Steamroller Strikes Again

On December 15th, having secured a new apartment, I gave Steamroller 30 days notice. She got notification less than six hours after my new place told me I was in for sure, less than four hours after I gave 30 days notice to our current leasing company. I am required by law to give her 30 days notice, and I did.

Make no mistake here folks, Steamroller and I are not, and never have been friends. Don't believe that Steamroller is this sweet, innocent girl who bends over backwards to be as nice as possible. Steamroller is a ruthless-yet-immature, business-savvy girl, who pushes to get whatever she wants, and cries hysterically any time she doesn't get it.

This is why I never thought to tell Steamroller when I decided "I've gotta get the fuck outta here" months ago. Because I knew if I told her I was looking for a new place, she'd immediately start looking for a new place too. And I didn't want to be the one stuck scrambling at the last minute. Kind of heartless? Maybe, but it was me or her, and damn straight I chose me.

So Steamroller is given 3o days notice, in person. We stood in the hallway while I told her, she nodded and said okay, followed by "Actually, I'm on my way out so can we discuss this later?" Of course I say sure, and we part ways.

Of course, I didn't tell Steamroller that I was leaving the next night for a week in Florida. While there, I get a call from Steamroller, telling me she'd prefer if I could push the date back to say ... February 1st? Yeah ... no. I'm leaving on January 15th - there's no way in hell I'm going to pay rent in a place I'm not staying simply to help her out. What has she EVER done to help me out?
I get another call from Steamroller, sounding very angry-yet-controlled, asking me to call her back to discuss our situation. I request a pep-talk from my dad, and then call her.

I let her tell me I'm a very inconsiderate person. Multiple times. She says it's wrong that I didn't even discuss this with her first. She claims she would have discussed it with me before looking for a new place. I politely do not say, "bullshit." She tells me that now it's going to be an extra eight days she has to pay rent past January 15th, because the leasing office will be closed on Christmas. I point out that she could have given her 30 days notice on the Monday following the Friday I gave notice, and that it's not my fault she chose to wait a week. She tells me it's fine with her if I want to be an inconsiderate person since we'll probably never see each other again in life, but ....

But what? Oh that's right, but NOTHING. You were trailing off in the hopes you could guilt me into agreeing to pay rent longer. One of my parents pointed out to me that the Chinese are used to having to bargain for everything they want. Welcome to America - some things are non-negotiable.

I keep telling Steamroller that I'm sorry she feels this way. I tell her I hadn't thought of it from the point of view she's now presented to me. I do not agree to pay through the month of January. We go round and round, and Steamroller finally realizes I'm not giving in on this. That she won't be able to steamroll over me this time.

She begs me now to go the leasing office with her and convince them that we BOTH meant to be giving notice on December 15th. Ugh. My mother discourages me from getting involved, from lying. When I get back to town, I talk with the leasing office people and find out we can give notice on different days and that's fine. Oh and that they're cool with back-dating.

As of today, I have given notice and it's understood I'll be out by January 15th. As of last week, I sent in a final rent check paying for the time period of January 1st through the 15th. Yesterday I put a little note in front of Steamroller's bedroom door, telling her this month's rent amount, since it's different from past months, signing it with a cheery "Happy New Year!"

Tonight while preparing my salad, Steamroller comes to me and asks if I've already paid rent. Uhh... we have to mail our rent to Los Angeles, and it's due January 1st. Of COURSE I've already sent it out, what a stupid question! Have I EVER paid rent late? No. (Well, yes, but never late enough that I've ever had to pay a late fee, and never so late that any roommate ever knew about it. Basically, no.)

Meanwhile, Steamroller still owes me rent. She often pays me late. I don't sweat it, since she always eventually pays. Plus, if she doesn't pay this rent, I don't really give a shit - I still have her security deposit. And I'm not afraid to keep it.