The Apartment Rivals

Piotr had been apartment hunting for three weeks. He grew more frustrated with every overpriced studio and every landlord who never called back. When he finally found a bright, affordable one-bedroom near the park, he acted fast. He submitted his application within an hour of seeing it.

皮奥特已经找了三个星期的房子。每遇到一个价格虚高的单间，每遇到一个从不回电话的房东，他就更沮丧一分。当他终于找到一套靠近公园、明亮又不贵的一居室时，他立刻行动了。看完房后不到一个小时，他就提交了申请。

At the viewing itself, he'd noticed another applicant taking photos of the kitchen. She was a woman about his own age, clearly just as interested as he was. She introduced herself briefly as Elif before going to ask the landlord a question. Neither of them mentioned applying for the same place, though it felt obvious enough.

看房的时候，他注意到另一位申请人在给厨房拍照。她是个和他年纪差不多的女人，显然和他一样感兴趣。她简单地自我介绍说她叫埃利芙，然后就去向房东问问题了。他们谁都没有提到自己申请的是同一套房子，尽管这一点已经很明显了。

Three days later, the landlord called Piotr with unexpected news. The apartment, it turned out, had two bedrooms rather than one. The original listing had described it incorrectly. He was looking for two tenants to share it, not one. Both Piotr and Elif had submitted strong applications.

三天后，房东给皮奥特打来电话，带来了意想不到的消息。原来，这套公寓有两间卧室，而不是一间。最初的房源信息写错了。房东要找两位租客合租，而不是一位。皮奥特和埃利芙都提交了很不错的申请。

Piotr hesitated before calling Elif himself. He wasn't sure how she would feel about it. Sharing an apartment with a stranger she'd competed against for less than a week seemed risky. To his relief, she laughed when he explained the situation. "Honestly," she said, "I'd rather split rent with someone I've met than a random stranger from an ad."

皮奥特犹豫了一下，才亲自给埃利芙打电话。他不确定她会怎么想。和一个竞争了不到一个星期的陌生人合住，似乎有风险。让他松了口气的是，听他解释完情况，她笑了。“说实话，”她说，“比起广告上的陌生人，我宁愿和见过面的人分摊房租。”

They met for coffee before deciding anything final, mostly to make sure they could actually stand living together. The conversation ran two hours longer than either of them expected. It covered everything from cooking habits to weekend routines. It ended with both of them fairly confident this could work.

在做出最终决定之前，他们先约了咖啡，主要是想确认两个人真的能忍受住在一起。这场谈话比他们两人预想的多聊了两个小时。从做饭习惯到周末的安排，什么都聊到了。结束时，两个人都相当有把握，这件事行得通。

They moved in together the following month. They divided the bigger bedroom's extra closet space with a coin toss that Elif won fairly. Within a year, what had started as unplanned rivals had quietly become something else. Neither of them had expected it, but both were glad.

下个月，他们就一起搬了进去。较大那间卧室多出来的壁橱空间，他们靠掷硬币来分，结果埃利芙赢得很公平。不到一年，这对本来无心成为对手的人，悄悄变成了另一种关系。他们谁也没想到，但两个人都很高兴。