Chapter 5: Housemates

August 1981, Chicago, Illinois

On Sunday morning, I made my usual call to Karin. I described everything in the apartment and all the things I’d done during the week, including the reception. Both of us would start school in a week and we were both looking forward to it.

When we finished talking, I went out for my run, showered, and ate breakfast. I made some tea, started a load of laundry, and then turned on the stereo. I put on an REO Speedwagon album and then relaxed on the couch with the book on Russian history and culture. Other than changing my laundry loads, folding them, and flipping and changing records, I stayed on the couch reading and drinking tea.

About noon, the buzzer rang, and I got up and looked out the window. I could see Elyse standing by the door to the building. I buzzed her in and opened the apartment door. A moment later, she walked through the open door and gave me a quick hug.

“Wow! This is way better than I even imagined. You told me about it, but I thought maybe you were exaggerating a bit. I should never have doubted you!”

“Of course not!” I grinned.

She walked through the apartment quickly.

“Only one bed? I guess I have to sleep with you!” she giggled.

“Smart Aleck. I assume your parents are downstairs with your stuff?”

“Yes. I hope you haven’t eaten yet; they want to take us to lunch.”

“I haven’t. I thought it might be the case that they would do that. If you hadn’t shown up by 1:00pm, I’d have eaten something.”

We took the elevator down and walked out to meet her parents. They had a U-Haul trailer just like the one my dad had rented. The four of us set to work unloading everything and moving it up to the apartment. About forty minutes later, the trailer was empty and Mr. Clarke closed it up and we all went back upstairs. Elyse’s room was filled with her things and we hadn’t left room to set up the bed!

Elyse looked around and laughed, “Let’s have lunch first, Dad. Then I can get my room arranged.”

We agreed on Chinese and walked to the same place that I’d eaten on the day I’d arrived. Mr. and Mrs. Clarke asked all kinds of questions and I could tell that they were a bit uncomfortable. I wasn’t sure if it was because Elyse was going to be away from home, because she was living in the same apartment with me, or a combination of both. I suspected the latter. We finished our lunch and walked back to the apartment.

“Mom, Dad, you don’t have to stay. Steve can help me unpack. That way you can get home before 10:00pm.”

“If you’re sure, honey,” Mrs. Clarke said.

“I’m sure.”

I shook both their hands and Elyse walked them out to their car. I started moving boxes around, including moving some out of her room into the living room, so that there was room to set up her bed. I’d put mine so that the headboard was against the east wall, under the window. The bay window was on the north wall, facing 53rd street. I guessed that Elyse would want hers the same way, but she could also put it against the south wall or do something odd. I decided to wait for her to come back, but there was room to set it up against the east wall, which was to my room.

Five minutes later, Elyse came back inside. I offered her a Coke, which she accepted, and we stood looking at her room.

“My parents are nervous about me being in Chicago and my dad isn’t happy with me living with a guy. But once he saw your room and how nicely you had everything set up, I think he calmed down a bit.”

“I thought it was something like that. I noticed he was uncomfortable.”

“I’ve lived in the same house my entire life. My dad has had the same job since I was little. Remember, my life has been very simple, so change is harder than it is for you. Your life has been in constant turmoil until recently, so you’re used to change. It did help that Aunt Jennie vouched for you!” she said, arching an eyebrow.

“I bet she didn’t vouch for THAT!” I laughed. “If she did, your dad would NEVER have let you come to Chicago!”

“So true!” she said, giggling.

“Where do you want to set up your bed?”

“I think opposite of the way you’ve set yours.”

“Are you sure? Your headboard would be against the wall with the living room. The TV and stereo are right on the other side, so it might bother you if you’re trying to nap.”

“Oh, that’s a good point. Then the same way as yours is probably best.”

We put the frame together and attached it to the headboard, and pushed it against the wall. Next we put the box spring and mattress on the frame.

“I think I want the desk there, next to the window and the dresser on the wall opposite the bed,” Elyse said, pointing to the spots.

We moved the furniture to the correct spots, and she decided to shift them slightly, then proclaimed it good. We put the bookshelf on the other side of the bay window from the desk and the night stand next to the bed. Elyse pointed to two boxes and asked me to unpack her books and put them on the bookshelf. I opened the two boxes and began unpacking the books while Elyse began unpacking her clothes. When I finished, I put her small black-and-white TV on top of the bookshelf and plugged it in. I put her lamp on the night table next to her bed.

“We can go to the store to pick out your curtains when we finish. My dad, Ed, and I put up the hardware. I didn’t know what color you wanted!”

She laughed, “Any neutral color would have been fine. I may need a few things for the room, too. So yes, let’s go when we’re done. Would you open that box and hang my towels on the rack in the bathroom and put the spares in a closet?”

I opened the box and took her towels into the bathroom. I hung one, plus a washcloth, on the rack and put the others in the small linen closet just outside the bathroom. I went back to her room, and she asked me to take a box to the kitchen and unpack it. Her parents had given her dishes and pots and pans. I was happy because I’d only had a minimal set to start. After I put everything away, I made a quick list of a few things I needed to make sure I had a completely equipped kitchen.

I went back to the room and Elyse asked me to help her make the bed. We put the fitted sheet on, then the regular sheet and eventually her comforter. She put the pillow cases on and then put the pillows on the bed. Lastly, she added a stuffed rabbit. She had two posters for me to hang on the wall. One was Johnny Bench, and the other was a 1975 Reds Team poster taken after the World Series win against Boston.

Elyse finished putting her clothes in her dresser and shoes in the closet and said we were almost done. The last box had her albums, which we put in the entertainment center along with mine. We broke down the boxes and took them down to the basement where I’d taken mine earlier in the week. We went back upstairs, and I offered her a Coke. She accepted, and we sat on the couch.

“I’m really impressed with the apartment and the furniture and everything. Do you think we can stay here all four years?”

“There’s no reason we can’t, because I plan to stay here during the Summers. I signed a one-year lease and I’ll do that each August until we graduate.”

“Good! Shall we go to the store? And are you cooking tonight?”

“Yes, to both,” I answered, as we headed out the door.

We walked down to my car to go to the Venture department store. On the way, I told her about my plan to go home over Labor Day and she said she’d like to come so she could bring her car back. I told her that Kathy and Bethany might be coming with us, so one of them could ride back with her so she wouldn’t be alone. She was happy about that. Elyse bought her curtains and a few other things, and I purchased more things I needed for the kitchen. We headed home, and I hung the curtains for Elyse and we put everything else away.

I prepared dinner and Elyse set the table. We ate, and afterwards Elyse did the dishes as we had agreed to a few weeks ago. When we finished, we took a walk around the neighborhood so that she could have an idea of where things were. I told her about the martial arts studio and that I’d have my first lesson on Monday. I asked if she wanted to join me, but she said she wasn’t interested. I showed her the Post Office and then we walked towards the University so she could begin to get acclimated to the layout. We found the bookstore, which was important because she’d be buying her books later in the week. I would need to take a trip to IIT to do the same.

We walked back to the apartment, and I put on the stereo and tuned in to B96, a local soft rock station. I let Elyse know I needed to make a few phone calls, and went to my room to call Kara. We talked for about ten minutes and I told her about my week. Nothing had changed at home to this point. Her dad still wasn’t allowing her any freedom, though she had been able to see Susie. She hoped that once school started in a week, things would change a bit.

After I hung up with Kara, I called Jennifer who seemed to be doing OK. She’d be leaving for Stanford on Wednesday. She had continued talking with the girl from upstate New York that was going to be her suite-mate in the dorm and said that it seemed as if they would get along well. I was glad to hear that. Jennifer told me that she’d spoken to the therapist in Palo Alto and would be seeing her on Friday.

When I finished my calls, I went back to the living room to find Elyse reading. She put her book down and asked if I wanted to discuss finances, so I went and grabbed my notebook and went over all the expenses I expected to have and what her share would be. We agreed that she’d simply write one check to me each month. She’d need to open a local bank account, which she would do in the morning while I was at my first martial arts class.

We mapped out our week. Monday afternoon we’d travel to IIT to buy my books, then head to the UofC bookstore to buy hers. We went over our class schedules and they aligned fairly closely. We decided that Thursday afternoons would be for our grocery shopping trips. I was going to sign-up for the Tuesday and Thursday evening martial arts classes, plus one that was held early on Saturday mornings. Elyse laughed and said she planned to sleep late on Saturdays.

At 10:00pm we watched the local news and then Elyse went to the bathroom to get ready for bed. She came out wearing her robe and went into her room. I grabbed my robe and went into the bathroom to brush my teeth. I donned my robe and walked back into my room.

“Elyse?!” I said in surprise. “What’s going on?”

She was in my bed, under the comforter!

“Come get in bed with me and I’ll explain,” she said with a smile.

I dropped my robe and climbed into bed next to Elyse.

“So?”

“You and I both know that we want this. And we both know it had to happen, eventually. I think it’s easier if we just get it out of the way. There’ll be a lot less tension!”

“Get it out of the way?” I smirked.

“I don’t mean it like that!” she said with a soft laugh. “We’ve been dancing around this topic for ages because of Jennifer. We’ve wanted to do it almost since you got back from Sweden, but we didn’t. If there’s ever a time to do it, it’s now, tonight. Then, we can move forward and see what happens. Maybe it’ll happen again, maybe it won’t. I suspect it will.”

“This is quite the change.”

“Is it? Really? It’s the next logical step in our relationship. We talked a long time ago about maybe living together. Here we are. Neither of us expected this to actually happen. And yet, it happened. My simple life and your complicated life collided.”

“True. I do remember you promising to ‘rock my world’ a year ago,” I smirked.

“I did!” she giggled. “And you thought I meant with sex? Sorry! I meant that I’d show you a radically different way to live your life. One that I thought would be good for you. From what Bethany says, you’re moving in that direction, even without my help. That’s a good thing, and, because of that, maybe this could go somewhere.”

I chuckled, “Leave it to you to mess with me that way! Of course, I remember that night as being pretty damn satisfying.”

“Me too. And let’s just say I’m not as conventional as I might have led you to believe that night.”

“Oh really?” I smirked.

“Really. I promise to show you. But not tonight. Let’s just get reacquainted, shall we? There is one change, though.”

“What’s that?”

“I started on the Pill when you asked me to share an apartment. This will be the first time I’ve had sex without a rubber!”

“You’re just full of surprises!”

“Just you wait, Buster!” she exclaimed. “Now, are we going to talk, or are we going to have some fun?”

I pulled her to me and we kissed deeply, her small breasts pushing into my chest. It wasn’t long before our bodies were intertwined and I was moving in her. It didn’t take long for her to have her first orgasm and shortly after that, a second. The third one was bigger, and she wrapped her arms and legs tightly around me as her pussy spasmed around me. A few more thrusts and I ground against her and fired jets of cum into her.

“Oh, that feels really nice!” she gasped.

We kissed for a bit and then I pulled her to cuddle me.

“So now what?” I asked.

“I can stay if you want. We can talk tomorrow.”

“Yes, I want; stay,” I said.

“Good. I remember what it was like to sleep in your arms. That’s still the only time I’ve ever done that,” she sighed.

I got up and turned off the lights and got back into bed with her. We spooned together, and we quickly fell asleep.

I woke with Elyse in my arms and her back to me. This certainly complicated things a bit with Kathy, but otherwise, it was in line with what I felt Kara would accept. It did present a question as to what would happen next Summer when Kara came to live with me. It was something we’d have to discuss. That and her comment about this going somewhere.

About ten minutes after I woke up, Elyse opened her eyes and smiled at me.

“Hi,” she said.

“Good morning!”

“Showers, breakfast, then a talk?” she said.

“I want to run first, if you don’t mind. You can shower while I’m running.”

“How long is your run?”

“I’ll be gone about forty minutes or so.”

I put on my running shorts, t-shirt, and shoes and headed out the door, leaving Elyse in bed. One of the nice things about running was that it gave me time to think. I ran through the various possibilities and decided that all I could do was follow Elyse’s suggestion from nearly a year ago — look at what I could do each day to achieve my goals. Today, I could do something about school, so that’s what I’d do. Until I talked to Elyse, there really wasn’t any point in thinking too deeply about our situation.