Can you please write me a reference?’ Jessica asks. ‘I don’t have any renting experience, and the agent wants a letter saying I’m a good tenant.’
Her words take me by surprise.
I look up from the computer. ‘Does this mean you’ll wash the frying pan? Then I might say the nice things you want.’
The one she used yesterday to make a Thai stir-fry is still sitting by the sink. Since the dishwasher broke last week, she hasn’t lifted a finger. This is one dirty frying pan too many.
She’s sitting at the kitchen table with her boyfriend’s laptop. Still in her pyjamas.
Through my eyes she looks too young to be facing the trials of renting a shared house. And she’s recovering from glandular fever. Most days she needs an afternoon rest. Will her housemates make allowances for that, in the way I’ve done? Somehow I doubt it. It’s harder than I imagined seeing my younger child planning to leave home. Perhaps that’s a mother’s lot. Would I ever feel ready?
‘I need that reference written by three o’clock, so I can take it to the estate agent,’ she says. Then she becomes absorbed in her laptop, oblivious to me. I’ll do my best to write something suitable, but surely any agent would look sceptically at a reference provided by somebody’s mother?
I grind the coffee beans and fill the base of the stove-top espresso maker with cold tap water. It’s a relief to be doing something so normal and predictable. There isn’t much else in my life that feels familiar at the moment.
Jessica’s older brother moved into an apartment with his long-term girlfriend a few months ago. Since then Jessica has been checking out rental properties.
Denne historien er fra January 19, 2021-utgaven av WOMAN'S OWN.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra January 19, 2021-utgaven av WOMAN'S OWN.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
I THOUGHT HE'D COME TO KILL ME
For Sally Meeson, 45, the end of a relationship was the beginning of a nightmare
Loose Women IN CRISIS
With unhappy viewers and panel fall-outs, are the key characters about to be axed?
MAGNIFICENT MAURITIUS
Pe This istand in the ut 7% Indian Ocean feels Sa: like paradise, says Charlotte Richards
I HATE BEING A MUM
One woman, 55, reveals why she resents all of the sacrifices she made to be a mother
SLASH SUGAR AND SLIM
Trying to lose weight? With these clever tweaks, you don’t have to miss out on the seasonal sweet stuff
DAWN HARPER ASK THE DOCTOR
Doctor Dawn Harper answers all your questions
SEX HORRORS SOLVED!
Stop physical intimacy from turning into the stuff of nightmares with our expert advice
THE TRUTH ABOUT LIFE WITH CANCER
More than 12,000 people are diagnosed with brain tumours each year in the UK. Two mums tell us how the cruel disease changed their lives forever
DAWN NEESOM MIND OF MY OWN
The Woman's Own columnist has her say on marriage, tea and Absolutely Fabulous!
TRAPPED INSIDE MY HOME WITH A MONSTER
Gemma Williams, 46, thought she'd die at the hands of her partner