"I'm fine, really please just go now!" Lauren laughs as her Mum and boyfriend Daniel hover awkwardly beside her on the train station platform. "It will be here in a minute just go you're making it worse you both know how much I hate goodbyes!" She insists. Leaving isn't a decision that she has taken easily but now she is just moments away and their presence is giving her doubts about seeing it through.
"If you hate goodbyes so much why are you leaving?" Daniel sulks.
"Because it's my future, we've discussed this a million times babe I need to go and do this placement." She reminds him of the situation, even though he is well aware of it.
He sighs. He disapproves of her going and he's made that pretty apparent for the last few months, as has her Mother. Lauren on the other hand knows that she has little choice, her career in project management won't be possible unless she gets some skills and knowledge from a placement and she worked too hard and went into too much debt studying to give up on her dream now it is within touching distance. A year of living in the city and working for an established and well respected organisation will make her CV stand out in the competitive jobs market ,so she has to take the opportunity whilst she can.
The loud chugging of the train approaching makes them all turn to look, before the goodbyes begin.
Once on board the train Lauren waves as they walk away, before allowing her head to fall back against the seat and closing her eyes in a bid to compose herself. That was harder than she had imagined. Daniel is not just her boyfriend but her best friend and seeing him like that hurt her, she's pretty certain he thought she was going to change her mind at the last minute given the look of disappointment in his eyes as she boarded.
They have known this would be happening for months, this has always been her plan yet for some reason he can't accept it. She feels saddened that he can't be more encouraging and share in her dream, or at least just try to understand why she is doing it. Her relationship with him is long standing, they've been together basically since their early teens and what started as a friendship has blossomed into more over the years.
It's a sweet relationship and people say that they are more like an old married couple than what would be appropriate for anyone their early twenties but she doesn't mind, she's seen the drama her friends have had with their boyfriends so whilst hers and Daniel's relationship may be a little on the boring side and moving at a slow and steady pace at least they are both settled and happy. They know there will come a time when things progress physically but neither of them are in any hurry.
Lauren does what she does best for the remainder of the two hour train journey and blocks out her emotions by losing herself in a good book. Classic literature may not be considered cool or even relevant these days but the struggles and the difficulties the women in her books face aren't that different to her own and she adores the romance and passion of it all even if it she can't really relate to any of it just yet.
The short walk from the train station to the address of her shared flat takes only minutes and she is pleased to see that the location is as central as the estate agent has claimed. She thought she would feel nervous being in the big city in her own but as she presses the buzzer to be let into the apartment building she feels happy and is looking forward to meeting her new housemates. She's spoken to them a few times over email and they seem really nice.
"Lauren!" She is greeted with a high pitched shriek and an over powering hug. "Come inside!" The girl tells her eagerly.
She follows her into the flat and looks around curiously. It's a bit run down and very hipster in style with abstract art and clashing bright colours in the décor. It's not to her taste, which would be much more muted and conventional but she doesn't dislike it as such it will just take a little bit of getting used to and is precisely what she imaging a shared flat of twenty somethings to look like anyway so she isn't shocked.
