Jesse makes a clicking sound like he’s tapped his tongue to the roof of his mouth. “From the way this home is set and the angle your TV is placed, there would be a strong glare in the evening hours from the setting sun. I’m surprised you haven’t noticed it interfering with your ability to watch television.”
I move my head to the side and view our living room in a whole new way. He’s right. At times in the evening it’s hard to see the picture on the TV.
“We’ll keep it in mind.” Drew continues his walk into the kitchen obviously not planning out a new living room furniture layout as I am. “It’s your basic kitchen. Between the three of us we share cooking utensils and then we each get one shelf in the fridge and a cupboard for our other goods.”
Drew finishes his point by opening the empty cupboard assigned to our last remaining roommate.
“We ask you do your own dishes after you finish cooking.” I throw in to be helpful.
I flash a smile hoping Drew will see what a help I’m being, but his attention is stolen by Jesse opening the refrigerator door and poking his head in.
“What temperature do you keep the refrigerator?”
Drew looks back at me like he’s expecting me to give an answer. “Um… Well I think there’s a thermometer in there… somewhere.”
Jesse clicks his tongue on the roof of his mouth again. “Not having a refrigerator set to the correct temperature can be deadly. Too cold and your foods freeze. Too warm and you’re setting up a party for salmonella.”
I wring my hands while Drew and I exchange guilty looks. What have I been doing with my adult life? I make a silent pledge to research refrigerator controls tonight as long as we don’t get salmonella poisoning before then.
“Okay then.” Drew ushers us out of the room.
We trudge upstairs with Drew leading the way and me keeping up the rear. Jesse stops on a step about halfway up and does two short bounces. I brace waiting for him to turn around and tell us about how deadly our stairs are. Can we have a termite problem in the city? Thankfully, he keeps walking not giving us morehelpfulknowledge.
Drew stops and opens the door to the bathroom we share on this floor. Jesse peeks his head in before rubbing a single finger across his jawline.
“What does the shower schedule look like?” he asks.
Once again Drew stammers for an answer. “We don’t have one. Everyone takes a shower when they need one.”
“You mean you don’t have assigned times?” Jesse asks like it’s the worst admission he’s heard his entire life. “How long does the water heater last?”
This time Drew answers with confidence. “We’ve never had a problem with hot water.”
“How large is the water heater?”
Drew’s cocky smile fades. “I don’t know. About your average size.” He uses a hand to indicate a height but keeps moving it up and down not settling in one area. Proof he’s never looked at our water heater.
I stifle a laugh behind a hand. If he wasn’t so obviously flustered, I’d openly dig on him for not knowing.
“Do you know, Clare?” Drew asks, obviously aware I’m laughing at him.
Oh crap. “It’s… well… this big.” I use my hands to make random size estimates like Drew but we know I’m full of shit.
Jesse clicks his damn tongue again. “At my current place we calculated out how many gallons of water the heater held and how many gallons you used in a five-minute shower and then divided up our time equally. It was the best way to ensure we each had hot water in the mornings.”
“Five-minute showers?”
Drew’s mouth drops open. “Yeah, we aren’t going to do that here.”
“Hmmmm.” Jesse makes the now familiar noise, his lips not moving. He’s obviously not pleased with Drew’s answer, but I agree that sounds like a ridiculous amount of work.
“Does that work well for you at your current place?” I ask.
Jesse nods his head excitedly. “Yes. Before we implemented the time controls, getting ready every morning was a nightmare. Since we implemented the timers it’s been fine.”
I choke on some spit and sputter. “You use actual timers?”
“Yes, that way I don’t need to stand outside the door and keep track myself.”
