Page 35 of The Reboot
Ella nodded.
‘It’s great being so near it. Won’t help with the weight loss, though, will it?’
She shrugged. ‘I think we should let ourselves off the hook for the weekend. Start the new leaf on Monday?’
‘Sounds good to me. God, I’m going to miss bread.’
‘Me too.’ It was going to be a special kind of torture living so near to one of the best bakeries in Dublin and trying to resist the lure of their shelves.
Ella decided now would be a good time to establish exactly what kind of arrangement this was. When she’d accepted Roly’s offer, she’d been thinking of it like a house share, but the reality was she was Roly’s tenant. For some reason that had only dawned on her this morning, and it just added to her discomfort. Now they were here eating food Roly had bought, and she didn’t know if she should offer to pay half or if he’d be insulted by that. She didn’t want every single thing to bring up this kind of anxiety. She needed the lines to be clearly drawn so they both knew where they stood, and it would be best to sort it out on day one.
‘We should make some rules about how we’re going to do this.’
‘Do what?’
‘This co-habiting thing.’ She waved a hand between them.
‘Oh. Okay. Like … what sort of rules?’
‘You tell me.’ She shrugged. ‘I mean you’re the landlord.’
He reared back in his seat. ‘No, I’m not! That’s a horrible thing to say.’
Ella laughed, taken aback by his reaction. ‘Um … it’s just a fact. What’s horrible about it?’
‘First, we’re friends. And, second, landlords are mean, greedy bastards who destroy society. It’s an awful thing to call someone.’
‘They’re notalllike that. Mean, greedy bastards don’t give mate rates for a start. Or buy their tenants lunch. Thanks, by the way.’ She’d decided he’d definitely take offence if she offered to pay him now.
‘There you go, calling me a landlord again.’
‘Well, I’m paying you rent to live in your house. It’s pretty much the definition.’
‘Shit!’ He hung his head. ‘So this is what I’ve come to. My mum would be so ashamed. She didn’t raise me to be a landlord.’
‘Well, you are. You’re just going to have to come to terms with it and try to be one of the good ones.’ She took a gulp of tea. ‘So – it’s your house, your rules.’
‘So … you want me to give you a curfew and stuff like that? Ban boys in your room after dark?’
‘Hey, I said you’re my landlord, not my dad.’
Roly frowned, shifting uncomfortably. ‘I know you’re paying me rent, but I’d rather treat this as friends house-sharing. If that’s okay with you? I mean, I don’t want to be … in charge.’
She smiled, relieved. ‘That’s fine with me. I just want to know where we stand.’
‘Good. The first house rule is no talking about house rules.’
‘We should still establish some basic terms.’
‘Like what?’
‘Well, groceries, for instance,’ she said, nodding at the food on the table. ‘Who buys what, that sort of thing.’
‘Let’s not do that thing where we put our names on the yoghurt and, like, have our own shelf in the fridge.’
‘Hard agree. No “hands off my cheese” signs.’ She had no wish to relive that particular aspect of student life. Been there, done that, didn’t enjoy it the first time round.
‘Or a cleaning rota. I don’t want to have a cleaning rota – at least not one that has my name on it.’
