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It had been a long week. On top of regularly scheduled maintenance appointments, there had been a few 'emergencies,' during random times of the day and night. She didn't mind, but her boyfriend did. Any time she had to cancel or meet him later than planned, Ross never heard enough about his insecurities and potential jealousies. It was good that the week was coming to an end, mostly because he was going out of town for business. It was perfect timing, as always. Just as Ross was getting fed up with his clingy attitude, he had to leave town for work and then things always seemed to subside for a while. A week, sometimes two, before he was back at it again. That week or two was some of the best times they had together, but after a while, Ross wasn't sad she wouldn't see him for four or five days. Deep down there was always sense of relief instead of anything else.

The week had been so long that she hadn't even seen her roommate. Come to think of it, Ross hadn't seen much of him in a while, but she figured he must be working because every month he paid his fair share of the rent and utilities, and things worked out fine. In a lot of ways. Zar was almost the perfect roommate, which didn't help her jealous boyfriend a bit. There was always the over-looming fear that something was going on between the two of them. What woman would let a guy move in with her that wasn't her boyfriend? Almost always started that argument. Or the subtle hint that they should move in together time and time again, pushing Zar out. Ross wasn't having any of it; not because there was something going on, but because Zar paid his rent, he respected when she was laying her head down for some quick hours of z's and Ross didn't want to live with Travis. While they had been 'on' for about nine months now, the last few months had been trying.


Ross had a stop to make before she popped back to the apartment; one that she had booked a month ago. It needed to be on a Friday night, only because she could pawn a couple jobs off on another person who worked for the company because they were always looking for some extra jobs for that extra pay. And since he wasn't on call on the weekends like she was, Friday was the absolute last day that he could get any hours, and over time in. So far nothing had come across to her, but the night was still young. After her appointment which resulted in a nostril piercing (something Travis may or may not like), Ross decided that she had seen enough of her overflowing laundry basket in the corner of her room and that the mountain had to be taken care of.

“Zar?” Ross called as she entered the apartment, only because there was a piece of mail for the guy in their mailbox. Not getting a reply, she tossed it on the table which was more or less his unspoken 'side.' There wasn't really sides, because they rarely saw the other, but Ross was particular to one side, over the other. Junk mail was tossed in the basket in the kitchen, while bills were opened and set aside for her to pay. Tomorrow. Ross bounced into the shower to change, sporting something a little more comfortable and in some aspects revealing, but it was summer, Zar wasn't around (not that she cared) and it was comfortable. After wearing jeans, a tank and some sort of button down as to not offend the client base with all her art work, Ross wanted to show it off. Even if it was just for her viewing pleasure.

The basket was grabbed with both hands, then it found a hip before she grabbed a Ziploc bag of change and tossed it in the basket. She looked at her bed, then groaned. Ross set the basket on the floor and yanked the sheets off, then tossed those in to be washed too. Finally, Ross padded her way out of the apartment and down to the basement, which wasn't that bad. A few adjustments here and there to displace the weight of the things in the basket and she was in the basement in no time. Three of the five washers were claimed by her, which she felt a little guilty about. Normally she would only take two tops, but since there was a rule about no washing after ten, and it was now a little after six, she needed to move her ***. Once the loads were done, Ross set the timer on her phone and headed back up to the apartment to pass some time with some local news, and anything that came on after that.

Wearing: https://68.media.tumblr.com/37c1cb2101b ... o1_500.jpg

When her alarm had gone off, it had woken her from a state of disassociation from what was going on around her. A sure sign that Ross was mentally tired from the week of hell. She loved her job, and would forget about it all later after a good night of sleep, but she didn't want to hear anything about 'cars,' 'control system,' 'grive system' or anything else that Ross had dealt with all week long.

That heavily tattooed woman hoisted herself off the couch, grabbed her phone and apartment key, then headed down to the basement to switch the loads over. "Half way there." She told herself, in some singular show of support for the task at hand. After the loads had been moved to the dryers, Ross put some quarters in the respective machines and started them up. One hour was set on her phone, before she stuffed the flat object between her upper assets.

Ross climbed the three sets of stairs to her shared apartment, then groaned when she got to the door and realized that Ross had left her keys on the dryer in the basement. Which was locked. Each floor was locked, respectively, for security measures, Ross was told. She was stuck on this floor, unable to get inside her apartment. "****." Ross grumbled as she grabbed her cellphone out from between her breasts and looked for Zar's number.
Ross sent the message without any further delay, then leaned against the door of their apartment. She sighed, shifted her position so that her back was against the door, then crossed her legs at her ankles. It was after she sent the message to Zar that Ross recognized she had a new voice mail. Somewhere between watching television, phasing out of the world and switching laundry, her phone had been called and someone left a message. Before Ross even checked the voice mail, she looked to see who had called. Travis. That was an unexpected surprise. Usually this was a quite period from both of them while he was away on business.

Ross punched in her four digit code to retrieve the message, then hit the number that would allow her to listen to the voice mail, before putting it to her left ear. Did he forget something? No way was she running to where ever he was this week to give it to him. She wasn't his mom, or his wife. Besides, he was an adult. More adult than her by a couple of years.

There was a lot of silence before there was the sound of muffled voices. It was almost as if Travis hadn't intended to call her phone because he was speaking with someone, instead of speaking to her voice mail. Some woman. Nothing Ross was overly concerned about, he was at a work meeting and at least one woman was bound to be there. Ross wasn't the insecure type, she didn't have time for that crap. She didn't have time for it during her apprenticeship, or during high school, so she definitely did not have time for it now.

Ross squinted her eyes, as if that would help her hear the conversation better, then tipped the phone to one of its sides so she could turn the volume up all the way. The woman was laughing and they were talking about the hotel she liked the best. Then Travis asked if they should get one room or two. The rest was muffled, but it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what was going down. Even if they worked together, no way in **** should they be sharing a room. While she shared an apartment with Zar, they each had their own sleeping spaces.

Ross hung up the voice mail message, then sent Travis a short, but blunt text.
Between being locked out of her own apartment, the long work week and accidentally hearing a conversation she shouldn't have been privileged to, Ross needed a drink. A big one.

“What the ever loving--” Ross didn't continue that train of thought as she heard music coming from within the apartment building. Somewhere between her switching the laundry and coming back up here, Zar had made his way back to their shared apartment. And instead of trying to knock on the door, Ross was standing outside her own apartment, texting him like an idiot. It figured that this was how her night was going to go, all things considered. She laughed and shook her head against the door, before it opened and she came tumbling inside, flat on her ***. She looked up to see an all too familiar figure looming over her.

Her dark eyes went to his art work, taking in more detail about them than Ross ever had before. This wasn't the first time she had seen him shirtless, but since she was staring right up at him, the observation couldn't be denied. “Party?” Ross asked as he helped her off the ground, the stench of various types of booze not being missed as Zar kept talking to her. Her eyes moved around the kitchen to see how much damage Zar had done to Ross' mediocre supply. Vodka, tequila, Jim Bean and a few other half drank bottles were what Ross once owned, but she assumed that her supply had been dwindled. She wasn't worried about it now, but she would definitely be letting him know he owed her a bottle or two in the morning.

“Did you leave me anything good?” Ross asked, holding the tequila in her hands. It was a good place to start, but tequila wasn't her choice of poison. Still, it was a drink that she didn't have to search for, so with a shrug, Ross moved to the cabinet that had four or five shot glasses of all sorts and grabbed two of them. She poured them each a shot, then set the bottle on the counter, before grabbing both glasses and moving over to where Zar was standing. If that could be said about his state. Ross laughed. “You look...rough.” She could have said like ****, but he was her roommate and would still be that in the morning. “What's your story?” She asked, holding out his shot, before lifting her shot to her mouth and tipping her head back. “Bet I could one up you.” She said somewhat sarcastically, before moving to the counter to fill her shot glass once again.

Any other night the idea of any form of wager would have Ross laughing him off and shaking her head. It just sounded a little too suspicious for her liking. Meaning anything and everything was up for grabs and that just wouldn't fly with Ross. But, this wasn't any other night. It might just be Zar's lucky night.

Or not. Before she started even thinking about any potential wager, Zar was already putting the kibosh on some things. Nothing to do with money and nothing to do with taking off clothing. He didn't know what he could have wagered and what he might have missed out on this rate. Ross shrugged, then took a seat at the table, kicking the chair out with her left foot. "Okay." She was down for telling the tales of her week and watching him lose what was up for the bet.

"The wager is..." Ross took her shot glass and tipped it back, then polished the single shot off in one quick swallow. The glass was set down and she poured herself another. "The person who didn't have the shittiest week, meaning the loser has to get a tattoo of the winner's choice." What was one more piece of ink on her skin? And judging from what Ross had seen of Zar, it didn't seem like it would matter for him either. "Their choice and no whining about it. Ever." Ross took the second shot, leaned back in the chair she sat in and looked at Zar. "Deal?"

The deal was struck and Ross nodded appreciatively. No tears, no whining and no bitching. She believed it, even if she had the shittiest week of them both and plastered something hideous on his body. "Deal." She agreed, even though it had been her terms to begin with. But, she still acknowledged it, because he had to know that whatever he picked, wherever he picked wasn't going to result in any of those from her either.

Ross poured herself another drink and then took it, before setting the small shot glass down. "I think I must have slept, maybe thirty hours this week. So, first off, I'm tired, overworked, but can't ***** about it too much because the pay is good. Still, I'm probably in need of a vacation. Not that I know what one of those is. But, I've dealt with anything from **** that was preventable, to **** that wasn't. The last part is cool, but the first part...if people would just do whatever they're supposed to do or call us for regular maintenance...It would save them money and me time." Ross complained, thinking about how some of the stuff could have easily taken half the time, hell, even a quarter if they would have had her out there earlier. She poured herself another drink. "And then when I tell them all they had to do was replace the sheaves a few months ago, we wouldn't have to replace the other parts...I get the 'you're a ***** look.'" I know it's a lot of money, elevator maintenance, but I don't try and pull anything over anyone's eyes." Ross shook her head, then took the next shot, before setting it down, and looking across at Zar. "You're round." She said with a two finger index point in his direction, waiting to hear how his week went.