Warming Up to a Frosty Housemate

The end of Simon's lease is coming up, and he needs to find a new place quickly. He cannot afford a home of his own, since he is in his last year at the University of Texas, Austin, and his primary source of income is the graveyard shift at a 7-Eleven convenience store, three nights a week. His experience with roommates hasn't been great. He currently shares his place with a 22-year old singer-songwriter who spends most of his days making playlists on YouTube, and a 25-year old office manager who chain smokes and complains constantly about her colleagues. He hopes to find a place where he can have uplifting conversations with others, and not be embarrassed when he bring friends over for a drink. Since he'll be graduating in 12 months, he's willing to pay a couple hundred more in rent, and live in a house instead of an apartment.

After fruitlessly searching for two weeks on Craigslist, Simon sees an ad for a room in a house that is only two miles from campus. It looks great: a two-storey detached house, a large bedroom, a huge living room, and a two-car garage. The potential roommates are the owner, an engineer in his fifties who retired from the tech industry, and a medical professional who has lived there for the past five years. Simon makes an appointment for the same evening, and shows up ten minutes early, dressed in his best khakis and a buttoned-down shirt.

"Hi, this is Simon."

"Hi Simon. I'm Gerald. Come on in."

As he walks in, he sees that the living room is as great as it looked on the photos; vaulted ceilings, a mezzanine on the upper storey leading to the bedrooms, and a grandiose fireplace.

Gerald shows him around the house; the bedroom is large, with enough room to put his bed, his desk, and even the weight bench that he currently keeps in a storage unit. The bedroom window overlooks a manicured garden that Gerald seems to take particular pride in. Gerald, it turns out, is friendly, well-rounded, and seems to occupy his days building and programming racing drones. After giving Simon the full tour of the property, Gerald goes through the list of house rules.

"As I mentioned in the ad, you'll have to share the bathroom with the other renter."

"That's what I've been doing for the last three years, so I'm good with that."

"Yes, well, I should warn you that she is rather particular about how things are arranged in the bathroom. She will most likely ask you to agree to a schedule for every morning and evening, you know, like when you're allowed or not allowed to shower."

"Ah. Well, I'm sure we can come to a mutually agreeable schedule."

"That's great. So, are you still interested?"

"Definitely! I really like the vibe of your house. It's exactly what I am looking for. And being so close to campus is going to make things easier for me on so many levels."

"Great. Well, maybe this is a good time for you to meet Carrie."

"Sure."

"Ahem, come with me."

Gerald walks with Simon to a door at the end of the mezzanine that overlooks the living room. He gives a light knock and waits. After about ten seconds, the door cracks open, and they see a strawberry blonde woman in her early thirties looking at them inquisitively.

"Yes?"

"Hi Carrie, I'd like to introduce you to Simon, who is interested in Tom's old room."

Carrie, at the sound of Tom's name, makes a smirk that betrays her disdain for her previous roommate.

"Hi," she says tersely, opening the door a little more and extending her hand.

"Hi Carrie. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Yes, did Gerald tell you about the bathroom rules?"

"Yes he did. I'm sure we can find a good way to share the space."

"We'll see. But there's no point discussing this right now. Not until Gerald approves your application and runs a background check. Gerald: let me know when that's all done. Bye!"

Simon barely has time to respond and the door is already closed. Gerald sighs and looks at Simon with frustration.

"I hope you are not offended. She can be standoffish at times. But she is a good person, and I think you'll be able to work things out. You want to come down and look at the paperwork?"

As they walk down the stairs, Simon starts feeling a bit uneasy about his first interaction with his potential housemate.

"You're sure this is going to work? Carrie doesn't seem happy about me moving in. Maybe she would prefer a female roommate to share the bathroom with?"

"No, no, no, I've tried that and it didn't work out—it was practically open hostility. She's been here for five years and a male roommate works best. She even says so. It's just that Tom, the last renter, became a bit belligerent, and they ended up arguing a lot. The way you introduced yourself tells me you know how to defuse tense situations. I would be happy to have you move in. Very happy."

"Are you sure? Okay, let's do this!"

Two weeks later, Simon has moved in with his meagre possessions. The first bathroom-sharing discussion with Carrie ended up being awkward, but she knew exactly what she wanted and they worked out a cabinet space allocation plan as well as a daily schedule. She seemed satisfied with his apparent willingness to abide by it. During the first three weeks, she only complains about two things: that he has left his toothbrush on the wrong side of the ledge near the sink, and that there is a bit of toothpaste on the floor. Simon is easygoing, so he doesn't mind, and he reassured her that he will pay closer attention.

In the evening, Simon usually grabs something to snack on, either after he gets home from school, or shortly before heading off to work. Sometimes, Carrie is seated at the kitchen table, eating her food and reading a book. The first couple of times they had met in the kitchen, they had barely interacted. Simon had asked innocuous questions, like "what are you reading?" or "how was work today?", but her terse answers indicated she had no interest in chatting. Then one evening, about a month after he'd moved in, Carried puts down her book, and asks him a few questions about his school programme. Simon is surprised, and thinks that she is only asking out of politeness, but she keeps talking, and by the time he must leave for work, it's been a pleasant hour-long conversation. Before long, they are chatting several times a week, always in the kitchen, during dinnertime. She sometimes alternates between her book and the conversation, but more often than not, she places the book aside as soon as Simon enters the kitchen area, and engages with him. She asks pointed questions and shows interest in his studies-- the type of questions one would ask during an interview. She never really smiles, or laughs, but Simon likes conversing with her nonetheless. It does feel at times like she's analyzing him, but she always has great recommendations about articles to read, or podcasts to listen to, on a variety of topics such as his exercise routine, his studies, his career prospects, or his culinary preferences. He likes the fact that she is interested in a variety of topics, that she keeps herself informed, and that she is willing to give him helpful advice. She even offers to let him use her yoga and stretching equipment, which she keeps in the garage.

After a while, Simon starts seeing Carrie in a different light. At first, she was so standoffish that he preferred to not think about her. Now that they had spent several evenings together in the kitchen, Simon notices that she is rather attractive. She has mid-length hair, and a svelte physique. He suspects that she has beautiful hourglass-shaped body, but it is difficult to tell given that she wears loose pants and sweaters when she is home. She goes running several times a week—when she comes back, she walks directly upstairs to shower, so he barely has time to see her until she changes back into her frumpy loungewear. When running, she wears leggings and a tight top, and keeps her hair in a knot. Simon has only seen her in her running attire during fleeting moments, with barely enough time to observe her butt bouncing up the stairs, but each time he concluded that she looked gorgeous.

Outside their evening encounters, Simon notices that Carrie and Gerald barely interact. Gerald is generally jovial, and it clashes with Carrie's sternness; she sometimes looks reproachfully at him when he makes light of things, such as when he suggested Simon was going to suffer Carrie's wrath for placing a half empty tub of hummus on Carrie's designated shelf in the refrigerator. Simon is glad he's able to have a good rapport with both of them, in spite of their differences.

One evening, Simon comes home at 7 pm after staying at the library for a team project, and doesn't see Carrie. He finds that unusual, since she always makes sure to be home before dinnertime. He assumes she went to visit some friends for the evening. Because his allotted time on the bathroom schedule ends at 7:30, he decides to jump into the shower.

Carrie, however, went out for a run. She was held up at work earlier for a staff meeting and arrived home at 6:30 pm, much later than usual. Frustrated about her boss' longwindedness, she switched her regular routine.

While jogging, Carrie always listens to music quietly on her earbuds. As she steps into the house after her thirty-minute jog, her favourite song starts playing, so she turns up the volume. She really wants to pee. She also feels all sweaty and gross; this isn't usually a problem because she normally gets home from her run during her allotted bathroom time. She doesn't want to wait until 7:30 to empty her bladder and freshen up. Unsure whether Simon is home or at work, she climbs the stairs up to the bathroom, turns the knob to see if the door is locked—it isn't. She concludes that Simon is not home, so she can go in and shower quickly. If he is actually home and wants to come in, he'll find the door locked, and she will explain why she had to shower early—he'll understand. He is quite a nice guy. She opens the door, steps into the bathroom, and turns around to lock the door. She walks to the toilet, drops her leggings and panties, and sits down to pee. She is so sweaty from her run she doesn't realize that the room is humid, and the music in her earbuds is loud enough that she doesn't hear the shower running. She has no idea that Simon is already in there—she didn't pay attention to the fact that the shower curtain is pulled and he is in there. She did not consider the fact that Simon often forgets to lock the bathroom door when he is home alone. After all, he knows Carrie takes the bathroom schedule very seriously, so he would not expect her to walk in.

While Carrie finishes peeing, Simon shuts off the water in the shower, picks up his towel, and starts drying himself off. He's been thinking of Carrie lately, of their long conversations, of how attractive she is, and he has developed a medium erection. His cock is not completely rigid, but he's sufficiently aroused by the memory of seeing Carrie walk into the house in her tight, black leggings after her evening runs. He has a mental picture of her in the green top that is short enough to expose her flat belly. As he steps out of the shower, Carrie finally notices that she is not alone.

For a second, she is about to scream. But the naked man standing in front of the shower can only be Simon, so there is no reason to panic. Besides, his head is covered in a towel, and he currently doesn't see her. She pulls the earbuds out of her ears, stands up, and pulls panties and leggings up in less than a second. She is standing two feet away from a naked Simon, with a partial erection, while he's rubbing his scalp with a large bath towel. She is mesmerized by the sight. She can see that Simon has a great body, and she observes that his member is bobbing up and down while he's shaking his head to dry off his hair. When Simon stops, he appears to be looking down at his penis from under the towel. He grabs it with his right hand, and starts giving it a few tugs. Carrie, horrified at the sight of her roommate inadvertently masturbating in front of her, and knowing that the situation requires decisive action before becoming even more untenable, hurriedly turns toward the toilet and pushes down on the flush handle.

At the sound of the toilet flushing, Simon stops moving, and quickly pulls the towel off from his head. He looks terrified. After a second, he brings the towel down to cover his crotch

"I'm so sorry! I don't understand! I didn't know you were here! How did you come in? I thought this was my time slot! I..."

Carrie's gaze is so intense that Simon stops talking. She mumbles:

"I think I should go."

She steps forward towards Simon, expecting him to move out of the way. Simon, utterly confused, clenches the towel in one hand and keeps the other hand in front of his chest, as if he were a female protecting her breast from view. When Carrie comes within inches of his body, he understands that she is trying to exit the bathroom: he quickly turns to the side to move out of her way, causing his penis to pop out in front of him and partially block her. Carrie cannot believe this is happening. She expected him to step back into the shower, not turn sideways to let her go through. There is only a distance of about two feet between the shower and the wall, so by turning to the side, he is still largely blocking the way. Not willing to wait any longer, Carrie walks up in front of him towards the door. While doing so, her arm swings by her side and catches Simon's penis, causing it to slap against his thigh and wobble a few times. Carrie looks incredibly annoyed by the display of a flapping penis, and before Simon has the time to bring the towel back in front of his crotch, she rushes past him towards the door, opens it, and leaves without another word or glance towards him. She doesn't even try to close the door behind her.

Simon is mortified. He is convinced that Carrie will complain to Gerald and try to have him evicted for indecent exposure. Or at the very least, she will go back to being rude, or acting as if he weren't there.

During the following week, Simon schedules his arrivals and departures in such a way as to avoid the possibility of encountering Carrie. He cannot think of anything else; he keeps replaying the scene in his mind. He's convinced Carrie will never talk to him again. After six days like this, as he returns home at 9:30 pm—knowing that Carrie goes to bed at 9 almost religiously—he is surprised to find her sitting on the sofa in the living room, facing the fireplace.

"Hi Carrie."

"Good evening Simon. How are you?"

"I'm OK. Good to see you."

As he walks past her, heading towards the stairs, she calls out:

"Simon, I would like to talk with you."

He stops in his tracks, and slowly turns around. She definitely isn't smiling. She looks rather annoyed.

"OK. Yes."

"Please sit. We have some things to discuss."

Simon sits down next to Carrie on the sofa, places his hands on his lap, and stares into the empty fireplace.

"Simon, I think you've been avoiding me."

"Er... Carrie... I wouldn't say I have been avoiding you."

"What would you call it then?"

"It's just that... You know... I am concerned that you are upset with me."

"OK. Assuming that I'm upset with you, does avoiding me help solve the problem? Wouldn't you want to talk to me about it?"

"Oh, yes, for sure, but I thought that maybe I should first give you some space, you know..."

"Why would I need space?"

"Because you.. Because maybe you're uncomfortable, or annoyed, or upset."

"Simon, I'm neither of those. But I can understand why you think I would feel that way. Let's talk frankly: I saw you naked. I imagine you may be embarrassed."

"Well, yes, er... actually, I am."

"OK, it's good that we talk about this. You see, there is nothing to be embarrassed about. All that happened is that I saw you naked. I don't think it's a big deal, and it really shouldn't change things."

"You don't think it does?"

"No. I think you liked it when we used to talk in the evening. And now you're denying yourself that pleasure. I also like talking to you. It's unfortunate that what happened last week in the bathroom caused you to feel the way you do."

"Really? And I thought you would be incredibly upset."

"Well, I was a bit upset at first. I didn't know what to think. It felt like you tried to expose yourself to me. But once I thought it over, it was clear that I was the one who made a mistake. I encroached on your privacy. I should have knocked, I should have noticed that the shower was running, I should have turned around when I noticed you were naked. I... I owe you an apology."

"Oh wow, Carrie, I... That makes me feel so much better. I... was afraid you were going to try to have me evicted."

"Really? Why would I do that? You're a great roommate. The fact that I can have this discussion with you is a sign that you are a respectful, level-headed person."

"Wow, thank you."

"You're very welcome. But I still want to make sure you won't be avoiding me. I do understand that me inadvertently seeing your erect penis would cause you some anxiety."

Simon looks down, feeling deflated by Carrie's accurate description of his state of mind.

"Simon? I'm sorry. Can you tell me how you feel?"

After a long silence, Simon responds.

"Honestly Carrie, it's hard for me to get over it. For the past week I've been convinced that you were plotting to get rid of me. I understand now that you are a great person, and that you empathize with my predicament, but I'm still incredibly embarrassed. You saw me... You know..."

"Naked?"

"Well, yes, that, but also... You saw me... er..."

"Masturbating?"

"Well, I wouldn't call it masturbating, I mean, it kind of is, but it's not like, you know... like..."

"Oh. Do you mean to say that you weren't actually trying to pleasure yourself?"

"Ah. Er... It's just that, I was not intending to, you know..."

"You mean, ejaculate?"

"I... I don't think I know how to say this..."

"I'm sorry Simon, does talking about sex make you feel uncomfortable?"

"No, it's not talking about sex, it's that you saw me in a situation that is normally private, and that's embarrassing."

"I know it's a private thing, and I'm sure you do it regularly in your own room. But it's not something you should be embarrassed about."

Simon is a bit surprised to hear Carrie casually mention that she thinks he masturbates regularly in his room.

"You don't think so? I mean, wouldn't you be embarrassed if I saw you in the same situation?"

For a second, Carrie frowns and looks flustered.

"Well, I suppose so, but I would never masturbate while the door is unlocked and there is the possibility of someone coming in."

Simon's gaze returns to the empty fireplace. Carrie puts her hand on his shoulder:

"Sorry. That came out wrong. I don't know how I would feel if that happened to me. I think I would be able to deal with it, especially if you were able to discuss it with me the way I am discussing it with you. Would you come to me and talk about it?"

"Would I come talk to you if I caught you masturbating? Well, I would definitely come and apologize. It would be an accident."

"See, there. If the situation was reversed, it would work out well. So, can we say that there is no more issue now?"

"I suppose... But I can't erase the memory of you seeing me naked, and... er..."

"Playing with your penis?"

Simon sighs.

"I'm sorry, but isn't that what you were doing?"

"Yes, it is. And that's why I am embarrassed."

"OK, but what would make you not be embarrassed anymore? What can we do to fix this?"

"I don't know. Can you erase that memory from your mind?"

"You know that's not possible."

"I know. I'm joking, but I need to replace the memory of you seeing me naked. Replace it with something else."