In a house down, down Howard Street, there lived four college guys, William, Randolph, Gregg, and Harvey.  William, Randolph, and Harvey were each in their early twenties, while Gregg was almost thirty and nicknamed “Mean Old Man.”  All of the guys liked to have fun, but Gregg was almost resistant to having parties and people over at the house.  William and Harvey loved to party and throw back some drinks with the gang, and so did Randolph.  Unfortunately, Randolph was unable to take part in a lot of the festivities because he was in an internship and had class every morning at 8 am.  While the other roommates were relaxing and enjoying their senior year of college, Randolph was constantly working on projects and reading books for his classes.  On the weekends he didn’t have time to party and socialize either because he was always on the road with the ice hockey team, playing games on most Friday and Saturday nights.  However, if there was a night when there was no homework to be done and there were no hockey games to play, Randolph would gladly crack open a cold one and socialize with the boys.
 
     Like any college-aged guys, the boys of 781 Howard Street liked the company of some lovely females.  Since Randolph was in class with twenty of the finest looking ladies on campus, you would think it would be easy to find a female companion.  On the contrary, it was his roommate, William, whom attracted most of the ladies to the house.  Perhaps it is his porch-monkey presence, as he sat in the upholstered chair smoking his cigarettes all day long.  There is just something about his attitude that gets girls’ attention.  Some say it’s his carefree demeanor when he talked to girls, others say it was his super confidence that charmed the ladies, but whatever it was, it worked and girls were right there on the porch next to him within moments.  If he found a girl attractive, he would immediately start hitting on her and before you know it, she was upstairs with him.  Even though they have not known each other for very long, they would already be upstairs being intimate.

     Randolph noticed this pattern with his roommate, William, and his frequent companionship with females began to bother him.  However, the more he thought about it though, the more he realized that it didn’t bother him because William did not have what he was looking for.  What Randolph wanted was to meet a nice girl and get to know her better, and then perhaps start a relationship.  The girls that William “got with” were not the type of girls Randolph was looking for.  So he learned to dismiss his jealousy toward his roommate.  Randolph did not feel that he was better than William; he just felt that he had more to offer a woman than his fast moving roomie.  Rather than being a womanizer, Randolph was looking to play the role of the tenderizer.  He had trouble talking to girls because he meant what he said.  Randolph found it hard to just say what the girls wanted to hear if he didn’t mean it.  That is why he comes across as shy to some and stuck up to others.  It is not that he thinks he is better than other people; he just doesn’t have the confidence he wants when it comes to girls.  This often gets him mislabeled by girls as egotistical.

    It just seemed like wherever he looked, the people surrounding him were with girls.  His roommate Harvey was hardly ever around because he spent every waking moment at his girlfriend’s apartment.  Honestly, he should move out and save the rent money.  So even though Harvey was never around the house, Randolph still felt somewhat inadequate knowing that even Harvey had a woman.  Not that there was anything wrong with Harvey, it was just that he did not treat his girlfriend with a whole lot of respect.  Harvey was not a very compassionate fellow; therefore he did not really understand how his girlfriend, or other women, was feeling most of the time.  Randolph just got aggravated watching his roommate’s relationship knowing that Harvey’s girlfriend, and all girls, deserved to be treated much better than that.

    The one aspect of the house that always kept Randolph feeling all right about his woman situation was his roommate Gregg.  “The Old Man” never really hung out with girls and girls never really expressed any interest in him either.  This made Gregg and Randolph better friends because they could relate to one another’s situation at parties and such.  However, it wasn’t long before even Gregg, “The Old Man,” was with a girl too.  She was a really great gal, and would do just about anything to please him.  However, Gregg would not appreciate her generosity and took it for granted most of the time.  He never recognized or thanked her for any of the things she did for him.  This tore Randolph apart, now he really felt like he was on his own.  Every time he would walk in from class, there was one of his roommates with their girlfriend on the coach cuddling, or kissing.  All he could do was say “hi” and slither like a snake back into his hole of a bedroom.  He wanted to come out and be social, but like a turtle in his shell, he stayed in his room.  It pained him to see other people so happy.  That is all he wanted, someone of his own to cuddle with on the couch.  Was that too much to ask?  According to Randolph, it apparently was.

    Soon his confidence with the ladies floundered.  He finally had the nerve to ask a girl out in one of his classes, but unfortunately for him, she had a boyfriend.  He couldn’t believe it. He was stunned!  During the one-on-one study sessions and conversations the two of them had, She had not mentioned, or subtly hinted of a boyfriend.  That was the last straw for Randolph, as he swore he would never ask out another girl from one of his classes.  Believe it or not, Randolph held true to his promise for the rest of his college career, even though there were a few girls that made it difficult for him to do so.  After months and months of being single, ignoring his roommates’ “relationships”, and not really thinking about girls, all of that came to a screeching halt.  One by one, his roommates became single and many random girls would begin coming around the house again.  Regardless, Randolph wanted to stick to his guns and not settle for just any girl with a pretty face or nice figure.  Rather, he was looking for the girl with the best personality that matched his.

    It just so happened that an exchange student from Australia moved into the apartment next door to the house.  She was tall with long wavy hair.  She looked as if she had just fallen from the heavens above.    All four roommates were home when she pulled up to her apartment in a packed full UHAUL truck.  The four gentlemen, for their own reasons, decided to go offer their assistance to the damsel in distress.  William went over there, spitting his game, hoping to really welcome the Perth native to the neighborhood.  However, she saw straight through William and perceived his confidence as cockiness and totally dismissed him.  Harvey was next to approach the young foreigner.  He was nice and genuine and offered to carry some stuff.  Without a consideration, he helped load the young lady up with some heavy boxes of books, while he grabbed the two pillows and a blanket out of the truck.  As all five walked up the steps with boxes in hand, Harvey didn’t even go in front and open the doors or anything.  Rather, he waited at the door for the new tenant to turn the knob for him, even though heavier objects than his occupied her hands.  Gregg was perhaps carrying the heaviest of loads, and began yelling at her to open to door before he just threw her stuff on the ground.  Noticing that he was carrying all of her plates and glasses, Randolph realized that this was not a good situation.  Therefore, Randolph set down his boxes that he had carried and quickly grabbed the keys from the girl and opened the door, but not before he lectured his roommates to relax and settle down and to treat their new neighbor with some respect.  The fact that Randolph quietly stood up for this girl that he had never met before meant a lot to her.  When everyone set down their boxes, or pillows, the girl thanked the guys, in her lovely accent, for helping and told them she could get the rest herself.  As the men filed out of the apartment, the “Sheila” tapped Randolph on the shoulder and asked him to stay behind to help with the rest of her stuff.  Mesmerized by her deep, ocean eyes, Randolph was more than happy to oblige the lovely dame.  Harvey and William made their way next door to the house, as Randolph made a few more trips from the truck to the apartment with armloads of girly stuff.  When the truck was completely unloaded, Randolph was invited to stay for a “thank you” drink.  Now, Randolph had never been known to turn down a drink, especially from a lovely lady, so he stayed.  They had some of the best conversation over some fine cabernet sauvignon.  A bottle of wine and many personal stories and jokes later, the two found themselves cuddling on the couch, just as Randolph had wished for so long.  “Why me?” Randolph asked as he gazed into her eyes.  Eventually the two fell asleep, that warm summer evening, bodies entangled, and their hearts keeping the same beat.  As their eyes opened, that beautiful winter morning, “because you were the kinder fella,” she said as she gazed back into his eyes.