Ike grinned and raised his bottle in greeting to Chen. "Back already?"

Chen closed the door behind him and shucked his work jacket, letting it fall onto the floor. He fell with a sigh into the sofa that he used as a bed. "Yeah."

There was something about the tone of Chen's voice that caught Ike's attention. "Sounds like you could use a drink."

"Don't mind if I do." The young man reached out for the bottle, then took a long swallow from it and grimaced. "I got fired," Chen said.

"Shit." Ike stared up at the ceiling, trying to avoid looking his roommate in the eye. "So, what now? How are you going to pay the rent?"

"Don't worry. I have a plan, but it means that I'll have to get another person to share. That way, we can split the rent three ways. If we do that, the dole will just about cover my share." Chen looked hopefully at the older man. "It'll make it cheaper for you."

Ike looked around the room. Once upon a time it had been a dressing room; an adjunct to a much grander bedroom. Now he shared it with Chen. There was just enough space for the two of them and their meagre belongings. Still - it could have been worse. At least they could afford a room between them. There were people who were lucky to sleep in the corridor and the stairwell.

"Who you going to get to come in? Someone I know?"

"My girl."

Ike looked wide-eyed at Chen. "You got a girl?"

"Uh huh."

"There might be a little problem with that." Ike looked at the debris of their lives scattered around the room. "We're a bit stag here. And I know that women like their privacy." He gave Chen a suggestive look. "Hell - you might like some privacy, if you know what I mean?"

Chen shoved the bottle back towards the older man. "I told you. I have a plan."

The next day Chen brought in a bundle of old cardboard sheets. They had once been boxes, but had been flattened and cut open. With a practiced ease, Chen joined them together with dusty, black electrical tape, then stood them on end. More tape was used to fix the larger sheets to the ceiling and floor, eventually forming a cubicle big enough for two people to lie close together.

"What do you think?"

Ike stared at the ramshackle partition wall. "Looks good enough to me. But you and your girl are going to have to keep it down."

Chen grabbed Ike's bottle. "Don't you worry about that. We like our privacy."