My roommate\u2019s girlfriend stays over at our place quite often. When she uses our bathroom, she always leaves a clothespin on the showerhead. Every single time! I\u2019m hesitant to ask her because we\u2019re not close.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Why would anyone do that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s one of those little things that starts to get under your skin. At first, I figured it was an accident. Maybe she was hanging a loofah or towel and just forgot to take it down. But no. She\u2019d leave it on the showerhead, like a little wooden flag planted on conquered land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her name\u2019s Imani. She\u2019s been dating my roommate, Paolo, for almost a year now. She doesn\u2019t live with us, but she practically camps out in our living room every other week. Don\u2019t get me wrong\u2014she\u2019s polite, quiet, even offers to replace the oat milk without being asked. But we\u2019ve never had a real conversation beyond \u201chey\u201d and \u201chave a good one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One Sunday morning, I stepped into the bathroom half-awake, turned on the shower, and noticed the clothespin again. Just sitting there like a sentinel. My curiosity had fully evolved into a private obsession by that point. I even started tracking it mentally. Monday: no Imani, no clothespin. Friday night: she\u2019s here, clothespin appears Saturday morning. Every time she showered\u2014clothespin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I considered asking Paolo about it, but it felt\u2026 nosy? Like I\u2019d be admitting how closely I\u2019d been monitoring his girlfriend\u2019s bathing habits. That\u2019s weird, right? So I kept quiet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Until one day, it went missing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was a Tuesday afternoon. Imani had come over the night before, and I was home early from work. She\u2019d just finished showering when I noticed it wasn\u2019t there. No clothespin. I peered inside the tub, scanned the corners. Nothing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Huh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That should\u2019ve been the end of it. But that\u2019s when I noticed something else. The water pressure was awful. Normally, our shower blasts like a pressure washer. But that day it came out like a leaky garden hose. Weak, sputtering. I cranked the handle, twisted the head, even tried letting it run. Still nothing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Paolo got home later that night and tried it himself. Same result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMaybe it\u2019s clogged,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ll pick up a new head tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We did. He installed it. Problem solved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The clothespin never showed up again. For about three weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then\u2014bam. It\u2019s back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One Saturday morning, I walk in to brush my teeth and there it is: the same old clothespin, clipped like a badge on the showerhead. I stared at it for so long my toothpaste foamed out of my mouth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I took a photo this time. Then, in a move that still makes me cringe a little, I posted it in a group chat with my cousin Zari and our friend Maks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOkay, what the hell does this mean?\u201d I wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maks joked, \u201cShe\u2019s marking territory. Like a dog peeing on a fire hydrant.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Zari, ever the practical one, said, \u201cMaybe it\u2019s to control the water? Like if the spray\u2019s too strong or something?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That gave me an idea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Next time I saw Imani, I waited until Paolo left the room. I kept it casual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHey, random question,\u201d I said, pretending to clean up the kitchen. \u201cThat clothespin on the showerhead\u2014what\u2019s that for?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She froze. Literally froze mid-reach for a glass of water. Then smiled, but it didn\u2019t quite reach her eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOh\u2026 uh. Just a weird habit,\u201d she said. \u201cForget I left it there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then she changed the subject so fast I got whiplash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That should\u2019ve told me everything. But instead, it lit my curiosity on fire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The next day, I did something I\u2019m not proud of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I snooped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Okay\u2014not full-on rummaging-through-drawers snoop. But I checked our bathroom carefully. I tried turning the shower on with the clothespin clipped in place, then again without it. I even held it under the water to see if it did anything. Nada. No difference in temperature or spray or pressure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Still, Imani kept putting it there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A few days later, Paolo was gone for a long weekend visiting family. I came home from work late Friday to find Imani sitting in our kitchen, drinking tea. Alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I almost turned around. But she looked up and smiled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHey,\u201d she said. \u201cWant some?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I nodded. Something about the quietness in her eyes softened me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She poured me a cup, and we sat there awkwardly at first. She asked about my job. I asked how her week was. Slowly, the wall between us started to crack.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
My roommate\u2019s girlfriend stays over at our place quite often. When she uses our bathroom, she always leaves a clothespin on the showerhead. Every single time! I\u2019m hesitant to ask her because…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2662","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-interesting-stories"],"yoast_head":"\n