After I graduated from my degree, I spent a summer of endless parties back in my home town. When I returned to college for the start of my postgraduate year, I quickly discovered that I'd left my accommodation plans too late. In desperation, I responded to an online ad from a rando hoping to share an apartment.
It turned out the rando was a girl named Margot, and by a stroke of luck she agreed to sign me onto the lease. I was fortunate to get an interview with her as she suspected that my application was a hoax because of my name, Magnus. Yes, I know, it's an unusual name that sounds kind of regal and important. The sort of name that would be associated with a giant cock. Magnus Penis. However, it's simply Magnus Hargraves and I'm just endowed with a regular sized peener. But it's mine and I love it.
Margot and I got along just fine in close-quarters living. We had the same outlook on life, with similar tastes in food and habits and we quickly became good friends. Not
too
good, mind you because it's always wise to maintain some degree of distance from your flat mate. We were both enrolled in coursework masters degrees at the same university - me in physical chemistry and she in literature.
We had lived together for six months, and the college classes had returned for second semester. Through all of that time, I'd say that we never really had a serious argument at all. A couple of minor niggles, but that's only to be expected.
I've always found it better to live in mixed company. Guys grouped together without the female influence can be feral. Women in isolation can get pretty catty. When there's a combination, things just flow better. I don't think it's because of any sexual tension - in contrast to Harry and Sally, I think it definitely
is
possible for men and women to remain friends in shared accommodation. I think it has more to do with a level of respect for the opposite gender (or maybe it's fear!). But mainly, I guess it is just natural to work towards harmony between the sexes.
Sharing the kitchen and living room was not a problem at all. There were no arguments over washing up, cooking or laundry. We could always resolve any issues over the TV channel or which series to stream. When one or the other of us brought a date back for sexy time, the other one was always polite enough to find somewhere else to be that evening.
In the old times, we would probably be at that stage of life where we'd each rent individual studio apartments, but in this age of a tight property market, the only affordable option was to share a unit. We had separate bedrooms of course, but there was a single shared bathroom. And that became the focus of our only real dispute.
Margot had a total fixation with a clean bathroom. I mean a total obsession. She wanted a dry floor, and wanted the shower glass completely clear with no streaks, and none of that white scaly stuff. I thought her demands were over the top, but I didn't want the bother of an argument so I just sucked it up. It just meant that I used my towel to wipe the floor and the shower after I dried myself. No biggie. Just a bit more laundry.
Her real hygiene complex was a clean toilet. She demanded a flush every single time and absolutely no skid marks. She even made a criticism if there was a bad smell afterwards. I tried my hardest, but she would scowl and make grumpy comments. The worst part, according to her, was when I'd left any urine splashes on the floor. I didn't even know that I'd done it. Maybe it was the middle of the night. Maybe it was just some water that splashed out when the toilet was being flushed.
Margot and I led somewhat separate lives, but once a week we would host a traditional dinner that we'd call 'the family meal', even though there were no members from either of our families that would attend. Rather, it was a convention where we'd cook a fancy dinner, sit properly at the dining table, and always socialize afterwards with a corny old movie. Sometimes it was just the two of us, but more often than not we'd invite a friend or two to join in.
One particular Sunday evening we were hosting our family meal and Margot had invited her friend Tonia from college. Our guest had been kind enough to bring a bottle of red to complement our chardonnay and as a special bonus, she also brought a full bottle of expensive scotch for entertainment during the film. The tradition was always to share everything on family meal night -- what's mine is yours as they say -- so I was looking forward to partaking in the scotch without feeling guilty. I didn't realize at the time just how far the sharing was going to extend that night.
Another tradition of family night is to dress up. I don't mean full formal attire -- our guidance is just to dress in something 'nice'. Margot wore her long dark floral dress, which really complemented her flowing brunette locks. I wore a tee-shirt with trousers, which might sound a bit casual, but the tee had no holes at all and I only wear shorts at other times.
It's always interesting to see how our guests interpret the 'nice' clothing instruction. Tonia wore a white linen shirt, which was buttoned low to reveal some appealing cleavage, and she knotted the tails to show off her tanned midriff and pierced navel. She wore tight denim shorts, but the sexiest part of her outfit were the rainbow striped socks that extended all the way above her knee-line. She had arrived in wedges but kicked them off at the door and as she padded around I marveled at how socks that covered up so much could be so darn hot.
Like Margot, Tonia was also enrolled in a postgraduate degree in literature but hers was a serious research Masters, studying the influence of Donna Tartt on the modern American psyche. She banged on about her novels and essays over dinner, but I didn't really absorb a lot of it, instead becoming mesmerized by her wavy blonde locks and cute smile.
Margot cooked us a fantastic roast with all the trimmings. Our deal was that whoever did the cooking got the night off from washing up, so sink duty was assigned to me. The girls retired to the living room and annexed the best parts of the sofa to drink, chat and prepare the movie while I did the dishes.
I filled the sink, which gave me the urge to wee, especially with that wine and a full belly, so I did a quick bathroom stop, ensured to wash my hands thoroughly, and returned to the kitchen duties.
I knew how dangerous it was to drink straight spirits for an entire evening, so I organized myself a bottle of chilled water that I kept on the floor beside the couch. I made sure to alternate drinks all night - scotch, water, scotch, water, and so on.
The girls had selected "Along Came Polly" as the movie for the night which was a typical old-school rom-com girls' selection. I slouched into the recliner while the girls huddled on the sofa. We watched the film, drank scotch continually, and chatted during the slow bits. I could tell that the girls were becoming more intoxicated as the movie wore on - their guffaws were becoming louder and their comments less inhibited.
We came to a long scene in the movie where Ben Stiller and Alec Baldwin are interacting in the men's bathroom and end up side by side at the urinal. Margot and Tonia seemed to get excited and giggly at this scene for some reason, and they noticeably shifted to get closer to the screen to see exactly what was going on.
"Do you reckon they really look across at each other's dicks?" asked Margot.
"I don't know. We've got a guy here - why don't we ask him!" replied Tonia, looking at me. "Well?"
"Well what?" I remarked, not really sure where their questioning was going.
"Do guys really avoid looking across?" asked Tonia.
"Yeah, for sure," I replied. It was definitely my philosophy.
Tonia said wistfully, "I wish we could take a leak standing up."
Margot interjected like Tonia had said something wrong, but the anger lay with me, not her. "What, and piss over the floor like him?"
Tonia looked at Margot and tried to silence her friend with a "Shush".
Margot explained. "Tonia went to the toilet earlier Magnus, and she stood in your piss."
"What piss?"
"I don't know. Sometime between dinner and when Tonia went for a pee."
I looked to Tonia and was struck by guilt, just noticing her bare legs for the first time. Oh no. I pictured her pretty long socks soaking up the mess on the bathroom floor.