Minta had reached late. As usual. The allocations had been done and most of the new students had already settled into their rooms. She wasn't unduly worried because she was quite sure she would find a place to stay. She was like that – she somewhat complacently believed that things would always work out fine. So far they had hadn't they? Touchwood!
Here she was at the prestigious Ivy League university where she had dreamed of studying for her Masters in Literature. That dream was about to come true. Searching for a room was a minor hassle compared to the glorious high of walking down the grassy knolls and into hallowed portals of the Uni. She was almost smiling.
An hour later the smile was most certainly not there. In its stead was a frown. The luggage was weighing her down, she was exhausted from her long journey and there were no available rooms in sight. And classes began tomorrow! The dorm rooms had been the first to go as they were closest to the campus. The other students relied on flat shares which were organized by the Uni Admin or arranged accommodation themselves. Arranging accommodation without the Uni Admin was a much more difficult proposition being both expensive or at a distance.
Minta had not realized what a fight it would be to get the Uni flat shares. And most people had arrived earlier, done their research and booked the apartments. Minta cursed herself for being stupid enough to think that anything at Uni would be easy. After much pleading she got the addresses of 3 apartments from the frazzled Admin officer and 2 of those were filled by the time she got to them. Beginning to feel a sense of real panic now, she made her way to the last address on her list. It was getting dark and she did not have the time or money to search for an apartment herself.
The apartment was some distance away so she understood why it might not be much preferred. When she finally reached the small 2 storey house she discovered that there were already some students living there. The girl who held the door open told her that she and her partner stayed in the ground floor flat along with another couple and that a new student had just moved into the room upstairs. Minta could share the upstairs flat with the fresher if she was interested. At this point, Minta would have accepted a place in an igloo. She lugged her stuff upstairs and went to meet her prospective flatmate.
As the door opened, Minta realized she had been so busy searching for a place, she had forgotten to think about what kind of flatmate she would get. She was generally a pretty accommodating person, but the person looking back at her was…a boy. He was tall and lean with skin like alabaster, glacial blue eyes and high cheekbones framed by soft black curls. He looked…ethereal.
For a minute, it appeared that they both didn't know what to say – then she began explaining her predicament, speaking quickly to ignore her initial confusion. "My name is Sherlock", he said – his voice a deep mellifluous baritone with an elegant British accent. "Sherlock Holmes. And you are of course welcome to share the flat, such as it is. I do need someone to split the rent."
"I'm Minta McNair. I..I didn't know that…I probably won't stay here for long…just till I find another place. I mean not that it's not nice…its just…", she said a bit incoherently trying to gather her thoughts. She really needed a place tonight and she could stay with this…guy…for a bit till she found another one.
Mum and Dad need never know about this she thought. And he probably wasn't a psycho. Right?