"But I didn't even say anything." Sam spoke.
"Oh, I know what you're trying to say. You want the girl out of the house, don't you?" Mr Ken asked.
"Yea, but-"
"Not gonna happen." Mr Ken was quite adamant about this, to the point that he didn't even give Sam a chance to speak.
"Why are you so stuck up about this? Haven't I been consistent with paying the rent? Did I make a mess out of your room? Haven't I stood by the rules and regulations that you put up when I rented that apartment? Then why?" Sam was frustrated when he asked that question.
"Kiddo, that's exactly why you got that apartment for half its price. I mean, seven years have passed since you came here. And yet, in all those years, I never increased the rent for you like I did with the others. Not even in this age where the price of everything is being inflated to an astronomical amount. Now, why did I do that? Is it because I think of you like my son? Hell no! It's because you were consistent and were the least annoying out of all the people that have rented my apartment. And because I'm aware that you wouldn't be able to pay those rates if I did increase the rent because of your debt. But here's the thing. I need money, man. Just like you do. Just like everyone else does. And if I ain't gonna get the required money out of you, I just need to find a way that I can. It's a win-win situation. I get the money, you just have to pay the same rent. You get me?" Mr Ken asked as he patted Sam's shoulder.
"You never asked me though." Sam mumbled.
"Huh?"
"I said, you never asked me to pay extra. Had you asked, I would've paid for the apartment." Sam replied, a bit louder this time around.
"Then who would've paid the loans, you idiot? You have no idea what those student loans can do. There are instances where the people couldn't pay it off even after grinding about it for a lifetime. So, if you don't pay it up when you get the chance, the debt would only continue to grow, not diminish. That's the cold, hard truth." Mr Ken spoke.
"But still…" Sam wanted to argue with Mr Ken about it, but he felt it as well. The landlord wasn't wrong. Had he paid the rent like the others did, then he would've had less money to pay off his debts. It was sad. "You could've told me that you were planning to do this at least. I would've got a heads up, you know?" He sighed as he said that.
"Well, I could've. But then I would've had to listen to you blabber like this every other day which would've been really annoying now that I think about it." Mr Ken shrugged.
"Yea, I kinda feel like you pulled a fast one on me as well." Sam spoke.
"Desperate times call for desperate measures, I guess." Mr Ken replied.
"Hmm, I guess I'll leave then. There's no point in trying to convince you anymore, so it's better that I leave now and hope that the new roommate of mine doesn't think of me as an ass, which she already does, by the way, so there's that." Sam chuckled as he got up.
"With your behavior, it would've been a surprise if she didn't think of you as an ass." Mr Ken chuckled as well when he said that.
"Good one, Mr Ken. I'll be on my way then." Sam waved his hand as he left the room.
"Oh, and by the way, your roommate called me. Said that you talked about tenant's rights or some shit like that. I just wanted to say that you were way off about that." Mr Ken spoke.
"What do you mean?" Sam gave out a confused look.
"Well, there's no such thing. I could easily bring another roommate for you and you wouldn't be able to do jackshit about that." Mr Ken shrugged.
"But why is that?" Sam asked.
"Remember how you signed an agreement when you rented the apartment? Yea, you should've read the clauses before you signed on the dotted line. Just saying." Mr Ken smiled.
"Ah, so there was no point in coming here, huh?" Sam sighed.
"I mean, you knew it when your roommate came in, didn't you?" The landlord asked.
"I guess you're right about that." Sam nodded his head.
"Well, why don't you chat up with your roommate for now? I mean, your first impression in her mind surely sucked I believe, but I believe that you could make up for it. Like, you seem like an ass to everyone that sees you and talks to you for the first time, but as time passes, your unique charm makes up for it. So, yea." Mr Ken replied.
"Thank you for the compliments, Mr Ken. Let's see how I can salvage the situation." Sam spoke as he slowly left by his landlord's side.
"Good luck, Sam. I hope everything goes fine and dandy." The landlord smiled as he waved goodbye.
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"What in the world is this?" Sam exclaimed when he saw the state of the apartment.
It was not in the state that he left. The place was littered. Absolutely trashed. And he couldn't believe that a singular person can do this amount of damage to a place.
"Oh, hey!" Jane waved her arm around when she saw Sam whilst she simultaneously had a slice of pizza.
"How did you even manage to do this amount of damage to this place?" Sam asked, as he looked perplexed.
"I'm sorry. I was just unpacking my stuff, when I had this huge craving for food. That's when I ordered food and I was just so hungry that I felt as if I would die before it came, so I had the chips that I had in my bag and then the food came. So, I ate that as well. Which led the room to be in this state." Jane gave out an awkward smile as Sam wondered what he should do with all of the mess.
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