Roommates

chapter 39

"Alright, be honest.  Did I do too much or too little?" I looked at the spread Lennox made of five pizzas, two brownie pies, a tin of pasta, and an assortment of flavored wings.

"Too much," Lee and I replied in unison.

After days of begging and deliberation, Elon, Vaughn, and Daya have agreed to meet at our condo to discuss everything.

Some of us thought it was too personal to be discussed so openly, but Elon refused to do it unless we were all there.

Lennox is a stress eater and she often uses food as compensation.  When she said she was going on a food run, we didn't know she'd come back with enough to feed a village.

"Damn, Lenn, if I knew we were eating the Hut I would've bought some Sprite," Bentley entered the condo and hung his puffer coat on the rack near the door.

"Oh, she got the Sprite," Lee lifted the two-liter from the counter and sat it down again.

Lee and Bentley laughed while simultaneously hitting each other.

"Leave my girl alone, she's trying her best."

"Thank you, Zo," Lennox gave me an air-kiss and helped me fix the food on the island.

"I really hope they don't end up fighting, I'm not breaking shit up tonight," Bentley reached for the pasta and Lennox popped his hand.

"Aht!  This is for-"

Three knocks vibrated through the door and all of our heads shot to the sound.  I sighed and walked to it.  I won't lie, I'm nervous about opening this door.  The last time something like this happened at our place, it ended terribly.

I'm hoping for a completely different outcome.

I slowly pulled the door open with my eyes closed.  I probably looked like a fool, but I couldn't care less.

"Is there something wrong with your eyes?" I peeked out of one eye and slowly opened the other.

"Do you have an eye infection or something?" Elon jumped back and held his hands between us.  I smiled at him and pulled him in a for a hug.

After everything Lee has been telling me about Elon, I expected a complete mess, but he didn't look like one.  At least not on the outside.  He reeks of weed, but he looks clean.  His hair is cut and his face looks fresh.

"I'm okay, Elon," he slowly hugged me back, then stepped inside.

"Wassup, man," Lee dapped him up, then pulled him into a hug that lasted a little longer than it usually did.

"We're so glad you came," Bentley forced him into a hug and slapped his back.

"Yeah, of course- is that the Hut?" Elon peeked around the corner and Lennox appeared with a small plate of pasta.

"It is, I even got the chicken Alfredo you like," he took the plate and hugged Lennox's short body.

"Thanks, Lenn."

Another pair of knocks met the door, I simply turned around and opened it again.  This time Daya and Vaughn were behind it and standing noticeably apart.

"We, uh, ran into each other at the elevator," Vaughn announced it to the whole group, but he looked to Elon, who was busy stuffing a fork full of chicken and pasta in his mouth.

I opened the door wider and allowed them to come in, just as I was about to close the door, a tattooed hand stopped me from the outside.

"Goddamn, Zo, I know you heard my heavy ass running down the hallway," Rhett squeezed through the door and pulled me into a side hug before hugging everyone else, Vaughn included. "I'm all out of breath and shit."