The day had arrived. My friends from Russia were due to come
from Moscow to Manchester, where they spent the night in a hotel. They would
take a car from Manchester driving to us here. I had everything ready, the
babies bed and mattress we bought a month previous, I had phoned for a taxi two
days earlier, to make sure that I had a large enough vehicle to fit the bed, mattress
and couple of boxes we had to take. I asked for a mini bus or a black cab, as
the black cabs have room on the floor for the boxes. I told the girl on the
phone that we had a baby bed in a flat pack to take to our friends flat. She
told me that she didn’t think that there would be a taxi big enough for that. I
told her that a mini bus or black cab would be fine as it was only a baby bed,
so four foot long and it was a flat pack. She repeated everything I said and
wrote things down. Well, my heart in my mouth as not only my friends were going
to travel a long way first time driving in the UK, but would they like the flat
I viewed and said yes to for them? Remember Bloggets, the flat my friend first
wanted had fallen through? My friend D, his wife is a celeb and from a rich
background, what I think is perfect, may be a shed to her? I so wanted
everything to be right for them.
My Son was coming with me and he was going to put the bed
together, but on the morning of the big day, his gf called to say she wanted to
see him, so his plans changed. Thank God I had a number of a handy man who
would come to my rescue. Sad though that my boy would not be there to greet our
friends, but there would be plenty of time as they are coming on and off for
three months. On and off as my friend Ol, is staying the full time with her
Grand Son and my friend D, Ol’s son and his wife would be coming for a week,
then away back for another week then away for a few weeks and back again for a
month.
Well, I gathered a few toys we had bought for babykins and
some food from the fridge that we got delivered the night before and some bags
with bread and crisps in, just enough to give them a snack for when they
arrived. I put my two dogs in their bed my LC was off at work with Hub.
The taxi had arrived. O
M
G?
Mini bus?
Black cab?
Em. Nope. Not really.
The driver joked with me and forgive me, but by this point I
had a humour bypass.
“Morning love. They said at the office you wanted a black
cab, we didn’t have one, so I came in a black car.!”
First I thought he was joking. I could have cried as I heard
my Sons words
“Mum, this isn’t going to work. There is no way we can fit
the bed in that? It’s tiny!”
What could go wrong next? Really. I had enough now. I went
ever so mad with the driver as I told him how incompetent the member of staff
was back at the office. I exclaimed that I had to be at the flat for ten as
that is what time we were to meet with the man from the agency and in my head I’m
thinking, if I’m not there, knowing the bother we have had with the agency,
they will tell us we were ten minutes late, so they gave the pigging house to
someone else?
Anyhow, long story short, Son and driver put the bed in this
very small car, and we managed to get there, now what damage it caused in the
meanwhile, I’m not sure as there were a lot of squeezing sounds coming from the
man and squeaking noises coming from his car.
We arrived and the man was waiting for us outside as promised.
He even helped teen to carry the boxes in the flat. The lady I have been
dealing with was on holiday that weekend.
Oh, what would teen think of the flat? He has really good
taste. You see I know what places are like mainly because of the feel of the
place. I get good bad or indifferent feelings about houses. This one I liked
when I looked around with my friend Di. Teen liked it. He described the living
room to me.
The furniture was light wood with a hint of red on the edge
of one of the book shelves. There was a huge red rug on the wooden floor and Oriental
ornaments as well as an African theme
running through the whole apartment. I loved the lamps. The kitchen was basic,
but clean. Everywhere was immaculate and this was another thing I liked about
it. In the lounge, it had three windows. Two which lead to two Juliet balconies’
and one that lead to a larger patio with a garden cast iron table and chairs on
with a huge cast iron floor standing jug and some planters. The balcony’s
looked over the river. The boats passed by as teen was telling me about the
view to the cathedral.
It just felt so
lovely. Cosy and at home. I wanted my friends so badly to get this same
feeling.
I had never met my friend’s wife before. I know my friends
Son since he was a little boy and that little boy would have loved the flat as
would my friend Ol, but would the wife of D? Gosh, I was really anxious.
The guy left and soon after that, my Son did too. Oh boy was
I afraid then? I mean there was I without a white cane, in a flat I didn’t really
know how to get out of if there was a fire or whatever.
The intercom didn’t work properly either. I could let people
in the main entrance, but couldn’t hear who was there. My Son did a practice
with me so I could let my friends in, but he could hear me though me not him,
so I could end up letting in whoever? Haha. Well, he left, it was just before
half eleven. My friend Ol said the days before, that she would be leaving early
morning. As I locked the door behind teen, I was on my own. But not for long,
right?
Suddenly I realised, I had to find my way back to the
lounge, to sit in a comfortable chair at least.
Gosh, that wasn’t easy, after I toured the bedroom, then
found the cupboard and almost sent a lamp table flying, I found the living room,
vie the kitchen. Not that you go through the kitchen to get to the living room,
but I ended up in the kitchen. I learned the lay out of the living room pretty
quickly.
Then I thought, the handy man is due at one, if my friends
get lost, and are a few minutes late, then I could let him in. I kind of
thought they would be there by now, but hadn’t left Manchester still.
So back out into the corridor to see how long it would take
me to get to the front door. The front door onto the landing, not to the front
of the outside world.
I’m not too sure I could live in a flat. I like to go to my
front door and be outside. It’s rather like living in a box living in a flat,
though the flat I learned was really lovely. As I found lamps, I put them on,
it was a wet dull day and I thought it would make the place appear more homely
and cosy. Were the lamps on? Hmm. Waited till they got hot then realised they
were…
Zig sag
The pattern of the route to the door was slightly more
complicated than one participated.
About four
minutes it took me to get there, Oh, I found a chaises longs
I hadn’t noticed before, on one of the walls leading to the
front of the flat. There were three tables with lamps on. One had a clock too
and there was a chest of drawers with an artificial plant on and a large chest
of drawers.
You really did weave in and out, as though going up stairs.
Left, then right, left then right I learned that there were four rugs on the
way to the door, problem is, I had to stay centre as on the walls were smash
magnets like the deer looking lamps. One didn’t want to attach oneself too much
to them.
Once I perfected getting to the front door within two
minutes, a time I was proud of, as though running the London Marathon. I had to
find my way back to the blooming living room. As when they came, I would open
the door after letting them in via the intercom, I didn’t want to appear
totally disabled in front of D’s wife. So afraid of scaring her off.
Sitting in the living room, no music or TV and not like I
could do anything to clean the house, I got a really good feeling about the
flat and kind of knew they would like it or was that my wishful thinking?
Then I decided enough sitting and I would go in the kitchen,
try to put on the coffee machine. I hadn’t a clue how to work it. I opened the
bag of coffee and put the remainder of coffee in the china pot my Son had told
me said tea.
As you do,
Put coffee in a tea caddy, right?
Well, fact is, there was no coffee pot or sugar as a matter
of fact.
Oh dam, sugar, I had forgot to buy this.
Let’s hope they are all sweet enough, right?
Now, how to work the machine? Well, feel for the wire at the
back of the machine.
Follow it up to the wall, where it was plugged in
It was, was it turned on at the wall?
Yes.
So now to work out where the water goes and where the coffee
goes.
Did that, now what to turn or push on?
Hmm. Two buttons, I can’t really go wrong right?
After a few moments, no sound from the machine, so I pushed
another button, same one as before, just I may have turned it off. Then I
called my friend Ol. They still hadn’t left Manchester.
Oh Why? Well, that sad news was to come.
Then just as the machine was making a bubble sound, the doorbell
rang. Oh it was handy man time.
Now then, I had gone from the blooming living room and back,
not done the kitchen and back. Haha.. Hell, bubble bubble echoed in the vast corridor
and I answered the intercom, saying come in.
Come in? Em, who? I hoped it was steady Eddie?
Meanwhile whilst I waited for footsteps to come along the
hall way to the flat, I hoped that the coffee had not started to overflow and
drip down the highly glossy white kitchen units?
Eddie it was, he asked where he could park his car. I told
him the code and said he could park in bay one and behind the gates,
On his way, he quickly pushed the buzzer and of course I
couldn’t hear what he was saying, so just shouted like a mad woman, come in?
Haha. He did and said the code will be great, but the keys
to the gate are also required. Oh God, of course they were, that is why the agency
man told me that morning all about the code linked with the keys, right?
I hoped he could park his car as the parking space we had
been told was rather tight and small.
Any way, he came in and built the babies bed in fifteen
minutes and the coffee machine was OK. I don’t know what it tasted like, I was
too anxious.
Eddie left and again on my own. By this time it was half
one.
I was hoping my dogs would be OK as they had been left since
half nine.
I spoke to my friend on the phone and she sounded a little
flat and I don’t mean as in an apartment.
She said she had just left Manchester and she would explain
when she saw me.
Oh Boy?
More later.
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