Superimposed

41

"This place hasn't changed" Taron comments, looking around the dingey house. His childhood home as some people would call it, but it felt like anything but home to him.
It was the place of pure misery throughout his childhood and although he began to rebel against the house as he got older; he was imprisoned in it for so long before that.

Having Phil as a stepdad was all Taron knew all his life; he didn't know his real dad and didn't even know he was dead till very recently.
Coming back to this house didn't bring pleasant memories at all.

"And the daughter isn't here?" Taron couldn't even remember her name. They never spoke to each other, she always locked herself in that palace of a room all day, every day.

"Nope, she's at school"
Taron nodded and began helping his mum pack up what she needed to take. Which did involve going upstairs and he couldn't resist having a look into his old bedroom.

"You've left this as it was?" Taron called out, walking slowly into his bedroom. It was completely untouched as if he'd never been gone.
"Phil doesn't take an interest in it and I like to sit in here sometimes" Lisa admits, following Taron into the room and sitting down on the single bed.
"And here it is!" Taron picked up the small journal he kept for a while. The one the therapist told him to keep and the one that earned him many punches from Phil.

"That's one thing I never touched" Lisa stares at the book in Taron's hand, he opened to a page in the middle and read it.
"Sometimes I wish-" He began reading it out and then stopped, "Probably best that you never do" He sighed and closed it again, tossing it in the small waste bin at the foot of his bed.

It only took a little under an hour to get Lisa's suitcase together and they were soon out of the house again.
"How easy would it be for you to find another job?" Taron randomly asked as they walked down the street.
"Where?" Lisa's neck whipped to Taron, panic evident in her voice.
"Well I was just thinking, we could rent somewhere in Bloomsbury - I mean, start a new life type thing in a new town 'n that" Taron took a cigarette from the packet in his pocket and lit it effortlessly.
"Mind if I have one?" Lisa watched Taron light his cigarette and them immediately give it to his mum
"You smoke?!"
"Sometimes" She smirked, "There's a lot you don't know about me, only because you're older now I can tell you all my deadly sins" Lisa joked.

Her whole mood had changed since leaving the house with her carry-on suitcase.

"So what do think about moving to Bloomsbury? Obviously, I don't mean now - in a couple months or so"
"I've got to live in a hotel for a couple of months?!" Lisa laughed, "I mean, it's a good idea - maybe it'll be like what we've always wanted - just me and you against the world"
"I like the sound of that" Taron smirked, taking a drag of the second cigarette he got out.

Soon the two reached a 3-star hotel, nothing too fancy but good enough for Lisa to stay in for a while.

"Are there any rooms available for a long stay?" Taron asked the guy behind the desk, a young slim guy in a tight blue suit. He looked almost too dressed up for this place.
"Uh- yeah, we can accommodate for up to two months," The guy told Taron
"Okay, could we book into one of those then please, for the two months"
"Sure" The guy shifted his eyes between Lisa and Taron suspiciously before typing up something on the computer behind the small wooden desk.
"For the two of you?"
"Just for my mum here" Taron gestured to the smaller women next to him and she smiled
"Not a problem, I'd need to ask for full payment for two weeks and then it'll be every two weeks after that. So you'd have to make four payments - is that okay?" He looked at Lisa, then back to Taron who nodded with a smile.
"That's fine, thank you"

"Are you paying for that with cash or card?"
"Card"

Taron hadn't even checked the prices of the place, but he was confident he'd have enough money for at least the first two weeks. He wanted to pay for it, it felt like his responsibility to support his mum and do everything he could to make sure she was safe and as happy as she could be.

They spent another 20 minutes in the lobby being told about all the facilities, the rules, about the breakfast and dinner restaurant; which Lisa had insisted she wouldn't be needing.

"Okay so that'll be 600 pounds without breakfast," The guy said with a smile, turning the card reader for Taron to use.
"Thank you"

"You didn't have to-"
"I wanted to mum" Taron smiles with pride.

They follow the guy up the lift and to the fourth floor of the hotel.
"You'll be in room 302," He told them, effortlessly swiping the key card and opening the door for them.
"This is great, thank you"
"No problem" He smiled again and then left the two alone to settle in.

"D'you think you'll be okay here?" Taron asked, helping Lisa unpack the clothes she'd brought and out them neatly in the wardrobe"I hope so"