The Other Side Of The Door

1. New Roommates

There was a moment when Tim Bradford passed by the spare bedroom in his house and was actually a bit sad that it was empty. A knock at his front door diverted his attention, so he went to answer it.

"I brought beer," Angela Lopez said while holding out a case happily.

He stepped to the side to let her in, because there was no use in trying to shoo her away whenever she showed up on his doorstep unexpectedly.

"Jack barely sleeps, Wes and I keep arguing, because we're so sleep deprived, and I need an hour on a couch with beer and you. Let's have an adult conversation that doesn't include babies, sleep schedules, bowel movements, laundry, or food."

"Okay," he replied awkwardly and tracked her movements as she shuffled over to his couch and plopped down.

"What's going on in your life lately?" She asked as she offered him a beer.

"Nothing." He accepted the glass bottle then clinked his with hers.

"Wow, you're boring."

"You can leave any time."

"Now that Nolan moved out, I can finally hang out with you. I'm not going anywhere."

"He didn't move out. He only crashed for a couple of weeks, because exterminators had to fumigate his house."

"You can admit that you miss having him around."

"I could never miss Nolan," he scoffed.

"Sure, but maybe you miss the company," she suggested.

He looked down at the beer bottle in his hand as he wrestled with her words, because despite how annoying that thought was, it was not necessarily false. Tim enjoyed having someone else at home instead of a constant, eerie silence. Kojo's presence was welcome, but a human companion would be far better.

Angela nudged him. "You don't have to say it out loud. I know I'm right. Can we watch some bad TV for a while?"

"Sure, but nothing with a housewife."

"Not only ONE housewife. A whole sea of them," she chuckled as she reached for his remote.

He rolled his eyes in his annoyance, but he was pleased to spend time with her regardless of the fact that he was forced to watch a very ridiculous show.

• ʚ 𓉞 ɞ • ʚ 𓉞 ɞ • ʚ 𓉞 ɞ • ʚ 𓉞 ɞ • ʚ 𓉞 ɞ •

Frustratedly, Lucy Chen stalked into the bar for a much needed drink after shift. Angela noticed her demeanor and ordered two tequila shots on her behalf.

Nyla Harper, John Nolan, and Tim congregated together around a table where Lucy and Angela joined them.

Since she noticed all of Lucy's huffing and puffing, Angela set out the two shots and said, "Drink those for the two of us, then tell me what's going on with you?"

"I can't believe this is happening again," Lucy whined, knocked back her first shot, winced when it burned her throat, then took her second shot. "My apartment building is being turned into condos. AGAIN."

John frowned. "I'm sorry. That sucks."

"You guys know how much trouble I had finding an apartment the last time, and now I only have two weeks to find a new place," Lucy explained.

"Two weeks? Good luck," Nyla responded.

"Exactly. I have no idea how I'll find an affordable place in two weeks," Lucy said unhappily as she rubbed her temple.

"Hang on, maybe I don't have a permanent solution for you, but I have a temporary one," John began. "When I was in a bind, I crashed at Tim's. You could stay with him for a while."