Skin Deep

Dahlia was bone tired, with a smudge of dirt on her cheek and strawberry blonde hair somewhat frazzled. It was a sad commentary that she could work in tech as a tester and not make enough to own a place without needing a housemate.

She was somewhat handy, though, and found a fixer upper and a recommendation for a general contractor to handle what she couldn’t. Months later, the renovations were complete and the “Room for Rent” sign was in the window.

As she turned the corner, thinking of the few tasks left to wrap up, she practically ran into a biker with a dark, foreboding expression pacing restlessly back and forth. Startled green eyes locked onto smoky gray ones, and the tattoos on his arms practically bristled as his muscles tensed.

“Hi, I’ve been watching these renovations, you have a room for rent?”

“Umm… Yes”, Dahlia reluctantly admitted, eyeing the stranger warily.

He darted to his motorcycle and retrieved some papers from the saddlebag strapped to the rear. “It’s been hard finding a place, and the leaks in my apartment have gotten intolerable. I’m Nick, and I just got my AWS certification as a DevOps Engineer. Here are my W-2 forms. If you’d like, you can hop on back and we can go to my place so you can see how I live. Maybe not the neatest right now, but at least to show I’ll take care of your place.”

An unplanned ride on a perfect stranger’s motorbike normally doesn’t rank very high on the Darwinian scale for survival prospects. And yet… It wasn’t often Dahlia heard “AWS certification” and “DevOps Engineer” outside of work and technical conferences. Unsure of herself as eyes and ears warred with one another, the tiniest, calming voice deep in her gut stepped up and broke the tie. She took a deep breath and tilted her head, looking up at him thoughtfully.

“Fine, let’s go now. I’m Dahlia.” They shook hands.

***

Nick cleared a space for her to set her backpack down, and Dahlia scanned his cramped studio apartment. Yes, cluttered with books and suffering from benign neglect, but certainly not wrecked, other than the leaks which the negligent landlord clearly ignored. It started pouring, and the outer wall and window began leaking too. Nick sighed in resignation, grabbed a motorcycle cover, and ran out to cover his motorcycle.

As Dahlia stood by the door watching him return, drenched, they both heard a “hick!” behind a trash can.

“Do you also have a rodent problem?” asked Dahlia.

“Not that I know of”, said Nick. He carefully moved the trashcan and something gray darted out and under a bush nearby. “Hick!”

Nick crouched down and peered under the bush. “Well, hello there!” he exclaimed. He stood up triumphantly, a hand completely encircling a tiny, bedraggled kitten which hiccuped once again.

Back inside, he grabbed a small towel where he placed the kitten and handed it to Dahlia. He then tore off his shirt, excusing himself to get dry clothes. Dahlia stopped breathing momentarily.

As he returned, she asked, “So how does a DevOps Engineer manage to stay in shape if you’re this busy?”

He grinned and said, “None of this would have been sustainable without jiu jitsu workouts now and then.” He opened the fridge and retrieved some cream for the kitten. “Since we’re stuck here until the rain lets up, I was planning on making curry for dinner. Would you like to join me?”

Dahlia thought, time to remove the “Room for Rent” sign.