Chapter 4

I looked over my Craigslist ad for a roommate one last time, and with a heavy heart and a lot of apprehension I clicked on ‘submit.’ A couple weeks had passed since I got the rent notice, and it had taken this long for me to get up the courage to finally post. I took a deep breath and hoped for the best. I decided to call Sara to try to talk out my anxieties.

“Hi, Ruth,” she answered after a couple rings.

“Hello...” I paused for a moment. “I did it.”

“Did what?”

“Posted my roommate ad on Craigslist.” There was silence on the line for a moment and I started to worry.

“Ok, do you want to talk about it over lunch?” I breathed a small sigh of relief.

“I would like that.”

After hanging up I made the short walk to a local cafe. It was a comfortable, homey place that was ran by, and catered to non-human clientele like myself. They also served very large vegetarian meals, which I greatly appreciated!

“Greetingsss, Ruth,” welcomed Serafina, the owner, who was working as a hostess at the moment.

“Hello,” I greeted in return. She was a fair skinned lamia with red scales and eyes. While I wouldn’t have considered us friends, we did have a friendly rapport.

“Jussst you? Or will there be more?”

“Sara’s coming too.” She smiled.

“Very good. Right thisss way,” she slithered off and I followed her to my usual booth, being careful not to step on her long tail.

I had just put in the order for a water when Sara walked through the door. She noticed me and came over quickly. Serafina also noticed that she had arrived and brought a cushioned booster for her to sit on since the booth was sized for larger bipedal species, like myself.

“So, how do you feel?” Asked Sara, after she’d situated and cracked open the menu.

“I feel like my stomachs are all knotted up,” I replied honestly.

“Ah, don’t worry about it. You’ll be fine!,” she reassured. “Besides, if they end up being a jerk, all the paperwork is in your name so you can just give em’ the boot!”

“That’s true.”

The waitress, an arachne named Alice, skittered up to the table. Sara kept a straight face, but I knew she was a little bit uncomfortable. To be fair, I didn’t blame her. I found the most of many-legged species to be a little unsettling myself. The extra eyes embedded like black marbles in her forehead didn’t help either. She wore a large black skirt that hid her thorax and abdomen, but the movement of her legs could be seen underneath it. Even so, she had waited on us before and was very good at her job, and both Sara and I did our best to keep our eyes on her face, specifically her two main eyes!

“Hello, you two. I hope you’re doing well this morning,” she chirped cheerfully, either ignoring or not noticing Sara’s unease. “Can I get you something to drink?” She asked.

“I’ll have a Diet Coke.”