The girl who came through the door a few minutes later was huffing and puffing a little, clearly not used to so many stairs. Though it was hard to tell under her baggy jeans and equally loose-fitting t-shirt, she looked a little chubby, her face slightly copper red with exertion and shining a little with sweat. Her long hair was tied up in a braid in the middle of her head, with a few tendrils breaking loose to trail down her face. She wore sunglasses which covered almost half her face and what Cora could see of her arms, was covered with intricate tattoo designs. She looked up face in Cora’s direction, eyes too, Cora assumed on account of the shades.
“Hey,” she said still heaving and smiled. Both cheeks dipped in the middle with the deepest dimples Cora had ever seen. She was sold on the spot.
The girl extended her hand to be shook. “Hi, I’m Fridah. Fridah Byers.”
*****
“Just to get this out of the way: You’re not a teacher are you?” Cora asked after she finished showing Fridah around the apartment and they’ve discussed the basics like sharing the kitchen, living room and bathroom, setting up a cleaning roster and things like rent and the deposit. Cora wasn’t someone who would arbitrarily discriminate but she had an ongoing bet in her head that Fridah was either a tattoo artist or a rapper and she wanted to see if she won. Also the Facebook group was for teachers so… but after the weird remark that biochemistry lecturer made earlier, she thought it was better to bring it up. She liked Fridah, was surprised how much she liked this girl who seemed borderline emo, goth or angsty if one judged by appearance or else at least still ‘finding herself’. She certainly didn’t fit Mace’s roommate criteria but she was interesting, funny and hadn’t shown signs of crazy. She just might be what the doctor ordered.
Fridah raised one eyebrow, obviously surprised by the question, and then she smiled in a way that seemed completely genuine. “No, I’m definitely not a teacher; my sister is. She told me about your offer and gave me the number to call. I’m an exotic dancer slash saxophonist. I can fit in almost anywhere though.” There was a quirk at the corner of her mouth. “Although I should probably warn you: before I’ve had my first cup of coffee in the morning, I tend to be a little people-phobic.”
Cora grinned. “I could live with that.”
Then, just to get everything out in the open, Cora added, “I’m just making sure. I’ve had a few bad experiences with people not being who I thought they were so I like to be as straightforward and up front as possible. It reduces the chances of us moving in together and then finding out later that, oh, you weren’t what I was expecting..”
“That could be awkward,” Fridah agreed, still smiling easily.
Somehow, Cora felt the need to clarify. “It’s not like I’m uptight or can’t handle change.” She made actual air quotes around the word ‘handle’ and hated herself a little for it. “I just like to be prepared you know? That’s not a crime.”
Fridah chuckled. “Don’t worry. I get it. New York has some queer ass folk. It pays to be careful.” Fridah shook her head slightly. “As long as you don’t mind my odd hours, we’re going to be fine.”
Cora spluttered a little. “Uh, yeah. No need to worry about that.”
If Mace could hear her, she’d die laughing. Cora kind of wanted to shake herself. There was no need for her to explain herself like this. Her inner Mace choked on the thought, but Fridah just nodded and said, “Besides we’ll probably not see that much of each other. My working hours are odd; I go in to work at seven and finish up at anywhere from midnight to two am depending on the night.”
Cora smiled, thankful for the change of topic.
“Sounds…crazy. And you’re okay with the eternal vampire lifestyle? Don’t you miss out on stuff? Relationships and such?”
“Me and the drummer in the band I play for on Fridays…” Fridah said. “well, let’s just say he’s anointed as the official booty call.”
Both girls laughed; Cora nodded, feeling more and more like Fridah was someone she could actually enjoy having around.
She took a sip from her water bottle.
“Okay, next question, Fridah. Tell me a secret about you. Something embarrassing, if possible,” she grinned, “but definitely something I’m bound to find out anyway once we live together.”
Cora used this question on the other applicants with mixed results. The guy with long, dark hair and ruffled shirt who spoke in a constant whisper, had been a little strange to begin with, so when he told Cora that he wanted to set up a workbench in his room because he was building St. Andrew’s crosses on the side, it wasn’t even as big a surprise as it probably should have been. Manda, on the other hand, late 30s, no-nonsense and fun while not too attractive, who had been on the top of her list until that point, had shocked her a little with her Sunday morning ritual involving Justin Bieber on repeat and a trampoline. And the guy from Poland hadn’t really understood the question, but then, Cora strongly doubted he’d got more than ten percent of the whole conversation.
Now she just hoped that Fridah had an answer that wouldn’t disqualify her.
Fridah blushed a little, tilted her head and rubbed at her neck. Uh-oh.
“I,” she smiled apologetically, “I like playing computer games on my Xbox. Mainly first-person shooters like Halo.” She gave a small shrug. “The type of games they warn you about on Fox News.” She said it like it could be a deal breaker. “But I’d do that in my own room of course, don’t worry. I won’t take over your couch and flat-screen.”
“That’s your biggest secret,” Cora asked, “playing Halo on your Xbox?” She got up.
“I didn’t say it was my biggest secret,” Fridah clarified. “I just… But it helps me relax. I really enjoy it.” Her eyes follow Cora as she walked over to her plasma TV.
Cora pulled out a big wicker basket from the sideboard underneath the screen and held up one of her Xbox controllers. “You just dramatically increased your chances of getting the room.”
Fridah smiled and Cora felt herself smiling, too.
“Okay,” Cora said, “I have one final question: Why would you want to live here?”
“Well,” Fridah thought for a moment, “the location is great, obviously. So close to Central Park and the subway – I could be at work in half an hour, which is great. Especially since I have almost two hours commute from Ronkonkoma right now.” Ah yeah, Fridah had said she lived really far out on Long Island.
“Two hours one way? That sucks,” Cora said sympathetically.
“You know it,” Fridah replied before she went on. “I really like the apartment, too, both the layout and the room – even though the stairs will probably kill me within the first week.” She gave Cora a self-deprecating grin.
“And I like you, actually. I think it was good that you want a cleaning roster but don’t think we should label our food, because that would be a little too anal for me. We seem to have some things in common, and I think we could get along pretty well.”
Cora thought she was finished when Fridah added, “Also, your TV would be perfect for the occasional Halo marathon and having that coffee maker I saw in the kitchen at my disposal could save me significant amounts of money.”
“Oh yeah,” Cora grinned. “The only cure for your people-phobia in the morning, I remember.”
Fridah smiled. “If I get to move in with you and that baby, Starbucks share prices will plummet.”
“Yeah, good luck with that,” Cora snorted. “I hadn’t gotten a single cup of coffee out of this ‘baby’ in the past three years.”
Fridah shot her a questioning look.
“My-” Cora stopped herself. My ex-fiancé bought it. Funny, even after two years, she still couldn’t say it. It was ridiculous. “Uh, it came with the apartment. That thing was so complicated, if you could even make it give you hot water, you’d be a heroine.”
Fridah gave her a look that was almost mischievous, quickly got up and walked towards the fridge. “Don’t let it be said that I won’t rise to a challenge.”