James was excited for college.

He was more than just "excited." He was ecstatic. Viciously eager. Almost scratching at the walls of his small room. Honestly, he was just thankful he had a room with this foster family, but he yearned for the true freedom and independence of college. The only small, tiny, almost irrelevant hole in this grand scheme, was where he would live.

He had just enough money to pay for the semesters tuition, between savings, scholarships, and a small donation from his relatively nice foster parents, it would all be for naught if he couldn't rest his eyes between classes.

Like any other desperate fool, he went to every website he could think of asking for help, cheap rent, or some other accommodation for his situation. At 2 weeks before the semester started, his dreams and fantasies were starting to seem less like a light at the end of a long tunnel, and more like a pit of hell.

He almost skipped over the message that blinked in his email, probably a scam for cheap rent, but he thought to check anyway, just in case, the last sparks of hope pushing him.

When a middle aged woman offering a room in her house in exchange for help with chores and a small amount of rent, it almost seemed too good. Messaging back quickly, James became cautiously optimistic.

What he'd soon come to find out would be that this lovely lady was a young widow, craving any sort of company and in desperate of companionship. What he may realize too late, is the she's missing the physical aspects of her marriage too.