Snapshots | ✓

Two: Micah

Sunday, August 17th, 2014

Two weeks later at 11:07am on Sunday morning there was a knock on the door. Misha had gotten back to Micah, although not until the Friday before, so he had been expecting it. He just had no idea what to expect of the girl on the other side.

Hayes Wexler was of average height, probably 5'5", and was on the small side of athletic. Wavy dark hair fell to her shoulders and wide brown eyes looked up at him, seeming startled and eager at the same time. "Are you Micah Lauzier?"

"I am. You must be Hayes," he replied, moving out of the doorway to let her in.

"Sorry I'm late. Misha said you have a thing about punctuality, but it took me five minutes to realize the elevator was out of service and then I had to climb the six flights of stairs up here and catch my breath so I wasn't dying when I knocked," she said, smoothing the skirt of her blue sundress.

"Don't worry about it. I only get on Misha's case about punctuality because she's never been on time for anything in her life," Micah explained, leading the way into the living room. Misha had been two hours late for their birth, not that it was something Hayes needed to know on their first meeting. "The building has a few quirks which I will explain so you don't have to discover them if you choose to take the room. Do you want a tour or do you just want to poke around? It's not huge."

"I think of the two awkward options a tour would be less awkward," Hayes replied.

He gave a wry smile but started the tour. The apartment was a fair size for the price, but it wasn't large. There was a living room with a couch, a coffee table, a rarely used television, an end table with a lamp, and another lamp in the corner. A dining room with a dining table and four chairs. A kitchen with dark wood cabinets and stainless steel appliances. An average bathroom. Everything was painted and decorated in neutral colours, something he remarked upon and said she was welcome to change if she felt like it. Aside from a few recent family vacation photos forced on him by Misha there were very few personal touches in the general areas of the apartment.

"You'd be welcome to add whatever personal touches you want out here. I obviously haven't done a whole lot with the space but that doesn't mean it has to stay impersonal," he said, starting towards the little hall that led to the bedrooms. "The one straight ahead is my room, and the one to the left here is currently empty but would be yours if you want it."

He motioned her ahead and watched as her mouth fell open as she walked in. It was the bigger room of the two, and had the better view, but Micah liked his room and hadn't felt compelled to move out of it when his previous roommate Cameron had left.

"This room has two closets!" she exclaimed. She spun in the middle of the floor, scanning every corner of the room.

"The Foggy Bottom campus is a fifteen minute walk west, the Farragut North and West stations are both within a three minute walk, and the rest of the city can be accessed by the metro from those two stations," he said, leaning against the doorframe.

"You realize you live, like, three blocks from the White House, right?" she asked excitedly.

"I have realized that over the years, yes."

"How are you not more excited about that?"

"You get used to it, believe it or not. The novelty wears off after you get stuck in traffic enough times because someone's getting a police escort through the city."

"I don't believe you," she said, shaking her head. "And laundry?"

"In the closet right outside the room here," he replied.

"This place is incredible."

"It's pretty great."

"You mentioned quirks," she said, trailing after him as he left the room and headed back to the living room.

"Yes, every building has a few." He paused, sitting at one end of the couch. She sat opposite him, curling her legs under her. "The main one is the elevator. In the five years I've lived here it's worked for maybe six months combined. It'll get fixed and within a day or two be broken again, so this is for all intents and purposes a walk up apartment on the sixth floor."

"At least I'll get my cardio workout every day," she commented, earning another smile.

"There is a crazy cat lady on the second floor. Because of this there are no mice or rats in the building, but you may get trapped in a conversation with her as she introduces all of her cats to you."

"That's not... too bad."

"It's not, but sometimes a cat will follow you home and not leave until you feed it. There's a few cans of cat food in a cupboard in case such a situation arises."

"That's kind of cute."

"The first few times, yes, but not the thirtieth," he said. "And then," he pointed to the middle of the ceiling, "That light fixture."

"What about it?"

"It doesn't turn on."

"Seriously?"

"I have tried everything, but there is no switch in this apartment that turns on that light. As such you will notice that there are plenty of lamps in the room to light it when needed."

"There has to be some way to turn it on," she said, inspecting the fixture as though she would be able to see the problem from the couch.

"You're welcome to search for the switch but you won't find it."

She regarded it for another moment with a frown then turned back to him. "And now the big question: how much?"

"Does seven hundred a month seem reasonable to you?"

"That's it?! Every other apartment I've looked at in this area is well over four thousand!"

"Well, yeah, but I have a full time job with the government and you're a student. Doesn't seem fair to make you pay half when you have to pay tuition."

She stared at him, eyes popping. "Are you sure? That doesn't seem fair to you. What about utilities and internet and stuff?"

"Most are included. Just electricity is extra, and that's not too bad as long as lights are turned off when they're not needed."

"How much was Cameron paying?" she asked. He told her, a number that was half the total rent, and her mouth fell open. "And I only have to pay seven hundred?"

"Have you met Cameron's parents?" Micah asked pointedly.

"Okay, that's fair I guess," she conceded, chewing on her bottom lip. "And you're okay living with a female? I've been mistaken for a guy before going off my name and was told the renter only wanted male roommates once they realized I was a girl."

He assured her it wouldn't be a problem and they exchanged contact information. She had to run to a job interview and said she would be in contact about the room once she'd spoken to her parents who were apparently still supporting her a bit because she was going back to school. They said goodbye and it was nice to meet each other and she left.

Two hours later she texted him asking what day would be good for her to move in. He responded, then texted Misha that she better not have tricked him into something terrible.