Love By Another Name

Fate

Finn raced down the sidewalk, huffing slightly as she struggled to keep her heavy bag on her shoulder. She knew she would be late. In fact, she should probably try and text her potential new flatmate to let the poor girl know. But at the moment, it was a struggle between continuing to move down the sidewalk at a fairly rapid pace and slowing down enough to fish her mobile out of her purse.

As if sensing her inner turmoil, at that moment her mobile started ringing. Groaning slightly, she stopped and started to dig, quietly murmuring prayers for it to keep ringing if it were someone important while simultaneously cursing if it was someone who wasn't.

"Aha!" she said in triumph as she fished it out and then peered down at the screen. Rolling her eyes, she accepted it and put the phone to her ear. "Hello, Haley."

"You met her yet?" her best friend asked impatiently. Finn continued down the sidewalk, attempting to pick up the pace.

"Not even to my place yet," she managed to get out. "Charlotte kept me late."

"Again?! Your boss really is a wanker," Haley immediately replied. "She nearly made you miss my birthday party."

"It's called the media industry, Haley," Finn replied. Of all the times they had this conversation, Haley never seemed to catch on to the fact that her work schedule was often dictated by how close they were to print deadline - not her boss. Not to mention if she wanted to get offered an editor position the next time one opened up, then she needed to put in the work. As it was, she had worked her ass off getting from intern to her current position as an assistant editor.

"Whatever. So, what do you think she's like?" Haley asked, quickly moving to the more important subject in her mind.

"I don't know. Not like I'm psychic. We only chatted for a few minutes when she called to ask if the room was still open," Finn replied, silently happy to see her block come into view. 

She should have taken a cab, but passed on the somewhat luxury not knowing if this one would work out and she would be forced to cover the full rent by herself. Though if she didn't find someone soon, she would be forced to ask her father for help or dig into her savings again. Neither were favorable prospects in her book. Oh why had she chosen a flat that was way out of her price range to live in?

Duh - because she hadn't intended to live in it alone when she got it.

"Hopefully she's better than the last cu-"

"Hey now! Melissa wasn't that bad," Finn said quickly, cutting her off.

"She was constantly stiffing you on rent, Finn. And she ran off in the middle of the night without any notice. Not to mention all the weirdos she brought over. And let's not forget about the one before that," Haley ranted. 

Finn rolled her eyes. True, she happened to have had a quick turnover in the roommate department. But that didn't mean she wanted Haley throwing it at her right then.

"Look, I had a... momentary lapse in judgement with the last few. But I've been much more discerning this time," Finn said, rushing towards her building. Haley snorted on the other end.

"It was nearly a year. And you went through four. FOUR! Not to mention one of them stole your laptop, stereo and TV," Haley said. Finn stopped and frowned.

"Seriously, Haley," she said, starting to get a bit worked up.

"Not that it wasn't understandable - the lapse in judgement. I mean... breakups are rough," Haley said quickly, trying to backtrack a bit, suddenly realizing she had hit a nerve. "Sorry, Finn. What I meant to say is - I hope this one is a lovely girl and you two become good friends. But not best friends because that title belongs to me."