Author's note: This story is the beginning of my first serialized work. In the past, I've preferred to have my works be self-contained, rather than spread across several different chapters. My exceptions to this are works where my Part 1s could be a complete story on their own... even if I do end up writing a Part 2.
But at the suggestion of Literotica user Rav09, I am changing my style up. The concept behind this story, including generalized characters/names and premise, are also their idea. The story's development and specifics are my own.
This story will contain themes of cuckolding, voyeurism, reluctance/seduction, and interracial connections. ALSO: NO SEXUAL CONTACT IN THIS FIRST PART; it is solely for setup. You've been warned.
And the usual disclaimers: all characters are fictional, similarities to real-world people/events are purely coincidental, everyone involved is of legal consenting age, etc.
"Dan, what are we going to do?"
My fiancé, Amanda, looked at me expectantly. Her worry was plain on her face.
I'd just passed on the bad news I'd received from our apartment complex, holding their official letter in my hands. Our rent would be increasing at the end of our current lease term, it announced, by a whopping 40%. The management company that sent the letter did their best to smooth it over ("we understand this may be burdensome", "market increases", "improved upgrades and quality to you" etc.) but no mere words could take the sting from the surprise.
The reality was that Amanda and I could scarcely afford such an increase. Amanda was a student; enrolled at a nearby university in a Master's program. I worked full-time, but I wasn't earning enough to cover that much of a cost-of-living increase. Not to mention that as a newly-engaged couple, we had expenses relating to the upcoming wedding to plan for. We were faced with a major dilemma, no question.
"I don't know," I finally responded. "But we'll figure something out. We always do."
And sure enough, we did. Eventually.
We went through several options together before we settled on a solution. Amanda could pick up a part-time job. I could start a second one myself. Amanda could take out extra loans to cover the cost. We could move to another apartment. We could ask our current apartment team to reconsider such a drastic increase. And so on.
But we discarded these initial ideas. Either of us taking on a second job would almost be more burdensome than the rent increase itself. Moving to another place seemed promising, but the only options we found were extremely far away from work/school, very run-down, or just as expensive as our new rent was. We did ask the apartment complex to consider a smaller rent hike--we had been model tenants, never making a fuss and always paying on time--but they declined. Lastly, we did consider taking out more loans through Amanda, but ultimately decided against it. We were concerned enough about the debt we'd already accumulated.
I was the one to suggest the solution we ultimately went with.
"What if we sublet our second bedroom?"
Amanda didn't like the idea at first--and honestly, I wasn't thrilled either--but she came around after considering our other options. The deciding factor was that a roommate would not only cover the cost of our rent increase, but even more, assuming we split the new rent 50/50. That meant more money in our pocket at a time we certainly needed it (again, upcoming wedding). Sure, it meant we'd no longer have the luxury of living alone, but it would only be temporary. Once Amanda finished her Master's and found a job, we could afford our own place again.
With that decided, we now faced our next step. Finding a roommate.
We'd hoped that Amanda could find someone through her school, either in her own program or a related one, but we didn't have any luck. Any potential leads either already had a place to stay or weren't willing to pay what we asked. And so, we expanded our search, posting online and reaching out to friends in the area.
We did begin to receive some interest, but then our problem became deciding who to choose. Some we ruled out right away; others we chatted with online for a bit, before deciding against them. Finally, we narrowed our potential roommates down to two people and one couple. An older gentleman, a guy about our age, and a middle-aged couple with no kids.
As desperate as we were to solve our financial problems, we didn't want to be stuck subletting to someone we'd later regret. To finish our due diligence, we decided to meet all three potentials in person for coffee. They all seemed promising, but I knew that online interactions were no substitute for meeting face-to-face.
The middle-aged couple, Steve and Melissa, were first. They'd apparently wanted to downsize their lifestyle and make a push to an early retirement. Initially, I was optimistic; they seemed friendly and genuine. But then Melissa made an off-hand comment about how nice it was to see a couple like us that married before moving in together, rather than living in sin like most young people. I coldly corrected her that Amanda and I were merely engaged and not married yet. Melissa tried to backtrack, but the damage was done. They were out.