housemates (completed)

housemates 28 -- rewind

"Wow! Ang daming pagkain..." J said as he sat at the dining table for breakfast.

"The fridge needed to be defrosted and cleaned..." M replied as she set down a plate of fried eggs while looking at the kitchen counter which was filled with jars and plastic containers.

"Oh. I'll help you later. Ilista natin kung anong meron pa..."

"Hmm..." M replied and sat down to eat.

Sometime later, they both washed the dishes and J sat down at the dining table to make the list. M would tell him the contents of the jars and containers, while J listed them down.

Given their work schedules, they rarely had any visitors at the share house. A neighbor would sometimes just drop by to share something or ask for something but rarely came in to hang out.

"Good morning" J answered the door. It was rare for visitors to come by the share house. However, this morning, it was Ms. Ana, their landlady. They would occasionally see her when she would invite the residents for a get-together once or twice a month.

"Good morning J. Is M there?"

"Ah yes. Please, come in."

"Thank you."

"Oh hi Ms. Ana. Good morning." M said as she greeted Ms. Ana and J by the living room. "Have a seat"

"Thank you"

"...our payments are up-to-date, right? And we'll pay for the repair of the bathroom..." M said as she sat on the ottoman across the sofa. J sat on the arm chair on the side.

"Yes. Your payments are good. No problem. And thank you for keeping the place spic and span" Ms. Ana said as she looked around the unit. "...I'm sure you're wondering why I came by...it's been what, almost a year?"

"...a little over a year...one year and one month his week..." J said

"A year...oh wow...time flies...anyway, I...I regret to inform you that I won't renewing your rent month after next..."

"Po?...do you have new renters po? I mean, are all the other units occupied?" M sat up straight and looked at Ms. Ana.

"...one of the rules that I put out for renters is that the units are not meant to be for couples...an occasional overnight of a friend of the same gender is fine but heterosexual couples are not...I was a little confident in having you both rent this house in the beginning knowing about your work schedules and that you did not get along well even at work but I didn't foresee your work shift change, your eventual getting along, and now, being a couple...I know it states married couple but I guess I failed to explain that it meant for all heterosexual couples....that's why all the rooms are all for single-occupancy. My husband actually built this house for us. So that I can oversee the running of the share houses but I insisted in staying at our old house and add this to the share house units for rent...it'...I'm really sorry...." Ms. Ana said, a little remorseful. She was sad that it had to be this way but her rules were in black and white. All renters signed the contract as per their agreement.