning your call about my advert." He heaped a pile of brown rice next to the chicken.
"About the house?"
"Yes, that's right." The next box turned out to be his potstickers. He set them aside and opened the last box, full of steamed broccoli.
"Great, thanks for returning my call."
"You're quite welcome. You mentioned you're an adjunct professor? What are you teaching?" Half the broccoli made its way to the plate
"Zoology, mostly, but I'm doing the biology class for the summer term. I'm also working on my doctorate."
"Wow, that's rather a full load."
"Yeah, I'm not really home all that much. Actually, I'm on a date right now, can I call you back?"
"Oh! Um, actually I do have other applicants, so I wanted to set up a time to meet you in person, let you have a look at the place, and so on." Edmund forgot his food for a moment while he reached for a pen. "Do you have a time that's good for you?"
"I'm free tomorrow morning, if that works for you. Say, ten-ish?"
"That's fine. Shall I meet you at the Starbucks on the west side of campus? It's just a short walk from there."
"Sounds great. See you then."
Edmund hung up while he marked the meeting details next to Lync's phone number, and ate his dinner in silence while standing in the kitchen. His sound system had been set up today, but most of his CDs were still in boxes, and he was too hungry to go digging through them. When he had finished, he loaded his dishes into the dishwasher along with the others from the counter, and put the leftovers in the fridge before dialing the phone again.
A young woman answered. "Bennett residence."
"Yes, hello. I'm looking for an Alister Bennett?"
"Hmm..." The young woman had a nice voice, very smooth. She sounded friendly and Edmund wondered if she was perhaps a girlfriend. "May I ask who's calling?"
"My name is Edmund Gaites, I'm returning his call in regards to my advert about a housemate."
"Oh." The friendliness was immediately dropped from her voice, followed by a lengthy silence, during which Edmund checked his phone to see if the call had been dropped.
"Hello? Miss?"
"Yes, he's here." She sounded irritated, and he found himself growing irritated as well. "One moment."
There was a click, prompting Edmund to check his phone again, staring incredulously. The call remained intact, however; he supposed she must have either set the phone down or put him on hold. After an agonizingly long time, Edmund was debating whether or not to just hang up and call back later, when there was a loud shuffling as somebody picked up the phone.
"...Hello?" The voice was quiet, but Edmund recognized it from the message.
"Hello, is this Alister?"
"Y-yes. You're calling back about the ad?"
"Yes, my name is Edmund. How are you?"
"Fine, thank you." He sounded polite and friendly, albeit very nervous. Edmund was relieved that he wasn't as rude as whoever had originally answered. "I'm sorry about my message. I'm... I'm not some, uh, some spaz or anything."
"That's quite all right, we're none of us perfect. You said you're also a med student?"
"Yes, I live a little ways away and was hoping this year I could be a little closer. I've, uh... I've never had to do this before. This is my first time finding a place of my own. Right now I--" There was a loud clatter in the background, causing Edmund to jump. The phone become muffled for a moment before Alister was back, apologizing. "Sorry, my sister dropped something."
Edmund shrugged his shoulders and made his way to the living room. "What year are you in?"
"This will be my second year. What about you?"
"I'm starting my third year. Have you started registering for classes yet?"
"Oh, I see. I guess we probably didn't bump into eachother last year, then... I registered last week, yeah."
"I hope you haven't got Lee for pathology, she's a nightmare," he groaned.
"Oh, hm... I'm not sure who I have. It couldn't be worse than Rosenkrantz last year for Intro to Clinical Med, though."
"That's true," Edmund nodded. "Although I heard Simmons is taking that up this year. Wish he'd done that before I took it, ha!"
There was a light laugh at the other end of the line, and Edmund was glad to hear him lighten up a bit. He found himself already warming up to the fellow, and was looking forward to meeting him.
"So how close is your place to the university?" Alister asked.
"About a five-minute walk from the western side of campus, and one bus stop to the hospital."
"Oh! That's really convenient!"
"Yeah, my last place was 20 minutes away, so I've got a car, but I haven't even used it since I moved into this place, it's brilliant."
"That's really nice. Hmm..." Alister paused. "The west side, is it around that Starbucks over there?"
"Yeah, it's right on the way." Edmund could hear the girl's voice in the background, teasing Alister about being an addict.
"Nice! So um... What kind of stuff are you into? You said in your ad that you don't like party people, I'm not into that stuff so that's, uh, that's just fine, obviously."
"Oh, erm...I study a lot. I like to read, listen to jazz. I like to play cricket, but I haven't been able to find anyone 'round here who knows how." He laughed, fiddling with the TV remote.
"Me too! I mean, not the cricket. But, the reading, and I like jazz. I'm not really very athletic. But, uh, I'm not fat or anything."
Edmund laughed again. "I was made to be athletic. I had two very active, very rowdy older brothers. I had to be faster than them to avoid a pounding. So how far are you from campus now?"
"Oh, wow. I see. Um... I'm... I'm a little over an hour away. It would be really great to be a lot closer." Alister laughed nervously, and Edmund was reminded that they were strangers. He'd found himself chatting away like they were old friends.
"Would you like to come see the house? I do have another applicant coming to take a look in the morning, but you're welcome to come any time after that, or in the next few days perhaps?"
"Oh, I..." Alister's voice became very nervous again. "I, yeah, I can come by in the afternoon if that's fine. Or..."
"Sure, that's fine. Do you want to meet at the Starbucks, or would you rather come straight here?"
There was a long pause as he thought it over. "Um... I can just meet you at your house."
Edmund gave him directions and the street address, then they hung up. He sat for a moment on the back of the couch before heading back to the kitchen to hang up the phone and pour himself a scotch. It had been a productive day, and some relaxation was in order. Glass in hand, he went back to the living room, poked through the half-unpacked bookshelf built into the base of the stairs, and plopped onto the couch with a thick novel. He read until he became drowsy, then fell asleep with the book splayed open on his chest.