Another Day

Lilian turns on the lamp, the whole room is lit up instantly, it makes her squint her eyes for a second. When she opens her eyes, she takes a deep breath, ‘Thank goodness, everything looks the same.’ Thought Lilian.

On the way back from the trip, she was worried about her room would be a mess, Nicki the cat might have knocked off stuff all over the floor, she was also worried that she might have forgotten to close the window before she left, what she was concerned about the most, was her landlord who she asked to take care of Nicki when she was gone. She never truly trusted her landlord, she found the one room apartment through Craigslist, her friends warned her about the weirdos on Craigslist and said she shouldn’t look for apartment there. But Lilian disagreed with them, until she met the landlord for the first time. He was shorter than her, skinny and bold, he looked like he was in his sixties, but he could be younger since he told her he still had a long time to retire. Lilian didn’t know why he lived in such a big house by himself.

What a big house. This was the first thing that came to Lilian’s mind when she saw the picture on Craigslist, and when she went to see the house in person, it was even bigger than she imagined. The whole second floor had five bedrooms and two of them had their own bathroom. Lilian was to rent one of these two bedrooms. The kitchen, living room and the landlord’s bedroom were on the first floor.

She hesitated about moving here before she met one of the tenants that changed her mind. She looked like she was in her late twenties, just like her, but with blonde hair and dark skin, and she was a little bit thicker and taller than her. She remembered clearly what she talked to her on the first day they met even years later.

“Hey, you!” Lilian heard someone was shouting upstairs when the landlord finished walking her through the first floor. She lifted her head and saw Amy.

“Yes, you, what’s your name?” asked Amy.

“Hi, I am Lilian.”

“Nice, come upstairs I can show you.” Amy waved at her, she then shouted to the landlord, “Hey Jim, let me walk her around, you just go relax!” Lilian wondered if she always talked this loudly. The landlord didn’t say anything but just told Lilian to let him know when she leaves.

Amy lived in the bedroom without bathroom, her room was in decent size, messy was Lilian’s first impression on it, clothes and random stuff were scattered on the floor, but Amy was showing her with a proud smile on her face. She then picked up a book and handed over to Lilian, “Read it, you look like you read a lot, I bet you will like it.” Lilian took the book and looked at it, it was a book she had read before, Orhan Pamuk’s ‘Snow’, she loved reading it.

“Take it, you can give it back to me when you are done, you are going to live here anyway, right?”

Lilian didn’t tell her that she had already read the book, nor did she tell her that she hadn’t made up her mind yet. But she took the book as what Amy asked.

Amy then took Lilian to see the room for rent, it was next to Amy’s and with a similar size, but with a bathroom in it.

“Lucky you, I wanted this room when I first came here but it was not available.” Said Amy.

“Why don’t you ask him to switch to this room now?” asked Lilian.

“Oh, I am lazy, don’t want to move my stuff, I am pretty comfortable in my own room now. Plus, it’s fifty bucks more per month, I’d rather use it on something else. She winked at Lilian while she was speaking.

“So, when are you moving in?” Amy looked at her and asked.

“Do you know the other tenants?” Lilian didn’t answer her question.

“Well, they are all a bunch of nerds, doing some research at a college near here, I think they are all from China and most of time they just speak Chinese to each other, so they don’t bother me, and I don’t bother them.”

Lilian grew up with a girl from Korea, and they were the same age, and they had been best friends for years until the girl had to move away with her family before they started middle school. To this day, Lilian still remembers her name, Yoohee. Since they were departed, Lilian has been thinking about her friend once in a while, when she heard the other tenants were Asian that day, she was hoping they could be Korean or even know Yoohee.

“So, when are you moving in?” Asked Amy again.

“Pretty soon, I suppose. I need to talk to Jim first.”

“Well, hopefully you are going to finish the book when you move in.” Amy looked excited, she then said, “give me your phone number, if you need help moving, just let me know.”

Lilian was glad she could have such a friendly housemate; they exchanged number before Lilian walked downstairs to talk to the landlord.