Monday 20 November 2017

#318 The latest details

After getting back from Kent on Thursday, I spoke to Bruno. He worked en route back to the house from the station and when neither one of was was preoccupied, we said hi. He was understanding about my lack of sleep and since then, he and Alex hadn't had dinner later than midnight. He'd probably never know that I'd rather it was 11pm but midnight was better than nothing.

My body was still adjusting from my attempt to shift my sleep hours to between 2am and 10am. After the chat with Bruno, I decided to shift it back to as near to midnight as I could get it. By that point, though I wasn't feeling tired until 2 and my eyes tended to open at whatever time they felt like, which ranged between about 8 and 10. If the regularity of Bruno and Alex's eating times was sustained, I could probably fall into a reliable pattern myself. There was still one problem though, Miguel.

Miguel had moved into the house several weeks ago and couldn't speak any English. Don't ask me why I didn't try to veto the move. It was stupid of me. I might have felt that since Bruno had done all the work in filling the room, I should let him go along with whoever he chose. My apathy hadn't done me any favours. I had no idea what the guy did for a living, or what his routines were. For the past two nights, I'd heard him come home after 1am. I wanted desperately for that to be just a weekend thing. Maybe he'd been out drinking with friends. I knew that might not be the case though. What if he worked late every night?

It was coming up to 10pm on Sunday. Twice already, I'd heard the door, waited for footsteps to head upstairs and then walked outside to check if his light had come on. The first time, it was just the Czech girl. The second was Alex. Miguel was still out there somewhere. I'd go to bed, praying for enough quiet to switch my brain off and then I'd hear him come home and start boiling eggs or toasting cheese. I'd messaged sixteen advertisers this weekend and had arranged four viewings for the coming week. I'd keep at it in the hope of setting more up. 

I had to get out of this place. I just had to. For the time being though, I had no choice but to wait it out. I'd load up the earplugs and the headphones, read a book for an hour or so and hope that I woke up the next day with enough energy to attend the viewings.

2 comments

Fizzfan said...

You’re poised for noise. Waiting.........
It’s ridiculous how consuming and irritating it becomes. Had several years of it. You have my complete sympathy.

Strangely when I moved from my city centre flat into the burbs, I thought it would be blissful but initially I found the silence a bit deafening. It took quite a while to adapt. I missed the background hum of traffic I think.

I’m mystified by all the late night eating? Is it a man thing?

Not sure how things work in London but do people ever advertise for house shares themselves? “Seeking accommodation in quiet location to house share”.....?

Profound Familiarity said...

I'm equally mystified by the late night eating and so are other people I spoke to. I wonder if it's something that's more common in other countries.

I have made an advert myself but it's generally a seller's market.