"I Can't Afford This"

I Can't Afford The Wifi

"Max."

The room was cold. The date was December 2nd, 2018. I knew this because yesterday was the 1st, which was my first day at my new job.

"How come I'm not allowed in your room but you barge into mine anytime you want?" I ask without moving an inch.

"Because I'm singlehandedly taking down the matriarchy," said the voice, " Max, why is it so cold."

I open my weary eyes to my roommate, draped in her sheets. "I don't feel cold," I reply, "Do you?"

"No. I'm wearing my sheets over my head because I'm pretending to be a superhero. Max, did you pay the heating bill?"

After realizing that my hopes for getting more sleep were in vain, I sat up and felt the chilly air embrace my upper torso. "Wait, we have a heating bill?"

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I sat at the counter with a steaming hot cup of black coffee. It was still December 2nd, 2018. I knew this because I had my second day of work in an hour. I also knew this because it was on my phone's home screen. As I downed the last of the coffee, I walked to the sink to rinse the mug.

I began the same morning routine as yesterday. I said goodbye to Phyllis, who was "working" away at her MacBook (she was blogging). I walked down five flights of stairs to the basement. I got in my car and drove off to HCTAH, the only firm in the city that would hire a young rookie like me.

My Taylor Swift song was interrupted by the generic ringtone of my iPhone. "Hello?"

"Max, the appartment is cold." said Phyllis, in her usual non-expresive tone.

 "Burn some of your books to heat the place up, it's not like you're going to sell many." I retorted.

"Rude. We aren't living some scene in RENT. Can you please talk to our landlord on your lunch break or something?" she pleaded.

Just as I was about to answer, a shitty guy in an '07 Toyota Corolla cut me off.

"Fucking guy!-" I shouted into my windsheild.

"Excuse me?" said the voice on the other end of my call.

"Not you. Nevermind. Yeah, I'll talk to him, you get back to writting those novels. I'll see you tonight." I said as I hung up and put my phone in my cupholder. Looks like I'll have to tell my co-workers that I can't go out tonight. I was excited too, because engineers usually party pretty hard.

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"... And that's it? So we still have to pay our own heating bills?"

"Yes," my landlord answered, "the only thing we provide is cable TV."

Darn. I was hoping for good news to bring back to Phyllis. Looks like I won't be getting much sleep tonight either.

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"... And that's what she said." I explaned.

"Are you fucking kidding me? We have to pay for all these things and all we get for free is cable? Jeez, we have Netflix so what's the point?!" Phyllis erupted from her writing chair.

"Well, with rent, cell phone bills, electricity bills, and wifi... we can't actually afford to pay for the heating." I explain.

Phyllis was exasperated. She siged, moaned, groaned, and probably imagined wrangling my neck a time or two. "Are you saying that we have to choose between wifi and heating?"

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"Good morning Max." I heard from behind the counter, "you know, I'm not feeling the cold today."

I silently watched as Phyllis, wearing two sweaters and a parka, waddled across the living space to the coffee machine.