LOVE PROBABLY

6.

I slept very little. The excitement of travel and novelty, no doubt. I looked on the internet. Well, yes, we still have the Internet. It’s not very fast, of course. We don’t use it often, to avoid big bills, but hey, now, I had no choice. And then, I have some savings, I can really burn a few bytes. In short… A train leaves at the end of the afternoon from Beccles. I’m going to ask the neighbour, Gerard, you know the accountant, if he would like to accompany me to the station. He likes me, Gerard. I’m sure he’ll be happy to do me a favour.

I take advantage of the time that remains to clean the house before my departure. I mopped the floors, tidied up my room, and made my bed. The trash cans are emptied, as well as the fridge. I’ll give Simone, Gerard’s wife, the still edible remains. Everything is prepared in boxes. I hope they’ll take good care of the chickens and the cats. They’re not really mine, but they roam around and keep rodents away, so we always fed them, even though they never put a paw inside. I don’t know how long I’m going to be away, but at least a few days, or a few weeks, depending on how I feel in my London apartment.

My Londonian apartment… I find it hard to get used to it. It’s strange; I already feel different from yesterday. Like alive. Mama’s letter had its small effect.

I’m sorting through some papers when the doorbell rings. I peek out the window. Talk of the devil! It’s Simone.

“Hello, Simone,” I said, waiting for her on the doorstep. “That’s lucky!”

“How are you, Madeline? I came to see if you needed anything. Gerard is going to town and if you want, he can bring you something.”

“It bothers me to ask you this, but I would have liked him to drop me at the station.”

“Is everything okay? You’re sick?” she asks, placing her hand on my forehead uninvited.

“Uh ... no,” I say with a small movement of recoil. “It’s okay. It’s okay. Actually, I’m going to be away for a few days and I have to catch a train at 5 p.m. But come in, Simone! I’m going to explain all this to you over a herbal tea.”

“Oh, yes! You, who have never left the village… This is a surprise!”

Simone and Gerard live a few hundred metres from us. It’s my home now, but it’s going to take me some time to digest this information, especially since I’ve always lived in this house with other people since I was born.

This couple in their sixties has lived here for about ten years. Simone doesn’t work and her husband recently retired. They’re probably the ones who have set foot in the house the most often, even if their visits can be counted, per year, on the fingers of one hand. Their children live in bigger cities. It’s only in the summer that their house is filled with grandchildren. It happened that I heard their cries, their laughter or their tears even at home. It was nice. It spiced up our daily lives since we never went anywhere. They must have grown up because we don’t hear them too much anymore.

All this to say that Simone is no stranger. She occasionally came to chat with Mom.

So I explain to Simone that I have decided to go to London for a while. I don’t specify that I already have an apartment there. I simply tell her that I need a change of air and that being alone here, in this empty house, depresses me. She doesn’t seem surprised and I even sense a certain enthusiasm at the announcement of my plan.

“You’re right,” she said. “There’s no future for you here. If I had been you, I would have done it a long time ago. You know, your boiling pan will dry out,” she said, pointing at the stove.

“Oh boy!” I said jumping up from my chair. “You’re right. There’s almost no more water. Oh my, I’m not good at this…”

“You know what? Ditch the herbal tea! It’s for the depressed anyway,” she said, winking at me. “It’s more aperitif time, isn’t it? Do you have your cell phone?” she continues. “If you want to lend it to me, I’ll call Gerard right away, to let him know,” she said, her ear glued to the phone.

“It’s me, Simone…”

“…”

“Oh, yes ... It’s Madeline’s cell. Take the opportunity to save it. You never know she might need to call us. Say, Gerard! Would you like to take her to the station?”

“…”

“Her train is at…”

“5 p.m. sharp!” I whispered to her.

“5 p.m. That’s okay for you?”

“…”

“Great. You’re a sweetheart!” she exaggerates, rolling her eyes.

She gives me a thumbs-up sign. The first step has been taken. I have a shiver of excitement.

“Hold on! Last thing, honey. Add a plate! The kid is coming to have lunch with us. By the time she finishes what she was doing and we get there.”