Starr Fated (2 page)

“Lucky I was
trapped on this side of the barrier then. I couldn’t get out
because my pass is in my handbag,” I explained, as I smiled back.
“I really can’t thank you enough. Practically my whole life is in
that bag.”

“Ah, so what’s
it worth to get it back?” Blonde guy teased, as he kept hold of
it.

“My eternal,
undying gratitude. Will that do?” I replied with a cheeky grin, as
I reached over and grabbed my bag back from him.

“Hmm, I’m not
sure about that. How about a date instead?”

“I don't think
so,” I laughed. “I don't go on dates with total strangers.” Cheeky
sod.

“Well, I think
I've proved that I’m a very honest and trustworthy individual,
seeing as I've gone to all this effort to return your bag, rather
than rifle through it to steal all your valuables.”

“You wouldn’t
have found much of value in there, I can assure you,” I
scoffed.

“I could just
buy you a coffee instead if you prefer, we don't have to call it a
date. You look pretty shaken up, so I think a shot of caffeine is
definitely called for.”

“I told you. I
don't go anywhere with strangers.”

“I’m not a
stranger. I’m just a friend you haven't met yet.”

“Where on
earth did you dig that chat up line from?” I couldn’t help laughing
at the faux serious expression on blonde guy’s face.

“My housemate,
Toby, has this book ‘The World's Stupidest Chat-up Lines’, and I’ve
been studying it. I've been dying to use that particular one for
ages.”

“I think you
should probably forget about the book, or at least give it back to
your housemate.”

“You’re
probably right. Look, I’m James Starr, but everyone calls me Jamie.
So now we’re not strangers are we?”

“No, I suppose
we’re not. I’m Seraphina Jones, but everyone calls me Sera. Look, I
really am grateful you returned my bag, but I have to go now, or
I’ll be late for an appointment.”

“Where are you
headed, Sera? Maybe I can point you in the right direction? I live
around here, so I know most of the streets,” Jamie offered
hopefully.

“It’s okay. I
have directions, so I’m sure I’ll manage.” I held up the papers in
my hand to prove my point. Before I could stop him, Jamie had
snatched them away and was studying them. Annoyingly, because he
was so much taller than me, he could easily hold them out of my
reach.

“So you’re
looking at rooms to rent? Well, I can tell you straight away that
you don’t want to live in this street,” he told me, as he looked at
the details of the first one. “Not unless you’re interested in
becoming a drug dealer.”

“Oi! Give them
back. It’s really none of your business,” I told him angrily. The
nerve of the guy, poking his nose in where it wasn’t wanted. But he
just carried on and ignored me, as he looked at the details for the
second place.

“And as for
this place – you don't really look much like a hooker to me.” He
stared intently at me.

“I’m sure it’s
not that bad. And in any case, I don't have much choice. Term
starts soon, and I have to find somewhere in the area by then. I’ll
be fine, thank you very much, so just give me back my things.”

“The last one
is probably the best of a bad bunch, but even so, it’s in a pretty
rough area. I go past there on my way home, so I could walk you
there if you like, so you can see for yourself.”

“I keep
telling you I’ll be fine, and I don't need your help. I can manage
perfectly well on my own.”

“You’re a
student, I take it?”

I nodded.

“So am I.
Look, I know we’ve only just met, but there is another option.
There’s a spare room going in the house I live in, and it’s in a
much nicer area than any of these. How about you take a look, see
if it would suit you?”

“If it’s in a
nicer area, I doubt very much it would be in my price range. So
thanks for the thought, but no thanks.”

“Actually, the
rent is pretty reasonable because it’s the attic room, which means
it has a low sloping ceiling, so it’s no good for anyone taller
than a midget. You’d be fine in there though,” he smirked, as he
looked down at me. At five foot five, I’m actually a pretty average
height, but compared to Jamie, who must have been about six foot
one or two, I suppose I did appear quite short.

“Oh ha ha,
very funny. Look, thanks for your concern, but really, I’ll be
fine. Now please, can I have my papers back?” I glared at him, with
my hand held out.

“Okay, but
I’ll put my address on here, along with my mobile number, in case
you change your mind once you’ve seen what doss holes these places
are,” Jamie said, as he produced a pen from his pocket and quickly
scribbled on the back of one of the pieces of paper. “Please, I
mean it. It’s all above board, nothing dodgy, and I know the
landlord personally, so I could put in a good word for you. It’s a
decent room, in a decent house. I wouldn’t live there if…well
anyway, let me know. Seriously.”

I couldn’t
help smiling to myself at how keen this guy was. He did seem
genuine and he had returned my bag after all. And he really was
rather gorgeous in an effortlessly unkempt but expensively clad
way. Somehow I couldn’t see him living in a dump. Everything about
him, from the way he spoke, to the clothes he wore, to his rather
arrogant confidence, reeked of middle class money.

“I’ll bear it
in mind. And thank you again for returning my bag, you really did
save my life,” I smiled up at him, and was rewarded by an answering
heart meltingly gorgeous smile back from him.

No doubt such
a good looking guy had a whole string of girls chasing after him to
keep him occupied, which was just as well, as I didn't have time to
even think about messing around with a guy like him.

So I left him
standing there staring after me, as I hurried out of the station,
and headed for the first house on my viewing list.

“
Why the fuck
didn't you think to get her number before
she walked away, you total moron,” I cursed myself as I stared at
my mobile, willing it to ring as it lay there silently taunting me
on the kitchen worktop. It had been over an hour and a half since
I’d got back, and there’d been no phone call from Sera, and now I
had no way of making contact with her again.

Naturally I’d
noticed the pretty girl sitting opposite me on the tube train, but
it wasn’t until she looked up and I caught a glimpse of her amazing
green eyes that I started to properly take notice, and was glad I’d
decided not to drive today but to take the tube instead. This girl
really was something else, and I took full advantage of the fact
that I was sitting opposite to appreciate her very sexy, long slim
legs being shown off by a cute, short denim skirt. Her loose baggy
top intriguingly hid the rest of her figure. Somehow though, I
couldn’t imagine it would disappoint. Her long, glossy, raven
coloured hair was put up in some kind of a messy, twisted knot
effort, and as I saw her glance at me, I think my jaw might have
slacked open just a little bit. She was the full package, a total
hot babe.

I tried
flashing my best award winning smile at her, but she ignored me and
cut me dead. Not interested, was the loud and clear message, which
intrigued me even more because I’m not used to being ignored. I’ve
been told I’m good looking enough to be a model, and I pride myself
that women usually find my best smile quite impossible to resist;
theirs is usually the heart that leaps when I look at them, not the
other way round.

So when this
girl left her bag behind on the tube, I grabbed it and quickly
seized the opportunity to go after her. I like to think that I’m a
decent sort of a guy, so of course I’d have done the same for
anyone, but this was a golden opening to meet her that I seized
with both hands, even though it meant getting off the tube one stop
earlier than usual.

She still blew
me off when I managed to catch her up and tried to get a date, but
at least I found out that she was a student like me, and that her
name was Seraphina. Intriguing – I’d never met a girl with that
name before, even though I’d got to know more than my fair share of
girls through college and university.

When I managed
to get hold of the details of the places she was about to view, I
was genuinely concerned for her – no nice girl would want live in
those areas if she could possibly avoid it. And Seraphina did seem
a really nice girl, so that was when I had the brainwave of
offering her the spare room in our house. I suppose I wasn’t really
surprised when she’d rejected the offer, as we’d only just met.

Now I wished
I’d been more assertive and insisted on going with Sera to the
viewings, because maybe she didn't realize the difference being
just one or two streets away could make to the desirability of an
area, and then she might have been more receptive to the idea of
sharing our house.

I was so deep
in my thoughts that I nearly jumped out of my skin when the
doorbell rang, and I sighed as I went to open it, assuming it was
Toby, one of my house mates.

“For fucks
sake, how many keys can one person lose…?”

I was
completely gobsmacked when I saw Seraphina standing there.

“Sorry, is
this a bad time? I hope you don't mind, only you did say…”

“No, no, not
at all. Sorry, I just thought you were my housemate, he’s always
losing or forgetting his keys, so…” I found myself burbling
uncharacteristically, as I just stood there gawping. Sera was even
more stunning than I remembered.

“Did you mean
it? About the room I mean. You were spot on about the ones I went
to look at, they were really bad. The third one would do at a push,
but I thought seeing as the address you gave me was only a couple
of streets away when I looked it up…but if it was just a joke, I’ll
go straight back and take the other room.”

“No, no,
honestly it wasn’t a joke at all. Please, come in, and I’ll show
you the room.” I just about managed to reconnect my brain
sufficiently to speak coherently. “I just assumed you’d ring first,
that’s all.”

As Sera
carefully picked her way through the shambolic pile of assorted
smelly trainers and shoes that had been dumped by the door in the
hallway of our Victorian end terrace house, I cursed that I hadn’t
thought to generally tidy up a bit, just in case she turned up.

“I didn't call
because I haven't got much credit left on my phone, so I'm saving
it for emergencies. But if calling in like this is a problem for
you…” Sera explained, as she looked around.

“Not at all.
You’ll just have to excuse us if the house is a bit messy – we’ve…
umm… all been studying way too hard to do much housework.” It was
the best excuse I could come up with on the spur of the moment, but
it was pretty lame, and we both knew it. “So, where would you like
to look first? The bedroom, or downstairs in the kitchen and
lounge?”

“I think the
bedroom, because if that doesn't suit, there’s really no point in
looking at anything else is there?” Sera suggested, a little smile
creeping over her face as she took in my rather flustered efforts
to quickly tidy things as we walked through the house.

“Right, well,
as I told you before, it’s the attic bedroom, so follow me,” I
said, as we climbed the stairs to the first landing.

“That’s my
room, that’s Toby’s, and the smaller one to the right is Adam’s.
He’s hardly ever here, he spends most of his time at his
girlfriend’s place. And that’s the main bathroom,” I pointed out
each room in turn. “And the attic room is this way. We don’t really
bother to go up there, not since Ollie dropped out of uni and
left.”

“So it’s just
you three boys sharing, is it?”

“Yeah, that’s
right.”

I led her up
the second much narrower set of steep stairs, bending my head as we
reached the second small landing, where the ceiling sloped down
sharply.

“This is the
bathroom for up here. It’s very small, and I’m not sure if the
shower works properly to be honest, but you’d be welcome to use the
main bathroom downstairs if you preferred.”
Especially if you
happened to forget to lock the door while you were
showering.

“The room has
its own bathroom? Wow!” Sera poked her head around the door to
examine the contents.

“I wouldn’t
get too excited. Like I said, we never use it, and I’ve a feeling
it might not be that great.”

“But still,
it’s something I’ve never had before. So is this the bedroom?” Sera
asked, nodding towards the other door.

“Yep, sure
is.”

She opened the
door, and stepped into the room. On first impression, it appeared
quite large, but it was deceptive, because it was only possible for
me to stand up properly in the middle of the room, due to the
sloping ceiling. There was a basic desk tucked against the wall, a
small double bed, a small wardrobe, and a very wonky bookcase. The
carpet on the floor was a deep red, which could have made the room
seem quite dark, but the walls were painted white which helped to
compensate. But what made it really light were the two huge velux
roof windows, through which the late afternoon sunlight was
streaming in.

“Oh, that’s
perfect. Does it get the sun all day, or just in the afternoon?”
Sera queried excitedly, as she gazed up at the roof windows.

“No idea, I'm
afraid. I've never noticed.”

“Really? It’s
just that I'm an arts student at Central St Martin’s. I'm doing
Graphic Design, and good light is really helpful when I'm working
on my course pieces.”

“Ah, so you’re
the arty type. I’m studying at the London School of Economics - as
are Toby and Adam,” I explained, thinking that Sera looked the part
of the quirky art type with her rather weird dress sense and all
the unusual jewellery she was wearing.