7.1 Part Two: The House Tour

  "Rosie, hey. Hello."
  "Hazel." She replied, greeting me. It was Friday afternoon and, after a short phone call with my lovely potentially, but probably, roommate Rosie Kinnely was standing on my front walkway. "Is this your house? You have a pond with a bridge?! And everything, I mean why do you need a roommate?"
   "Because I bought an amazing, large home and didn't save enough money for bills."
   "Oh." She started turning an adorable crimson.
   "Don't worry. I mean, no need to be embarrassed."  No need? Did that sound odd? Did anyone even speak that way anymore? I wasn't sure, but I could tell if Rosie gave me a strange look, I'd be the one blushing the color of her hair... only more red and less cute orange.
  "I'm not. Wait, how could you tell? I totally was. I wasn't lying just- hey, do you... I mean, I talk lots. Maybe too much, so it's kinda awkward"
   "Oh, I do too!" I exclaimed, wondering if my exclamation just demonstrated the truth in her statement. "And you turn an adorabbbbb- red color when you seem embarrassed."
    "You noticed? Cause I've been dating someone and they... well, they're unobservant and haven't."She glanced down at her feet, clearly wishing she hadn't just given me that piece of information.
    "So, are they going to help you move in?"
    "Huh?"
    "I jumped the gun... I mean, like if you move in. Will they help? The guy you're dating?" I was trying to find out a very valuable fact that would decide if I had a chance or not with her.
    "Um... I, well... we're just in a rocky point. Every couple has them."
    "They do." I agreed. "I just broke up with my girlfriend."
    "Wait you're-?"
    "Is that a problem?" I jeered, a little too rudely.
    "No! Sorry, I just. Me- let's begin the tour? Okay? Sorry."
    "No problem. It's fine, Rosie." I smiled at her, hoping she understood. "So this is the front. The pool and my garden are towards the back of my property." I lead her towards the inside, wiping my feet off on the doormat. "Here's the foyer living rooms pace. I gestured around to the TV, CD rack, plants, and couches. "Of course, the couch is faux. I'm vegetarian."
    "That's cool. I tried once when I was like twelve. Totally failed; I really love tuna salad sandwiches. You won't care if I eat meat in front of you, will you?"
    "Of course not! I understand. I don't want to convert everyone to vegetarianism, I just don't meat meant because of the unethical treatment of animals. There is always pescatarian, though. fish and sea food, but no other meat."
    "Nah. Speaking of food, is that the kitchen?"
    "Yes." I nodded. I gave her a basic tour, showing her the dining room, kitchen with stairs to the basement that I'd convert to a wine room, and the small bedroom upstairs that was furnished in pink and gold.

   Finally, we ended up in my room. The master bedroom. The white wood floors and pale blue walls with my adorable tree statues. "This is my room." I said; I was clearly running for President Obvious. Rosie looked around, as her eyes settled on the plants growing on the ground.
    "You're growing plants in the floor. How?"
    "I have special flooring. I really love gardening." I smiled, wanting to tell her more. I wanted to tell her about my childhood an nature being a friend, about Marco... about me finding a real friend and then him leaving. You don't share things like that with someone you just met, though... you don't over share or you risk scaring them away, otherwise you'll never get a chance to share with them.
  "Would you like to see the balcony?"
  "Sure!" Her voice was bright and peppy, like a beam of sunshine peaking through a cloud.
   "Right this way." I gestured to the door, holding it open for her. She stepped onto the as she stopped in awe.
   "It's beautiful. The sunset. The pink is like a fine bottle of wine. The first glass of wine I ever drank was this incredibly cheap, rose wine. "  She started laughing at the thought of her first alcoholic beverage. "It was at Prom. Prom!"
   "How old are you?" I asked, then, trying to not sound rude, quickly followed the question with a statement. "I'm just trying to figure out if we could have gone to the same school."
    "Twenty-three and I was home schooled. My parents were way overprotective."
    "Oh... at least they cared." I mumbled, then louder I said, "I'm twenty-one."
    "Home life rough?"
    "Not as bad as some, I mean... it was messy." I shrugged, leaning on the balcony. "What do you think of the house?"
    "I'd like to move in, if that's alright."
    "Perfect. I figured that I'd cover five-eights of the expenses and we split the bills evenly."
    "Works for me."
    "Rosie... You're amazing." In one swift movement I turned towards her, holding a bouquet of yellow roses.
   "No... no. Hazel, look, I'll move in, but... I have to go to my house... I'm sorry..." She flung open the door to the inside and ran away. I heard her thundering down the stairs as the front door slammed shut. And so I stood on the balcony, confused as ever, I had given Rosie flowers and somehow scared her off... living with her must be interesting.


NOTE: I know, I know... this chapter isn't not very good and short, but somehow took me like two weeks to write. I'm suffering from the thing called writer's block and stress because life decided to get busy for me... I'm sorry. Lucky for you, I do get a one week holiday starting in one week and a few days, so I'm planning on writing some then and the writing actually be good. (P.S. This blog's one year anniversary was 11 days ago. ☺)

7.1 Part One: Roomies and Monetary Woes

   I stood at my mailbox, checking my mail. I sighed as I picked up bill after bill. Who knew adults had to pay for so much? There was water and electric and trash pickup. If I wanted water, I had to pay a bill. Internet and cable and cell phone. You will not believe how much your grocery bill is when you only purchase things labeled organic. Organic tissues and bread and pumpkin seeds and tofu and dish soap and cheese. All my furniture I purchased wasn't made with any wood that people had to destroy someone's habitat to get, or animals furs and skins. I only purchased clothing that was made in the USA and ensured that only ethical labor was supported. Don't even get my started on the cost of my tea addiction from the coffee shop. Point blank: bills were piling up and frankly, my crummy income I earned from working nine to two at the science center wouldn't be enough to cover my monthly expenses.

   I grew the majority of my produce, but it took awhile for plants to be ready to harvest. I hope one day organic won't be synonymous with expensive. All people need food to survive; it's a basic necessity. We shouldn't be charging extra  if you want the healthiest version. I sighed as I walked to my front door. I shouldn't be surprised that I was running low on funds. My income  wasn't disposable, but when I was buying my  property and furniture I treated it like it was.

   I stepped inside my home, wiping my sandals off on the doormat. I hadn't bought a broom or dustpan or mop yet and I was hoping that if I was careful enough I wouldn't have to. With my luck, I'll end up catching something that's incredibly rare you can only get from spending every minute you're not sleeping or working in your garden and not owning a mop. I'll then have  to splurge on doctor's bills and medication. Maybe I should hire an accountant or someone to deal with my monetary woes. I would, if it wasn't for the fact that accountants cost money and I happen to be living with only little less than a thousand dollars in my bank account.
   I threw the thick stack of mail onto the coffee table. I hadn't had anything other than an apple and a granola bar today and was feeling a tad peckish. Peckish. What a humorous word. I should cook something. Maybe harvest some onion, lettuce, tomato an- I glanced at my herb plant It was wilting! How long had it been since I watered it? Since the poor thing was inside, the sprinklers that I had set to water my outdoorsy plants every morning didn't apply to it. I rushed to the kitchen to grab my watering can that I had left a quarter full on the stove.

  "I'm sorry." I whispered to it, as I water the plant. It wasn't like the thing would reply to me, but I still felt better knowing that if it could hear and did have feelings it would know that I didn't mean to abuse it. 
   The watering can was set on the floor next to the plant, as I turned to face the window. Wildflowers and butterflies, bees and roses. My garden was alive with flora and fauna. I sat down in the armchair, taking a minute to relax. I didn't take a moment to sit and think nearly as often as I should. I wish I could travel to the gardening expo in Maryland. Buy some rare, legal, organic seeds. Too bad I couldn't afford it. My thoughts went from gardening to money to the bills I needed to pay. How was I going to fix this? There was always AJ... but it hadn't been ten years. Only ten months since we broke up. I lived with her for awhile and my finances were fine. I gasped. That's the solution! Not AJ, but a roommate. Someone to split the bills with. Someone who was better at math than me. Some to sleep in the spare bedroom.

  I pulled out my phone and went to the local newspaper page to create and ad. Something simple. Something eye catching. Something better than this:

 ROOMMATE NEEDED!

Female in her twenties needs someone to split expenses with.

Three bedroom, three bathroom home.

Contact by calling 000-0000 or leaving reply.

  Which was the ad I posted on the site. Instantly, there where a few replies. I scrolled through them. A majority of them were spam or unpleasant descriptions of what I could do with someone's something if they moved in with me. There was one serious reply. Someone who claimed to be in her twenties as well and was also looking for a roommate. She/Weirdo posing as a she and offered to meet me at the coffee house. Safe spot. Lots of people. Why not? I was following all those cyber safety rules they told you in school. I agreed; I needed a roomie and couldn't be picky. 

   I quickly grabbed my pepper spray and began walking to the coffee shop. The bus only stopped by the stop nearest to my home at eight thirty in the morning, noon, and four, so I had to walk the majority of the places I wanted to go. After ten minutes of walking, I reached the coffee shop. I hurried up the stairs to the loft area, which was meant for people who wanted to read or play chess or do plug in their laptops. A rosy cheeked red haired girl was sitting.

   "Hey," She said once she noticed me. "Are you looking for the girl who wants to be your roommate?"
   "Yeah." I smiled, nodding.
   "Cool. I'm Rosie. I left that reply."
   "Great, I'm Hazel Janes." I said, as I took the seat next to her. "I'm going to ask you a few questions." I said, unsure of what formalities I was skipping.
    "Okay." She nodded.

    "Do you have a job or source of income?"
    "No." She blushed. "I'm currently job searching."
    "How are you planning on paying bills?" I liked Rosie. She seemed like a sweet lady who wouldn't murder me in my sleep. Looks can be deceiving, but I was fairly certain she was just a 
    "Well... I make wine. See, I need to live some place with a basement. Right now I'm doing freelance cleaning and small jobs. I have enough to pay bills. I'm saving to go to France. I lived in the crappy part of town and my wine making stuff was damaged. I currently don't have any, but I'll need a couple thousand dollars to jet off to France... I figured that I should move someplace where a two thousand dollar wine maker thingie wouldn't be destroyed by a drunk neighbor with a  BB gun."
   "I have a basement."
   "Is it used to store dead bodies?" She asked, jokingly.
   "No... See, murder is generally frowned upon by society."
   "Yeah, I guess it is." She shrugged. "I figured I might as well check. My mother always told me that when you meet a stranger off the internet  and are planning on moving in with them, always check to make sure they aren't a serial killer."

   "Seriously?" I chuckled. I was loving her sense of humor. It was odd, I'd admit that, but it was still humorous to me.
   "Are you kidding? My mother was uptight and couldn't say sick, dead, abandoned, or failure without bursting into tears. I love her, but she was a tad... off."
   "Nicely put." Off was a good way to phrase something without going into too much detail. You were aware someone was crazy or not right, but you didn't know how. "Next question, are you in a relationship or have any friends that would be frequent visitors?"
    "I am in a relationship," Dammit. I was developing a little crush on my interviewee who happened to be dating someone. I assume that that someone was also probably a guy. "But I doubt that they'll visit often. I tend to go to their house."
    "So, um, next question. If you're in a relationship why are you looking for a roommate?" I was curious. Generally couples let the other one move in if they needed a place to live.
    "Isn't that a tad personal?" I blushed. It was wrong of me to ask the adorably cute and funny chick I just met at the coffee shop why she wasn't moving in with her boyfriend, I just didn't care enough to avoid asking her. "Lucky for you, I'm probably going to end up living with ya for a teeny bit and you'll find out that I'm dating a giant prude. Well, prude sounds bad, plus we kiss and stuff. But moving in before marriage and home runs, if you know what I mean, are off the plate. Hence the moving in with a stranger thing."
   "You seem really confident that you're moving in with me." 
   "Yeah, I've been looking for a roomie for a month and so far everyone online has been a creep. I felt like I should be optimistic about this. I'm not coming off as vain or anything, am I? Sorry... see I-"
   "Trust me, you're fine. In fact how's Friday?"
   "Friday?"
   "To tour my house. If you like, then I figured we become roommates?"
   "Sure, sure. I figured there's be more questions, but sure. Friday. Yay! Roommate."

   "Hopefully."  Rosie Kinnely began clapping her hands as a smile spread from ear to ear. I had found myself a roommate.

7.0: Mutual Breakups

   I was patiently tapping my foot while waiting in line to order my tea. It was an afternoon ritual for me; I would finish work at the science lab then head across town to my favorite organic coffee and tea shop. I had been employed at the science lab for a few months. After he... Booker, I wasn't going to hold onto the negative energy and anger and let it consume me,  kicked me out of the house, I ramped up my protests. I began trying to convert everything in this town to GMO free, animal safe, all natural, organic, and energy efficient. My protest worked... until businesses began boycotting my protests by not allowing me to come inside and buy anything.
   AJ, who I moved in with for a couple weeks until I found my dream home, wasn't happy that her favorite sushi restaurant was no longer serving to our address. I was bored out of my mind and needed a hobby that wasn't offending my girlfriend. When the science lab came knocking and wanted me to be the head of a small budget research project on the benefits of organic food versus all natural food, I naturally accepted the position. Contrary to what many people thought, they weren't the same thing. Foods were allowed to label themselves natural even if they had GMOs, toxic pesticides, antibiotics, and growth hormones. Organic foods didn't include any of those things.
   "Hazel, hey." The barista greeted me. "The usual?"
   "If by usual you mean organic chai oolong, please." I smiled
    "Coming right up."
    "How's business?"  I politely asked. I had mastered the art of small talk while waiting in awkwardly quiet silence for my tea.
    "Pretty good. Thanks to your protests, people have become more aware and business is booming. The boss even upped our salaries two seventy nine."
    "That's great. Glad I could help." even though I was no longer protesting; my last protest was against AJ who said I could no longer protest, it still felt good to know they had made a difference.
    "How's the garden?"
    "Amazing. I bought this home with a huge yard and have been growing all these plants. It feels great to give back to nature, you know?"
    "I do. The wife has been getting me to recycle and compost. She still raves about that veggies you brought us. Say that they made the best salad she ever had."
     "I'm glad she liked them. I can always bring you more."
     "Well thanks, miss. Here's your tea." He handed me my warm cup organic deliciousness. I walked over to the small alcove and sat at a table, sipping my drink. I felt my phone buzzing in my pocket. I picked it up and glanced at the screen. AJ.
     "Hello?" I answered.
     "Hazel. Hey babe, it's AJ."
     "What's going on?"
     "Well," I could tell she was taking a deep breath. She only did that when she was nervous. "How come you haven't invited me over to your house yet?"
      "I've been busy. You know that. With my new job and sorting out my finances..."
      "Where are you?"
      "Oh... you know, around town."
      "Dammit Hazel.  The coffee shop?"
      "What's wrong with the coffee shop?" I asked, trying to sound innocent.
      "You've been too busy to invite me over to your new house, but you have half an hour everyday for coffee?"
      "Tea." I corrected. "I drink tea. You know that, honey."
      "Hazel." She sighed. "Look, I'm coming over tonight."
      "I've got to go. A customer's nagging me."
      "Love ya."
      "Lave ya, too babe. And remember, tonight. I'll be there."
      "I know... I know." She hung up. I took a deep breath and glanced at my home. I knew eventually AJ would want to visit my home; I had lived in her's for months. I suppose tonight would be that night. I finish my drink and tossed it into the recycling bin. I was heading home to face my lovely not so little AJ.

Third Person Point of View/Narration...

   They were in Hazel's home. Three bedrooms, three bathrooms, two stories, and a huge yard that included a fish pond and spacious garden area. What more could a girl in her early twenties ask for? The couple was doing something they hadn't in a long time: dance. Hazel's arm was rested on AJ's shoulder, AJ's hand wrapped around her girlfriend's waist. They swayed in time to the gentle jazz music that was creeping through the stereo.
   She glanced off, towards the ceiling. They were both enjoying the moment of silence together. Neither one of their minds was silent, though.  Thoughts kept invading the precious moment.
   "Hazel." The lady with the pigtails whispered. She was quiet; it was as if what was whispered wouldn't ruin the moment.
   "AJ." She gazed into her eyes. She knew what was coming. They both did.
   "We need-"
   "To talk." Hazel interrupted her, finishing the sentence. She had to refrain from chuckling. Even when the couple was on the verge of the conversation they both dreaded, they still finished the others sentence."We should sit." She gestured to the couch. AJ's hand dropped from Hazel's waist, as she slowly moved to the seating.
   They sat down simultaneously, at opposite ends of the couch. They gazed at one another, wishing that they could communicate telepathically. Maybe that would make the moment a little less painful.
  "Talking..." Hazel began.
  "We need to." AJ agreed.
  "I wish we didn't."
  "I do to... it's just we've been drifting apart."
  "The tea." Hazel simply said.
   "The tea?"
   "Remember. You said coffee when we talked on the phone."
   "I didn't." She confessed. The innocent moment, a simple mistake; it slipped her mind. It didn't slip Hazel's, though.
   "See? We're forgetting the minor moments... the minor moments that make you fall in love with someone. The minor moments that matter if we were to spend the rest of our lives with one another." They knew that those minor moments would only take a minute to memorize, but the fact that they hadn't proved something.
   "Hazel, I feel like you blame me for your father disowning you."
   "I don't... honey, I don't." She didn't blame AJ, that was one piece of truth that was left lingering in the air. "But, I feel like ever since I told daddy, that bastard Booker, the mystery is gone. There's nothing left. We're an old married couple and I haven't even turned twenty-five."
    "Mystery? Is that what you want?" It wasn't what the black haired beauty wanted. She just needed a crutch. Something she could say to voice her emotions. The truth was, she didn't know what she was feeling, but she knew that she didn't want to bring AJ along for the ride.
    "We need to be..." She let the sentence drift off. The truth was, they both needed so many, many things that the relationship wouldn't work.
     "To be single." AJ finished. Out of the many, many things, that was probably the truest thing.
     "Maybe... AJ, how do you feel like we should of ended?"
     "Not this soon." She laughed to cover up the tears in her eyes. Both of them needed humor to cover up the sadness that was trying to break their hearts. "We should be an old married couple..."
     "I think maybe, after we each have time to ourselves, we could be friends. Or, you know..." More. You know, more. They needed time alone, but maybe that time would bring them closer. Maybe not. They didn't know what to think, other than that they were both newly single.
     "A decade?" AJ asked.
     "A decade." Hazel agreed. One decade until they met up again. They'd both be healed and in their thirties. More rational, more worldly. If they felt like their lives were still missing something, they'd meet up in a decade.
     AJ stood up, walking towards the door.She knew that they'd both forget each other in a decade. They didn't actually plan on meeting up. They just needed closure. While lies can hurt, sometimes you need them to comfort yourself. That was exactly what Hazel and AJ where going to use that lie for. Comfort. If all their relationships failed, well, there was still that first relationship they could go flying to. That first relationship that was toxic. Luckily, they'd gotten out before either one of them was poisoned.


AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry that this chapter was so long. I didn't feel like that there was a good place to break this up into a part one and two (even though I could have between the coffee shop and home scene). It's okay if you're upset that I got rid of AJ. I hate it when author's introduce a new character and then immediately get rid of them. Don't worry, though AJ isn't completely gone. (Hint, hint, nudge, nudge.)
   Also, Hazel's AWESOME home was not actually created by me I download it from the exchange. It was built by the amazing Allure and you can download it here. It was created with only base game items (so EVERY Simmer can download it. And you totally should.), so I edited it a bit with CC, things from EPs, and store content.