Marriage of Unconvenience

“How long do you have?”

“Thirty days.” I swore. That wasn’t long at all.

“Fuck, Cara. I’m so sorry. I wish I could say that you could live here, but there’s only the two bedrooms and my landlord is an asshole.” Plus, I didn’t think my roommate was going to go for that at all.

“It’s okay, it’s not your responsibility. But it means I might need more than the twenty thousand.” Oh, right. The money.

“You can have as much as you need. Any amount. You can have all of it.”

“Lo, I can’t take all your money. I just can’t. I think I’ll be fine to find a place. I’ll just have to lower my standards, that’s all. It’ll be fine. I’m sorry for dumping on you.”

“Care, you’re my best friend and my fake fiancée. You’re never dumping on me. I’m here for you. For everything.” I wished I could put my arms around her right now and hug her until she didn’t need me to hug her anymore.

“I know. I still feel like I’m taking advantage or I’m a burden. Thanks, Mom and Dad for fucking me up like that.” Whenever she talked about the damage her parents had done, I wanted to get on a bus, go to their house and scream at them all the nasty things I had ever thought about them. And then I remembered that they didn’t deserve it. They deserved to be wiped from our lives. Exiled. Forgotten. Cara had parents, and their names were Tim and Grace Bowman.

“You’re never a burden,” I said.

“Thanks, Lo. Do you mind if I come over? I know it’s crowded there, but I don’t want to be at my place right now. And maybe you can help me look for apartments?”

“Yes, come over. Right now.” I didn’t care if Lisa didn’t like it. My best friend fiancée needed me. Friendiancee? The words didn’t matter. Cara needed me.

“I BROUGHT STUFF,” SHE said, when I answered the door. “Since I was crashing, I thought I would bring dinner. Is sushi okay?” I had been craving it actually, so that was great. Like she’d read my mind.

“You’re the best,” I said, taking the bag of sushi and giving her a hug.

“No, but I try.” She kept her voice down as we walked up the stairs and dashed through the living room to get to the back of the house where my room was. Lisa had taken the nicer, bigger room at the front of the apartment, but I was closer to the bathroom, so I didn’t have to stumble through the entire house when I had to pee at 3 am. So who was the winner?

“Is she here?” she whispered as I closed the door to my room.

“I think so? It’s hard to tell. She’s really quiet and spends most of her time listening to music with those giant noise-cancelling headphones, or sometimes she disappears for like three days. I never really know, so I never feel comfortable running around the house in my underwear. It’s kind of annoying.” She nodded and flopped down on my bed.

“Sometimes I think about getting a roommate because it would be cheaper, but then I remember that I’d be living with a stranger and that would be awful.” I lay down beside her. My bed wasn’t as big as hers, so we were smushed a little.

“Yeah, you’re right. I should have vetted potential roommate candidates, but I was desperate and right out of college and she seemed nice. I mean, she’s not horrible. It could be so much worse. Most of the time I don’t even know she’s there, which I guess is good.” Cara turned on her side and popped open the box of spicy salmon and avocado rolls. I broke our chopsticks apart and she handed me my sweet potato and avocado roll and box of spring rolls to share.

“I don’t want to move. I like my neighborhood. I don’t like my apartment, but I wish I could afford to stay there. Now I’m going to have to find a different route to work and new takeout places.” She pouted and stabbed a piece of sushi with her chopsticks before dipping it in soy sauce and popping it into her mouth.

“That sucks. I wish you could move in here, but Lisa is distantly related to the guy who owns this place, so I’m pretty sure she’s not going anywhere and that’s why the rent is so low.” I had it so much better than a lot of my friends. Ansel was cursed by terrible apartments. Every single one he’d lived in had been more awful than the last. And he wasn’t renting cheap shitholes either. One of his places had been infested with bedbugs even though it was brand-new, one had had a roof cave in, and one had been condemned right after he moved in. He had other traumas as well, so we had all wondered if he just had bad taste in apartments, or if he was born under the wrong star.