#theroommate

“Is that the person you want to live with Austin and Drew?” Madison questioned. “Yeah, she’s my old college roommate, you guys are going to love her.” Elaine promised, sending her friend a text to remind her about the party.

 Oliva was in line getting a coffee when she got the text message. Don’t forget about the party tonight. You promised. Elaine was a force to be reckon with, and she knew better then to forget another date with her. Oliva didn’t really want to go, but she also desperately needed roommates, so she needed to impress. Once she got her coffee, she headed back to her office.

 They’ve been working on a difficult case that hit close to home for her. She got back to her office, listening to her voicemail, and checking her email. It took her almost an hour for the fact that she never worked in her office. She was more of a remote worker, and by that she worked from her car. It was her job to get information on people that the lawyers needed for witnesses or other things. Working for a defence lawyer had its perks, better pay, more opportunities, but she didn’t always agree with the cases she had to work.

 She was pulled from her thought when her boss Max, came through the door not bothering to knock. “Wow Bennet, you’re actually in your office for once.” He spoke leaning against the door frame. “What can I say, I work better in an open space.” Oliva retorted, taking a sip from her coffee. “Have you given any thought to my offer about LA. I really need someone I can trust out there.” She knew what he meant; she knew Max back in law school. He was a good-looking man but didn’t have the personality to match. Max was selfish, he always had been. “I was still thinking about it. It’s expensive, and I’m going to need a roommate.” She spoke, trying to gain more time to think about it. “I want an answer by Monday or I’m giving the job to Wendy in finance.” That was a bold move, Oliva figured he was bluffing she was the best paralegal they had. Even with unorthodox approach at things. Wendy would just mess things up even in a smaller firm, she didn’t have the experience needed.

 Her phone started to ring as Max was leaving. She looked to see a picture of Elaine pop up on her screen. “Good lord Elaine, I’m not going to forget about tonight.” She thought. She accepted the phone call. “Hello Elaine” She spoke blandly into the phone. “Oh, don’t sound so disappointed to hear from me. Did you get my text? You didn’t forget, did you?” She asked laughing on the other end. “No, I didn’t forget, I’m just at work right now. What time did you want me to come over?” She asked, trying to figure how much time she needed to get ready. “It’s actually not at my place, it’s at my friends. I’ll text you the address, show up for like seven, does that work?” She said as more of statement then a question.

 “Yeah, it does, how should I dress? Do I need to look nice for this?” Oliva asked, not really looking forward to getting dressed up too much.

 “Uh, no just causal, don’t forget the jello shots, for me of course.” She laughed thinking of the many times Elaine got out of control from drinking one to many jello shooters. “Yeah, I’ll bring them don’t worry.” Oliva reassured her. “Oh, I almost forgot, Austin and Drew will be there so you can finally meet them! It’ll work out perfect.” Elaine spoke, and Oliva could hear someone yelling her name in the background. “They need me, but I’ll see you tonight!” Elaine spoke hanging up on her. Oliva sighed wondering what the hell she got herself into.

 “Who was that?” Rudy asked his girlfriend pulling her into a tight hug. “Oliva, just making sure she was still coming tonight.” Rudy knew how much this meant to her. Elaine talked about her all the time. What he didn’t like was how many times Oliva had blown her off. He figured she wasn’t going to show tonight, but didn’t want Elaine to get upset, “don’t get to upset if she doesn’t show up babe. She’s already bailed on you before.” He warned knowing how she got. Elaine knew there was truth to what he was saying, but he also didn’t know Oliva like she did. She knew that Oliva would show up because it was something important to her.

 Oliva left her office around five, grabbing something to eat on the way home. She knew better then to drink on an empty stomach. Once she got back to her apartment, she started to eat the crappy Chinese food, and rummaged through her closet to find something to wear. She was trying to not overthink it, but she also wanted to impress these people. She had seen pictures of them on Elaine’s Instagram and figured a pair of ripped skinny jeans and vintage band shirt would suffice. She turned on her hair curler letting it heat up. She kept her makeup simple, adding a little bit of winged eyeliner and then loosely curled her hair. She checked the time, 6:30. When she looked up the address earlier, it was about a half hour from where she lived. She grabbed her container full of jello shots and text Elaine to inform her she was on her way.

 Once Oliva got to the house, she sat out in her car debating whether to go in or not. She could leave now and make up some stupid excuse as to why she needed to leave. She could tell Elaine it was traffic, or she got rear ended, or maybe food poisoning. She knew whatever excuse she made; nothing would be worth jeopardizing their friendship. Oliva looked at her phone one more time before popping back one the jello shooters and going inside. When she got into the apartment building it looked nice, much nicer than hers. She could tell the hallways had been cleaned regularly. She got in the elevator, riding it to the third floor. She could hear music playing from one of the apartments. “Perfect” she said to herself “not hard to find.”

 Oliva knocked on the door and all sudden became very nervous. She needed these people to like her if she wanted knew roommates. Giving herself a small pep talk on the inside, the door swung open to a tall man with shaggy brown hair.

 “Hey, you must be Oliva!” He spoke, “I’m Chase, one of Elaine’s friends.” He extended his hand out to her. Oliva smiled grasping his hand, “yeah I am, I’m sorry for being late.” She half heartedly apologized, not really meaning it. Of course, she wasn’t going to tell him that it was because she was sitting in her car debating whether to come in or bail again. “Don’t worry about it, come on in. I can take those.” Chase went to grab the jello shots, Oliva handing them over stepping into the apartment. It was loud and faintly smelt of weed and sweat. She looked around for her friend, hoping for everyone sake she didn’t get there before Elaine.

 Oliva followed Chase to the kitchen, it was small and there were already people in their mixing drinks. “Oliva this is JD, Maddie C., and Maddie B.” Chase pointed to each person as they gave the foreign girl a small wave. “Hi, it’s nice to meet you guys, I’ll apologize now if I forgot your names.” The two moved on to the living room that she could see through the kitchen. It was a moderate size, big enough that a fair amount of people could fit in and not be crowded. It led to a small balcony that she could see some people out smoking. Oliva jumped a little from Elaine coming up and hugging her from behind. “You made it, I told you guys she would come.” She squeaked and Oliva giggled, smelling the vodka from her drink.

 “Of course, I made it, I told you I would be here.” Oliva responded turning around to hug her friend properly. Elaine was wearing a blouse and a pair of jeans, with her camera around her neck. She couldn’t go far without the camera; it was one of the things Oliva loved about her. “Well, you’ve bailed the last couple of time, so who knows with you. Did you bring the jello shots?” Elaine asked dragging her to the kitchen. “I did, I think Chase put them in the fridge.” Oliva spoke, following the only person she knew. JD, Maddie C. and Maddie B. were gone someone knew was there. “Oh, this is perfect,” Elaine spoke causing the man to look at her, “Oliva this is Drew, Drew this is Oliva the girl I was telling you about.” He smiled at her, extending his hand. “Hey, nice to meet you, Elaine was telling us that you’re moving to LA in a couple of months.” “Yeah, I got a new job out there.” Oliva explained not giving anymore information.

 Drew took a moment to take her in, trying to get a read on her. He was still a bit apprehensive about living with a girl. She seemed nice, quiet but nice. Before he could question Oliva, any more Elaine came up to drag her away, “come on, I want to introduce you to everyone else.” She slurred already a bit tipsy.

 Elaine dragged Oliva back into the living room. The only other person she recognized was Rudy from pictures, and he didn’t seem overly happy to see her there. Everyone was sitting around drinking and playing a card against humanity. Elaine went right through the living room to the balcony where some other people were out smoking. “Hey guys, this is Oliva.” Elaine introduced her friend while searching for a lighter.

 When she turned around, Oliva came face to face with a very handsome blonde. ‘What the hell is with all the blondes?’ she thought to herself. The man stuck his hand out, “I’m Austin.” He smiled at her. “I heard you were going to be our roommate, have you met Drew yet?” He asked, handing Elaine the lighter in his hand. She thanked him, “Oh yeah I did meet him, but I never mention anything about being roommates, I wasn’t sure if Elaine had brought it up or not.” Oliva responded. “You weren’t supposed to bring it up Austin.” Elaine giggled. She warned Drew and Austin not to bombard Oliva because it would just scare her off. “oh shit, yeah she did tell us that.” He spoke half scared of the brunette in front of him. Oliva could tell he was nervous “it’s okay, maybe the three of us can meet up for coffee and work all the details out.” She smiled at him.

 The night went on well after that. Considering it was just a small apartment Oliva didn’t run into ether of the boys again. She was in the kitchen filling up her last drink of the night when Rudy came in. “Surprised you showed up Oliva.” He spoke causing her to jump. She turned to look at the blonde who walked in. “Elaine wanted me here, so I came.” She responded. “She’s been trying to get together with you for weeks now. She stuck her neck out for you to help you find a place to live and you couldn’t even bother to show up.” He wasn’t wrong. Elaine had done a lot to help her, but she also had to work. “I know, but I can’t help it if I have to work, not all of us can be actors.” She spoke up, not wanting to have this conversation.

 Oliva didn’t know Rudy that well, and in his defense, they did get off on the wrong foot, but if he thought for one minute, he was going to grill her about not showing up he had another thing coming. Before Rudy had a chance to speak again Oliva had dumped her drink down the drain and headed for the door. Just as she was about to walk out the door Elaine stopped her. “Are you leaving already ‘Liv? It’s not even that late.” When Oliva turned around, she could see the see a bit of hurt in Elaine’s eyes, but when she spoke, she looked directly at Rudy. “Yeah, I have to work in the morning, say my goodbyes for me?” She asked forcing a smile at her friend.

It was a great plan. All three had looked at different apartment buildings, figuring out how much they could afford between the three of them. Rudy had roommates already back in LA, but they were moving on with their lives and Rudy knew he couldn’t afford to live there by himself. That was when JD had suggested for him to move in with Drew and Austin.

 Everything was going great between the boys until Rudy started hanging out with Elaine more. She was the one of the crew’s photographers, always helping were she could. She got along with incredibly. Both Rudy and Elaine were in the early stages of hanging out when they started filming, knowing each other from previous projects. Rudy thought she was amazing before and jumped on the opportunity to get to know her more.

 There had been a big misunderstanding in the beginning when Rudy saw Elaine and Drew hanging out together all the time, he thought he lost his chance, but when Drew had brought another girl around a couple of times, he was clearly mistaken. Rudy went back to were he started trying to win over Elaine, cracking every joke he could think of and taking her out on cute little dates. It was simple, but enough for both.

 “Do you think they’ll be mad?” Elaine asked the blonde while they laid in the hammock. “I don’t know maybe at first, but their cool, they’ll understand.” The two were talking about getting their own place when the show was over. Elaine had a lot of projects coming up in LA and it just made sense. The two were in love and it was what they wanted. “I just wish I knew someone who wanted to move in with them you know. It would make it so much easier to tell them.” Elaine said flipping through the photos she had taken.

 Rudy was nervous to talk to the other boys. He had made them a promise and even signed a lease saying he would live there with them. He didn’t want to turn his back on his friends, but he wanted pursue things more with Elaine. He walked to Austin’s trailer assuming Drew would be with him. He knocked before walking in, the two other boys sitting around on the couch.

 “Oh, hey man, we wanted to talk to you. Did you want to go back home to see family before we go back to LA. I was thinking it would be easier if we all moved in one at a time.” Austin spoke without looking up from his phone.

 Rudy sighed looking at the two. Austin and Drew could tell there was something on his mind. “About that, I wanted to talk to you guys. I was thinking about getting a place with Elaine when we go back. You know, things are going so well right now, so we want to take things to the next step.” Rudy spoke in one big breath, glad he finally got it off his chest. He was looking at the boys for any signs of anger.

 “Well, you owe me twenty bucks Drew, I told you they were going to move in together.” Austin replied laughing. “okay yeah whatever, here.” Drew said digging into his pocket for a twenty throwing it his friend. Rudy was confused, “wait you guys aren’t mad?” Drew looked at him. “No, we’re not mad, we’re happy for you! But you’re going to have to help find us new roommate that’s going to be as good as you.” He replied laughing.

 “Yeah, okay why don’t you post something on craigslist, and we can meet with them on our break next weekend.” Rudy suggested feeling much better about the situation. “Let me know when you guys want to do things.” He called out while leaving the other two alone. He walked over to the photography trailer to talk to Elaine.

 “Hey babe, are you in here?” He called into the small trailer. It was made into small office for each photographer to work from. “Yeah, I’m back here Rudy.” She hollered out to him. He followed the sound of her voice to her end of the office. She was drinking a coffee, going through the photos she had taken recently. “I really love this on of Madison, she looks so natural.” Elaine handed the photo over to Rudy. “I just talked to the boys.” Rudy stated, “and they’re not mad about anything. They said I had to help them find a roommate. I think we’re going back to LA next weekend to meet with some people.” He said looking through more of her photos. “Oh, Rudy that’s great, see love I told you they wouldn’t be mad at you.” Elaine said rubbing his back slightly.

 Drew and Austin had gotten a lot of messages from people, and they finally narrowed down their list to a couple. They were going to meet at the new apartment over the weekend with Rudy. Madison had helped them come up with some good questions to ask people. It had taken all afternoon and they had finally met everyone they planned to meet. The three were sitting around eating pizza talking about everyone they had just met.

 “I just want someone were not going to be seeing all the time. It would be easier if they worked opposite to us.” Austin mention, him and Drew could put up with each other but didn’t want another person they didn’t know throwing the balance off. “Yeah, and someone with no pets, because I’m not cleaning up after someone else’s animals.” Drew added. “I don’t you guys, I think you might have to expand your horizon a little bit. What about Gavin, he seemed pretty cool.” Rudy tried reasoning with them.

 “No, not him, he smelt funny. You don’t want the house smelling like beef jerky and regret all the time.” Drew commented making the other two nodded their heads.

 “What about Evan, he said he was trying to be an actor too, that might be nice.” Austin spoke up not minding the guy.

 “Yeah, but then he’s going to asking for advice all the time, its hard when they’re first starting out and your established.” Rudy said.

 “Yeah, and he said he doesn’t drink, that’s weird.” Drew added to the other blonde’s statement.

 It was hard picking someone you were going to spend most of your time with. Drew and Austin worked close together, they’re character being friends helped them become friends.  When the weekend was up the three packed their things and headed back Charleston.

 Elaine on the other hand meeting with some friends while Rudy was one. Her friend Oliva had been in Charleston for a couple days working a case. She was a paralegal with a law firm that had a couple practices all over the country. She had been working in Georgia before taking a case in Charleston. The two girls met for coffee too catch. “I can’t believe you dropped out of law school.” Elaine spoke to the girl.

 It had always been her friends dream to become a lawyer, so her not finishing surprised her. Elaine had dropped out of nursing school to pursue her love of photography. He parents weren’t impressed but Oliva stuck by her side the whole time. The two drifted when Oliva went to Harvard and Elaine moved to LA, but they always stay in touch.

 “Yeah, well, I guess I took one for your books Siemek. Plus, I couldn’t stand the rich kids at a Harvard anymore.” Oliva grimaced think about the people she had met. Yes, Harvard was known for having the smartest students, but they were dull. It was so boring. Oliva didn’t live for a great amount of adventure, but she didn’t look for a bland life ether. “Well, what are you going to do after this case is over? Where are they offering for you to go?” Elaine asked taking another sip of her coffee.

 “Crazy story about that one, they want me to start working in LA, they have a firm there. It’s small and handles smaller cases but one of the paralegal’s are going on MAT leave so he asked me to fill in for her. I know the office I helped set it up in the beginning. I just don’t know if it would be a step down or not.” Oliva expressed to her friend. It was a big decision moving all the way to LA, though nothing was keeping her in Charlestown, and she was in a fight with her parents.

 “I think you should go for it! You would love LA, and in couple weeks Rudy and I are moving back out there together so we can hang out. I would love for you to meet all of them, they’re all so nice.” She smiled think about the friends she made over the last couple of months.

 “Yeah, but were would I even live, I was looking at places and it’s all so expensive. I would need a roommate, and nobody wants a roommate the works like 80 hours a week.” Oliva groaned thinking about all hurdles in her way.

 “Well, I actually can help with that. I know a couple of guys who are looking for a roommate and you’re exactly what they need. It would be great!” She explained, telling Oliva all about Drew and Austin. “Just wait until you meet them! I’ll text Rudy and tell him to bring them buy for coffee!” Elaine explained.

“Yeah, either they were too smelly, or had pets, or something else.” Austin spoke up sitting in the back next to Drew.

 “Ugh guys that sucks. I’m sure you’ll find someone. I mean even if you had to find another place, you’re giving the landlord a lot of notice maybe he’ll let you out of the lease.” Madison tried to encourage them.

 “What did you guys do all weekend?” Drew asked changing the subject. “Oh, you know, the normal hung out at Chase and Maddy’s. We were thinking of having a party this weekend. It’s going to be a lot of the cast last week filming, kind of a celebration thing.” She explained to the boys.

 “Sounds like fun, can you drop me off at Elaine’s?” Rudy asked the brunette. She had been texting him all day, it wasn’t normal for them to go a whole weekend without seeing each other since they started dating.

 Once Rudy got to Elaine’s apartment, he put the code in and went up, walking in without even knocking. “Hey baby, I missed you.” He spoke, walking up to her engulfing her in a bone crushing hug. “Hey, how did the roommate hunt go?” She asked, wanting to feel the situation out before she mentions anything about Oliva. They walked over to the couch and got comfortable as Rudy explained what happened. “I just feel bad you know. I’m bailing on them and I don’t want them to get stuck with a shitty roommate.” Rudy explained to her, running his hands through her hair. “Well, I might have a solution to your problem.” She spoke up, looking up at him. He raised his eyebrows motioning for her to explain.

 “Do you remember my friend from college Oliva? I met up with her for lunch and she was telling me about a job in LA that she was considering taking, but she needed a roommate. Do you think Austin and Drew would mind having a girl for a roommate, Liv’s great, and she cleans!” Elaine said trying to sell the idea to him. Rudy thought about it for a minute, they probably wouldn’t mind. “I mean I don’t know, I could ask them, what does she do?” He asked. “She’s a paralegal. She works a lot, apparently she’s taking someone’s MAT leave at a smaller firm.” Elaine explained. “Well, I can ask them tomorrow when we’re filming, but can we go to bed I’m so tired.” Rudy whined, both trying to get a good night’s rest.

 The next day Rudy was scheduled to film with Drew and some extra’s they hired. They were filming the midsummer’s episode which required everyone to be dressed up in nice suits. Rudy walked over to the wardrobe trailer to get his suit on for his character. When he got in, Drew was there getting ready dressed in a blue suit. “Hey just the guy I wanted to see.” Rudy spoke up, making Drew look up at him. “Hey man, what’s up?” Drew asked while on of the girls fixed his suit. “Elaine was telling me about a friend of hers that was looking for a roommate in LA. Only problem is that it’s a girl, would that bother you guys?” Rudy explained trying gage his reaction. Drew thought about it for minute. He had grown up with two sisters, and didn’t really know if he wanted to live with girl, “what does she do?” He asked, wanting to get more information before he committed to anything. “Uh a lawyer or something, I don’t know something to do with law. Ask Elaine when you see her, it’s her old college roommate.” Rudy explained going into a dressing room to get changed.

 “Do you think Austin would mind though?” Rudy hollered out, just as Austin was walking in. “Would I mind what?” He asked curious about what was being discussed “Uh, having a girl for a roommate, I guess Elaine’s friend is moving to LA.” Drew explained, wanting to get the reaction of his friend. “Oh yeah that would be fine. Girls always make the place smell nice. What’s her name?” Austin asked Rudy. “Oliva, I’ve only seen old college pictures of her put Elaine said she’s nice.” Rudy told the two boys. “Well, when can we meet her?” Drew asked, wanting to meet her before committing not as sold on the idea as Austin was. “How about we all go for lunch or something, maybe Tuesday?” He suggested thinking a more neutral thing was a good idea. “Yeah sure, Tuesday works for me.” Austin said, Drew nodding in response.

 To say that Oliva had been busy all weeks was and understatement. She had been prepping for court all week. It was big case, and she was lucky to be able to help. It was her speciality; she would help investigate different people and gather important information towards the case. She loved her job, she basically lived out of her car, but still felt very professional. She moved around so much that she didn’t really need to have an office.

 She had promised Elaine that she would come over and meet the two guys she wanted her to live with but honestly couldn’t find the time. She had blown off lunch one too many times and couldn’t believe that hadn’t found someone else to live with them.

 Oliva was sitting in her car, trying to stuff a bit of lunch in before her next meeting with a client. She was listening to the radio flipping through Instagram when her phone started to ring. Elaine was calling her, she cursed herself, knowing her friend was trying to reschedule plans.

 “Hey Elaine, I’m a little busy right now, can I call you back?” Oliva asks quickly, trying to get her off the phone. “I can hear the radio Liv; you’ve got me on speaker phone.” She responded bluntly into the phone. Oliva reached over and turned the stereo down, upset that she got caught in a lie. “Why did you cancel plans? Come on, I thought you wanted roommates, you can’t leave them hanging like this.” Elaine scolded her through the phone.

 “I know, I’ve just been busy. I don’t mean to keep canceling, plus I don’t want to meet them over lunch it’s awkward, I’m and awkward person.” If she was being honest it was more of her insecurities getting to her. She had always been on her own, never having anyone to tie her down. She felt if she took a place with these guys she would be stuck there, and Oliva was terrible with commitment.

 “Okay, well why don’t you come over for a party and then you can meet them that way, more people less awkwardness. I think their going to love you Oliva, they’re nice guys. Rudy said they seemed happy to have you!” She hyped her up. Elaine was always the more out going one, never scared to take a leap of faith. “When is this party, and am I going to know anyone besides you and Rudy?” She asked, not really wanting to go. “It’s Friday night, and probably not but that’s okay it’s just the cast and couple of other people. You’ll have fun Liv, I’ll text you the address, be there around 8, sound good?” Elaine asked, hoping her friend would take the offer.

 Oliva pondered the offer for a minute. Should she go? She did have the whole weekend off with no plans. Even if she stopped by for an hour it would be better then sitting at her place watching a shitty movie eating take out again. She sighed into the phone. “Ugh okay, but I can stay for like an hour top. Then I’ll have to leave.” She reasoned with Elaine; she could almost see the excitement on her face. “Okay perfect! I’ll see you Friday, we normally do brunch the next you should come! And bring those jello shots you made back in college!” “Elaine, I’m not going to have time for shots.” Oliva said to her, “I know what you said, just bring them!” And with that Elaine hung up on her before she could protest anymore.