Roommate Wanted

Chapter 1

Karlie's Point of View

Today is possibly the worst day of my life. After a long day at work, all I wanted to do was come home from work, order pizza, and sit on the couch with Elliot as we binge watch our latest series of choice on Netflix. But instead I come home to a living room full of cardboard boxes and Elliot packing his things.

"Elliot? What the hell is this?" I screamed at him.

"Jenny and I decided it was time to move in together," he explained. "I may have jumped the gun and proposed last night".

I should probably explain. Elliot is my roommate, best friend, and confidant. We met freshman year of college and after graduation we both got jobs in Denver. So naturally we decided to move in together to help adjust to the new city. It has been 5 years since we graduated and during that time he met and fell in love with a wonderful girl named Jenny. I really liked Jenny and I always thought the two of them were meant to be. However, I didn't realize that she was taking my best friend away from me, at least not so soon.

"Woah, you proposed last night? I thought you weren't planning on doing it until you guys were on vacation in a few months?" I asked. 

"Yeah, it kind of just slipped out last night at dinner, one thing lead to another, and we stayed up late looking at apartments together. This morning we checked one out and signed the lease. We move in tomorrow." Elliot rambled.

"Oh.... well why don't you guys just live here? We have plenty of room and Jenny practically lives here most of the time anyways!" I offered.

"We think that it is time for us to have a place we can call our own. Plus Jenny is going to be so busy planning the wedding the whole apartment is going to be one giant Pinterest board. That would drive you insane, especially since you hate love and all." Elliot said.

He had a point. It's not that I hate love. I think it is beautiful thing when people have it, I have just never experienced it myself. Well, not in a romantic sense. I love my family and my best friend, but have never experienced anything more than platonic love for anyone. The longest relationship I had was in high school. I dated a guy for two months because he could drive and I was tired of taking the bus. But as soon as I got my license I didn't see the appeal of dating him anymore. Since then I have had a few casual hookups, a girl has her needs, but dating has never been my thing. 

"Well, even though you are ripping my heart out by leaving, I am happy for you and Jenny" I admitted. "I guess I need to find a roommate though"

"You could afford this entire place yourself. Why don't you turn my room into an office or something?" Elliot suggested.

I could afford the entire place, but I enjoyed only paying half the rent and being able to save more. Plus there is something comforting about living with someone else. Surely I can find someone I like enough to live with. They won't be anything near as amazing as Elliot, but I get along with almost anyone and am pretty laid back. I guess I'll start looking for someone in the morning.

The next morning

The next day I wake up early so I can post on a roommate finder page on Facebook before I go to work. I posted a few pictures of the room that was available, the location of the apartment, and my contact information. Then I took a quick shower, got ready for work, and started on my daily commute to work. 

The company I work for is located in an office building downtown, but right now I am spending a lot of time on site with a client. I am the lead architect on the expansion of the local hospital network. They were expanding their main campus and building a new satellite campus, so most days I work at the hospital's main campus. Thankfully we just had a few quick meetings this morning then I was free the rest of the afternoon. This whole searching for a roommate predicament was stressing me out more than I anticipated.

As I was preparing to leave work for the day, I received a text. It was from a girl named Shelby. She mentioned her age (29) and that she worked at the local hospital, which happened to be the same one I was at right now. I texted her and told her I was in the area and that I could meet up for lunch if she was available. She texted back that she was available and to meet her in the café on the first floor.