A Fair Agreement 1
Jimmy Wills walked up the stairs to the second floor of the two-family home and let out a deep sigh before knocking on the door. He owned the house for three years now, and rented the upstairs apartment to the couple who currently lived there only two months later. They had been model tenants at first, with the husband going to work everyday and the wife working from home.
For the past few months, however, things weren't going so well. The Shiffrin's had been having financial troubles, and were now two months behind on the rent. Jimmy tried to be patient and work with them, so he was wondering what prompted the note that was slid under his door asking him to come upstairs when he got home.
The door opened after a few moments. Paul Shiffrin stood there, an expression on his face that looked like a combination of sadness and nervousness. Paul was about forty years old, average height, and a slightly pudgy build. He had dark circles around his eyes, leading Jimmy to believe he hadn't had a good night's sleep in about a week.
"Hey, Paul. I got your note. What's up?" Jimmy asked, trying to soften the baritone of his voice to show some concern. He had grown to like the Shiffrins, often sharing meals and drinks with them.
"Please, come in, Jimmy," Paul responded, gesturing with his hand. Jimmy entered and saw Lisa, the wife, sitting on the couch.
Lisa was an Asian-American BBW, with light-bronze skin, maroon hair that came down to her neck, and hazel colored eyes that were slightly almond-shaped. She had on a purple button-down blouse that showed off her ample bosom and a black pleated skirt that came down to her knees. Her thick legs were laid out straight on the couch. When she saw Jimmy enter, she curled her legs, making space on the couch for her landlord. "Hi Jimmy," she said with a smile that looked a little forced.
"How you doing, Lisa?" Jimmy asked, sitting on the couch next to her.
"I'm okay," she shrugged.
Paul sat down in a chair and leaned forward, his hands folded on his lap, and looked down at the floor.
"Okay, what's up you two? What's going on?" Jimmy asked, breaking the silence.
Paul looked up. "Well you know the two of us have been having money troubles lately." Jimmy just nodded in response. "We, well, Lisa and I, wanted to to let you know that we appreciate you being patient with us during the past few months."
"It's no problem. I know shit can happen, and it's not like you're deadbeats."
"Well, we appreciate it anyway," Lisa said.
"And we asked you up here to see if we could come to some sort of arrangement for the rent until we can fully pay you back," Paul continued.
"Arrangement? What kind of arrangement? Like a payment plan?"
"Not quite," Paul answered, his voice barely above a whisper.
"Well then, what do you mean?" Jimmy asked, looking back and forth between the husband and wife.
"Well, I, that is, we, were wondering if you would be willing to have Lisa as a sort of payment?"
"Wait, what do you mean?" Jimmy asked, the confusion evident on his face. He looked over at Lisa, who was staring at the arm of the couch.
"Since she's home during the day, we thought that, maybe a couple of days a week, while I'm out at work, you could come up and, well, 'visit' with her."
"You mean have sex with her as back payment for rent?" Paul could only nod in response. "And you, Lisa, are you okay with this? You agreed to this?"
Lisa looked up at Jimmy and nodded. "We've been talking about this for a couple of weeks now," she said. "As a matter of fact, it was my idea."
"Your idea?"
"Yeah. We were trying to come up with something as a solution, and we don't wanna have to move."
The three of them sat in silence. Jimmy reached out and touched Lisa's leg with a cocoa-colored hand. "I'm gonna have to think about this. I hope you understand, this is just a shock to me." The Shiffrins nodded. Jimmy got up and walked to the door. "I'll get back to you," he said as he exited.
Two days later, Paul came home from work and walked up the stairs to his apartment. He paused at the door, hearing laughter on the other side. He entered, and saw Lisa sitting on the couch with Jimmy. Jimmy was wearing jeans and a tank top. Lisa had on a pair of denim shorts that came down to mid-thigh and a sheer white blouse that showed her pink bra underneath. Her feet were propped up on Jimmy's legs, and the two of them stopped mid-laughter when they saw Paul walk in.
"What's going on? Does this mean you came to a decision?" Paul asked.
"You could say that," Lisa answered, giggling.
"Sit down so we can talk," Jimmy said, his dark hand stroking Lisa's feet.
Paul sat in the same chair as before. "Did you already...?" he asked.
"No, we haven't done anything yet. We've just been talking," Lisa answered.
"I've been thinking about this arrangement you proposed, and I don't think it's fair," Jimmy said.
"What do you mean it's not fair?"
"Well, you're the husband. You're supposed to provide for your wife, right?"
