Shared Spaces. phan

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Beth, Florence and Sophia are the three girls that probably don't have it easy either. Granted, I try to minimize my nasty side of manhood but it's Garrett who brakes all the rules in their book. He's more of a 'lad' type than me. He goes to the gym, has girls over all the time and eats dry cereal directly out of the box (with bare hands that he doesn't wash after a toilet visit). Yeah, he's that guy. He has darkened blond hair and actual muscles under his shirt, not those mini ones you get after you hit puberty (which I don't think I fully hit yet). He's been scary to me since first year of uni and still is sometimes, but oddly enough we became best friends after all.

Everyone but Beth sat in the living room too, each of them at their preferred spot. Sophia on the longest couch with Flo, her legs stretched out over Flo's lap and Garrett on the leather chair (he bought this one himself from a flee market so no one even dares to sit there).

They were talking but it didn't look like their usual conversation. Garrett had his hands linked as he hunched forward with his elbows on his knees and Flo was listening to Soph, nodding to show she's listening.

"What happened?" I asked, rather foolishly but I only realized after the words left my mouth. They looked up at me, I couldn't figure out if they looked unsure or scared.

"There are some problems with the rent this month. We're barely able to afford it again." Flo answered, she's the one who takes care of the bills.

I hissed, taking a spot on the arm rest of the sofa. Suddenly I felt guilty.

"I told you guys I'm going to talk to my boss, maybe h'ill raise my pay. Or I can ask my parents, I'm sure we will get out of it just fine." My voice descended when I saw Flo sigh when she flipped through her planner. Again, serious tone at this house was something to be afraid off.

"Well, this time it's not you. This apartment is too bloody expensive. That's what you get for living in London. The fact that one person is unemployed doesn't help either."

I could see fear in Sophia's eyes when she listened to Flo. I offered her a comforting smile and went to sit next to her. She gave me one back and my heart immediately jumped.

Sophia was that one attractive person in the group that I couldn't keep my mind off. She was drop dead gorgeous with Italian roots characterized by her full lips and soft olive skin. She was a fashion student and it shows as her everyday outfits are always very well put together. I'm well aware that I don't have any chances with her, but I keep on flirting with her regardless, which she supposedly finds pretty endearing (she admitted it once after five glasses of dark red wine). 

"You act as if we're going to get kicked out and end up living on the streets. We had the same problem a year ago, right? And we got out of it, so what's the big deal." Garrett argued, perhaps because he felt bad that Beth was mentioned and he was the one that let her stay here without paying the rent. Not to mention Flo and Beth we're never on good terms.

"Yeah, but our landlord was threatening to get us evicted and you didn't have to sit with him and explain that it was all because your roommate let his one night stand live with us! Luckily it was Dan who saved us thanks to his dad and he fucking hates his dad! Meanwhile you sat on your ass and did nothing!" Florence snapped back, slamming her notebook shut.

The things started to get heated. Me and Soph stared into the void, scared to say a word. I just hoped Beth won't walk in, otherwise we're in for a lot of Spanish cus words, chairs flying and bloody noses.

"You guys clearly said it was not a problem for her to live here, so don't put the blame on me!" Garrett's voice went an octave higher and my head dropped. Suddenly I was seven again, sitting at the top of my stair case whilst my parents fought in the kitchen, chairs and picture frames flying and dropping to the ground. Fortunately, this argument won't end up in a nasty divorce, followed by a remarriage two years later.

Thankfully, Sophia- bless her heart- came up with a decent idea. I'm saying decent because I wasn't fully with her on that one, but it seemed to kill their argumentative mood and make Florence think rationally again.

"What if we get one more roommate? This appartement has six bedrooms anyway and it will help pay the rent. I think I even know a candidate."

At first we all stared at her as if she grew a second head, but then we gave it a second thought. I was still a little skeptical, the whole point of living together was that we were all very good friends, learning to like a new person will be quite difficult (especially for me).

But of course, my opinion doesn't matter in this house. Flo agreed almost immediately, happy that she will finally be able to put her stress on hold.

"Fine, I hope he or she has a stable job and knows how to clean after themselves." With that Flo stood up and left to her room.

I switch my gaze from my lap to Garrett, who's still a little bit shaken from their fight. His face was beet red and he was playing with his phone in his hands. Florence can be quite mean but she's just bafflingly honest and that's both her bad and good trait. But Garrett feels bad, especially after she blamed him and Beth for everything once again.

"Maybe you should go and talk with her in private? You know Flo, she's a scorpio and all." Sophia lend a bit of advice to Garrett, to which he listened and followed Flo to her room, not saying a word. 

A moment of silence passed them before Sophia started laughing. "What?" I asked to which she gave me a push on my shoulder.

"This is usually the moment when you make a cheesy joke about us being alone in one room." she wiggled her thick caterpillar like eyebrows at me and giggled some more. I couldn't help but blush, then remembered that men don't blush and cleared my throat.

"I thought you hated those jokes."

"It doesn't mean you can't make them. To be honest, I prefer that over an uncomfortable silence." I noticed her moving closer when she talked. I stared in her green eyes and my fingers twitched to hold her hand. One voice inside my head screamed at me to make a move and that it's my last chance, but the other voice told me it would make everything weird and uncomfortable. Especially inside our house.

I vividly remember when Beth was still with Garrett, and their constant making-out sessions on every surface of the house. Who knows if they constricted themselves to only making out.

"Well, since we're alone together we can settle on a comfortable silence. Unless you want me to be all 2011 again and try my pick up lines on you." It was my turn to wiggle my eyebrows at her. She laughed manically in response, breaking the gaze and expanding the personal space between us. I wasn't that mad about it.

"Honestly, shoot your shot." she finally said after two minutes of laughter.

"If you were a flower, you would be a damnnndelion."

She laughed, then snorted, then we both burst out laughing on the couch like two toddlers that heard the dirtiest joke ever. It wasn't even that funny but we couldn't help and just laugh.

Despite our flirty conversation, something deep inside me told me that it will never happen. She's going to get a boyfriend soon enough, a handsome and rich football player or an actual lawyer not a loser that dropped out of law school. But, to be honest, it won't really matter.

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