The sound of a loud crackle and thunder disintegrated my dream bubbles. I jolted awake, the sudden movement caused my bag of chips to splatter against the fur rug.
"Ah shit, my Doritos." I cursed, watching the mess I made then towards the TV with re-runs of Suits. Rolling my eyes, I reached for the remote on my side table to turn off the TV. Slamming the remote back on the table, I sighed. The thunder rumbled again, followed by rain pouring, slamming loudly against the roof.
After fumbling aimlessly for a bit, I pulled an oversized ugly sweater over my head and made my way downstairs.
I reached for the wine bottle over the counter and sat on one of the stools, pouring the liquid lazily into the glass I was using hours ago, swirling it around as I stared at the liquid moving like a tornado in slow motion. I stared at the floor to ceiling window across the loft. Flashbacks swirled around my head as I remembered holding my graduation scroll after completing law school, fighting my first case ever and winning it, saving up just enough to get my new place and a car.
And now, look at me.
I chewed my bottom lip, suppressing a whimper I could no longer hold—I burst into tears, ugly crying, sniffling, and sobbing. I covered my mouth, hoping maybe this time I would go to sleep without crying.
I am an attorney by profession, well, sorry, was, a really famous one actually. But, I quit. Looking back at it, life has been rough for the last 2 years ever since handing in my letter of resignation. I was pretty much draining my bank account slowly but surely. I looked around at the first penthouse that I bought and paid with cash, sobbing and shaking uncontrollably as I grabbed my wine glass from the counter, moving in small, pathetic steps as I walked into the lounge area.
I stopped at a particular piece of furniture and smoothed my cold fingers across the delicately carved wooden vase. I breathed in, ever so silently. When the tears subsided, I was filled anger, then guilt as I gripped the vase hard, my fingers shaking at its hold.
What I am doing, really? How did a famous attorney end up in such a washed up state?
The doorbell sounded and I snapped out of my daze, my lips slightly parted as I shifted my attention towards the door, took a quick glance at the clock that hung against the wall, then back at the door again. It was 3:50 in the morning, who the hell could it be? Did I order post mates in my sleep again?
The doorbell rang again. I began pacing towards the door, with my wine glass in hand. I closed an eye, the other looking into the peephole. There was a man in a white dress shirt half tucked in and half out of his pants, his hair disheveled and was dripping wet. The man was drenched from head to toe.
He proceeded in knocking against the door, causing me to jump a little, spilling some wine on my sweater. "Ah shit!" I cursed.
"I can literally hear you, will you please let me in? It's freezing out here."
"Who are you? What do you want?" I asked through the door.
"Lady, you put up a poster searching for a roommate, didn't you?" he asked. He looked directly into the peephole. His eyes were tired but that did not dull his features one bit—this stranger was really, like I mean really, good looking.
"Will you let me in once you're done eye raping me through the peephole?" he asked, tilting his head to the side, revealing his perfectly angled jawline.
"No I wasn't!" I squeaked.
"I was kidding. But not kidding about the weather, it's really cold out here." He tugged at the sleeves of his dress shirt. I unlocked the door and a couple of beeps went off. "Did you run away from a gun fight or something?" I asked as I saw got a closer look at his sleeves. I gasped. "Are you a wanted criminal or something?"
"What? No." he said as he kicked off his shoes and placed them neatly by the door. "Nice place." He commented.
"What am I doing? Letting strangers into my house at this hour of the day." I mumbled to myself.
"Oh, thank you." He says as he takes the wine glass from my hand and chugged whatever's left in it. "Do you have anything to eat?" he asked as he looked around from the door, taking in the layout of the house.
"Just instant noodles." I answered, keeping a good distance from him.
"Nice, do you mind if I..?" he asked, pointing towards the cupboards. I snapped out of my daze when I realized I was watching his muscles flex against his dress shirt. "Uh yes, sure." I struggled for words as he flashed me a small smile before it disappeared again.
"What is it that you do again?" I asked.
"Office job mostly." he answered. "That's very brief." I said, stuffing my hands into my hoodie pocket.
"I didn't know you needed a resume for your new roommate."
"I didn't, I mean I, no, I don't need one. So long as you can pay the rent and not a wanted criminal."
"I can assure you lady, I'm not a criminal and yes I can pay rent as well. But if you were to ask me, I think the rent amount you stated is a little too low for this place with a dope view."
"I guess I could increase it a bit?" I raised my brow, folding my arms.
He nodded as he looked around for a pot and filled it with tap water. "You look terrible." I say, "Do you want to take a shower first?"
"Speak for yourself, you look like you fell out of bed, crying buckets over something." He said, pressing the buttons on the electric stove.
"How'd you know?" I asked, mortified.
"Wild guess." He shrugged as he places both his hands behind him as he turned around and faced me. "So what do you do?" he asked.
"Attorney." I answered without thinking. "Well, I was." I corrected myself.
"So why do you need a roommate? Don't attorneys earn a truck load?"
"Not this one." I nudged myself through my hoodie pocket. "I don't work at the firm anymore, not for the last two years." I said and he nodded in reply.
"Do you want me to soak it clean?" I asked, gesturing towards his dress shirt with blood stains on it. He snapped out of his stance, removing his palms from the counter as he observed his sleeves. "Could you? I hope it washes off though." He said as he began to unbutton his shirt. My eyes widened as I got a peek of his chest as he proceeded to unbutton the rest.
I turned on the balls of my feet, pretending to dust invisible dust bunnies off the kitchen island. "Here, if you don't mind."
"Uh, yeah sure." I moved two steps from where I stood, still not looking at him as I snatched his shirt from him. "I'll be right back." I said.
"I'll be right here." He answered.
Why the heck would he just strip like that? We don't even know each other?? Was he not shy at all?
I poured some soap powder into an empty clean bucket and turned on the tap while I waited for the bucket to fill up. The scent of his cologne lingered on his semi dry shirt, it smelled woodsy and expensive— just the way I liked it. It smelled familiar, Paco Robanne, yes it's' definitely it. Ok, now who was the pervert? I straightened the sleeves so that it would be soaked thoroughly before putting the shirt in the bucket.
Once I was done, I switched off the lights in the laundry room and made my way back into the kitchen. "Come sit, I made noodles for you too." He says as he places a second bowl of steaming hot soup on the counter.
Yeah, my noodles.
I realized he was wearing another white t-shirt now.
"How are the sleeping arrangements like?" he asked. "I sleep alone." I answered almost too quickly. His hand froze when he was about to take the first bite of noodles. "I know that," he look humored with my stupid response. "I was asking where do I sleep here." He pointed to the roof of my loft.
I felt my face burn with embarrassment when he felt the need to clarify himself. I mentally slapped myself, squeezing my eyes shut as I hear a chuckle coming from him. "I'm sorry, its 4 in the morning and my brain isn't functioning like it used too." I defended.
"It's alright."
"I have a spare room just down the hall, there's a bed, wardrobe, desk and everything you need. Although we do have to share the showers because the one down here is yet to be repaired" I realized how wrong it came out and I looked down, wincing yet again "I really need to shut up, don't I?"
"It's 4 in the morning, even my brain isn't functioning. It's alright, I'll pretend I never heard that. But if you'd like, I could fix it for you."
"Thanks but no thanks, I've already called a plumber."
"So, what do I call you?" he asked me, slurping his soup quietly. "Rosie, my name's Rosie, you?"
"Jacob." He smiled, extending a hand and I took it. His grip was firm and genuine. Grandpa used to say, you can tell a lot about a person through their handshake.
"It's getting late, don't you need to get to work tomorrow?" I asked, taking it a bite of my noodles.
"I just got back from work actually." He answered. "What? What kind of job do you do again?" I asked.
"Office job, literally. I'm a workaholic and sometimes I do OT's as well."
"You're really vague about it. Are you embarrassed of your job?" I raised a brow. He shook his head. "Never." He places his arm on the table to support himself. "But I think that's a topic for another day once we get to know each other properly."
"Do you mind showing me to my room? I'm actually really tired, been working 18 hours straight." He said as he placed our bowls into the sink.
"Uh, yes sure." I said. "Leave the dishes, I'll wash them later." I watched his back muscles move through his shirt, it resembled the waves on the ocean, drawing in and moving out after. I sighed quietly, watching his every movement.
"Its fine, I got it." He turned his head real quick to look at me. Busted.
"That's all you brought?" I asked, briefly turning my head, gesturing at the luggage." trying to divert my wandering eyes.
"Yeah, I prefer travelling light."
"Travelling? Do you perhaps, live somewhere else?" I asked as I lead my new roommate to his room.
"I moved from San Francisco, got transferred to here in DC recently for work related stuff, it's my third day here." He said as he placed his two luggages on the floor when I flicked the switch of the guest room. "Not too shabby." He looked around, rubbing his palms together.
"I'll be in my room just right upstairs, if you need anything."
"Nope, I'm all good now, that's the shower right?" he asked, pointing towards the end of the hallway. "Yeap, that's it, that's the study on the right."
"Got it, I'll figure the rest of the layout myself."
"Well, goodnight."
"Goodnight Rosie."
**
I used to get up at six thirty in the morning when I was still working, hustling, earning my keep. Somehow, I still maintained that habit of waking up early, went for an early morning jog or use my treadmill at home if the weather was cold out.
Slamming the 'stop' button of the treadmill, I slowed my pace, breathing in and out slowly as I placed both my hands on the holder for support until the belt came to a halt. Something good was cooking in the kitchen. I pulled out my wireless earphones as I got down from the treadmill and walked into the kitchen.
There, my roommate was flipping eggs on a frying pan with one hand and the other held a book, he was reading with glasses on and he looked absolutely, am I allowed to say gorgeous to describe a stranger that I just met?
"Good morning." I said as I dabbed my sweat with a fact towel. "Good morning Rosie, I hope you don't mind, I used your things in the fridge for breakfast since I didn't bring any."
"It's' fine, I was going to do a little grocery shopping later." What. A. Lie.
"Sure, I'll come with. Would you be okay if we shared out our grocery buys? It's easier that way."
"That sounds good."
"Come sit, I've made eggs and butter toast, and of course, coffee." He shut his book and placed it down on the table. I took a glance at the book he was reading earlier, 'Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy Seals Lead and Win, by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin.'
"Is this good?" I asked, flipping the book around, studying the summary of it.
"I just started reading it, but yes, it is good stuff. Why, do you read?"
"Oh, plenty. Being an attorney means reading AND memorizing many, many books."
"What are you reading now?"
"A walk to remember."
"A walk to remember? As in Nicholas Sparks' book?" he asked, raising a brow.
"Yes, its' one of the few romance novels I've come to love. I never usually have time for those."
"Impressive. Because I've read that years ago, sad love story but if you really look at the context, I'd say the romance was an unexpected one."
I smiled involuntarily, "It's a surprise that we share a same hobby."
"I find girls who read are rather sexy." He shrugged, dishing out the eggs and toast on a clean plate for me. I opened my mouth and closed it. "That's nice to know."
"I'm sorry, did that make you uncomfortable?" he looked up.
I shook my head, "You were just being honest."
"Okay then."
"Okay then."