Page 25 of Now and Again

‘Mum,’ Juliet said, trying to be calm. ‘Younevermentioned that you were selling.’

Her mum tutted. ‘I could have sworn I did. Well, anyway. We’re selling. We’re making the last payment on the mortgage this week, and the Singh’s down the road just sold theirs for alotmore than they paid. This area is worth something now, getting gentrified. I reckon it was that coffee place opening on the corner. Dreadful coffee, but the staff all have tattoos, and apparently, that’s something you’re expected to pay through the nose for now,’ she said, shaking her head. ‘So, if we sell up and me and your dad move into a smaller place, we could retire a lot earlier. We found somewhere last week and put an offer in.’

Juliet frowned. ‘And where exactly will I be sleeping in this smaller place?’

Her mother rolled her eyes. ‘God, Juliet. You’re twenty-eight! Isn’t it time you moved out, anyway?’

Juliet wanted to swing for her mum. ‘I’ve been paying into this home since I could earn money. Didn’t you think I at least deserved a conversation before you made me homeless?’

‘I’m pushing you out of the nest. There’s a difference. And anyway, when me and your dad kick the bucket, you’ll get the house and any savings. Split with your sister, of course. So don’t act like we robbed you, Juliet.’

‘I wasn’tsayingthat…’ Juliet protested.

But her mother wasn’t paying any attention, she’d gone back to putting boxes together. Listening had never been her strong suit. ‘This is a three-bed and I’m about to turn sixty. I’m sick of cleaning this much house,’ she announced passionately. ‘And you make good money now, looking after all those rich kids. You could get a place of your own.’

‘Don’t act like I’m rolling it in. And I don’t look after rich kids,’ Juliet said, not liking that description. ‘They’re kids with rich parents, Mum.’

‘I don’t see the difference,’ her mother said.

Maybe there wasn’t one. But Juliet had sort of thought there was. At least at one time. ‘Well, anyway… I don’t feel like my job is that stable.’

‘I thought they liked you?’

‘The mum does. The dad doesn’t.’

Juliet’s mother waved a dismissive hand as she went into a cupboard and pulled out more flattened boxes. ‘Oh, I wouldn’t worry about him. As long as you’re in with the mum, you’ll be fine. Start putting these together, would you?’ She dropped a load of cardboard on the floor and walked out carrying two erected boxes, apparently considering the small matter of evicting her daughter dealt with to her satisfaction.

Juliet began to construct boxes on the kitchen lino and tried to take this news in. She couldn’t.

Twelve

Riley put a hand down on the kitchen counter, and it was immediately sticky. She tried to remove her hand from the filthy surface as surreptitiously as she could while maintaining eye contact with her potential new housemate. ‘Yeah, so I kicked him out. And we were using the spare room as a playroom for the dog, but it’ll definitely,probablyfit a double bed in it,’ Daniel explained. He was tall and skinny, wearing a t-shirt with an egg stain down it. He seemed nice enough. Maybe not much of a housekeeper, but compared to Riley’s last housemate’s controlling style, Riley thought that was preferable.

Riley pondered the flat as Daniel explained about the hot tap that worked about seventy percent of the time and the cooker that only had two functioning hobs. The place was a bit on the small side. And clearly, housework was not a priority for Daniel. But Riley thought she might be able to make it work. She could pick up Daniel’s slack if she was bothered by his slobbishness. And if it got really bad, she’d suggest a cleaner. The place was cheap, so she might be able to cover that herself. None of this was ideal, but Riley needed out of her dad’s. Stat. She was sick of walking on eggshells every time he had a bad day at work. It brought back too many bad memories.

‘So, err, how long have you been living alone?’ Riley asked, trying to make conversation.

Daniel checked his watch. ‘Err, about three hours.’

Riley raised an eyebrow. ‘What?’

‘Yeah, I mean, why mess about? If Oscar would rather have all these long, latesessionswith his trainer, he’s gonna come home and find I can replace him too.’

Riley didn’t have a chance to react. The front door opened, and a chubby guy with a scruffy beard walked in, the ill-famed Oscar. He gave Riley a confused glance. ‘Daniel, who’s-’

Daniel smiled bitterly at the arrival of his boyfriend. ‘Oh, good. Glad you’re back. You can fetch your stuff. It’s in a suitcase next to the door. I wanted to put it in a bin liner because it’strash. But we’d run out,’ he admitted.

Oscar looked as shocked as Riley felt. ‘Daniel, what are you on about?’

‘This is my new housemate…’ Daniel spat, gesturing to Riley.

‘Well, I mean we hadn’tactually—’ Riley sputtered.

‘…So you can go back to your little spandex slut,’ Daniel almost screamed.

Oscar gave a worn-out sigh. ‘Daniel. We’ve talked about this. I mean, for fuck’s sake, I thought youwantedme to get in better shape. It was you that booked him in the first bloody place.’

Daniel folded his arms. ‘Oh yeah, that’s right, make itmyfault. “Daniel’s a paranoid nutcase.” Well, it’s not paranoia when there are pics of him bending you over on Instagram!’

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