Roommates

Chapter 13

Chloe was her type.

Upon proximal gaze, Evangeline took in Aurora's almond hair and sun kissed skin. She was nothing like Chloe in personality, but small details about her perfectly emulated Evangeline's best-friend-turned-lover-turned-ex.

Evangeline cleared her throat. "What about you? How are you getting along with the other people at work?"

Aurora shrugged, balling her sweater sleeves into her clammy hands. "On my first day, everyone was nice and then after that, they just stopped being friendly. I guess my novelty wore off after the first 24 hours. I'm trying not to take it personally, but it definitely gets under my skin."

Evangeline admired Aurora's honesty. Her multi-dimensionality captivated her like nobody else had before. Aurora wasn't afraid to admit her faults. She was like a lamb, and telling Evangeline this information was as if the lamb sanguined itself in front of a hungry lion. Anxiety is Aurora's biggest weakness, yet she bore it bravely. Her courage made her vulnerability impervious to Evangeline's emotional weaponry. Aurora was obviously insecure, clearly paranoid, and grossly under-valued by those around her, so she'd be the easiest target for someone like Evangeline to hurt, but there was something about Aurora that not even she couldn't attack.

Aurora was like Chloe, in that respect. She was invincible. The difference was that Chloe had virtually no insecurities for Evangeline to prey upon.

Her only flaw was that she was better at this war than Evangeline was. Chloe was an expert while Evangeline barely scraped by with her schemes. Chloe learned from her wicked mother, Evangeline was self-taught. Chloe's influence is charming even at its darkest, while Evangeline appears cold to her victims.

Effortlessly, Chloe could flip the tables faster than Evangeline could ever keep up with. So fast that Evangeline never saw the fine line between her love and her contrive. One minute, Chloe would have Evangeline wrapped around her finger, praising her and doting upon her, telling her that she was gorgeous and valuable, to the next minute telling her how pathetic she was. Then without a moment of hesitation, Chloe would remind Evangeline that she was the only person who cared about her. She was right. Chloe was right about everything. Evangeline was everything told her she was.

Evangeline was beautiful, she was a bitch, she was worthless, she was perfect. Chloe never lied to Evangeline, which is what made her offenses so subtle over the years. Evangeline had never caught onto her. She still didn't accept the downs in their up-and-down relationship.

Evangeline watched Aurora carefully as she studied the room. Aurora was looking for any evidence of Evangeline's lifestyle, while Evangeline was looking for anything she could potentially use to pull Aurora in. The only thing Aurora could gather from the decor was that Evangeline had an interest in minimalism and nature. She quickly brought her attention back to Evangeline. "So, you said someone was moving into the back bedroom. What do you think of them?"

Evangeline sipped on her water, trying to recount the details of her blatant lie. She found her mouth dry as she tried to speak. "The applicants fell through." She couldn't double down on a lie that she could guarantee would bite her in the ass, she was smarter than that. Although, a better alternative escaped her.

"That's too bad," Aurora said, feigning sympathy. "Do you know what you're going to do with the room?"

Shrugging, Evangeline finished her drink. "I mean, I still have to write a contract and I still have a list of applicants. With the holidays coming up, the housing office is closed and I am dreading talking to the building manager."

"Was she the one who helped me yesterday?"

"Yes," Evangeline said. "You already know my thoughts about her." What had she called her? A cunt? A judgemental bitch? "She is my ex. Things ended poorly and she pretty much drove my last roommate out."