“Where have you been?” Katie heard as she walked into the apartment she shared with Michelle. Katie continued walking past the kitchen where Michelle was and down the hallway to her bedroom. “Katie, where have you been?” Michelle asked again as she followed Katie down the hallway. Katie grabbed a bra off of her bedroom floor and removed her shirt, putting the bra on with her back to Michelle.
She went over the night in her head, the two guys, possibly being drugged, more than likely raped and then being left on a bus bench. “I met a couple of guys last night,” she smiled.
“A couple? I didn’t think you were that kind of girl,” Michelle smiled back at Katie. “Look, Katie, do you have any money for rent?”
“No. I get paid at the end of the week so I can probably get something to you this weekend,” Katie answered.
“Where does your money go? You don’t have a car, you don’t have any bills, you rarely even go out except for getting a few drinks and apparently getting double-teamed by a couple of guys. Where’s your money?”
“Can you chastise me later? I have to get to work,” Katie sighed, tired of these financial talks Michelle subjected her to.
“I have work, too, Katie. I can’t support this apartment by myself. I have a friend who is looking for a place to stay and I’m thinking of letting him stay here.”
“Here? Where?”
“He’d get your room, you’d move to the couch.”
“I’ll give you some money on Friday,” Katie said.
“I let you stay here to ease the burden on me having to pay for everything,” Michelle began. “I also didn’t like that your last roommates basically advocated for your rape every weekend but you have to start being more responsible.”
Katie nodded because it was really the only thing she could do.
As Katie reorganized shoe boxes on the shelves, swept the floor and assisted customers in the shoe department, she thought about where her money went because she was confused by that too. She paid half the rent, bought her own groceries, gave $100 a paycheck for utilities so she should have about $400 left over at the end of the month. Take out the few drinks at the bar and her weed she should still have about $300. But she usually barely had $20 to her name.
“Hi, Katie,” a young man said, smiling and walking down the aisle toward her carrying a basket.
“Hi, Josh. Shouldn’t you be asleep?”
“No. I grabbed some breakfast then decided to grab some essentials,” he lifted the basket up. “Also, just between us, I’m stalking an employee.”
Katie nodded. “I see. Is it Bob in sporting goods?”
“It is. Honestly, I wanted to see if you got to work. Michelle texted me earlier this morning saying you didn’t come home.”
“Were you worried about me?” Katie blushed.
“Maybe. A little. Ever since I walked in on you being raped a few months ago I’ve just wanted to keep my arms wrapped around you and protect you. But that’s stupid. You just need to find a decent guy who doesn’t want to get you pregnant just so you’ll be stuck with him forever and slam your head into a wall.”
“Based on my experience, easier said than done,” Katie said. “Will we be seeing you this weekend?”
“Definitely. Michelle invited me to stay all next week so I’ll probably come over after work on Friday. We’ll be seeing a lot of each other.”
“Cool. Why don’t you just move in? We’d all save some money,” Katie suggested.
“I still have a few months on my lease. Also, I don’t know how committed either of us to our relationship so moving in might not be such a good idea.”
“Are you two going to break up?” Katie asked, trying not to sound enthusiastic.
“Probably. Some day. We still care about and love each other but our relationship over the last couple of months has felt a bit off. .”
“You’re probably just a bad boyfriend,” Katie said.
“Yeah, that’s probably what it is. But do me a favor and don’t tell Bob, okay?”
“Your secret is safe with me,” Katie replied and giggled. Josh waved to her as he walked away.
