The Red Planet

"Yeah, the latch got put on in the wrong spot," I answered. "But if you lift it slightly as you shut it, that seems to work."

Rose tested my suggestion, saw it held in place and nodded to herself. She spent the next five minutes in the bathroom.

"I love the airconditioning in this place, it's always so hot during the day this time of the year - and my current roommate hates turning it on," she yelled as she checked the water pressure in the shower.

"Yeah, it's a lot better than making sweat angels on the couch," I answered.

She smiled as she emerged from the bathroom but didn't laugh at the attempted joke. Her eyes didn't even look at me, they were taking in the kitchen. They lit up when she saw my double-door fridge.

"A proper-sized fridge! I haven't had one of those since I left home. You always end up ordering so much take out when you've got a small fridge. But with something like this I could cook proper meals without going shopping every day."

I shrugged in response. Despite the big fridge I had several local take out restaurants on speed dial.

The kitchen cupboards were next. Rose bent forward at the waist for a closer look and the edge of her panties made another appearance. A moment later she was on her knees, stretching into the back of the bottom cupboard, her jeans slipping lower and lower as she angled her body. I could see a few fingers worth of pink and white checkered underwear covering the top of her buttocks now, and above it pale skin that spilled over the waist of her pants at the side. Her blouse was thin enough that the kitchen lights revealed a hint of pink beneath that suggested her bra matched her panties.

That was enough to start me fantasizing about Rose moving in. And more specifically, me seeing her in her pink and white checked underwear. I felt horribly guilty even as I was ogling her. After all, she was just looking for a new home. Not that it would matter much. I assumed we were fast approaching the point where she would join the long list of people who had retreated before her.

Rose emerged a moment later, backing out from the cupboard on her knees before swiveling to face me as she stood up. She was smiling, though there was a twitch that might have been the start of a frown as her eyes moved up my legs to my face.

I immediately thought of the chocolate stain. I'd washed my jeans since the last incident, but the stain must still be visible. I made a mental note to throw my pants out.

It took me a moment to realise Rose was looking into my eyes again.

"Sorry about diving through your cupboards, I've got a lot of cookware and wanted to make sure there was enough space for it all," she said.

I was trying not to look at her cleavage, I really was. But her inspection had jostled her blouse wider open, and I could see her bra did indeed match her panties.

"I can make more space if you need it," I answered.

She nodded. Her eyes flicking down to my jeans again for a moment. I vowed never to eat chocolate again. For at least the rest of the day.

"So, do I need to put in an application, show some employment credentials or whatever?" She asked.

"Uh, no?" I floundered for words. It was the first time an inspection had got this far. "I mean, that would be good. But, I haven't had any other applications. So it's pretty much yours if you want it."

Rose had waited for my answer with disappointment and resignation already creeping onto her face. I'd worn almost exactly the same look after every inspection. Then I saw the cogs turn behind the green of her irises as she registered what I had said.

"It is? Really? Thank you!"

Before I could even nod to confirm it Rose surged forward and wrapped her arms around me. It was the first hug I'd ever had in the apartment. And it was wonderful. Rose was soft and warm and it felt like she was pressing into me everywhere at once. My erection throbbed in response to the feel of her against my legs.

"Thank you so much! I can move in this weekend if that's alright? I'll send you a reference from my boss and my current roommate tomorrow, but I have to get to work now. Which reminds me, I saw in your add that shift workers were preferred. I hope that's still alright, because I work nights and ..." Rose finally trailed off, seeming to realise belatedly she had her arms around me. She stepped back. "Sorry, I'm a hugger. And a babbler. Did you need to tell me anything else, or did you need any other documents?"

I could still feel the warm afterglow of Rose pressed against me. She smelled like a cinnamon roll. I wanted to say another hug wouldn't hurt, but decided harassing my future roommate was a bad idea.

"Saturday works for me," I answered. "I can give you a hand with carrying your stuff if you like? Maybe save your hamstrings a trip or two up the stairs?"

Rose beamed. We said an awkward goodbye and with a last smile over her shoulder she was gone.

I waited 30 seconds to make sure she wouldn't come back with another question, then rushed to the bathroom to see how bad the stain was. Only there wasn't a stain. There was, however, a noticeable bulge where my half-engorged penis had angled across the top of my right thigh. Looking in the mirror you couldn't be sure it wasn't just the way the fabric had fallen. But there was enough of a bulge that you would wonder. And wonder I did. Had Rose been sneaking glances at my crotch trying to work out if I had a hard on? I went red with the thought. And not just my face. This was a full body blush. The red planet in all its glory.

******

On Saturday she came to me somewhere in the hazy first few hours after sunrise. When the rest of the world was starting their day, but I had just hunkered down to sleep.

At first she hovered just next to my bed. I was naked, the sheets pooled on the floor leaving me completely exposed to her. My normal self-conscious attitude to my body was tangled up on the floor with the linen. I was excited to have her look at me. Blackout blinds kept the waking day out of my room, but there was enough light she could see me. And for me to be sure it was Rose. She moved silently, hands seemingly all over my body at once making my skin tingle from my toes to my scalp. My stomach fluttered with nerves, and my groin throbbed with anticipation.

In the near dark I could see flashes of her smile. The shoulder of a polka dot blouse, a thigh wrapped in tight blue jeans. There was the sound of a zipper being pulled down. Pink and white check marks filled my vision.

My body shivered at the feel of her hands gliding from my stomach to my hips. I was usually sensitive about being touched around my core, but the feeling was electric and I wanted her to touch me everywhere. Moving in slow half circles on either side of my body, Rose's finger tips seemed to be drawing closer and closer to my penis. It was already hard, but twitched as more blood tried to squeeze into it every time the circle shrank.

The sensation stopped just as it had seemed the next half circuit would end with Rose cradling my cock. Her smile. Her breath. A flash of pink and white checks being scrunched, pulled to the side, revealing darkness behind them and a wet heat I'd only ever dreamed of.

Her body lowered closing the distance to where my cock throbbed with anticipation. I was heartbeats away from losing my virginity. Just as it seemed she should have connected with my tip her body became indistinct. Pink and white smoke shimmering above me.

I blinked and my eyes snapped open to empty space. The sheets were tight beneath my chin. Somewhere beneath them my insanely aroused penis, erect and straining against the fabric of my boxer shorts was the only part of the dream that had flowed through to reality. A tentative touch through my blanket almost set it off. Any further touch would take me over the edge. I hadn't been so aroused since Jen and Doug's lounge room tryst.

Fuck it. I closed my eyes and wrapped a hand around my shaft. As I exploded into my sheets, my imagination reformed Rose above me. Another dream girl.

******

That afternoon an excited, red-faced Rose arrived on my doorstep with a box full of pots and pans. I waved her inside to put the box down and was treated to another hug before I joined her in unpacking her car. She was in a pair of exercise shorts that put a distracting amount of her legs on show. A red tank top clung tight to her body, revealing the folds and rolls I had guessed at earlier in the week. Her breasts looked like they would explode out of the top at any moment.

Her car was an old model sedan, and it was packed to the roof where a durable looking mattress was strapped in place. We grabbed that first, each holding an end, me following Rose up the stairs. I knew I shouldn't be staring at my new roommate, but with her shorts riding up between her thighs it was enough of a thrill to take my mind off the exertion of the heavy lifting and stairs. I didn't catch site of her panties, but seeing more and more of her pale skin as the loose shorts bunched up higher and higher was just as titillating.

I carried open-topped boxes of books and clothes for five more trips before I got to a mysterious taped-up carton with the word 'bedroom' written on it. It was heavier than any of the other boxes by a long shot. I made it to Rose's room at the same time she was bringing in the remains of another box she had been emptying into the kitchen drawers. I was about to put it on her mattress, but the base collapsed before I got the chance. Girl stuff tumbled out in a deluge of hair drying, straightening, curling and shaving devices. A box of menstrual pads bounced to the floor. The last thing to roll to a stop, next to my right foot, was a pink vibrator. Seeing it, knowing where it had been, had me instantly aroused. The device had a gentle curve to it, but was modest enough to make me feel a little twinge of pride at the swelling in my underwear.

It was hard to tell if Rose was red from embarrassment or exertion. I hoped I was similarly hard to read, and decided to pretend I hadn't seen it. We both knew I had, but I just didn't know how to acknowledge my new roommate planned to masturbate at some unknown point in the future. I mumbled a quick apology for the collapsed box and trekked back down to the car.

It took about two hours to get Rose unpacked, the boxes stashed away or emptied. When it was done, we both slumped onto the couch. Hot enough to need a cold drink and the airconditioner cranked up, but too tired to make either of those things happen. We'd been there about two minutes when Rose's legs splayed wide and her knee rested against mine. That tiny connection left me hyper aware of everything about the moment. The heat of her against my skin, the weird feeling of someone else's sweat mixing with mine, even the faint smell of her body odor cutting through the triple dose of deodorant I'd showered myself in that morning. It felt like my pulse was stuttering to the out-of-synch ticking of the two clocks now in my apartment. Rose had brought the second with her. A giant wooden slab with a tropical beach painted on it that now hung in her room.

"I think I'm making a sweat angel on your couch," Rose said.

I laughed. She smiled. And for the first time I noticed her sweat had soaked through her top, accentuating the size of her bosom as it clung even tighter to her breasts. She definitely caught me looking.

"Ugh. I have to get out of this top; it's gross," she said. With an effort she forced herself to her feet, her shorts pulling taught across her backside as she did.

"So what are the rules for showering?" She asked.

"Huh?"

"You know, hot water, soap, cleaning yourself. I know the last roommate you had was a dude, but I assume you didn't just go bare-arsed from your room to the bathroom."

"Oh, uh, I guess we didn't."

"Right, so where's the line? Should I take my clothes in with me? Wear my full Elizabethan swimming costume and hat?"

I snorted at the joke as Rose kept on.

"Bra and panties? A couple of black censorship rectangles to hold over my fun bits?"

I burst out laughing at the last part, but could feel myself getting a semi at the mention of her more intimate apparel and areas. It took me a moment to realise Rose was not too subtly watching the rising bulge in my pants. I went red again. Part of me wanted to cover up, but I'd ogled her all afternoon. Fair was fair. Though the blood rushing to my cheeks quickly stole from the supply fueling my arousal.

"I'll just take some clothes in with me and we can work out formal arrangements later on," she said.

With a wink she disappeared into her room.

*****

I was playing video games when Rose came out of the shower. She'd yelled out to warn me she planned to wash her hair and would be a while. That turned out to be 45 minutes, and by the time she emerged Greg was hunting me down with a sniper rifle. Normally I had his measure, but today I was distracted. Losing badly, and not really caring. I was strafing to cover as Rose clucked her tongue in disapproval.

"You're getting your arse kicked," she said. "Which is good. You have until my hair is dry to get cleaned up and put something nice on. Then I want to go someplace we can get a drink and get to know each other."

She disappeared into her bedroom to continue unpacking without a further word.

Greg had heard her over the headset.

"Hey, you didn't say your new roommate was a woman, that's great news," he said. "Could be fun. I've had roommates with benefits before. Usually someone winds up getting a bit too attached and it goes south. But it's all kinds of awesome until then."

I stopped trying to hide my character on the screen as my eyes drifted to the closed door of Rose's room.

"Greg, she just moved in, it's nothing like that," I replied.

"Mars, she just ordered you to get dressed up and to take her out drinking. That's practically a date. Is she cute?"

"Yeah," I answered far too quickly.

"Was she wearing something nice when she was talking to you just then? Make up on?"

I thought back. Definitely wearing makeup, her eyes had seemed greener than I remembered with some sort of black stuff along her eyelids. And there was a brighter colour to her cheeks that made her lips look amazing when she'd smiled just before going back into her room. Definitely the kind of face I'd have fallen hopelessly in love with as a teenager. Or as a 25-year-old. Dressed in the same blouse and jeans from when she inspected the flat a few days earlier, her attire definitely qualified as 'nice'.

"Yeah," I finally replied.

"Then get your shit together. This isn't 'getting to know you' it's a vetting session. She's trying to work out if you're the kind of guy she'll just see around the apartment after work, or if she's going to wake up next to you every so often."

"That's crazy, Greg."

"Maybe it is. Maybe, she isn't into you. No sweat. Give it a couple of weeks and if you don't freak her out she'll probably decide to try and set you up with a friend. But only if she knows you won't embarrass her on a date. So you gotta convince her you're a fun night out." Greg paused for a minute. I hid my video game avatar behind another rock. "Of course if I am right, do you really want to risk missing out on the number one perk of having a female roommate?"

Greg took my silence as a 'no' and continued.

"Just get through the shower, dress nice but casual and don't go nuts with the cologne. Take her to the nicest bar walking distance from your apartment. Not a sports joint. Somewhere with booths if you know one. Good food's important, but cheap drinks are better. It's the place that will probably become your regular. And then just try to make a good impression."

"Uh, I usually don't fit into booths particularly well," I said. I felt myself flushing red again.

"Right. Sorry big guy. You know what, that's clichéd anyway. Just be funny, if you can get her laughing it'll make her feel more comfortable around you. And don't be one of those guys who instantly agrees with everything she says. Show her you've got some spine."

"What are you, some sort of dating guru?" I whispered, eyes darting nervously to Rose's bedroom door to make sure it was still shut.

"I still feel bad for the whole Jen thing. I know you said it's cool, but fuck I'd love to see Jen's face if you wind up dating your hot new roommate. Reckon she would just about choke on a slice of humble pie. And she's freakin' terrified of carbs. Speaking of which, no matter what your roommate orders, you get pizza. Just make sure you find out what her favourite toppings are, and get something she'll definitely want a taste of. You want her to be thinking about you when she thinks about guilty pleasures within arm's reach. Or within the apartment. Booze wise, just stick with light beers, shout her a drink and let her buy you one back. Don't get sloshed, and don't get her drunk either. She needs to remember she had a good time, not that she had a hangover."

It was a lot to take in, and my mind was still reeling from Greg's certainty that this was more than just Rose and I getting to know each other.

"What about the game?" I asked.

My characters head exploded in a cloud of gore.

"We're done here. Go have fun being a grown up for a change. And if you get into trouble, activate God mode."

"God mode?"

"You're an astrophysicist. Tell her you can show her heaven, then take her for a walk outside and start naming constellations. But don't go overboard. There's a fine line between showing her you're a smart guy who appreciates beauty and winding up as some nerd she lives with."

I switched off the console wondering where the hell Greg and his advice had been when I was in high school.

*****

We walked east, the sunset warming our backs. Ahead of us the sky worked its way from the kind of deep blue you only get late in the day in September, to crimson and purple. Rose's hair had dried in gentle curls and there was enough of a breeze to tussle them. She looked amazing. And unless she was hoping to meet someone at the bar, the makeup, the tight jeans and the blouse that was at least one open button past casual were all for my benefit. Part of me refused to believe she'd done all that to impress me. That we'd get to the bar and she'd immediately catch the eye of some triangle-shaped jock. But even if this was just as roommates getting to know each other, it was the closest I'd been to a date in a long time. I forced myself to speak around the lump in my throat.

"So, what kind of work keeps you in overnight?" I asked.

"I'm in data analysis with a security contractor. But most of the figures I'm monitoring come out of China, and they want someone to check it in real time during peak periods - which unfortunately doesn't match up with the usual nine to five. Typical government contract stuff, if it fits in a normal work day they'll pay some buddy's kid to do it. Can't get it done in time to be at the bar for happy hour? Contract it out."

I raised an eyebrow.

"It's a lot more boring than it sounds, trust me," she said. "We're not spies or anything, although I sometimes pretend the data we're vetting is being sent to some operative in the middle of a crazy adventure.

"Besides, your job is way more interesting. Astrophysicist. And almost a doctorate. You've got to be crazy smart."

I was about to answer when it occurred to me that I'd never mentioned my job to her. Rose seemed to guess my thoughts, missing a step as she realised the implication.

"Oh shoot. I wasn't supposed to just come straight out with that." She chewed her lip as she walked on, forcing me to keep up. "OK, so I hope you don't mind, but I might have, kinda, done a bit of a background check on you before I came to inspect your apartment. No credit checks or financials, just making sure you didn't have a criminal record for chopping women up in your bath tub."