College Student’s Landlady Pt. 01

Part I -- A Place to Live

Gordon was 19 years old and had taken a year off after high school to work and travel. He was overjoyed be accepted into TWU, a Christian based college outside of Vancouver but the excitement of getting out from under his overbearing mother and living on campus had hit a snag that jeopardized everything. As part of the process to live on campus TWU required a complete medical history form completed by Gordon's family physician. Without Gordon's knowledge his doctor had indicated in the questionnaire that Gordon had a history of bedwetting. Gordon was puzzled when he was notified that he was ineligible to live on campus due to his medical history. Puzzled about this he contacted the Student Housing Department, and he was mortified to be told that his physician had indicated that he was a bedwetter.

He tried to explain that the doctor was mistaken, and the problem had resolved years ago. This was in fact a lie because he still wet occasionally but Gordon was desperate because there were no other universities that accepted his applications due to less than stellar marks in high school. The Student Housing Coordinator would not accept a revised report from Gordon's physician and the news only got worse because the coordinator informed him that almost all of the off campus housing options in this small town were registered with TWU and the school shared all the data they had on students and applicants for housing.

Gordon was in tears at this point and pleaded with Coordinator for other possible options. She recommended he try looking for a nearby private rental but was realistic that the chances were slim because in this small highly religious area almost all homeowners who had rooms for rent were registered with TWU.

For the entire month of June Gordon placed ads and responded to Craigslist or Kijijiji listings close to the school but they were all a dead end due to cost or they did not accept students. In July he made one last attempt to contact the TWU Housing Coordinator and plead his case. She would not alter his file, but she did offer a glimmer of hope.

She told him that they had one home on file that for the past decade or so the landlord had accepted a couple of students who had bedwetting issues. The coordinator tempered his enthusiasm because the landlord had not contacted TWU for a few years looking a new student, but she would email Mrs. Schimmel to enquire and give her Gordon's contact information.

With each passing day and no email from the prospective landlord Gordon became more and more desperate and by the third week of August he was resigned to the fact that he probably would be attending Capilano College which was 10 minutes from his home for the first year and living at home with a mother he so desperately wanted to distance himself from. Then one Saturday morning he checked his email and there was an email from a Helga Schimmel titled "TWU Fall Semester Room Available".

He eagerly opened the email, and it went into detail about how the room and board cost which was significantly higher than what it would cost Gordon to live in the school's Student Housing, but Mrs. Schimmel provided home cooked meals, laundry service and since her home was a about 8 km from the campus she would provide drop him off and pick him up at the end of each day. What he found even more appealing was that in exchange for doing chores she would offer a reduced rent depending on the amount of work done the prior month.

The email instructed him to contact her as soon as possible as she had another prospective renter. Gordon waited until 9am before calling and made an appointment for noon for an interview and tour. Gordon was 15 minutes late when he arrived at the cute cottage style home at the edge of the small town of Fort Langley. It was right on the main road leading into the quaint main street of the town. He was amazed at how large and well maintained the garden and property leading to the back was. He could see why she was looking for assistance.

Mrs. Schimmel answered the door and while pleasant she clearly was annoyed by his tardiness,

"I hope you being late is not going to be a habit. It is disrespectful to keep someone waiting. Did you know that?"

Gordon meekly apologized and followed her into the kitchen where she had him sit while she prepared poured them some lemonade and put out a plate of cookies. Mrs. Schimmel appeared to be in her mid 50's. She was tall and heavy set with a large chest and large round bottom. Gordon thought she was awfully formally dressed in her snug fitting white blouse, straight skirt, nylons and heels for a warm Saturday morning. She spoke with a thick German accent as she told him how her husband passed away 15 years ago and they never had children. She suggested she show him around first then they could discuss details.

The house was larger than it appeared from the street, and she clearly was proud of her home and garden. She went on to tell him how her last tenant was a young lady, and she did not work out as she was lazy and spent too much time bringing young men over which Mrs. Schimmel did not approve of since TWU had a strict "no sex policy" for it's students. Gordon spent too much time stealing glances at Mrs. Schimmel's ample chest and big ass in the snug skirt and got embarrassed when she caught him staring. She just smiled and continued the tour. When she told him she wanted a young man around the house as much for company as for the rent, Jimmy knew he had found the right place.

When she showed Gordon the room, he was a little taken aback that it was so little girlish with canopy bed and matching nigh stands, dresser and desk. The canopy itself along with curtains and lamp shades were ruffled white lace with pink trim.

Mrs. Schimmel apologized profusely,

"I am so sorry when I ordered the bedroom suite from the Sears catalog years ago, I made a terrible mistake and ordered this feminine one instead of the more neutral style one on the same page. Unfortunately, because the error was my fault they would not allow me to exchange it without having to pay a delivery fee and fee to disassemble the furniture. I hope you do not mind Gordon?"

Gordon wasn't thrilled about the idea of having a little girl's bed but he really had no other options.

"Oh it's fine Mrs. Schimmel."

She quickly corrected him,

"I would to be called Frau Schimmel please."

Gordon just shrugged and said,

"Sure, no problem."

Back I the kitchen they enjoyed the cold lemonade and cookies while she asked him about what he planned to study, his family, if he had lots of friends and if he had a girlfriend. She seemed quite happy to hear how he was not close to his family and that most of his friends from high school were either away working or at other schools. She seemed especially happy that he did not have a girlfriend.

Gordon was starting to wonder if she was going to bring up his bedwetting. He was certain that the Housing Coordinator informed her of this and that was why he could not find accommodations. She never did bring it up but as the interview went on she spent a considerable amount of time informing him about her house rules such as no loud music, no friends over after 6pm, her expectations about cleanliness, proper table manners and showing her proper respect. He thought it was a bit much, but he just nodded his head figuring she was just pretending to be this strict and she would not actually be in real life.

She asked him if he wanted to stay in her home and he responded,

"Yes, Mrs. Schimmel I would."

She curtly corrected him and playfully slapped him on the wrist and smiled at him,

"It's Frau Schimmel young man."

She handed him a lengthy rental agreement and told him to sign it which he just glanced at where he noticed o the last page all the rules, she had spelled out plus quite a few more. He just shrugged and signed it without reading everything in detail.

She signed it as well then hugged him as she said to him,

You will have a lovely time here and I think we will get along famously. You seem like the perfect young man for me."

She recommended that he move in next week so that he has some time to get to know the area before school starts and if he would like to reduce his monthly rent he can spend the first ten days before school starts helping I the garden and house.

He liked the idea of getting the hell out of his mother's home sooner rather than later.