Beyond Monetary Needs Pt. 01

Though Jim matched her laughter as she teased him back, his features relaxed into an easy smile, looking down to her twirling hand, then back up to her eyes. "I suppose you're right. At the end of the day, I'm a big believer in the precept 'whatever floats your boat'." He slapped his thigh and got up onto his feet, throwing one final look around the room.

"To answer your previous question, I'll move in," he declared, walking over to a nearby desk and checking out a photo of Terry, his mom and his dad from ages ago. From that Jim assumed this was Terry's room he had picked, suddenly becoming aware of a few other tell tale signs.

"The room is..." he shook his head a bit, smiling not to say anything unkind, but it was clear he wasn't all that impressed with it.

"However the hostess more than makes up for it." Jim added, looking to Jennifer, "I know I might have a bit of an unusual and hectic lifestyle and I wasn't too sure how that would gel with the dynamic of a family home, but having met you I have a good feeling about it. Let's say I never would have imagined that Terry's mom would be so easy going, but there we are."

"This might even work out better than expected. I think I'd benefit from a more mature experience and likewise..." he let his words linger in the air before looking towards the door, thinking to go get his luggage, but before that he stepped forward towards Jennifer.

"So how do we do this? Is there a contract I need to sign? Or is a handshake good enough?" Jim wondered, tilting his head slightly as he studied her features.

The woman gave a nod to the young man as he remarked, watching as he stood up and inspected the room a little further. It wasn't particularly large, but he would only be staying for a couple months over the summer. There was no need for Jennifer to really pull out all the stops and make the room his own. She laughed lightly, shaking her head.

"Oh stop it you." She hushed at the comment, moving to stand up and meet his eyes.

"It's no problem. Terry lived here for a little before moving to campus, so I understand at least a little." She replied lightly.

"Oh, right. Robert was adamant we have a contract." She replied, shrugging her shoulders.

I didn't really see the need, what with Terry vouching for you as he did. But my husband was a stickler about that.

"It's just downstairs in the office." She replied, gesturing for Jim to follow as she stepped out of the room.

Walking along the hall, she glanced back at him, then continued on.

"It's all the usual things of a contract. Paying monthly until you've got to leave, if it has to terminate, all that usual legaleze nonsense..." It wasn't as though Jennifer didn't understand what the contract said, but it wasn't ever in the forefront of her mind.

She was the hostess and she had no problem hosting Jim. Why should any of it matter? Unless of course Jim wasn't a good tenant, but she had a good feeling. She did enjoy the little teasing remarks and their banter. It was nice to get such complimentary remarks from a young man half her age.

"You're welcome to eat with us or take your food with you. I don't cook daily, but I do regularly enough. Anything in the fridge is fair game, and if you'd like to cook for yourself, I ask that you clean up your dishes too." She offered as they reached downstairs, passing by the kitchen as they headed to the office.

"There's a fridge in the garage as well, so if the one in the kitchen is full..." Jennifer went on, continuing to explain things even as they reached the office. When she did her part time work, it was usually in here. On the printer, there was a contract that she handed off to the young man.

"Here you are. Just sign and date here," She smiled.

Jim nodded, as he looked around, scrunching his nose the moment it was confirmed this was Terry's room. Regardless, it was like he'd said before, the hostess more than made up for it. Once she mentioned the contract, Jim simply nodded, but to hear that it was her husband insisting on it made him raise an eyebrow.

"Maybe your husband does not trust his son all that much." Jim added nonchalantly but before he could get a reply he simply laughed it off.

"I'm kidding, it's nice to formalize things. Good on Robert." and he smiled affirmatively as she suggested Jim follow after her.

He almost didn't need to think about it, that heavenly derriere seemed to draw the young man on its own, so much so that as she turned around his gaze was rather unashamedly onto her swaying hips with Jim letting out mindless 'mhm's and 'yeah's to confirm he was fine with the contents of the contract that was to be signed.

With Robert insisting on the contract, it did indeed suggest he didn't trust his son's judgement all that much. To be fair that Jim couldn't fault him, knowing Terry Jim was aware he was book smart but at times could have as much common sense as a fence post. Perhaps that was something that Jennifer overlooked. It would certainly fit the 'caring mother' persona that Jim's observing right now. Appreciative of her husband and close to her son. At the risk of oversimplifying, this was the picture of Jennifer that Jim had painted in his mind.

Reaching downstairs, Jennifer turned a corner that broke the line of sight with her lovely butt and made Jim's sense return back to him, allowing him to actually pay attention to what she was saying with regards to the food.

"Ah, that's nice to know. I'm not really a breakfast person. Lunch I imagine I'll take at the office whilst for dinner...well I do not cook. I'm spoiled in that regard. I had quite a lot of female friends cooking for me whilst I was on campus. To that end, I wouldn't mind sampling some of your cooking. If your hospitality so far is any indication, I'm in for quite a treat," Jim added as he took the contract from Jennifer's hands.

Without even reading it, he put down his signature.

"Here you go. Hope Robert is happy," he teased, "Since I'm now officially part of the household, what's for dinner?" a cheeky smile on his face.

Jennifer took the contract back, inspecting it and setting it onto the desk. Robert would see it later and file it away, she was sure.

Though, she couldn't help but laugh, shaking her head and brushing back her hair with a smile, "I might make you do chores if you're so eager for dinner." She teased right back at him, a smirk on her face as she stepped past him.

"You'll find out what dinner is once dinner is served." She added an equally cheeky smile on her face as she glanced back at him. "Why don't you get unpacked? I won't be starting on dinner yet."

It was, after all, still the afternoon. Not that Jennifer had too much else to worry about. Most of the daily chores she'd gotten done early that morning, before her friends had come for lunch. She had already gone shopping for groceries before. If anything, she had some time to relax and enjoy the afternoon for a little before she'd really need to do anything.

"If you need anything, let me know." She offered, giving Jim a gentle smile. "I'll be in the living room." With that, the woman headed on to the living room, picking up her tablet to read and relax until the early evening came around.

====

Jim did not need to read the contract to know that cooking for him was not part of the deal. She'd been gracious in offering it and yet it was something that he expected. With that Jim stepped away, grabbing his luggage and heading upstairs. Carrying the luggage in one hand, his phone on the other, he shot a quick text to Terry.

"Hey man, I wasn't so sure about the room to be very honest." Jim put the phone in his pocket as he reached the top of the stairs, but he barely made it to the room before his pocket vibrated.

"What? Why? It's a great room. Should I tell my dad to lower the rent?" was Terry's follow-up message. He was well aware that upsetting Jim would jeopardize his new relationship with his girl. Though Terry waited for a reply, his message went unanswered for now.

The rest of the afternoon was taken up by Jim unpacking into his new room and also grabbing a shower. He'd changed into something more casual, black jeans and a plain blue t-shirt before heading downstairs to see about dinner.

Meanwhile, Jennifer had made significant progress through her book. She felt like she hardly ever took the time to actually sit and read, and it had been refreshing to relax for a little bit. She could hear the young man upstairs settling himself into Terry's room. She'd taken care to remove a good amount of Terry's clothes that he no longer fit into - or she'd deemed were just too old. That boy never really cared about his appearance enough, not until he'd gotten to college. Well, even then, it was only a little and it had paid off - he was now seeing a young woman. Everytime she pressured the boy to bring his girlfriend home, he always came up with some excuse. Jennifer wasn't that embarrasing of a parent, was she?

Either way, she'd made her way to the kitchen, pulling her long red locks back into a messy bun and tying an apron around her as she began to prepare dinner today. On the menu was roast chicken with a pan sauce, along with roasted vegetables and homemade bread she'd baked the day before. She'd already mixed up some garlic butter, both ovens already going as she prepped the chicken, chopping up vegetables, and checking the oven temperatures.

Hearing footsteps, she'd turned, a smile on her face, "Good evening, Jim!" She spoke cheerfully, turning back to the work in front of her.

"Dinner won't be ready for, oh, maybe about another hour." She hummed, adept as she worked about her kitchen. It was hers, in fact - a few years back, they had gotten it remodeled and she'd worked with the designer to make sure it was exactly what she wanted. She smiled as she finished up what she was doing with the chicken, bringing a brush delicately over the skin before stepping away.

"Excuse me, I need to get this in the oven..." She murmured, popping the door down and sliding the bird in.

"There. Are you all settled in?" She asked, closing the door, glancing at him, then returning to the vegetables. "You look comfortable now, so I would hope so!"

Stepping into the living room Jim could hear the murmur of activity in the kitchen and he followed the sounds until he reached the doorway.

"Evening." he replied with a smile, leaning the side of his body against the doorframe.

He took in the kitchen for once. Not that he was that much of an expert in interior decoration and whatnot, but everything seemed to have been placed with a purpose. It certainly gave off a very welcoming and homely vibe, all thanks to the lady of the house, which Jim certainly appreciated.

"It's alright, do your thing." he commented as his eyes returned to the woman, once again admiring the silhouette of her body.

"Yeah I unpacked everything. You wouldn't know it coming into the room though. I prefer to be rather minimal, except for my clothes which all fit inside the wardrobe, I didn't bring much else." he smiled recalling the brief convo with Terry.

"Your son offered me another discount on the rent. I know the contract is signed, but I'd thought I'd mention it." he looked up to see her reaction before breaking into a laugh.

"I'm kidding. Though Terry was quite adamant I took the room. He's very keen to repay me."

"Oh?" Surprise came over Jennifer's face. "Really?" She furrowed her brow a little bit. Why would Terry go trying to reduce the rent again? That didn't really add up, although Jim brushed it off jokingly. She let out a little laugh. "Well, I suppose you already signed." She said whilst chopping up the vegetables.

Right then the sound of a car pulling into the driveway was heard.

Jim didn't have to guess as to who that was. He glanced at the time on his phone. It was approaching 9.

"Robert must be quite a hard worker." he commented, his sentence cut off by a loud bang as the front door seemed to have been slammed shut.

"He is. Sometimes too hard." She replied, a tinge of disappointment evident for only a moment.

Maybe Robert didn't have such a nice day. The sound of footsteps behind him grew louder until an older man in a suit appeared behind Jim. On purpose Jim angled his body so that he was occupying more of the doorway. He heard Robert stop behind him. Would he ask Jim to move or would he try to squeeze through? He cleared his throat which Jim pretended not to hear.

Exasperated, Robert just squeezed through. "Evening," he let out in an annoyed tone, throwing a quick look to his wife before looking at Jim behind him now.

"You're Terry's friend?" Robert growled.

Jim smiled and nodded.

"You signed the contract?"

Jim raised an eyebrow, as if to show his surprise at the man's hostility, but regardless kept his smile as he nodded.

It was clear to Jennifer Robert wasn't happy, though her surprise at his hostility wasn't as great as Jim's, she'd clearly experienced it before.

"Hi, honey." She smiled. "Dinner will be ready in just a bit." She stated, quickly putting the vegetables into the next oven as Robert greeted their new tenant.

Of course, greeted him with the delicacy of a hammer to a glass vase. She let out a sigh, looking to him. He seemed very tense today, and she was sure that it had nothing to do with Jim or with the contract at all.

"Honey..." She closed the distance between them, her hand patting his chest.

"He may be renting, but he's still our guest," She stated lightly.

Her hand brushed his cheek, leaning up to give him a light peck. "Go wash up." She murmured, her hand caressing his cheek lightly.

"Dinner will be ready when you come down. I promise." She hummed.

She wasn't going to have Robert be so overtly business and cold with Jim, even if he'd had a bad day. That was bad manners. Robert would cool down after a nice shower and once he was full.

Jim could see that the man of the house not only was in a bad mood, but he seemed to have forgotten his manners back in the office.

Regardless Jennifer was quick to jump in and defuse the situation. Though the look in Robert's eyes remained hostile despite him forcing a smile eventually. Jim seemed unaffected, he crossed his arms over his chest, likewise forcing a smile only when Jennifer was looking his way.

Robert was gone soon enough, Jim decided to lean away to give him more leeway to pass.

"You know what? I think I lost my appetite. I'm sure it'll be delicious though. Good night." Jim told the lady of the house and headed back upstairs.

"Oh?" She paused as Jim had decided to forgo dinner today. Well, he wasn't required to join them. She had honestly thought he would take a plate and head to his room. Terry often had done that, though it was more to play on his computer and eat rather than be downstairs with his boring mother and heavy handed father. Unless, of course, Robert told him to stay downstairs and eat. Jennifer herself had given up on making him stay downstairs and eat with them when he got to that sulky high school phase of his.

"Good night, then!" She called after him, watching as he headed on upstairs.

The first day of Jim as a new tenant had been a mixed one. The high of the introduction in the afternoon was matched by the low of being introduced to Robert. It's not that it affected Jim in any way, it merely served as confirmation of how unsuitable that man was.

As he lay on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling, Jim pulled out his phone rereading Terry's last text.

"What? Why? It's a great room. Should I tell my dad to lower the rent?"

Jim brought his phone up, typing a reply, "Nah it's fine. After I saw how hot your mom was, I decided to take it."

There was a bubble of text on the screen as if Terry started to type and then nothing.

A bombshell had just been dropped on Terry, afterall he knew Jim's reputation quite well, though he'd never assume that he'd actually come on to a woman twice his age. Surely he wouldn't, not with his dad there?

Terry tried to calm down, repeating to himself that his mom wasn't some college floozy that Jim could easily wrap around his finger.

Indeed she wasn't. Not yet.