Marty Wright

The sun had risen to signify the start of another day. San Francisco was alive and well, bustling with cars and people making their morning commute. While everyone on the streets below were in far too much of a rush to spare a thought to their own problems, one English immigrant was sat at home with one thought on his mind.

I really need some money.

Two months ago, Marty Wright had lost both of his roommates in a matter of days. The first had moved to France to train in the hopes of becoming a chef, and the other had passed away in a freak cow stampede accident. The timing couldn’t have been worse as Marty had only recently lost his job, and ever since then the young man had been on the hunt to find a replacement. Days and weeks had gone by without anyone expressing an interest, but today, Marty’s luck might just be changing.

The other day he had received a response from his online ad from someone who said they needed a place to stay, and had a sibling who was interested as well. Although he didn’t really know the details of who these people were; Marty was willing to accept most anyone at this point.

Checking himself in the mirror, he saw his shoulder length black hair was in order, his stubble only just visible, his green eyes showed no signs of early morning puffiness, and that he was wearing his favourite white t-shirt and black trousers. His white skin was still paler than he would like however, making a mental note than a tan might be in order.

Before his mind had a chance to wander, the doorbell rang almost causing him to jump. Marty walked over to the apartment door and took a deep breath to try and calm himself. He opened the door to reveal a woman in a white buttoned up shirt and black skirt. She had short black hair and a pair of stylish glasses that rested on the edge of her nose. She seemed to be in her early to mid twenties and at best guess seemed to be about 5ft 10. She was slim but with a generous bust that even with her shirt covering the frame, left little to the imagination.

“Good morning. I take it you’re Marty?” She asked with a surprisingly deep-pitched voice. Marty only stared at her dumbly in response, taken by shock at the sight before him. He had hoped to get a female roommate, but he could never have guessed and dreamed it would happen, let alone it be someone that damn hot.

“Uh…. yeah, I guess.” He finally said in response. The two stood there awkwardly for a few moments before the woman motioned with her hand.

“May I come in?” She asked.

Marty shook his head clear and stepped aside, motioning his arm to welcome her in. The woman entered cautiously, taking the scene around her as if she was scanning every detail of the room. Marty stood by the door, unable to wrench his eyes from her figure as she walked about the apartment. As he went to close the door, he only then realised that Gwen didn’t come alone.

Looking straight at him was a man who formed a square shape with the fingers of both his hands. It was something Marty saw artists do in cartoons and shows when they would paint the scenery around them, except in this case the subject appeared to be him. When he moved his head, the man followed him, leaving no doubt in Marty’s mind he was the focus.

Looking over him, the man was 6ft exactly and had very pale - almost abnormally so - skin. It looked slightly grey, but he clearly looked after himself as he was very… pretty. There was no other way to put it, but the man appeared to be very feminine, his very long dyed blueish-purple hair didn’t help either. He was thin, with simple yet stylish clothing.

“Um… can I help you?” Marty asked cautiously.

“Oh you certainly can,” he said with a smile. “Ah, yes. This will do nicely.” He put down his hands and wore a sly smile while taking a few steps forward. “My name is Blair, Blair Sinclair.”

Blair walked straight into the apartment; even his walk was a little feminine with how he swayed his hips. Something was definitely off about him, his voice was higher pitched and his ears seemed strangely pointy. He joined up with the woman who was looking out the window and started to chat. From what Marty could make out, Gwen seemed slightly unsure but admitted it would suffice, while Blair seemed extremely eager already to take it, despite the fact he’d barely seen any of it at all.

“I’m sorry, who are you two exactly?” Marty said as he closed the door with a bit more **** than intended. He felt weirdly on guard, like he was in danger. Blair stayed looking out the window while the woman turned to Marty.

“Forgive my brother, he’s a bit of a handful. He hasn’t exactly grasped the concept of personal space.”

“I can see that,” Marty replied calmly.

“My name is Gwendolyn, but you may me Gwen. My brother here is called Blair, were interested in taking the rooms.”

“The sights here seem to very stimulating,” Blair mused aloud as looked out the window. He turned to look at Marty again, “from all angles it would seem.”

Now the young man felt very uncomfortable. Blair wasn't being very subtle, and judging by how Gwen immediately elbowed her brother, this was a common thing for him. To be frank, Marty wasn't sure how he would feel about letting a gay man stay with him in his apartment; he wasn’t homophobic - at least that’s what he told himself - but he also wasn't gay and didn’t really want to deal with the possible advances of another man.

“Would this be my room?” Blair asked, having walked to the room next to Marty’s.

“Yeah, I suppose. There’s another one beside the kitchen on the other side of the apartment.” Marty also couldn’t deny the fact he was **** for cash, and this might be one of those times he’d have to suck it up till he found a better option.

“Judging from that accent, I take it your from England?” Gwen cut in as she looked over Marty. “It's not incredibly thick, have you been here a while?”

“A year actually,” he said with a nod.

“And what brought you here?”

“Th-that’s personal, but my business hasn’t concluded just yet. Really it’s barely begun.”

“Well that isn’t foreboding,” Blair chuckled lightly. “I actually quite like this place. It’s kind of cosy.”

“That’s a polite way of saying it’s small, isn’t it?” Marty cut in, unable to hide his annoyance any longer.

“Oh hush you, I mean it. It’s lovely.” Blair scrunched up his nose in thought, and eyed the floor.

“Actually, I agree. This place works for what we need,” Gwen added. “Good location which is most important, but decent sized rooms, bathroom ensuites and a nice kitchen. We could make this work.”

“Then I guess it’s settled, we’ll take it!” Blair exclaimed. “When can we move in?”

As Marty stared at the two in front of him, unsure of what to say or even how to respond, he settled on two things. He needed roommates and these were roommates, not what he envisioned, but they could presumably pay. Could he afford to turn them away?