SoMa Literary Review - Room for Rent

Room for Rent

By Lisa Louis

It wasn’t the best address in the world. Fifth and Townsend. The neglected backside of the city where the homeless once lived in makeshift encampments.

These days the settlements were of a different kind. The strikingly handsome new CalTrain station. And PacBell stadium, praised as the most beautiful ballpark in the world. And modernistic loft housing for the rich.

275 Townsend. With its severe steel and glass exterior, it was the kind of building Amanda admired. She paused on the sidewalk for a moment to take note of the awesome size and strength of the structure. It took up an entire city block, home to a hundred different apartments, each with that touch of glamour that comes simply from being so new.

Even from the outside she could tell that the ceilings in each space went up at least thirty feet. The views must be breathtaking, she thought. Yes, the area still had a dirty unkempt feeling, but most of San Francisco did these days. She could definitely live here.

She unfolded the printout with the instructions. 3pm. Apartment 919. Enter code #1228 on the keypad to the right of the main entrance.

"Who is it?" Despite the electronic distortion of the speaker, the voice sounded deep and masculine. Thank god, Amanda thought. This one’s not gay.

"Uh? It’s Amanda? I’m here about the room for rent?" She scolded herself for ending each of her sentences in question marks, something she tended to do when she was nervous. She vowed before getting into the car to come over that she was not going to be nervous. She'd been through this dozens of times. She knew what to do. There was nothing to be nervous about.

Amanda took a deep breath.

After what seemed like an endless pause, the voice barked from the speaker again. "Sure. Come on up. I’ve been expecting you."

When she got to the door it swung open before she even knocked. The motion caught her off guard, but in just a moment Amanda felt at ease. Perfect, she thought, after her first glimpse. All the trappings of regular guy. Her nose caught a faint musk smell, like the remnants of a recently finished workout.

The loft was spectacular. The main area stretched a hundred feet, covered by hardwood floors, and peppered with modern but tasteful minimalist décor. The exterior wall was all glass, providing a panoramic view out to the bay and bridge. The opposite end held a first-class kitchen, filled with restaurant quality stainless steel appliances.

"I’m Mike," the man said. "The guy you spoke to on the phone."

"Amanda," she said as she stretched out her hand to shake. Mike’s grasp was firm, his palm slightly callused. She imagined it was from lifting weights at the gym. He had that type of firm gym-crafted body. "Amanda Green."

"Well, uh, this is the place," Mike stammered, not completely sure how to proceed. He hadn't expected her to be so beautiful. He figured the women who answered his ad would be older and somehow hardened by The City.

"It’s incredible," Amanda gushed. "So…open. I mean, so much space for San Francisco. I’ve always wondered what one of these lofts looked like from the inside. I think I understand why people love them."

"You’ve never been in one before?"

"No. I’m over in the Marina. A typical old flat. Three of us there sharing the place. The landlord doesn’t put any money into the building because of rent control. So nothing really works, you know, perfectly. I can see that wouldn’t be a problem here."

"Yeah, not these places." Mike became more comfortable, now able to talk about a subject he knew. "They have everything. State-of-the-art heating, air, appliances – we even have T-1 access and satellite TV wired into the outlets in every single room."

"I knew it would be spectacular, just from the way you described it in your ad on Craigslist."

"Yeah. Craigslist. I love that site. It’s really the best way to do this."

Amanda’s eyes crawled up the side of the wall where a staircase climbed to a second level.

"Bedrooms up there?"

"Yeah, there’s two of ‘em. Each with their own bathrooms. My roommate is planning to be out at the end of the month. He’s moving back to Houston. So that’s the one I have for rent."

"Can we take a look?"

"Uh, yeah. Of course," Mike fumbled his words again. Amanda was just so unexpectedly attractive. She had short brown hair that caressed a healthy fair complexion. He suspected she was an athlete of some sort, not just because of the practical haircut, but also because of her small muscled frame and tiny waist.

The bedroom for rent was still filled with the roommate’s furnishings. Amanda didn’t see any boxes around to indicate he’d even begun to pack. Small piles of dirty laundry sat on the floor of the closet, an apparent last-ditch effort to make the place more presentable for her visit. This guy’s got a lot of work to do if he really intends to be out at the end of the month, she thought.

Mike gave her a tour of the entire upstairs, including his own room. Along the way, they talked about their lives. Mike explained how he owned a couple of fruit smoothie franchises in the city, a gift from his parents after getting his MBA from San Diego State. Amanda talked about her life as a recruiter for one of the big firms downtown. They shared a brief laugh when the realized they had both turned thirty during the same month last year.

Amanda sat down on Mike's bed.

"Come. Sit down," she said. "I’d love to ask you a few questions."

"Shoot," Mike said as he sat beside her, his anxiousness now replaced by an eagerness to be close.

"Well, you’ll have to tell me if I am getting too nosy. So I’m just going to ask, and if you think I’m being too personal then you should just tell me."

"No problem. Go ahead."

"Well, this is an awesome place. Anyone would love to live here. I guess I just don’t understand why you're looking for a roommate."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, clearly you have the means to afford this place all on your own. Why rent out a room? Wouldn’t you prefer to have the apartment all to yourself?"

"Oh, that," Mike said. He laid back on the bed, crossing his arms behind his head, like a child in a field looking up to study the clouds. "I guess you could say that I’m the type of guy who likes to be around people."

Amanda took Mike’s cue and also stretched back onto the bed.

"You get lonely?"

"Yeah. The whole idea of living alone doesn’t do it for me."

"And living with a girl? What do you think about having a girl as a roommate?"

"Well, I like girls. I like girls…" He looked over to her and smiled, "…a lot."

Amanda turned on her side and looked at Mike’s face. She stared into his dark brown eyes and smiled back.

"That’s good. Because I like boys."

She leaned over and kissed him. It wasn’t a tentative little peck on the cheek. She went straight for his mouth, her lips lifting his apart so her tongue could explore. Mike quickly returned the same passion.

In just moments they removed each other’s clothes. She took him into her mouth, bringing him to the edge of release. He did the same for her, until her moaning and moisture told him she was ready. As is the rite of such anonymous exchanges, they committed playful little acts of brutality with each other. He rode her hard, throwing out small verbal assaults. She made him submit as she used her wet finger to force him to feel the intrusion and pleasure of invasion.

After two hours they collapsed onto each other, sticking and sliding from their own sweat and fluids.

They showered and dressed, barely speaking a word to one another until Mike escorted Amanda back to the entrance.

"I’ll let you know about the room," Amanda said as she left, knowing that she would never see the man again. She felt a moment of regret about that, glancing before the door shut to grab one more glimpse of the stunning space. It's a great apartment, she thought. What a shame she really never had any plans to move.

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Lisa Louis lives in San Francisco and wants it perfectly clear that she is not currently seeking a room to rent.