Zoey was moving in today. She had brought some of her stuff the day before, but she had yet to spend a night in… our new apartment. It felt so weird to say that, but I liked the way it sounded too. We had agreed to take certain things off the table when Zoey had agreed to move in here. We had decided not to pursue a romantic relationship.

I had agreed to that only because I knew she needed a place to stay badly. If I were being completely honest, I had ulterior motives though. Living together provided me with a unique position in Zoey’s life. I would be there when she woke up; I would be there when she got home in the evenings. I would be her friend, her constant companion. We could bounce ideas off of one another; we could exchange views, thoughts, artistic vision and maybe somewhere along the way… I could convince Zoey that I was perfect for her.

I knew it would be complicated since we were living together, but my attraction to her was impossible to deny. I thought about staying true to my word and setting aside any hopes of us ever starting a romantic relationship, but I knew a lost cause when I saw it. She was just too… interesting to me. She was just too beautiful for me to turn off my brain and let it go.

Of course, I knew I had to play the long game. She was obviously vulnerable. She had a lot on her plate, as did I. And I thought giving it some time was a good idea. That way we could build a foundation of friendship, and I could woo her when the time was right. Maybe I should have felt dishonorable concocting my diabolical plan, but I just felt wired. I was just so excited that Zoey had answered my ad and she was now my new roommate. It just felt right.

I kept checking the clock. I had to leave to report to community service soon, but I also wanted to be here when Zoey showed up with her last suitcase. I was moving around some of my work to make more room in the living room when I heard the knock on the door. I rushed to answer it.

“Hey, you,” I said, grabbing her suitcase and bringing it into the apartment.

“Hey,” Zoey smiled.

She was wearing a laid-back denim jacket over a white dress; just the right blend of edgy and angelic. Her hair hung loosely over one shoulder, but she had two thin braids hugging one side of her head. I wanted to tell her how beautiful she looked but I stopped myself at the last moment. I needed to be subtle and commenting on her looks at this point would only weird her out and make her feel uncomfortable.

“Welcome to your new apartment,” I said. “Shall I take the suitcase to your room?”

“Please,” Zoey nodded.

I wheeled the suitcase in there while she followed close behind. I had managed to clear the room of all my art supplies and most of my paintings. There were still two that I had left up, mostly because I didn’t have a place to put them. They were larger paintings; one was a profile of a young woman bending her head down in prayer with a delicate veil covering half her head. The second painting depicted a lonely tree with low hanging fruit that stood in the middle of a large meadow. There was only the lone silhouette of a child reaching up to grab one of the fruits.

Since I had used the room as a workspace, there was no bed. I had set up a makeshift mattress for Zoey in the middle of the room until a bed could be sorted out.

“I can’t believe you did all this for me,” Zoey said, and I took that touched smile she gave me as a very good sign.

“You wouldn’t have had a place to sleep if I hadn’t put this together.”

Zoey smiled. “Thank you; this is really nice of you.”

“Don’t worry about it,” I said. “I’m sorry about the paintings… I just haven’t had a place to put them yet.”

“You don’t have to move them out,” Zoey said immediately, turning to me with wide eyes. “I love both those paintings. I don’t mind keeping them here… in fact, I would actually really love it.”

“Yeah?” I said, thrilled that she liked my work.

“Are you kidding?” she said. “They’re absolutely beautiful. You’re a phenomenal artist. I was kind of wondering why you’d want to give up firefighting and now I know why. Creating images like this is what you’re meant to do.”

I felt a warm feeling spread through my chest. I had never received that kind of encouragement before. There were naïve moments when I was a much younger man when I had dreamt of presenting my parents with my work had having them turn to me with pride and tell me those same words. I had long since given up on that dream. They would never think that what I did was worthwhile… but at least Zoey did.

“Thank you,” I said. “Now all that’s left is for you to put on a private concert for me.”

Zoey laughed. “And I will,” she nodded. “Just not today… I have to head over to campus now, and then I start my new job right after.”

“You got the job!” I said. “Congratulations.”

“Thanks,” Zoey said. “It’s all thanks to one of my professors. I can breathe a little easier now that I have a little money coming in.”

“Good for you.”

Zoey smiled. “I might be back a little late today,” she said. “I might have to stop by my mother’s place to pick up a few more things. I was moving between mom’s place and my brother’s place so much the last few weeks that I have things all over.”

“Ok, no problem.”

We headed back to the living room and Zoey paused for a moment and looked at me awkwardly. “Oh… one more thing,” she said. “I have a favor to ask you.”

“Oh sure,” I nodded. “What is it?”

“Can you not mention to Seth that you’re my new roommate?” she asked.

I paused for a second. “Um… Seth?”

“Surely you’ve met Seth?” Zoey asked, with a frown. “He works at the same station.”

Seth, I reminded myself. He was the one guy at that damn station who was actually decent to me. He was the one I spoke to almost every day when I signed in and then signed out. Zoey knew Seth… I realized that I had never asked her why she had brought those cupcakes to the station or why most of the men there seemed to know her. I had just assumed that she was one of those people who brought food over for the fireman when she could… like a gesture of thanks for the public service they provided.

“Seth is… your brother?” I asked, putting two and two together.

“Yup,” Zoey nodded. “You… didn’t know that?”

“Not until just now.”

“Really?” Zoey asked, frowning. “It never came up? The guys talk all the time when they’re in the lounge between calls.”

How on earth could I admit to her that I wasn’t actually a fireman now? I had taken it too far, and I hadn’t ever corrected her assumption. It would look like a bald-faced lie as opposed to an innocent omission. Even worse, I would be forced to admit to her what I was really doing there at the station, and that meant revealing to her that she was now living with a pot dealer… an ex-pot dealer, a distinction I wasn’t sure she would appreciate.

I swore in my head, but the fact that she was asking me to keep our living situation from Seth worked in my favor. I knew in the back of my head that this couldn’t possibly last indefinitely. Something was bound to come out sooner or later, but if I played this just right maybe, I could contain it. I decided that once she got to know me a little better, one she trusted me then I would come clean to her and explain the reasons I had turned to dealing in the first place.

She would understand, wouldn’t she? I mean… she was an artist too. And she loved what she did. Surely, she could understand the lengths one would go to make sure they could live their truth and do what they were passionate about.

“I… well I do a lot of the grunt work,” I said. I knew the ship had sailed, but I was still trying to avoid an outright lie. “And Seth’s a lot senior to me, and we don’t really… talk a lot.”

“It’s still odd that none of the other guys mentioned it to you even in passing.”

“I tend to keep my head down over there,” I said.

Zoey looked a little curious, but then she shrugged. “Ok, well… I suppose it’s for the best. Seth’s not going to be asking you a lot of questions that might get me caught.”

I frowned. “And you’re scared of being caught because…?”

“Oh,” Zoey smiled. “It’s silly really. He’s just being an overprotective big brother. He doesn’t like the idea of me moving in with a strange man. Not that I can really blame him… I haven’t had the best track record with roommates.”

“No?”

“I’ll have to tell you about it later when I have time,” Zoey said. “Right now I have to run to class.”

“Right,” I nodded, glancing at the clock and realizing that I was already late. “Fuck… I have to get going too.”

Zoey was heading towards the door when I stopped her. “Oh wait, hold on,” I said. “You forgot your key.”

I handed it to her and Zoey accepted it with a smile. “Thanks, Devlin,” she said.

“No problem roomie.”

She gave me a small chuckle, waved goodbye and headed out. I took a deep breath, realizing that I was going to be playing a delicate balancing act the next few weeks until I worked up the courage to tell Zoey the truth about me. Then I raced out of the apartment and took the alternate exit out of the building to head towards the station.

By the time I got there, I was twenty minutes late, and a couple of the guys were out front when I arrived.

“Well,” Trent said, shaking his head at me. “Someone took his sweet time getting here today.”

“Where’s Seth?” I asked, panting a little.

“Out,” Benjamin replied. “His team was called in.”

“Is Samuel around?”

“Day off.”

“Oh… then who do I sign in with?” I asked.

“Who knows?” Trent shrugged. “If you don’t sign in then this day doesn’t count… tough.”

I gritted my teeth. “Come on, guys,” I said. “Can you help me out here?”

“Uh, let us think about that,” Benjamin said.

He looked at Trent and then the two of them turned to me and said “No!” together. Then they burst out laughing like idiot fifteen-year-olds and I sighed and headed into the station, trying to ignore them. I was heading towards the chief’s office, hoping that I could sign in with him when I ran into Samuel on the way.

“Samuel,” I said. “Trent and Benjamin said you had the day off today?”

Samuel rolled his eyes. “Idiots,” he said. “Consider yourself signed in. I need you to clean the rigging on engines three and seventeen.”

I spent the next several hours going through one backbreaking task after the other. I was so exhausted at the end of it that I almost forgot that I had something to be excited about: Zoey was my new roommate. Reminding myself of that helped and I decided to throw her a welcome party tonight. It would be a nice gesture for her, and at the same time, I could relieve some of my stress.

I picked up my phone and started making some calls.