The door opened and a slim woman stood in it. She was in her mid-twenties, just like Jake. With her full six feet of height she was a good four inches taller than him, even though she was barefoot. Her brown hair was shoulder length, with a fringe covering her forehead. She was clad entirely in blue, in dark jeans which she rolled around her ankles and a light blue t-shirt with a white sun over waves and a text saying ‘Hawaii’ in between. She looked at him with her big, brown eyes, a look of impatience painted all over her wide, triangular face.

“Took your sweet time” Martha said, in her low voice. “You said you’ll be here in fifteen minutes”.

“And I am” Jake replied with a coy smile.

“It’s been almost half an hour”

“Right. Can I come in?”

“Yeah, get in. And take your shoes off, I don’t want any dust from the streets on my floor”

He entered and did as he was told, then followed Martha to the living room. The place was of moderate size, just enough for two people to live comfortably with a bedroom each, a cosy kitchen and a bathroom separate from the toilet. And with the windows facing west they never complained about the lack of sunlight. If anything, especially in summer like the one now, they complained about its surplus.

She lead him to the couch standing in the middle of the living room, in front of a TV almost as wide as the stand it was placed on. Between them, on a small but thick green rug, stood a coffee table on which was a gaming console connected to the TV. A wooden crate, filled to the brim with beer bottles, stood by the right corner of the couch.

“Where’d you get the crate?” Jake asked, setting the bag on the table and taking a seat on the left end of the couch.

“Came with the beer” Martha replied, taking a seat herself, except doing so on the floor, her back to the right end.

“And you carried it all the way here? You could’ve told me, I’d come and help”

“Figured you were at work at the time. Besides, I didn’t want to bother you. It’s not like it was heavy or anything”

He looked at the crate with a doubt. No way carrying it back from the store was so easy to her. But he decided not to push the subject any further. He knew Martha wasn’t keen on relying on the help of others, even if doing so would mean less effort to her. And for a moment he imagined her walking home with all these bottles, every second man she met on the street offering his help and her telling them politely, but firmly, to piss off.

His vision was interrupted by the sound of a beer being cracked open. She handed him a bottle, then helped herself.

“Your roomie’s not joining us?” Jake asked, suddenly remembering about her.

“Nah. She went home on some urgent family business”

“That’s a funny way of saying you murdered her”

“If I did, I’d come up with a better lie”

“True. So what’s the plan for the evening?”

“We drink and play” she said, showing him a game controller that had clearly seen better days “You die, it’s my turn. I die, it’s yours. We’re playing Murky Spirits. The second one”

“Haven’t even played the first game”

“Good, otherwise you’d complain the whole time”

She walked on her knees towards the TV and then the table, not even bothering to stand up, as she began to set everything up. When she was done she came back to her spot in the same way.

“I’ll go first. We’ll play one of my older saves, I don’t want to waste time on the character creation. Don’t worry, I’ll teach you how to play. I haven’t made it too far in the game yet”

“I hope you will” he said, finally taking a sip of the beer and immediately wincing. To say it was atrocious would be doing it a favour. It was more sour than bitter and there was only a suggestion of hop in its taste. Jake was certain whoever made it never had a beer before. Or had too much of it. “Fuck. What kind of beer is that?” he asked, his face still scowling.

“The potable kind” she replied, drinking hers slowly and without a change in tone or expression, her eyes glued to the screen.

“Potable. Big word for a big girl”

“Whatever, shrimp”