*****
Cora tried hard to focus on the 9am class she was teaching, but she still found her thoughts wandering back to her private problems. Right after class let out, Cora called Mace – and it was only a little to pay her back for waking Cora up this morning.
“What?” Mace’s voice sounded dry-mouthed and barely conscious, and Cora couldn’t help the small, satisfied smile forming on her face.
“Good morning, Mace. Rise and shine,” she said sunnily.
“Bite me,” Mace muttered.
Cora took a breath and said, “I need to talk with you.”
“Like, really?” Mace sounded skeptical. “Or just to get back at me for last night?”
“Really,” Cora said more earnestly than she intended.
And that’s the thing about Mace. She was an idiot sometimes, sure, but when Cora really needed her, she was always there.
Mace already sounded a little more awake when she said, “I’ll get some coffee in me and grab a shower. Call you in twenty, okay?”
*****
“You know I didn’t mean it like that..” Mace said after Cora explained her problem.
“I know you didn’t,” Cora said. “It just got me thinking. And the thing was, you’re right, in a way; I am becoming The Slutty Professor.”
Mace unsuccessfully tried to hide a chuckle. She obviously still thought that phrase was hilarious. “But that just means a lot of people want to have sex with you, Cora. Most people would consider that a good thing.”
“I just-” Cora sighed. “I’m not a kid anymore, you know? I’m in my late twenties. I should have done more with my life. I should definitely have published something by now – that was the goal of all that literature I did at Yale; make my mark in the world y’know? I feel like since-” she paused and knew it was ridiculous that she still couldn’t say it out loud. “Since I came here, I’ve been resting on my laurels when it came to my job – and my finances – and otherwise mostly just treading water.”
Mace sounded disturbingly adult when she said, “I know you pictured your life very differently, Cora. I know you thought you’d be together forever, start a family and all that.” Cora appreciated that Mace didn’t use Travis’ name, which only made her feel more pathetic. “But you broke up two years ago. Maybe it’s just time to get back in the game – try to get to know new people instead of trying to scratch your itch.” Mace chuckled at her own joke.
Cora knew that she wanted to talk to the reasonable version of Mace when she called, but now she wasn’t sure if that had been the best idea. “I can’t, Mace,” she said, “not yet.” Because sure, the break up was two years ago, but they’d been together six years, been friends even longer than that. It just didn’t feel right.
“There’s another problem,” she said, and it was only to change the topic. “I might have to sell the apartment.”
“What?” Mace asked, voice serious. “Are you sure? I mean, I’m not an expert, but the housing market isn’t doing so great right now.”
Cora sighed. It was another thing that had been gnawing at her this morning. “I think so,” she said. “My savings were enough for the down payment and a bit of a buffer, but when I bought the place two years ago, I calculated with two incomes, you know?”
Mace hummed in acknowledgment.
“And going out in New York?” Cora forced a laugh into her voice, but it didn’t come out quite right. “That’s getting really expensive, really fast.” She swallows. “I’ve been eating into my savings for a while now.” It was the first time she’d told anyone, and it made it feel abruptly more real.
“What about the money from ‘The Account’,” Mace asked even though she knew what the response would be. Cora never touched the money from her father. Ever… apart from that time her mother got sick and needed surgery and the insurance wouldn’t cover it because apparently weight loss surgery was excluded even when prescribed by a doctor to save a life.
“No,” Cora shook her head, even though Mace couldn’t see her. “I still have enough for, I don’t know, half a year. More if I cut down on the clubbing and stuff.” She took a deep breath. “I appreciate the offer, though. Thanks, Mace.”
For a long minute or two, neither of them said anything, but then, Mace made a triumphant sound. “I think I’ve got it,” she said.
“Got what?”
“A solution to your problem,” Mace said.
“I’m listening.”
There’s a note of pride in Mace’s voice. “You should get a roommate,” she said it like it was a revelation.
“What?”
“I think it all circles back to you not wanting to be alone, but you’re also not ready for a new relationship.” Mace said, and damn, she really could be perceptive when she wanted to be. “So you should find yourself a roommate – someone who’s nice, not hot and a homebody, if possible. Then the apartment won’t be empty when you come home, and you’ll have someone to talk to. Not to mention the extra cash.”
It didn’t sound bad in theory. For New York standards, Cora had a pretty big place, so they wouldn’t get in each other’s way, but she’d actually pondered the option before and dismissed it. She didn’t want to live with someone she didn’t know.
“But I don’t want to interview a thousand weirdoes from Craigslist, you know. I mean, I can’t just move in with anybody, it would have to be a good fit.”
“Isn’t there a,” Mace paused to think for a moment, “like a Facebook group or something for teachers you belong to?”
Cora gripped the phone a little tighter. This ‘I have all the answers’ version of Mace was starting to get a little annoying. “The semester just started, right? Someone must still be looking for a place to stay.”
Cora was about to wave off the suggestion, telling Mace that it still wasn’t fool proof, when she remembered something.
“Yeah,” she said, “I guess I could filter them easily enough and get references and shit,” she said feeling more upbeat by the minute, “and I think they have a section with people offering places and looking for roommates.”
“See, see.” Mace was clearly excited. “Sounds like a good place to start.”
Cora inhaled and then said earnestly. “Thanks, Mace. You’re a good friend.”
“I know,” Mace said, and it didn’t even sound smug.
*****
Ten days later, Cora was not sure about Mace’s qualities as a friend anymore. She had received fifteen calls leading to seven interviews at her apartment, and after she had seen the first five applicants, Cora’d had more than enough. It was not that every single candidate was a complete nutcase – not as bad as the woman with the pet snake around her neck, at least, or the cougar with the Feng Shui compass. But none of those people really felt right, and Cora couldn’t imagine sharing her space with any one of them. Served her right for listening to Mace.
She thought about calling the last two people on her list to call the whole thing off when her phone buzzed with a text message. Mark, the history lecturer, couldn’t make it after all, but he wanted to call her tonight and set up a new time. Just when Cora slid the phone back into her pocket, the doorbell rang. At least the last person for the day was on time – that was already a better start than with most of the others.
Cora got the intercom and told her to come up to the sixth floor. The building didn’t have an elevator, so she got two bottles of water from the fridge, set them on the kitchen island and waited.