A trusted roommate hits on your man in front of you…. WTF!

Let’s talk about it…

Olivia’s divorce will be final in less than a month. She has no post-divorce plans. Now that the divorce hearing is over, she can divert her thoughts to where her and Jeffrey will live. Jeffrey is Olivia’s four-year-old son with her husband. Olivia was given full custody. Olivia’s husband was able to keep their family home in the divorce settlement and was given arranged visitation rights to their son.  The child support awarded to Olivia is not enough to support her and Jeffrey. Olivia remembers her mom recently renovated her three-car garage into a studio apartment. The apartment has a bathroom with two small rooms. One room has a wall-to-wall closet with twin bunk beds. The other room has a small sink with a four-tier mobile shelf for storage, a mini refrigerator, a double hot plate with a microwave. Olivia knew she had to react to her thoughts quickly before her mother moves her brother out the house into the studio apartment. She calls her mom. “Hi mom, how are things going?” “Hello Olivia, all is well. How are you and Jefferey?”. “Well mom, that’s why I am calling you. Jeffrey and I will need a place to stay after the divorce is final. I was hoping that you haven’t rented out your studio apartment yet.” “Olivia, you called as I was heading to the den to talk with Junior about moving into the studio. I guess your dad and I can tolerate Junior living a little longer in the house so that you and Jefferey can move into the studio.” “Thanks mom, it will only be a temporary short stay until I can find a job and an affordable place for me and Jeffrey.” “It’s okay dear, I understand; replied, Olivia’s mom”.

Soon after moving in the studio, Olivia enrolled Jefferey into an all-day childcare school near her mom’s home. She begins her search for a job. She finds a job working for a corporation in the order processing department. Three months after working Olivia was able to move into a one-bedroom apartment near her mother. Although Olivia and Jefferey had to share the bedroom, she was so proud to have her own place. Her paycheck combined with the child support was barely enough to cover her expenses. She did not have room for any expense outside of her normal monthly expenditures. Which meant, on weekends, Jefferey and Olivia took advantage of activities that were free. They would spend time at the park, beach, library, free exhibitions, and museums. Olivia’s co-worker Janice works in the billing department. Janice have noticed Olivia sitting alone at lunch for months and decided to introduced herself. Olivia and Janice become close work friends. Everyday, as they ate lunch, Janice and Olivia would spend an hour talking about everything under the sun. They would talk about their accomplishments, disappointments, kids, ex-husbands, current events and of course their jobs. Janice was also a divorce mother with one child. She lived in a two-bedroom, two-bath apartment. Unlike Olivia, Janice court appointed child support from her ex-husband was a substantial amount that covers all her expenditures including entertainment, shopping, and eating out on occasions. Janice would often invite Olivia to an event or to hang out with her and her son. Olivia always declined stating her and Jefferey have plans. One day, Janice gives Olivia an invitation to her son’s birthday party. She expressed to Olivia, “the party is a month from this coming Saturday, so no excuses, you have to come states Janice”. Olivia takes the invitation; smile, then nods her head in agreement with Janice statement. For the next month, Olivia was worry about the party. She knows that she could not afford to buy a birthday gift. She did not want to be the only parent showing up with her child and no gift. Olivia finally gains the courage to let Janice know that she could not afford to buy a gift and for this reason, she did not want to embarrass her son or herself by showing up empty handed. Olivia explained to Janice that her paycheck combined with her child support barely covers their expenses. Janice told Olivia she understands and that she wanted her to come anyway. She promises Olivia, when her son opens his gifts, they would not announce publicly who the gift was from. Instead, they would acknowledge in private with a thank you card. Olivia felt better and decided to come.

The next week after the birthday party, Janice asked Olivia during lunch if she could call her that evening around 7 pm to talk about a matter that was pressing on her heart but was not for public ears. Sure, states Olivia. I am looking forward to your call. As promise, Janice calls Olivia at 7 pm. She started the conversation by saying; “I have known you long enough to skip the small talk, and I hope you do not see my suggestion as a sympathy offer. I would like to know if you would like to roommate with me and my son. As you know, I have a two-bedroom, two-bath apartment. Our sons are young enough to share a room with us. I will charge you one third of what you are paying in rent now. This way you can save your money or just have a little extra to do somethings that you could not do before. It would not hurt my feelings if you declined this offer. We will continue to be friends. It would be a joy for me and my son to have you and Jeffrey as our roommate.” Olivia asked if she could think about it for a couple of day. Sure, states Janice. A week after the phone call, Olivia agreed to become Janice roommate. She asked Janice if they could put their agreement in writing. The two ladies got together after work to detail the logistics of the arrangement. Each person signed the agreement. Janice and Olivia enjoyed being roommates. They were able to take the kids together to amusement parks, movies, and weekend cruises. Everything was going well until Olivia started dating a supervisor who worked in the warehouse at the company. Olivia noticed that each time she mentions David’s name, Janice would frown or become agitated. Janice would never engage in a conversation about David. She wouldn’t say his name. Olivia was very confused as to why Janice was behaving so strangely about David. Olivia thought to herself, Janice cannot be jealous of me dating because she is also dating someone. She never mentions if David have crossed her in a bad way at work in the past. Or if she knows some disturbing information about him. Olivia did not know how to approach Janice about the situation. She did not want things to become worse or for it to appear she was accusing Janice of some wrongdoing. Olivia thought she would remain silent about the situation until the right moment presences itself. Friday morning, Janice informed Olivia that her and her son would be spending the weekend at her mom’s house. She explained that their clothes were pack, and they would be going to her mom’s immediately after work. Okay states Olivia, enjoy your visit. Olivia thought to herself, what am I going to do this weekend. Mom is picking up Jeffrey from school to spend the weekend with her and his cousins. Well, I will find something to do; maybe I will treat myself to a day at the spa. After work, as Olivia is heading to her car, she is approached by David. “Hey you, shout David; it has been a busy day and a long work week for me. I haven’t had much time to talk with you this week. I want you to know that I have been thinking about you all week. I’m hoping we can do something together this weekend.” Olivia tells David that she will have the apartment to herself this weekend. She invited him over for dinner and a movie. David asked Olivia, “what would your roommate say about me coming over for dinner?” Olivia explains to David why it wouldn’t be a problem because she will be home alone. As promise, David shows up at 7:00pm with a bottle of wine. Olivia prepared crescent rolls, grilled chicken breast with asparagus and scallop potatoes. After eating dinner, David, and Olivia heads to the living room to talk and drink wine before turning on the movie. Just as they sat on the couch, Janice walks in the apartment alone. They were in shock. No one knew what to say, they all stared at each other. Janice broke the staring by saying I forgot something. She goes into her bedroom. Within five minutes she comes out wearing a black sexy negligee. She looks directly at David, then say in a sexy tone, “this is what you turned down; this is what your hard to catch ass have been missing.” In order to not disrespect Olivia by looking at Janice, David drops his head. Olivia was speechless, she had no clue what was going on. She did not know how to address her friend. She felt the pain in the words Janice spoke. Now she knows why Janice had changed towards her after finding out she was dating David. Janice runs back in her room crying. She changes her clothes and leaves without saying anything. David states to Olivia; “let me apologize to you for not letting you know about your roommate. When I first start working at the company a year before you came Janice would express interest in me. Her expressions of interest were a turn off for me. I thought she would be a cool person to hang out with, so I agree to exchange phone numbers with her. She started leaving provocative explicit message on my phone as well as pictures. Apparently, she thought this would excite me, causing me to want her. Had she conduct herself in a lady like manner, her and I would probably be together because she is a beautiful lady. Her aggressive explicit behavior made her look ugly in my eyes. I am not like most men. I am not attracted to that kind of behavior. She became angry when I expressed this to her.

Olivia was not sure how to approach Janice when she returned home Sunday evening. Both ladies remained silent as they avoid being in the same room as the other one. Olivia asked Janice to have lunch with her on Monday, she felt that work would be a safe place to talk about what happen without each person becoming belligerent. At lunch, Olivia asked Janice for an explanation for her actions with David. Janice refused to talk about it. Olivia ends their lunch meeting by stating to Janice; “your none compliances to our roommate agreement and refusal to provide an explanation for your actions puts me in an uncomfortable position. Therefore, I will be looking for a new place to live. I greatly appreciate you for inviting me to become your roommate and for being a good friend up until this event with David. I hope and pray that one day we can become close friends again.”

What do you think Olivia should have done? How do you think she should have handled the situation when Janice came out the room in a sexy negligee? https://thebookoflife.site