“You’re supposed to be the supportive one,” I lob my insult back.
Drew stands up from the bed and takes the covers with him. “I’ve supported you through a lot of crap, Clare. But this decision is by far the dumbest one you’ve ever made.”
“Excuse me? How is standing up for my morals dumb?”
“You’re dumping Grant because you guys got serious, and you got scared.”
My mouth drops open. “I am not. I broke up with Grant because he bought Del Fray to use their technology and then closed the plant. He’s laid off employees without a single drop of concern.”
Drew’s expression now matches my own. “He did what?”
The few moments of adrenaline from our fight drain away leaving me more exhausted. “I really don’t want to talk about it, Drew, but I couldn’t stay with Grant and go to work on Monday morning.”
“He didn’t tell me that part of the story. Just you were upset and broke up with him without letting him fix the problem. Are you sure he bought the factory?”
“Yeah, I’m sure,” I breathe out the words and lie back. “I need my best friend right now. I need you to be on my side not on his.”
Drew pushes me to the side of the bed and crawls in pulling the covers up around us. “I am and forever will be on your side, Clare. Grant is now dead to any of us who live in this house.” He squeezes me in a hug sure to do damage to my ribs from the tightness.
“We don’t need to go so far. Just don’t open the door for him anymore, please.”
“Done. And to make up for my mistake, I’ll cook you bacon for lunch. Put it on a sandwich.”
The chime from the front doorbell punctuates the end of his words. “If you let him in the house again we will have problems,” I say to Drew as he eyes my open door with distrust.
He pats my bedspread, missing my leg by a few inches. “Don’t worry I think it’s someone better.” He pauses for a moment. “Or worse. It depends on how you look at it.”
“I don’t know what that means but I’m worried.” I throw the covers off and follow him down the stairs my stomach tight with question.
He laughs. “It’s not what you think. I scheduled a tour for our potential new roommate today.”
“If you’re lying and it’s Grant I’m moving out.”
Drew stops at the bottom of the steps waiting for me to catch up to him. “I promise I won’t open the door for Grant while you’re here. Come meet our new roommate. He’ll be invading our kitchen and bathroom soon.”
Drew is way too happy about getting a new roommate. If he hadn’t already said it was a he I’d expect a platinum bottle blonde on the other side of the door.
“Where did you find this one?” I should probably change out of the flannel pajamas and sweatshirt, but it’s Saturday morning and if this guy is going to live here, it’s a sight he should get used to seeing.
Drew stops for a second in the entryway. “Craigslist. Where else?”
Craigslist. Of course. I roll my eyes but have a big and bright smile on my face by the time he opens the door.
It doesn’t last long. I blink to make sure the man doesn’t disappear. Someone is playing a practical joke on us. There’s no other reason for the white guy television version of Urkel to be on our front porch.
His light-colored jeans are held up by a pair of rainbow suspenders you’d only find in a bad nineties TV show. My eyes stop abruptly on the white piece of cardboard sticking out from his white dress shirt pocket. The man is wearing a pocket protector. I didn’t think those were a real product. Where do you buy a pocket protector? My smile fades as I contemplate the company who is selling these to people. Haven’t they ever heard of a pen cap?
“Jesse, come right in. Did you have trouble finding the place?” Drew is first to recover from his shock.
Jesse uses an index finger to push his glasses further up his nose. “You weren’t lying when you said the big blue Victorian would be hard to miss.” The words sound snotty.
This house is a piece of architectural greatness. He better hope he didn’t snub it. Drew pats me on the shoulder, aware I’m seconds away from kicking our potential new roommate out. This place is my baby, and it costs as much as one to live here, too.
“Well, let us give you a tour of the place.” With both hands on my shoulders Drew turns me around. “As you see the large living room,” he says as we walk toward the kitchen his arm gesturing to the left.
“Do you often keep the curtains open like that?”
Drew’s steps stall, and he whips his head to the left looking at the curtains. “Uh… I don’t know.” We share a look between us, and I lift a shoulder in response. He’s on his own for this one.
