Living With Roommates – 3

Having strangers as roommates is challenging, but having friends or relatives as roommates can be even more complicated. Lori is a friend of mine who lived overseas for a few years. When she returned home she looked for an apartment for a long time. At the same time, a good friend of hers Julia just broke up with her boyfriend and was looking for a roommate.

As they knew each other since they were kids, Julia suggested that Lori move in with her. Julia had a beautiful apartment in a great location not far from the beach. Although Lori loved Julia’s apartment, she wasn’t enthusiastic about moving in with one of her best friends. She was afraid that their relationship would suffer if they lived together, so she declined her friend’s offer.

But as time passed by, Lori couldn’t find an apartment she liked. And Julia couldn’t find a roommate she felt comfortable with. Therefore, she suggested that Lori temporarily move in with her until she found an apartment she liked. Julia desperately needed someone to share the expenses with. While Lori, who lived at her parent’s house, desperately needed a place of her own.

Lori decided to accept Julia’s offer and moved in with her. At the beginning, it was like a honeymoon. Lori and Julia would hang out together and Julia introduced Lori to her friends. Lori fell in love with the apartment and with her new lifestyle. Thus, she decided to postpone her search for an apartment of her own. Julia and Lori were both single at the time and did almost everything together.

A few months later, Lori started dating Dean and shortly after that Lori met Frank. Dean used to spend a lot of time in the girls’ apartment. Basically, he was the third unofficial tenant without sharing the expenses. On the other hand, Frank would spend two or three nights at Lori’s. As much as Lori liked Dean, she thought he should not be at their apartment so often.

When Lori gently asked Julia if her boyfriend moved in with her, she said no and laughed…..She said that he has his own apartment which he shared with his brother. Yet he liked their apartment more as it was cleaner and the location was excellent. Lori did not like Julia’s answer but decided to swallow the frog.

The close friendship between Lori and Julia stopped overnight the minute Julia met Dean. Julia was the type of person who you never saw or heard from when she was in a relationship. Anyway, if it wasn’t enough that Dean was a regular guest at the apartment, he had his friends and family come over as well.

However, Julia had a young sister Janice who was travelling in South America. Lori knew Janice since she was a child and she hadn’t seen her for a long time. One day when she came home from work, she saw a young lady sitting in the living room by herself, and next to her was some luggage. At first, Lori did not recognize her, but after a few seconds she realized it was Janice. Lori was happy to see her and she gave her a hug.

Apparently, Janice was travelling with her boyfriend who she lived with (at his expense), as she wasn’t working at the time. And a few days before they returned home, the lovebirds had a big argument. So Janice went directly from the airport to her sister’s place. When Julia came home later on she told Lori that Janice would stay with them for a while. Julia added that her sister’s boyfriend was adorable, and she was sure the couple would return to each other’s arms in no time. But it didn’t work out that way.

In the meantime, Janice stayed on the couch. Her belongings were all over the living room and you couldn’t have anybody over for a visit. In addition, Janice acted as though the apartment belonged to her, and used to stick her nose into everything. Her boyfriend would come to visit her most of the time at night and then they would have arguments.

Janice would sometimes run to hide in Lori’s room after fighting with “Mr. Adorable” because she was afraid he would beat her. She would wake Lori up who was sound asleep in the middle of the night and start to cry. The day after, Janice would act like nothing happened. She would cook lunch for “Mr. Adorable” and deliver it to him at work.

Lori couldn’t believe her eyes. She asked Janice for God’s sake why she doesn’t get rid of him. And why was she involved with a violent person. Janice would say he loves her very much, and that he gets jealous sometimes……She added that it’s not a big deal….. The stupid woman even thought he was cute when he jealous….. 😦

At some point, Lori was sick and tired of people coming and going from her apartment as they pleased. She couldn’t tolerate the fact that these people were taking advantage of her and decided to leave.  When Lori mentioned it to Julia, she didn’t like it. Julia said if she wanted to leave, she should pay her two months rent in addition to the month she already prepaid when she moved in with her. Lori was furious with her and couldn’t believe how greedy she was. Suddenly she saw Julia’s true colors.

Lori left the room before it got ugly. She went to her room and started packing. Julia came after her and said she would sue her if she left without paying the additional two months. Lori reminded her that Janice was living with them for a couple of months already, without paying a penny. She suggested that Julia collect rent from her sister or from Dean who became a permanent tenant shortly after she moved in with her.

As hard as Lori tried not to make the situation worse, she couldn’t prevent it from happening. Lori couldn’t move in with her boyfriend, as he had a roommate, so she moved in with her parents. Although Julia didn’t sue her as she threatened, Lori never spoke with her again, even though she tried to contact her several times……