Housemate from Hell

I never thought i would have a flair for writing, and then one fine day, out of exasperation and anger, i sat down and wrote a piece about my housemate because i couldn't piece the words together in a verbal sentence without wanting to repeatedly spit on her face. I left it on my computer screen, in hope that she would read it and understand how i truly felt about her. Till this very day, i am not sure if she ever came across that piece. Kathy reckons that was my best piece ever written. If i can find it, i would post it up, but for now, i just wanted you to know Gem, that you were the reason why i ever started writing in the first place. I owe you some form of gratitude for bringing out the best in me while you were at your worst.
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It seemed like yesteryear, when i was miserable and woe-begone living with a woman named after one the most priced stone in the world. It seemed like yesteryear, the ache of being blamed for things that i have never done, or even dreamed of doing seems clear and hearfelt.

I once had a housemate both me and Kathy called the stepmom from hell. She has made a lasting dent in our hearts and soul, and till today, she's still that Wonder woman waiting to hammer us with her sledge-hammer should we cross her path. Some things never change, no matter how you give the person the benefit of doubt, it proves to be alive and kicking, just as the spots of a leopard never fade away.

This is a story of a woman who moved in with us, and made our lives living hell till the very day we bade farewell. She was a woman who was a perfect definition of a tyrant.

"Gem" was a sweet looking young energetic adult who moved in with us a couple a years ago. It didn't take very long for us to realise that underneath the pretense sweetness, was a controlling anal retentive soul. Before we could escape, life became unbearable. I remember the time she accused Kathy of going into her room and moving her mirror by a few inches. I remember the time she accused Kathy of stealing her plate which was of a set of 6, and then later finding it in the fridge where she had used it to store her left overs. She accused and screamed at Kathy of finishing up her "kek Lapis" which her then future mother in law gave her, which later turned up behind the crowded array of food in the fridge, where she had placed it and forgotten that she had. She sent Kathy into fear, of coming out of her own room, in case Gem went into one of her psychotic rampages. I was never quite picked on, and from an outsider's point of view, i thought she was definitely wired, but not all that bad. But there were moments for instance where she would bait me with a trip to Ikea, and lure me into buying stuff that we simply "needed" for the house, and blatantly told me that i owed her half of what she spent knowing that I was a poor struggling student. She would order food in the restaurant, and give me her leftovers, and say that i owed her half of the meal. She once asked me back for a 10 cent change, and accused me of using her perfume without asking her first, though she did mention that i could use it anytime earlier on.. Guess i shouldn't have taken her word seriously huh?

So the time came for us to move out. Kathy moved elsewhere, and I moved in with Gem to a new premise. Having a car, she would never offer to send me out to the bus station ever when i had to walk out in the dark to go for my weekend part time jobs for the extra money. But that was least of my worries, on moving day, she proved to be the biggest tyrant ever. While i was still helping Kathy to move her stuff out of our old house, she "ordered" me to help her unpacked, insisting that if i didn't, she would ledge the door and prevent me from coming into my own home. Eventually, it became a daily thing, She started calling me to ask me what time i was coming home, insisting that i return before a certain time otherwise she would barricade the front door, insisting i came home to help her clean the house, because she wanted to do it "there and then" and no other time. My phone would be flooded with her incessant missed calls and messages when i stayed over at my friend's place because she didn't want to be home alone, and when i was home, i would have to put up with her loud moaning coming from the bedroom in the middle of the night. "Gem" was a gem to everyone who knew her in a passing by, but not to the ones who really lived with her, and breathed the same air.

The day came when i finally had it and declared cold war with her when she accused me of rummaging through her underwear drawer to get to her perfume which she hid there away from me. The very same day, a bunch of contractors came over to do some works on our heavily leaking roof. Never in a million years did she suspect the contractors, but the blame was put on me in an instant. And till this very day, Gem would have not blinked twice in malicious effort to mar my reputation and share that story, making herself the full victim to any extent. All because of a cheap bottle of perfume.

Along the way, i bumped into many people who have been in Gem's life, who have been in the similar situation as i was, who had lived with her, or dated her. Their response was always a raised eyebrow first, to gauge if i was a fan or enemy of hers. And i knew it for sure. All these while i was re-evaluating my character and thinking of the possibility of being the reason which attributed to why she was psychotic.. I was perfectly normal and sane... I wasn't the one with the problem.

When i moved out on her, it was like a breath of fresh air. Finally free from the chains that bounded me. It felt as if i finally escaped from an abusive marriage. NO more fixed schedules on my behalf. No one threats of locking me out of my own house. No more accusations of taking her stuff when she misplaced it. No more step-mother to make me Cinderella. But God has a funny way of making me see things in a different light. I bumped into her recently, and had her pull a fast one on me. Knowing that she would be part of the company in the first place before i even applied, I still went ahead. I thought of how we were young and ignorant, and the relationship problems and raging hormones which could have caused us to be two opposite poles of the planet. And if i had grown up in time, she must have too. But i was proven to be wrong, some people grow older, but they never grow up. Alas, wisdom does not come with age. Wrinkles and cellulite asses do.

What am I feeling now? Well, albeit the bitter feelings and hurt i felt yesterday where i was fantasizing about stuffing her perpetually flared nostrils with Habanero, I took a step back, and decided this is as far as i will go in terms of defaming her. Stooping as low as she did would only make me one of her. I might not know what dirt she has fabricated because as long as me (AND THE OTHERS) have a clear conscience, I am at peace. While i am not entirely convinced that the truth will ALWAYS prevail,and even if it does, what good it will do, i believe that pretense will never stand the test of time. This proved me even more that despite different working settings which might set a company apart from the rest, office politics will never be absent, especially when someone is placed in a company because of internal relations. Maybe my calling is clear, i did ask for HIS divine intervention, and I have a choice to view it as a betrayal, or rather, a saving grace from a bad calculated decision.

Gem, if there is one thing i can ask of you. Please don't ever share a house with another person ever again. You could give Cinderella's stepmother a run for her money.