How much do I owe you??

Such a familiar line, “how much?? Are you sure? It can’t be. Can it?”
Yes. It is. Just the same as it was last month I’m afraid.
When The Flatmate moved in, she and I had a good old scout around and worked out a price. We took into consideration a lot of factors. The going rate for a room of similar size in the area, the cost of the bills, the estimated extra cost of having another person, and the fact that the room was furnished. There was much pencil biting, calculator fiddling and illegible scribbling done. We checked, double checked and rechecked our maths and eventually settled on a figure we were both happy with. We also settled on payments being weekly and on a specific day each week. This, however, rather fell by the wayside. The payments became sporadic. I ignored this if I’m honest. As long as the payments materialised, I decided I wasn’t too fussed at which point in the month they appeared.
The irritating thing is the constant “are you sure” comments. I have a receipt book. The flatmate takes one copy and I keep the carbon copy. Each receipt details how much was paid and when and for which dates. As well as this, I note it on the calendar. On the payment day I make a note saying “this week paid” every time more money is handed over. It’s a fairly foolproof system. The figure stays the same week by week, and the records are ironclad.
Yet still, I get “are you sure??”
There are a few conclusions I can come to. Some not so pleasant. I can’t put it down to pure forgetfulness on the part of The Flatmate (unfortunately) because the “are you sure” is often accompanied by malicious “I’m sure I’ve paid you already” type comments.
So, it’s either;
1. Someone has done her for dosh in the past and she’s suspicious it will happen again. If so, they are bastards, but at least I can understand it.
2. She’s done someone for dosh in the past and is well aware that the best defence is a good offence. If so, she’s a bastard. Plus, it ain’t gonna work on me. I keep records.
3. She’s a secret agent and it’s part of her cover to make me believe she’s really a poor student. If so, it’s working wonderfully!

Either way, a monthly “how much” argument is a pain. It makes you feel guilty for daring to have the audacity to ask your flatmate to pay you the rent they rightfully owe you.

Shame it doesn’t work like that when the gas bill arrives…