Spare room lodger

 I was short of cash. I was really struggling to pay my bills. Every month it was a headache. I had given up my car which saved a lot and with a free bus pass travel was no problem. I had studied my options. What to pay, electric, phone, TV, council tax? They were all on standing order so no choice there. What was left then was food. Well that is not a choice is it?  I considered going to a food bank. I knew that they had multiplied recently. In fact there was one within walking distance from my house. I had seen people queuing outside.

Then I saw an advert in the newsagents window. Bedsit urgently required for professional woman, non smoker. 

Worth a try I thought. I wonder how much I should charge. So I looked at the other ads to ascertain the going rate for a bedsit.

I rang the professional woman but she was already accommodated.

I decided to write my own advert. That way if I received multiple applicants I would be able to vet people and I would be in charge.

So I did and that is how Fiona moved into my spare room. I agreed that her cat called Jade would be welcome too. I did insist that she would pay for the installation of a cat flap. As the room she was renting was on the ground floor and also had a door into the garden the cat could come and go as he liked, as could Fiona. 

I chose Fiona from a multiple of applicants because she was mature, appeared intelligent,(I thought that we could have interesting chats) and was dressed immaculately.  How much can you tell from an interview. Very little I found out. I had stipulated in my advert that only women should apply. She was a woman of that I was sure. Although apparently one can't always tell these days.

I saw very little of her. She had requested the use of the kitchen and said that she would like to cook her own meals and eat them in her room. She emphasised that she would always leave the kitchen clean. She did. My kitchen had never been so clean. I was tempted to ask her to clean the rest of the house but resisted. I forgot to mention that her room had been built onto the house as a downstairs en suite bedroom so there was no need for her to use my upstairs bathroom. 

The first thing that puzzled me was that I couldn't work out what she was eating. I know she was using the kitchen but as she never left any dishes, she seemed to wash as she cooked. There was never any tantalising smells. I often cooked curry and rice. I asked her frequently if should like to share a meal with me.

 "There is plenty,"I would say." 

"No thank you," was always the reply.

The second thing that made me uneasy was that as she had the door into the garden I never knew whether she was in or out. I didn't want to know where she was going it was none of my business but I thought I had a right to know whether she was in the house or not. 

Gradually I noticed unsettling behaviour. Firstly I had knocked on her door a couple of times in the evening to ask her if she needed anything as I was ordering my groceries on line but she wasn't in. 

I did try to chat with Fiona. I would open with,"I hope that you are settling in OK. or Let me know if there is anything you need.  or How do you think your cat is coping with his new home?" 

I only ever go one word responses plus a "thank you very much."

I couldn't leave it alone so one morning in the kitchen, I said, "Did you go somewhere exciting last evening. I noticed that you were not in til very late." She stared at very hard and didn't speak for what seemed like an age, then said,"I am afraid that I am not at liberty to tell you. Please do not ask me again."

I just couldn't leave it at that could I? I mean it was my house and I know her rent is always paid on time, still it would be nice to have some sort of relationship and what the bloody hell does she do and where does she go?

I have never been one to ignore things. It was so unsettling never knowing whether she was in or out and when out where.