“Though I do feel bad for all the other students displaced from the dorms.”
Daniel felt a tinge of remorse for disturbing the lives of the unrelated students that had to leave the dorms, but he felt that it was compensated by the potential lives saved by making the construction defect known.
As for how he’d come to know about it? Well, he had his ways. He even thought of a plan B in case the college didn’t heed his anonymous warning, but they’d been surprisingly dutiful.
“I still don’t know how I managed to wait for so long before calling her. But it had to be done for her to immediately accept. Man, her voice was sweet and cute, just like the rest of her. I can’t wait to taste those lips.”
The next morning, Daniel was dressed classily yet casually, with a freshly shaved stubble and immaculate hair, pacing up and down the corridor while biting his lower lip.
“She’s way too late!”
A few moments later, the doorbell rang, and he rushed to open the door, unable to contain himself.
He came face-to-face with Lisa.
‘Her eyes are so big and bright, I can’t look away.’
This was Daniel’s first reaction once he saw the petite beauty standing before his doorstep. The next step was conviction.
He saw her as his life partner, and he would ensure she shared that sentiment. But for that, much needed to be done.
“Good morning! I’m Lisa Lauderdale. Sorry I’m late.”
His new roommate and tenant took the initiative. He’d spent too much time thinking, a bad habit of his.
He quickly smiled and took her suitcases, one in each hand, ushering her inside in front of him as he stayed back and made sure to close the door. Just in case.
“Mornin’! Wett. Daniel Wett.”
She chuckled at his lame James Bond reference.
“Welcome to my, and now our, humble abode.”
Daniel could see the gears turning in her pretty little head as she frowned.
‘Cute.’ He thought.
“Sooo, you’re both the owner and my roommate?” She was visibly confused.
“Correct, sorry if that wasn’t clear during the call, I might’ve neglected to mention it. It’s not a big deal, though, right? Haha!”
Of course, that was a lie. He had made sure not to mention it, and it was a big deal too. The owner being your roommate was quite a terrible experience; it would make anyone walk on eggshells in their home, and well, then it wouldn’t feel like home anymore. After all, if your roommate didn’t like you, they could just evict you.
Unfortunately, Lisa didn’t think that far.
“No! I mean, yes! I mean, it’s not a problem at all! I don’t mind, Mr.Wett. Only if you’re a good roommate, though, heh.”
‘So fucking cute’, Daniel was at his limits, so he turned around and showed her the house.
“Please call me Daniel. This is the living room, quite well furnished, but feel free to add whatever you like. On our left is the downstairs bathroom. The door doesn’t lock well, but I’m used to it, so you can have the upstairs one.”
“Nice, thanks a bunch.”
Relief was evident in the readhead’s voice. Daniel was satisfied with her reaction, it meant he didn’t waste his efforts to buy the best place available in the area.
“On the other side of the living room is the kitchen, it’s a little small, but I keep it stocked. You don’t need to worry about your meals as long as you don’t mind my cooking.”
“Is that really okay?”
“Oh, sure, I love cooking, so it’s my pleasure.”
“Wow, you’re so nice to me. Thank you, Daniel. I’ll wash the dishes then, and you can’t say no! ”
He showed her around the house, ending at her room, where they finally signed the rental documents and shook hands. Then he left and let her unpack and rest.
For the first time, remembering those large, bright eyes, Daniel’s resolve faltered. At the very least, he decided, he wouldn’t force her to do anything.
He would put some things in motion, but everything would be up to her.
……
…
“He’s much nicer in person.”
That was Lisa’s impression of Daniel, who’d sounded cold on the phone. It also helped that he had clear hazel eyes, cute curly brown hair, a charming smile, and looked masculi–“Aaarf, he’s your roommate, Lisa, your roommate!”
Lisa shook the “naughty” thoughts away and busied herself unpacking the seemingly endless amount of stuff she’d brought.
“… sa-, LISA!”
“Wazzat?!”
So busy was she that she actually jumped and almost fell down when she heard Daniel’s voice from inside her room. But he’d caught her just in time, and she found herself looking straight into his hazel orbs.
“D-Daniel! Um, what’s up?”
She quickly escaped and looked at her feet, blushing.
“Well, I’ve been calling you for a few minutes now from downstairs. Lunch is ready if you’re interested.”
“Oh..OH. Sure. That’s super nice of you, I’m coming right now.”
As I got up to follow him downstairs, I noticed yet another pack of cigarettes.
The first one I’d seen as soon as I’d arrived, on a side table by the front door. The second was in the bathroom downstairs. This would be the third, and to my shock, it was right inside my room. I don’t know how I didn’t notice it earlier, probably too eager to start unpacking, but it sat on the floor next to my bed.
At lunch, I tried to muster the courage to ask if Daniel smoked. This was important to me; I hated the smell so much. Instead, we kept talking about the food (which was admittedly delicious), the weather, or some other stuff. I was embarrassed to ask the question so soon after arriving, so I decided to postpone it, and we just talked amicably for the rest of the meal.
“Can I at least wash the dishes?”
“Nope. It’s your first day, just rest up and take your time unpacking.”
I decided to quickly stop by the upstairs bathroom, only to find another pack there, but I had to respond to my urgent needs first.
While sitting, I reached for the cigarettes and noticed it was a brand even I knew: Virginia Slims.
‘But isn’t this more popular with girls? I mean, I won’t judge.’
In the end, my business finished, I took the virginia slims, and I finally confronted my roommate.
“Hey Daniel, I found these in the bathroom, and I wanted to ask. Do you… smoke?”
My heart raced in my chest as I looked at him. He looked surprised.
“Um, no? Ah, these were the last tenant’s cigarettes. She’s a bit of an airhead and left some random stuff behind. Of course that girl doesn’t want to bother taking it back, and I’m not interested either. You can have it all if you’d like, in fact, you’d be doing me a favor. A lot of it is junk, but there’s some cool stuff, like a hairdryer, books, and whatnot.”
“Um, I’m not really-“, I stopped right there.
A hairdryer would be nice; mine is old and damages my hair a lot. Books could also be sold online for some money, and Lord knows that’s always welcome. Besides, I could just sell or throw away the cigarettes too.
“Actually, sure, I’ll take care of it!”
And so it was that I found myself holding the pack of Virginia Slims in front of my dust bin. Try to sell it or throw it away. It’s been a few minutes, and I’m still unsure. The money wouldn’t be much, and it would be quite bothersome to find a buyer. But there were at least four packs in this house, possibly more.
The monies!
Curious, I took a whiff of the pack, and it smelled surprisingly good. Nothing like the cigarette smell I’d come to hate so much. I brought the thing closer to my nose and inhaled harder.
‘Smells.. nice.’
I couldn’t believe it. I quickly threw the Virginia Slims on my nightstand and went back to unpacking.
…
That same evening, I found the items Daniel was talking about scattered around, some of which I couldn’t quite accept that someone could just throw away.
“No waaaay, this make-up kit costs hundreds of dollars… How rich is she if she doesn’t bother coming back for it? Is she Gill Bates’s daughter?!”
Basic stuff like foundation aside, I’d never been a big fan of make-up as it takes a lot of effort to apply, besides, it’s money better spent elsewhere. But with something this good, wouldn’t it be a shame not to use it?
So I started scouring YouTube for makeup tutorials.
The next day after school, I was shopping for groceries. I didn’t want to take advantage of Daniel’s generosity, after all. But when I walked past the ‘beauty’ aisle, I stopped to take a quick look.
‘I mean, it’s obvious I’m going to be terrible the first few times I try putting serious make-up on. And the Gucci kit at home would be wasted on my first attempts. I should buy this for practice, just once. Oh, and this is nice too, fake eyelashes looked so good on that video… just the normal looking ones. This pink lipstick looks cute too!’
A few hours later, I felt deep regret while looking at my bank account. I had spent too much on the beauty products, in my opinion. By the end of my shopping spree, the groceries had become an afterthought.
‘But it’s fine, it’s just this one time anyway.’
At dinner, Daniel offered me a glass of wine, which took me by surprise.
“Um, I’m not sure that’s a good idea, you know I’m not 21 yet.”
He chuckled at that.
“It’s fine, no one’s looking, and it’s just some wine. Have a sip, is it your first time?”
Daniel felt his heart leap as the words left his mouth.
‘This moment will be one of the first major steps toward her corruption.’ He thought.
“Y-yes. I’ll drink a tiny bit then, thanks.” I wasn’t very confident, but I was determined not to look like a little kid in front of this man. His amused look irritated me, and I took a big gulp in retaliation.
I regretted it immediately.
*cough cough*
“Help!”
*cough*
“Quick, have some water.” He had me drink some water, and I quickly felt better.
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