Starr Fated

by G E Griffin

  No doubt such a good looking guy had a whole string of girls chasing after him to keep him occupied, which was just as well, as I didn't have time to even think about messing around with a guy like him.

  So I left him standing there staring after me, as I hurried out of the station, and headed for the first house on my viewing list.

  Chapter 2

  Jamie

  “Why the fuck didn't you think to get her number before she walked away, you total moron,” I cursed myself as I stared at my mobile, willing it to ring as it lay there silently taunting me on the kitchen worktop. It had been over an hour and a half since I’d got back, and there’d been no phone call from Sera, and now I had no way of making contact with her again.

  Naturally I’d noticed the pretty girl sitting opposite me on the tube train, but it wasn’t until she looked up and I caught a glimpse of her amazing green eyes that I started to properly take notice, and was glad I’d decided not to drive today but to take the tube instead. This girl really was something else, and I took full advantage of the fact that I was sitting opposite to appreciate her very sexy, long slim legs being shown off by a cute, short denim skirt. Her loose baggy top intriguingly hid the rest of her figure. Somehow though, I couldn’t imagine it would disappoint. Her long, glossy, raven coloured hair was put up in some kind of a messy, twisted knot effort, and as I saw her glance at me, I think my jaw might have slacked open just a little bit. She was the full package, a total hot babe.

  I tried flashing my best award winning smile at her, but she ignored me and cut me dead. Not interested, was the loud and clear message, which intrigued me even more because I’m not used to being ignored. I’ve been told I’m good looking enough to be a model, and I pride myself that women usually find my best smile quite impossible to resist; theirs is usually the heart that leaps when I look at them, not the other way round.

  So when this girl left her bag behind on the tube, I grabbed it and quickly seized the opportunity to go after her. I like to think that I’m a decent sort of a guy, so of course I’d have done the same for anyone, but this was a golden opening to meet her that I seized with both hands, even though it meant getting off the tube one stop earlier than usual.

  She still blew me off when I managed to catch her up and tried to get a date, but at least I found out that she was a student like me, and that her name was Seraphina. Intriguing – I’d never met a girl with that name before, even though I’d got to know more than my fair share of girls through college and university.

  When I managed to get hold of the details of the places she was about to view, I was genuinely concerned for her – no nice girl would want live in those areas if she could possibly avoid it. And Seraphina did seem a really nice girl, so that was when I had the brainwave of offering her the spare room in our house. I suppose I wasn’t really surprised when she’d rejected the offer, as we’d only just met.

  Now I wished I’d been more assertive and insisted on going with Sera to the viewings, because maybe she didn't realize the difference being just one or two streets away could make to the desirability of an area, and then she might have been more receptive to the idea of sharing our house.

  I was so deep in my thoughts that I nearly jumped out of my skin when the doorbell rang, and I sighed as I went to open it, assuming it was Toby, one of my house mates.

  “For fucks sake, how many keys can one person lose…?”

  I was completely gobsmacked when I saw Seraphina standing there.

  “Sorry, is this a bad time? I hope you don't mind, only you did say…”

  “No, no, not at all. Sorry, I just thought you were my housemate, he’s always losing or forgetting his keys, so…” I found myself burbling uncharacteristically, as I just stood there gawping. Sera was even more stunning than I remembered.

  “Did you mean it? About the room I mean. You were spot on about the ones I went to look at, they were really bad. The third one would do at a push, but I thought seeing as the address you gave me was only a couple of streets away when I looked it up…but if it was just a joke, I’ll go straight back and take the other room.”

  “No, no, honestly it wasn’t a joke at all. Please, come in, and I’ll show you the room.” I just about managed to reconnect my brain sufficiently to speak coherently. “I just assumed you’d ring first, that’s all.”

  As Sera carefully picked her way through the shambolic pile of assorted smelly trainers and shoes that had been dumped by the door in the hallway of our Victorian end terrace house, I cursed that I hadn’t thought to generally tidy up a bit, just in case she turned up.

  “I didn't call because I haven't got much credit left on my phone, so I'm saving it for emergencies. But if calling in like this is a problem for you…” Sera explained, as she looked around.

  “Not at all. You’ll just have to excuse us if the house is a bit messy – we’ve… umm… all been studying way too hard to do much housework.” It was the best excuse I could come up with on the spur of the moment, but it was pretty lame, and we both knew it. “So, where would you like to look first? The bedroom, or downstairs in the kitchen and lounge?”

  “I think the bedroom, because if that doesn't suit, there’s really no point in looking at anything else is there?” Sera suggested, a little smile creeping over her face as she took in my rather flustered efforts to quickly tidy things as we walked through the house.

  “Right, well, as I told you before, it’s the attic bedroom, so follow me,” I said, as we climbed the stairs to the first landing.

  “That’s my room, that’s Toby’s, and the smaller one to the right is Adam’s. He’s hardly ever here, he spends most of his time at his girlfriend’s place. And that’s the main bathroom,” I pointed out each room in turn. “And the attic room is this way. We don’t really bother to go up there, not since Ollie dropped out of uni and left.”

  “So it’s just you three boys sharing, is it?”

  “Yeah, that’s right.”

  I led her up the second much narrower set of steep stairs, bending my head as we reached the second small landing, where the ceiling sloped down sharply.

  “This is the bathroom for up here. It’s very small, and I’m not sure if the shower works properly to be honest, but you’d be welcome to use the main bathroom downstairs if you preferred.” Especially if you happened to forget to lock the door while you were showering.

  “The room has its own bathroom? Wow!” Sera poked her head around the door to examine the contents.

  “I wouldn’t get too excited. Like I said, we never use it, and I’ve a feeling it might not be that great.”

  “But still, it’s something I’ve never had before. So is this the bedroom?” Sera asked, nodding towards the other door.

  “Yep, sure is.”

  She opened the door, and stepped into the room. On first impression, it appeared quite large, but it was deceptive, because it was only possible for me to stand up properly in the middle of the room, due to the sloping ceiling. There was a basic desk tucked against the wall, a small double bed, a small wardrobe, and a very wonky bookcase. The carpet on the floor was a deep red, which could have made the room seem quite dark, but the walls were painted white which helped to compensate. But what made it really light were the two huge velux roof windows, through which the late afternoon sunlight was streaming in.

  “Oh, that’s perfect. Does it get the sun all day, or just in the afternoon?” Sera queried excitedly, as she gazed up at the roof windows.

  “No idea, I'm afraid. I've never noticed.”

  “Really? It’s just that I'm an arts student at Central St Martin’s. I'm doing Graphic Design, and good light is really helpful when I'm working on my course pieces.”

  “Ah, so you’re the arty type. I’m studying at the London School of Economics - as are Toby and Adam,” I explained, thinking that Sera looked the part of the quirky art type with her rather weird dress sense and all the unusual jewellery she was wearing.

  “
So you’re all number crunchers.” She pulled a face.

  “Hey, don't say that like it’s a bad thing,” I protested at her reaction. It wasn’t what I was used to - most people were pretty impressed when they learned where and what I was studying.

  “Sorry, I didn't mean it like that. It’s just I always hated maths at school. I got by okay in it, but I gave it up as soon as I could.”

  “Well, I’ve never been the slightest bit interested in art, but I’d be willing to let you educate and enlighten me,” I offered hopefully. Sera seemed to like the room anyhow, so that was positive.

  “Hmm, we’ll have to see about that. So, what’s the rest of the house like?”

  “Come on, I’ll show you.”

  We returned back downstairs, and Sera looked in the lounge. It was dominated by our huge, flat screen TV – our pride and joy, which we’d clubbed together to buy as soon as we all moved in, as it was essential we had a large screen to watch the rugby on. Sera seemed more interested in the kitchen for some reason, which was just your average type, with most things you need in it. I was taken by surprise when she chose to examine the inside of the oven, of all places. Why?

  “That’s surprisingly clean,” she commented.

  “That’d be because we never use it,” I winked at her, nodding my head towards the bin, which was stacked up with empty pizza boxes and take away cartons.

  “You mean you never actually cook for yourselves?” she asked incredulously.

  “Depends what you mean by cook. I do a pretty mean ready meal in the microwave, and Toby’s a dab hand with a pot noodle. Adam lets his girlfriend Chloe handle catering for him I think.”

  “That’s dreadful! You can't live like that. Apart from being unhealthy, it’s such a waste of money,” Sera argued, but I just shrugged.

  “Perhaps if you came and lived here, you could show us boys how to cook some nice, easy, nutritious meals,” I suggested with a poker straight face. You cook, we eat.

  “Oh no, I’m not falling for that one. The old ‘you show me’ meaning ‘you do it for me’ routine.”

  “Damn, you must have shared with boys before,” I laughed. It was worth a try.

  “Oh, girls can pull that trick too, believe me,” she informed me wryly.

  “So, what do you think? None of us are convicted murderers or rapists, but there’s a lock on the bedroom door, if sharing with three blokes would be an issue for you in any way?”

  “Oh, that wouldn’t be a problem. I told you before; I can take care of myself, no worries.”

  “So, is that a yes, you’re going to take the room?” I asked hopefully.

  “Well, I do really like the room. All that space under the eaves would be perfect for storing my art folders, and the light in the room is great. But two things.”

  “What?”

  “Obviously you haven't had time to run this by your housemates, so how would they feel about a girl moving in, when you’re clearly used to an all-male environment?”

  “They’ll be totally cool about it, trust me,” I promised. Was she kidding? A total hot babe like her?

  “And we haven't even discussed the most important issue yet of the deposit and the rent. I’d be prepared to stretch to the top of my budget, but if it’s over that, then it’s just not possible. What does your landlord charge?”

  “Parents keeping you on a tight rein, are they?”

  “No, it’s not that. My parents have both passed away, so I have to manage on my student loan plus whatever else I can earn to top up my funds. I already work as a waitress as many hours as I can fit in around my studies, so there would be no way I could raise any extra funds.”

  “How on earth do you find time to study if you’re working so much?”

  “Efficient use of my time. That’s why I have to get my accommodation sorted out today. I’ll be too busy working or studying after this. So, is your landlord reasonable?”

  I did some quick mental arithmetic, while Sera calmly watched me. When I’d read the details of the other places she’d been going to see, the rent had been written on each one, so I had a pretty good idea of what her budget was. Now I just had to calculate how low I thought I could get our beloved landlord to go.

  “Look, why don't you let me make you a coffee, then we can sit down and run through all the figures together. I'm sure we can work something out,” I suggested, buying myself a bit more time. I had to be able to work something out, because there was no way I was going to let gorgeous Seraphina Jones walk away from here until she’d agreed to move in.

  Chapter 3

  Seraphina

  I tried to keep calm, so I wouldn’t be disappointed if it turned out I couldn’t afford either the deposit or the rent for this place. But the truth was, I really wanted it. I could just see myself settled in that odd little attic room at the top of the house, especially as it even had an adjoining tiny bathroom with a loo and a shower. No doubt it would need a deep clean to bring it up to scratch, but that didn't worry me, I’d shared far worse in the past. This place would be sheer luxury - if I could afford it.

  Just as Jamie and I sat down together at the kitchen table with our drinks, we heard the front door slam, and another guy appeared in the kitchen. He had thick, straight, dark brown hair that he wore a bit shorter than Jamie had his, but he had it all swept forward instead of just hanging down. I couldn’t help noticing that he had the most gorgeous chocolate brown eyes. He wasn’t as tall as Jamie, but was a much broader, stockier build. I wondered what the third housemate was like, because so far these two boys were both seriously hot.

  “Sorry, am I interrupting?” he asked, as he stared at me.

  We females do have a brain as well, you know.

  “No, come and join us, because hopefully this is our new housemate, Seraphina Jones,” Jamie breezily replied. I noticed that he studiously avoided meeting his house mate’s eye.

  “What, you mean she’s moving in with you? Blimey, that was quick work, mate,” he said admiringly, as he still stared at me.

  “No! I mean Sera is hopefully going to be taking the attic room.”

  “Really? But… what does The Big Guy have to say about this?”

  “The Big Guy?” I queried.

  “Liam. Jamie’s older brother. The control freak who owns this place.”

  “He’s away in New York on business at the moment. But he’ll be cool. He’s been nagging me for ages to do something about letting that room after Ollie left, but I couldn’t get any of the other guys interested, could I? They all thought the room was too small.”

  “You mean Liam doesn’t know yet? This is going to be interesting then. Very interesting indeed.” Toby raised his eyebrows. “But I’m being very rude and forgetting my manners. I'm Toby Harris. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Seraphina,” he smiled charmingly at me.

  “Likewise, Toby, and please, call me Sera. So, do you think Jamie’s brother is going to object to having me as a tenant for some reason? Why would that be? And anyway, it’s not certain yet, because we still haven’t discussed the deposit and rent yet, have we?”

  “There’ll be no trouble with my brother. He just…he likes…he’s very controlled and organised, so he’ll just be a little surprised that I’ve got this sorted without him, that’s all.”

  “He likes control, in all matters, full stop,” muttered Toby under his breath, which earned him a glare from Jamie.

  “If it’s going to cause any problems, maybe this isn’t such a good idea,” I said, trying to hide my bitter disappointment. I really wanted that room. It seemed the answer to all my prayers, especially after spending all summer sleeping on Abbey's lumpy sofa, and then seeing the other dreadful rooms earlier today.

  “No. There won’t be any problem. Leave Liam to me,” Jamie insisted.

  “Gladly,” muttered Toby. “Cos The Big Guy sure scares the hell out of me.”

  “Look, before we go any further and worry about this ‘Big Guy’, can you tell me just how much
the deposit is?” I queried, wanting to get the facts straight before I got too excited.

  Jamie looked over at Toby.

  “Can you remember how much we paid? Did we actually do the whole deposit thing?”

  “How do you expect me to remember? It was years ago now, and my dad just sorted all that out for me,” Toby replied, as he shrugged carelessly.

  “You see, Sera, we’ve house shared since we first started at uni. Liam said financially it made more sense to buy a student house as one of his investment properties, rather than waste money paying out exorbitant rent to a landlord for several years. He’s a bit of a financial genius,” Jamie explained.

  “He must be, if he can afford to buy you a nice house like this, right here in London,” I murmured. I’d been right. Jamie came from a nice, comfortable, monied background. No wonder he said he knew the landlord personally – of course he would if it was his own brother.

  “Yes, and have you forgotten how he insisted on personally vetting each of us before he’d agree to anyone moving in?” Toby muttered to Jamie.

  “It’ll be fine. Trust me,” Jamie insisted, although he looked rather uncomfortable, as if he wasn’t really that confident about the reaction of this older brother of his. “Now I'm sure we can come to some flexible arrangement about the deposit, and I think the figure for the rent is going to be around £500 a month. Is that figure within your budget, Sera?”

  I couldn’t help noticing the look of surprise on Toby’s face, and I suspected that Jamie might have kicked him under the table when I saw him wince. I wasn’t sure what was going on here between these two, but I was sure I could handle things if they thought me moving in was going to be a green light for either of them to get an easy lay.

  “Is that with bills on top?” I asked nervously, as the figure he quoted was already at the very top of my budget.

  “No, including.” Toby winced again – another kick?