Paula found it difficult to tell the shop manager that she could no longer work on Thursdays. She had been working only on Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, for four pounds fifty an hour. This was less then what “the british government considered enough for an adult to live on”, according to the benefits literature. Without considering rent. Yet Paula’s boss sounded surprised she had managed to find another job.
“Oh. So you can not take Thursdays off to come here?”
Paula could not know if he was joking. This was a serious job, paying well above what “the British government considered enough for an adult to live on” plus her rent. There was no way Paula would prioritise the shop that was not giving her enough to live on. It would not be long before Paula would leave the job in the shop altogether. Working seven days a week, with not a single day off, was all right while she paid off the arrears of her rent, but once that was done, Paula decided to take a weekly rest as normal people did. She would miss the contact with the shop that she continued to believe to be related to fair trade, but at least she managed to keep in touch with Lisa. They even had dinner together some times, and Lisa introduced her to some of her own friends. Paula admitted to herself – not to Lisa, though – that she was not interested in Lisa’s friends that much. She could not understand her English friends, and the Spanish ones would eventually leave London. Paula had learnt as much. Maria had stayed long enough; longer than all the other friends she had introduced to Paula. But she too had left. As had done the students who had allowed Paula to use the internet in their university. Paula learnt to have friends who would eventually leave and was not keen to have that many of them.
Of course it was different with Luna. She had known her from before London. That was as good as knowing some one from a previous life. And Tilda.