Letters to the Star Whisperer

-20-

He cleaned up his apartment quickly. He picked up all the beer bottles, vacuumed the food up from the floor, and dusted anything he could find. Ethan grabbed his best shirt. He decided a suit would be too much. Aspen was down to earth, and he needed to look like he was too. He shaved the stumbles of his bread.

Around 6:30, he got a call from Aspen. She was at his apartment building. He told her which apartment he was in. Five minutes later, there was a knock on the door. He opened up, to see she was standing right in front of him. She walked in. "Nice to see you again," she said, removing her red sunglasses, and putting it on top of her head.

She was wearing high waist pants with a tucked in shirt that had sunflowers covering it. The bottom of her pants was rolled up so you could see her combat boots. When he looked closer, the shoelaces had written on it. He didn't know what it had said.

She wasn't wearing her cupcake and pineapple earrings, but instead fake pearl earrings. His mother taught him how to spot the differences when he was a kid. Her hair looked messier than last time. Instead, her hair was wavy, and the blue looked like it was starting to fade.

She wasn't wearing as much makeup around her eyes, but if you looked closely, you could see gold glitter.

"I love your apartment, it's so huge," she said, putting her Buda bag down.

"Where are your dogs?"

"Jane has them right now. She loves looking around them," Aspen answer, as she got a journal out and a pen. "How have you been Ethan?"

"Is that part of the interview?"

That made Aspen laugh. "No Ethan. I just want to make sure we won't be killing each other if we lived together, you know? I say that we will be great friends, but roommates? I am not sure."

"Well, I'm not messy," he said, smiling. Aspen took a look around his apartment.

"Where is all your stuff? Did you have to sell it?"

He turned red. "No, I gave it away, since I'm moving," he lied.

"Pity, should have got money out of it."

"Well-"

"Do you have any food allergies?" she asked, opening up her notebook.

"What? No, I don't."

"Are you vegan? Gluten-free?"

"Um, no."

"Do you mind if I was a vegan?"

"No, I wouldn't care. Wait, are you vegan?"

She smiled. "No, I'm not vegan. My mother is a vegan though. My dad hates it."

"Well, I don't care as long as I can eat a burger in front of you without trouble."

"I'm not vegan," she reminded him. "So, there wouldn't be any trouble."

"I know, I'm just saying, if you were, I wouldn't care."

"Well, you should care. Because it would affect you too. You may find me annoying or you may be scared to offend me. Ethan, just to let you know, you won't offend me that easily."

He rubbed the back of his neck. "That's good because sometimes I say some stupid stuff."

She smiled. She went on with her questions, "Do you have a problem with dogs?"

He remembered her three dogs. He wanted to get these answers right. He didn't want to be homeless. "No."

"So, if Stinky went in your room, you wouldn't be upset?"

"Well, I. ..wait, would he?"

She crossed her arms. "I'm a dog trainer. I would end my career if one of my own dogs did that."

"Good point."

She smiled and wrote something down. He wanted to see, but she wouldn't let him. "Do you drink a lot?"

He shrugged, hoping she couldn't see his trash can. "Here and there."

"Well, I'm concern about that. I don't like drinking in the house. I only drink if I am having a really, really bad day. I grew up in a dry county."

"A dry county? What are you talking about?"

She looked confused. "A dry county, you know. You can't buy alcohol. I grew up in the bible belt."

"Wait! You can't buy alcohol in Arkansas?"

She laughed. "You can buy alcohol in a wet county."

"What's a wet county?"

"Where alcohol is allowed to be sold in."

"That's so weird," he said raising both eyebrows.

"You grew up in the North. I grew up in the south. Two different worlds, I swear. You should come to Arkansas some time. I bet you would love it!"

"I don't know about that," he mumbled.

"There is more to life than drinking. Though, it's nice for the really tough days," she said. Before he could reply, she went on. "You don't smoke do you?"

He shook his head. "No, no cigars, no nothing."

"Weed?"

"Um, not really."

"I don't either. And plus, Joy doesn't allow it. She hates that stuff."

"Well, how would she even know," he said, trying to make her laugh.

Her face was cold and hard instead. "I have to build a relationship on trust. That's how you make friends, and if you broke my trust, you broke the friendship."

"Ok, Disney, I don't smoke."

She wanted to say something, but she went on instead. "Ok, I need to tell you beforehand. I think we will be ok if we were roommates, but I need you to know something about me. Sometimes. .. I have off days."

He seemed confused. "Off days?"

She looked uncomfortable now. "Sometimes, I want to be in my room all day, and just stay in there. If I do that, do not enter; do not try to make me come out. Just let me stay in my room, and don't talk to me, okay?"

He was confused. "What do you mean?"

"Just. .. just on my gone days, I want to stay gone."

Now she was getting a little weird. He wasn't sure if living with her sounded good, but he did need a place to stay, and quick. He didn't want to be homeless. "Okay, gone days, you stay gone, got it."

She smiled and closed her notebook. "Well, Ethan, I think we will be okay with each other."

"I get to be your roommate?"

She nodded. "Yeah. To tell you the truth, you would have been with or without me coming here. I really need help with the rent. But I understand if right now the money is tight since you got fired. You can look for a job that you want this time."

"Thank you," he said, nodding his head. "What types of jobs are there in Boulder?"

"Variety I guess. ..depends on what you want to do. Get a job that makes you happy this time."

"Thank you," he said, not knowing what else he could possibly say. She held her hand out for him to shake. He stared for just a few seconds before realizing that he was supposed to grab it. For the second time since they met, they had shook hands.