Sweet Temptations

Plan of Attack

I'm being completely serious when I say I have no clue what to do now and it's more than just the immediate situation with cleaning up the house. I think my parents realise what I mean though because they both give me a soft smile. My self-confidence was pretty low these days but I'm gradually getting myself back on my feet. A new start is just what I need right now. My first attempt at starting out in life really didn't go too well.

I was a small town girl born and raised in the rural country town of Longford, where I grew up with the same people that I went to primary and high school with. Like a typical young adult I wanted more out of life, I wanted excitement and adventure. So when I received a scholarship at The University of Melbourne I was ecstatic, I was finally going to see what it was like in the big smoke. 

The only other time I had seen a big city was for a school trip to the capital city Canberra and when my parents had taken me to Sydney one school holidays. We went sightseeing at all the big tourist traps, the Zoo and Aquarium, the Opera House and Harbour Bridge and one of my all time favourites Luna Park. With the school trip to the capital it was all about seeing Parliament House and other educational places like museums and galleries but still a lot of fun. As a family though other than that one trip to Sydney we only travelled the roughly two and a half hours to Melbourne for a special trip on the rare occasion. 

When I moved to Melbourne for University I shared an apartment with some other uni students in a building full of all sorts of other people around my own age. There were so many new experiences to have and new people to meet. It was some of the best times of my life. Shortly after beginning my studies in teaching I met a charming man who captured my heart almost instantly. I'd never met anyone like him before, he was so suave and sophisticated. He was like a character right out of a romance book or movie and I was swept off my feet and quickly caught up in a whirlwind of romance and luxury.

He was a little older than I was and came from an "upper" class family. He came from some money and knew what he wanted from life, so he just did what he wanted with little to no concern for others. He was well travelled and worldly and I was just a small town girl caught up in the glamour. After dating for two years, we got married just before I finished my degree and without realising it at first, he changed practically everything about me. He would make suggestions in a passive aggressive way that the naive little girl that I was would jump to please him. I looked, talked, walked and lived differently, I did everything the way that he wanted me to, the "appropriate" way. 

He decided we needed to move across the country, so I packed up everything and followed him to Western Australia. When making suggestions about how I dressed wasn't sufficient enough he would come along when I went shopping most of the time to give his opinion on what I chose. He decided who "our" friends were and discouraged me when I talked to my "small town, small minded" parents or anyone else who didn't meet his standards. Before I knew it I was cut off from everyone and everything I had once found comfortable and familiar. My whole life was controlled by him.

I thank God I was no longer married and in that overbearing relationship. It was messy up to the end but now, two years on from that break-up I was finally getting myself back on my feet. Rediscovering myself slowly and finding out what I liked or didn't like and what I wanted out of life. Shaking myself out of the depressing memories and focusing on the now, I just look around inside my new house. I worked so hard to get to where I am now and feels so rewarding to know that this is my house,

I'm just starting to formulate a plan of attack and response to my Da when the kitchen light above us flicks on. As soon as I got a date that I would receive my keys I called ahead to hook up both power and water. I knew I wouldn't be able to move in for a couple of days at least while I got the place sorted out but power and water would be essential for getting it all sorted.