"Tom!" She whined. "Oh my god what?" I yelled. "Please?" She begged. "No I don't want to" I reply turning back to my Rolling Stone magazine. "Tom I have an interview tomorrow and I really need this shirt to be washed" she huffs. "Casey it's not hard just walk down to the laundry and put it in there and come right back up" I say.
"But I don't want to go alone" she pouts. "There's a lot of creepy guys in this apartment building-you know that! And you've seen how they look at me-Tom please just walk me down there and back up" she says grabbing my hand.
I stare at her hand holding mine.
"Fine" I mutter. She smiles and pulls me outside. It's really dark out. You can barely see anything. Like she said, there is a lot of creepy guys in this building and I have seen how they look at her.
We walk down the steps and pass an old man who's clearly drunk. "Hey baby lookin' real fine in those shorts" he slurs. She grabs my arm.
"Fuck off old man" I say standing in front of her in a protective way.
I grab her hand and we keep walking.
"Thank you Tom" she whispers. I don't reply. Anytime I go somewhere with my pretty roommate people always look at her and catcall. It makes me mad. She's a beautiful girl and I hate that men just see her as a fuck.
We make it to the laundry room. Thankfully nobody looks at her or tries to grab at her. I watch her as she digs in her pockets for some quarters.
I find myself staring at her face.
Casey is really pretty. I've always known that but, I don't think I've ever really taken a notice. "Alright" she smiles shutting the washing machine. "I'm done-can you walk me back down here when it's done?" She asks with a smile. "Yea sure" I say. "Thank you" she says.
I grab her hand and we walk out.
We pass a group of guys who stare at her and I wrap my arm around her shoulders. She smiles at the floor as we walk back to our crappy apartment. "Thank you Tom" she smiles. "No problem Case" I say.
I sit back down on the couch and she goes off into her room. I pray I'm not catching feelings for her. Then I'd owe Mark twenty dollars. He told me the first day she moved in that I'd be head over heels for her. What he doesn't know won't hurt him. And what he doesn't know keeps twenty dollars in my pocket.
She comes back out from her room. Her hair tied up in a messy bun and a sweatshirt she got from college tied around her waist. Her big glasses pressed to her face. "Tom-you look at all the resumes for work right?" She asks.
I nod.
"Can you look at mine?" She asks.
I take the sheet from her and read over it. She's really smart. "Wow-Casey this looks great, they'd be idiots not to hire you" I say handing the sheet back to her. "Really?" She smiles looking over it for what I'm guessing was the hundredth time. "Yea" I reply.
She puts it in a green folder and sets it on the table. "I'm so nervous" she says sitting down next to me. "You shouldn't be" I say reading my Rolling Stone. "But I am, what if they don't hire me? I really need this job" she sighs. "Casey" I say shutting my magazine and turning to her. "You'll be fine. You're amazing and friendly and you're incredibly smart-you've got this" I smile.
She smiles back at me, and for a second I'm almost convinced were going to kiss until I look away. "Well, just to calm my nerves" she smirks getting up. "I'm gonna have a little drink" she smiles grabbing the bottle by its neck. "Want one?" She asks. I shrug.
