Tilda came to see her at her new place.
“It’s nice, Paula. But it is soo far away.”
“I know. It is what I found at the time for less than seventy a week.”
“But why was it so urgent to go away then? You could have probably waited?”
“It was not, but it was not nice either. And I preferred to spend the time I had to move without hurry, rather than look more and then have to move in a day. I came and I just liked it. It looked perfect. And I needed four trips on the train, and for that I needed four separate weekdays, or wait for the weekend, so I just took it.”
“And why was it not nice, what happened?”
“They made it difficult for me to move rooms. We could only pay our rent in office hours, remember?”
“Yes.” Tilda’s face said the rest – she had suffered that denial of taking payment at any other time.
“But I myself worked office hours, so it was difficult. Some times I could make it, but some times I could not. So I ended up with three weeks in arrears. And they would not let me change rooms.”
“So you had to go on occupying a double room.”
“Which they didn’t want. So they decided to put another girl in that room. Some one I had never met before.”
“That is outrageous.”
“It was. So I just moved out.”
“And what happened with those arrears?”
“I paid them, plus the week that would take me to move out, the day I had to take off to look for a room.”
“It is horrible, isn’t it. Having to take off days from your holiday to move houses.” It showed Tilda had gone through all this.
“At least now I’m here. All that is behind now. For now.”
“Why? Are you not happy here?”
“The landlady is not too nice. She prohibited me put pictures on the wall. That is why I had to buy those frames. And I am not allowed to light candles either.”
“Oh. I know you like candles!”
“She doesn’t. She said, and I just thought it was a statement of what she dislikes. But it turns out that by ‘I don’t like candles’ she meant ‘You are not to use candles while you live here.’ So she had a go at me the following time she saw a candle. Not that I leave them on their own at all. But this is what it is when you live with the land lady.”
“I see you won’t last too long here.”
“I hope to last at least until after Christmas. I need to go home knowing I am leaving my things in a safe place.”
“Talking of which.”
“Say?”
“Is this safe enough, and OK with you to leave two cases of mine here?”
“Sure. They will just live here in my room with me.”
“Wow, thank you. That will save me so much hassle and cost. I will come back after Christmas.”
“Sure.”
“Promise.”
“You don’t need to.”