“That’s 3.25 sweetie.” The older lady behind the counter said. I dug into my slightly wet pockets and pulled out all the change I managed to gather up.
“Oh no, I’ve lost a pound.” I muttered under my breath. I looked back to see all the inpatient people standing in line.
“Hurry up! I only have a 20 minute lunch break!” I man called from the back.
“Just cancel my order.” I muttered.
“Wait!” someone yelled, stopping the lady from canceling my order. “Make that 2, and it’s on me” a boy said. I looked over at him to see that he was about my age, give or take a year or two.
“Can I please have a name?” The lady asked.
The blonde boy looked taken aback, eyes wide open and bottom lip between his perfect shinny white teeth. “Yeah, James.” he said.
“The weather is pretty crappy out today” This James boy stated. I looked outside the glass windows and saw raindrop after raindrop fiercely dropping to the ground. Some people were walking calmly with umbrellas, others were running like in a marathon with papers or briefcase’s covering their heads.
“James!” The lady behind the counter called. James walked up to the counter and grabbed the two Caramel Frappuccino.
“Would you like to sit with me?” James asked nodding over to a vacant booth.
“Umm, ok.” I said following him to the booth. He slid in one side, and I slid in the other. “Thank you James.” I muttered as I accepted the cup he handed to me.
“Honestly. My name isn’t James. It’s actually Niall, but I just use James as a cover-up sometimes” He spoke and that’s when I noticed his thick non-British accent.
“Well. Thank you Niall.” I said and he smiled in return.
“What is your name?” he asked.
“Lillian” I said
“That’s a very pretty name” he said smiling as he took a sip of his drink.
By the time that we finished our drinks, not very much dialog was shared between us, all that happened was the rain got heavier.
Great.
“Well. I have to get going. Thank you for the drink again.” I mumbled sliding out of the booth and digging back in my pockets.
Niall started to shake his head. “Don’t worry about it. My shout. Do you want a ride home?” he asked.
“No, it’s ok. I’ll just walk home. It isn’t that far” I said in a reassuring voice.
“Are you sure? It’s raining pretty heavily at the moment. It isn’t really a bother” He said.
“Honestly. It’s fine. I don’t live too far away.” I said.
“Ok. It was nice meeting you Lillian. See you around.” Niall spoke as I started to walk towards the door.
“Bye” I said walking out the door and into the rain bumping into a man with an overly large camera on the way past.
After a 10 minute run I finally reached where I sleep. I pulled a Bobbi pin out of my already messy hair and picked the lock. I carefully opened the small hatch door and crawled in.
It wasn’t a lot. But it was all I needed. All it was, was a small part of a storage shed at the back of this almost abandoned house. It was a big house, and it’s been for sale for almost over a year. No one lives in it, but people are always walking through it. The area in which I sleep in isn’t very big, but it’s big enough for an old sleeping bag and a piece of string above to hand my wet clothes on. It has all the essentials. Except for a kitchen, bathroom and a proper bedroom.
I slipped out of my wet clothes and slid on the only other pair I owned.
I’ve been staying here for almost a year. When the previous owners of this house passed away. Well actually died in a car accident. I know this because it was my house. And the original owners were my parents. After they passed away, I got some of my clothes and some valuables and went and stayed at a friend’s house… then it burnt down and I lost everything except for the two pairs of clothes I have today, which were on the clothes line drying.
“What is this?” I heard someone ask. Obviously someone who is ‘interested’ in the house.
“It’s a storage shed. Good for gardening tools. Very big inside.” I heard the all too familiar voice of the estate agent.
“Would it be good for a studio?” the person asked.
“What type of studio?” the agent asked.
“Music. Recording.” The person said simply as someone rattled the lock to open it.
“It isn’t, but it can be equipped for one.”
I heard the door open and the gentle gust of wind wrap around my body.
“It’s perfect.” The person said.
“It will be very good for a first home, I suppose.” The agent said.
“Yeah, it’s for my friend. Me and a few other friends are going to buy him a house for his birthday.” The person said.
“Better than a TV” the agent joked.
“Yeah, he’s living with me at the moment and as much as I love him, he just makes too much mess and he eats a lot so yeah.” This person said.
“Well, it has a very large kitchen.”
“Can I make a deposit in cash now?” I heard this person say.
“Wow.” I whispered to myself.
“What was that?”
“Maybe just the wind”
“Maybe” I heard them say as the door closed and the lock latched.
Looks like I’ll have to go find a new place to sleep. Or maybe I could just tell the person and stay
