Pancakes, Smiley Hash Browns and Agreements

Twenty boxes of unwanted roses

Ellery noticed her cousin pacing back and forth around the living room with arms folded. "What am I going to do with these!" Jess exclaimed, throwing up her hands.

"I swear I ordered tulips not roses. The florist must have made a mistake. I will call him again." Ellery dialed the florist number again only to hear beep sounds.

Jess grumbled cusses under her breath and pointed her thin finger at Ellery. "You are going to pay for this. Not me. My mom will kill me if my wedding budget go over twenty thousand." To stop her cousin's complain, Ellery nodded and that eased Jess.

Ellery did some calculations in her head and realized the twenty boxes of roses cost her three months rent!
She bit her lips and returned to her apartment only to find her landlord standing there.

"Ms Harper! Great to see you and hopefully that rent you have yet to have given me." Mr. Turner stated, crossing his arms. Ellery gave him a small smile and invited him in.

"About the rent, Mr Turner, I don't quite have it right now. You see..." She couldn't finish her sentence when there was a knock on her door.

Instead of Ellery getting up to open the door, Mr Turner beat her to it. "Cain, come on in." A guy, around six foot 2 stepped in and wheeled in two luggage.
"Right Ms Harper YOU see, on our agreement, if you fail to pay your rent for two months, I will either have to evict you or I can do anything I want. So this is my nephew Cain, he will be staying with you until you can pay rent or until his apartment is done renovating."

Ellery could only stare and frown. "That's impossible. I didn't see that in the agreement." Mr Turner sighed and pulled out a piece of paper. He passed it to Ellery and she couldn't help it but rolled her eyes.

"Come on, Mr Turner. Just one more month and I will pay the rent. You know I can afford it." She tried persuading.

This time, the new guy spoke "That's what they all say right Uncle Pete? So Ellie, where's my room?"

Cain settled his things in the room next to Ellery's and had a chat with Mr. Turner. After the landlord left, he faced a glaring Ellery. "What is wrong with you? I could persuade him to extend the deadline one month later. There are tons of empty rooms in this building." She huffed out.

He chuckled and replied "I know but your room is the most furnished and I like your style." Cain then touched her pictures and television set.

"Stop touching them." She slapped his hand away and he faked a wince.
"Well, if you are gonna stay here, there will be house rules." Ellery proceeded pulling out an empty paper from under the kitchen counter.

Cain raised his brows and smirked "You want to make and agreement with me? Sure why not?"

1. No entering my room without my permission
2. No touching my clothes without my permission
3. Stick to the bathroom schedule
4. NO bringing of any girls over. (No negotiation)

These were Ellery's rules.

"Fair enough, on top of that, here are more of my rules." Cain snatched the pen from her.

1. I use the kitchen whenever I want
2. Groceries bill will be split equally
3. No animals
4. No usage of main light after 12 midnight

He continued at the bottom of the page
Parties who fail to comply the rules will have to do whatever the other party wants.

"No animals? What is this? I major in veterinary." Without reading beyond number 3, Ellery signed the agreement.
He held his hand out but she did not take it. Cain simply chuckled and went to make a copy of the agreement.
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Three days passed and they didn't talk to each other. Just a simple nod and that was it. Not that Ellery was complaining, he wasn't such a bad roommate after all.

Ellery woke up at around 11 in the morning and decided to make some breakfast only to find her food was gone.

Immediately, she thumped on Cain's door. She heard a click signaling he unlocked his door and stomped in.

"Where's my smiley hash brown? I thought I was hallucinating when it got lesser day by day but I know I didn't finish the entire bag." She said angrily.

"Those potatoes with smiley faces? Oh I ate them." Cain said, pulling the cover over his head.
"Those are MINE. I specifically wrote my name on it. I want my hash browns now." She demanded, pulling the covers off.

Irritated, Cain then said "fine, lets go groceries shopping."

••_••_••

They took Cain's car to the nearby Walmart and the place was already crowded. "Let's get to know each other better yeah?" Ellery didn't say anything but continued pushing the groceries cart.

"Okay... I'm Cain Colton, I am twenty one and majoring in law."
She kept quiet but he nudged her and Ellery hated that.

"Will you stop that?" She halted and glared at him through her long lashes.

"Only if you talk to me."

She groaned and continued walking. At the same time, she did answer his question only in fragments. " Ellery Harper. 19. Veterinary." She picked up the box of pancake mix.

"That's not delicious. Get this instead." He took the box away from her and placed another in the cart. "That's four dollars more than the one I took!" She exclaimed trying to reach for the box she took before.
"I noticed you are rather short. What's your height? 5"1? Or shorter?" He said, holding out the box so it's out of her reach. "Give that to me. I am 5"3 just so you know."

They checked out the groceries and silence fell between them throughout the process. Cain took the wheels again and he drove them towards a small restaurant near their apartment.
Before He allowed Ellery to scold him, he explained he was hungry and they were just gonna go get some takeaway.

"Do you want anything?" He asked her. She shook her head and continued looking at the menu. Cain ignored her and got two beef burger with cheese fries.

"I said I didn't want anything. And weren't we taking takeaway?" She frowned, scrunching her brows.
"The weather is so good so why waste the Saturday at home?" He grinned and held his fry up.

Ellery was fuming on the inside. The only reason she hasn't punch was because he was paying half of her rent.
She ate the food he bought for her and chewed angrily.

"You know, that bread didn't do anything to you yet you are eating it as if it stabbed you."

"Why do you keep talking to me?" She crossed her one of her arms and looked at him. Cain just shrugged. "I'm friendly I guess." His comment made her roll her eyes. After their awkward interaction at the restaurant, they headed back. This time, they went home.

••_••_••

Ellery unlocked the door only then to be greeted by twenty boxes of roses in the living room.

Author's note:

Thanks for reading guys! May not be the best but I will continue on.

Cheers, E