Winnie Is Not Okay

2.6

Winnie had phoned Jack from the train station the next morning to tell him about the following two weeks she ought to spend in London. On the two hour train ride she was fiddling with her keys almost the entire time.

She pulled up one of them just before she arrived at her station. It had pink nail polish on it to distinguish it, as her sister had told her when she'd put it on, even though she only had that one key, and a little plastic rhinestone because it was pretty.

She took a bus to her daughter's place first to put her things down. She was going to stay with them for two weeks for the wedding and to stay with her grandson for the honeymoon.

But first, she took the bus to the Powell Estate. She walked up the stairs to find a man in a cheap suit outside her front door and she walked straight up to him, holding out her hand, "Hi, I think we talked on the phone."

"Oh, yes", he turned around with a slight smile, "Miss Tyler."

"Right", she frowned, "I'm sorry I called in so late and short notice, I just wanted to sort this out as soon as I heard."

"Yes", his brows furrowed, "Why did you just recently hear? I mean no offence but the rent hasn't been paid in nearly three months and we've written several notices."

"I apologise. I will pay the necessary amount. I just want to have a chance to clear out the flat first", she walked right past him and opened the door, "So, thank you for coming but I've got it from here."

"You don't even know the bank number", he frowned.

She pointed at the pile of letters on the floor, "I'm sure I'll figure it out."

She closed the door on him and went right to her room. If she trusted Jack, Jackie would have found out about her death ten months ago. A picture in the hall laid face down and she picked it up to find Rose and herself brightly smiling into the camera when they were around sixteen. She held the picture for a moment before she put it back down.

Breathing out shakily she walked down to her room. The door was closed so she had to open it. The bedding was a mess and Jackie's mobile laid on the nightstand. Her room was as clean as she'd left it, except for the messed-up bedding. The yellow jumper she had allowed Rose to take was on her desk chair.

She was sure she hadn't left it there.

She walked into Rose's room and sat down on the bed. It was messy, it smelled like Rose, just a little more dusty. Her lip trembled and her eyes stung so she took a shaky breath and continued on her tour through the flat.

It looked a lot dustier than it did when she had last been home but it looked as if they had just been there. She went to the kitchen and started the kettle, made herself some peppermint tea, raised the cup to her face and smelled it.

Shakily, she sat down in her designated armchair, put the cup down and raised her hands over her mouth to try and stop her trembling chin. But it only made the tears flow. So she sank further into her seat and started to cry.

She must have fallen asleep there. She hadn't slept all night after all and only woke up when her mobile rang. She ran a hand over her face and picked up, "Yeah?"

"Hi, Mum, it's me. Was just wondering if you were coming home anytime soon. You know, tomorrow's an early start."

She sat up in her chair to find it was already dark out and her tea had gone cold. She groaned and nodded, "Yeah, I'll be there in twenty."

Winnie got up and realised she was still in her shoes and coat just as she had come in. So she went to get the yellow jumper and then left the flat, getting on the next bus to Kate's home.