JUST ANOTHER LOVE STORY

There were eight of us in the house, which was subdivided into a series of one bedroom flats. Mine was the smallest, on the top floor. The angle of the roof made the ceiling diagonal. The previous occupant had painted a mural on the slope. I think it was supposed to be something out of an H. P. Lovecraft story. Every time I went to bed I looked up at this tentacled beastie. I'd like to think over the two years I lived there we became friends. Anyway, I was lying back on the bed, staring at it, sulking about the water damage, when I heard the music start up next door.
The walls in the house were pretty thin. One of the reasons I had taken such a shitty room in the first place was that no one was in the room next to it. It was the only one of the eight rooms not to be taken in the first term. I had hoped it would stay like that all year, but I'd heard just before the Christmas break that we were getting a new tenant. At the very least, I could have hoped for someone with reasonable taste in music, but it was not to be.
Wearily, I hauled myself out of bed and into the corridor. I hammered on the door with the flat of my hand. After a couple of seconds the music was turned down and Samantha opened the door. She looked sweaty and somewhat flustered. "What?" she asked.
"At some point I'll probably be putting some music on," I said, "And when I do you'll discover just how thin these walls are."
She flushed slightly and looked away. "Sorry. I suppose it wasa bit loud."
"That's all right. I wouldn't mind if it didn't sound so shite. What was it anyway?" I realised I was leaning on the doorframe with both hands, filling the doorway. I'm not a small man and this was probably a bit intimidating. I decided I didn't want to intimidate and crossed my arms instead.
"Hawkwind," she said. " 'Space Ritual'."
"Jesus. Does anyone listen to Hawkwind any more? Besides you, I mean."
Samantha shrugged. Looking at her now, close up like this, I could see that she was a bit prettier that I'd thought at first. Her hair was too short, but she wore a long fringe in the front. It was nice and dark. Under the fringe I could just make out two large brown eyes. They looked like they would be really striking if she brushed her hair out of the way.
"Well, if you feel like joining the rest of us in the new millennium, there's a good dance music place in the town centre. They do a lot of imports, all on twelve inch vinyl. I'll let you know next time I'm going. You can tag along."
"Thanks anyway, but I'll give it a miss. I'd better get back to unpacking."
"Oh, aye. I'll let you get on with it." I started turning away and then stopped. "I'm Alasdair, by the way."
"Samantha."
"I know. Jamie mentioned you'd be moving in."
"Oh yeah." She looked up at me and flicked her hair aside. I'd been right about her eyes. "What did he say about me?"
"Not a lot."
"That's all right, then," she said, and closed the door.

JUST ANOTHER LOVE STORY

I still remember the day Samantha moved into the house. To be honest, it wasn't her moving in that made it memorable: a thaw had just followed a sudden cold snap and had led to a burst pipe which flooded the cellar. I had stowed a lot of stuff down there during the Christmas break, including my box full of imported, under-the-counter porno mags, most of which turned to an expensive and soggy pulp. I also lost a few text books. I tried to get the landlord to claim against his insurance for my stuff, but I never saw a penny of it. He probably got the money and kept it. He seemed like the type.
In amongst all the excitement, I hardly noticed our new tenant. I think I was coming out of the cellar with another bin bag full of unidentifiable wet mess when I walked past her in the hallway. She didn't make much of an impression as she was too short and thin for my tastes; I like women who are tall, but not freakishly so, and with a bit of meat on them. There was almost something childlike about Samantha's build, which is a real turn-off for me. She said "hi" in passing, and I did the same.
I added the bag to the small pile outside the front door and carried on trying to salvage what I could.