Roommates & Soulmates

Ch177: Simon's Fantasies

"Working sucks!" Izzy exclaimed as she got home. Simon heard the door close loudly behind her. "My feet hurt."

"Maybe don't wear heels on an eight hour shift," Simon suggested.

"But I like heels," Izzy whined.

"Clearly your feet don't," Simon chuckled.

"You don't get to smile like that, Mr. Unemployed," Izzy snapped.

"And who's idea was it for me to be unemployed, hmm?" Simon reminded her. "Besides you work, what, like one shift a week?"

"Sometimes two!" Izzy shot back, with a glare.

"Talk to me when you've worked a 40 hour week where you can't sit down for any of it," Simon said with a dismissive wave of his hand. Simon couldn't help but grin at the very annoyed sound his girlfriend made next. The 40 hour work weeks he'd had at Tim Hortans over the summers while in school weren't making him very sympathetic.

"I'm gonna take a bath!" Izzy grumbled, stomping off into the bathroom.

"Good idea," Simon called down the hall to her. "Great for sore muscles."

Izzy had been working part time for almost three months now, and it was becoming increasingly clear that she didn't care much for it. Her job hunting had been very much about the hunting, and very little about the results. Still he gave her points for sticking with it since she hardly needed the money. With Simon being unemployed on top of the fact that they didn't need her income was still a bit of a strange concept to Simon. Since quitting his job Simon was developing new sympathy for Magnus's plight while unemployed and engaged to Alec.

While unemployed, Simon had continued his search for a more career style job, but despite his best efforts he was still jobless. October had turned to November and still nothing. Actually he'd quit back in September, but thanks to his two weeks notice, and that vacation pay he hadn't used Simon was only now feeling the lack of paycheck.

Funnily enough Izzy actually empathized with him on this one. Simon could remember perfectly that moment when Izzy had seen that pay stub for her first paycheck from the clothing store job. That proud expression on her face had been crushed instantly as she read the dollar value all that time and energy was worth.

"That's it!" Izzy had exclaimed. "All that folding and helping and toadying and tidying and standing and stacking and smiling and not yelling, and for what!?"

"Welcome to minimum wage," Simon had told her calmly.

"Minimum my ass," Izzy had scoffed. "No one could live off this!"

He'd actually expected Izzy to quit right then, but to his surprise Izzy had kept up with her shifts. She really wasn't as much of a spoiled brat as she acted like a lot of the time. Simon felt sure this had something to do with her parents. Despite the Lightwoods paying rent, tuition and giving their kids credit cards that didn't ever need to be paid off, Robert and Maryse haven't spoiled their kids as much as you'd expect for such a rich family. In fact, given their actions with Alec recently, Simon suspected they'd put in place systems to teach their kids responsibility from the start.

Simon gave her a solid thirty minutes before getting up from his computer and walking down the hall. He knocked on the door and instantly got the reply 'occupied', but he ignored this and opened the door anyway.

"Hey!" Izzy's shrill voice exclaimed. Then she saw who it was. "Oh it's just you."

Simon rolled his eyes. "Who were you expecting?" he chuckled.

"We have roommates you know," Izzy reminded him. "You could at least announce your presence if you are gonna join me here."

"And miss that adorable startled expression on your face?" Simon replied, smiling cheekily at his girlfriend.