The conditions of love

chapter one

September the 1st

She placed the final, securely taped cardboard box in the trunk of the black Rover - a gift from her aunt for passing her A-Levels, accepted with reluctance and many refusals but we won't mention them - and got comfortable in the driver's seat. She checked her make up in the mirror and exhaled deeply. 2 years. I can do it. She drove out of the driveway and put her seatbelt on. Yes she could do it, after all it was only two years.

Patsy had secretly been waiting for the opportunity to  work away from home for years. She wanted a fresh start. A hopeful future. She wanted the late night coffee studying sessions, still drunk mornings, 9 cigarettes before critical opporations Most of all, however, she wanted to escape her past; family in particular. Or the lack of one, really. Her aunt had put a roof over her head for the last few months untill she was able to cope on her own  as her mother and sister died in a fire when Patsy was a mere ten years old and her farther had been incapable of raising her. All she had was her dog, which unfortunately did not get accepted to be a nurse on male surgical and therefore had to stay at home. Home. Where was home? Was is the two story house in the outskirts of London? Or was it the luxurious, sweet residence in the midst of Singapore? She wanted to- no. She needed to get away and start fresh. And this was it.

The house was situated in the middle of a quiet street, facing yet another road in the busy city of London but this one was less clogged up with aggressive drivers beeping there horns and cursing. 

Some man at the car park near the shared house volunteered to help her bring the boxes inside, and she politely accepted. There were 1 large and 1 smaller box and a suitcase lined up alongside the wall. 2 boxes which contained her entire life. All she had. There didn't seem to be any one in, they were probably asleep Patsy had got used to the fact that her early wakings were not intended to be for most people or they could be at work the red didn't know what anyone else did for an occupation.

After unpacking her toiletries and every day clothing, she decided to freshen up and take a walk around. She did not know anybody in England apart from her Aunt when she was doing her A-levels she didn't talk to anyone and eventually no one talked to her even the teachers didn't really speak to her because they knew that the response would be minamle if anything at all. It didn't phase her, though, because the thing Patsy appreciated in herself was the lack of reliance on other people. She was self efficient and she only trusted herself. Why would she let people in only to watch them leave a little bit later? It wasn't something she planned, but it did prove useful when being shipped across the world to a country where you knew hardly anyone. She didn't have anyone, and now she didn't need anyone. False. She needed someone more than she would dare to admit, but she never would and so she settled for her collection of Dickinson and Shakespeare novels, falling for a soliloquy and the scent of old paper, instead of people.

She took in the city. It was truly lovely and it looked like a lot of fun, a large park covered in freshly cut grass and leftovers of Spring flowers, currently filled with various 19 year olds, waving off their parents and hugging their siblings goodbye- she must be near a university. Patsy walked the other way. She decided to stop at a shop to buy something to eat for dinner, and some red wine to go along with it. As she entered her new home she noticed the light being on in the communal kitchen, some one must have woken up or got back. A loud laugh rang in her ears as Patsy headed to her room. She got a strange feeling of familiarity and shook it off quickly. She got changed into some comfortable clothes and put her hair into a messy bun before heading to the kitchen. A young, petite blonde girl welcomed her with possibly the widest and whitest smile she'd ever witnessed.

"Hello! You must be Patience?" The reference to her name earned a loud snigger in the corner of the kitchen. Patsy clenched her jaw but proceeded smiling.
"Your so early I thought you were coming at 7! I'm Trixie, by the way. And that's Barbara. There is another crazy woman that lives hear but she left us to go to Wales for her holiday" Trixie's voice was excited and quite high-pitched, however not false in the slightest. She seemed like a genuinely lovely person."Hi- Yeah I have a tendancy to wake up at what you might call an ungodly hour so I thought I might as well come early. Lovely to meet you though. And it's Patsy, thanks." She eyed the girl in the corner of the room. Owner of the infamous laugh, she presumed. She had hazelnut hair that was cut into a small but sophisticated bob. She had little or no makeup on which revealed several spots in the small of her chin. She was pretty, as was the blond standing in front of her.

"We were just going to a party wanna join?" Trixie asked 

"Hello? I am still hear you know!" A loud voice shouted causing Trixie to jump then burst out with laughter with the caller. There it was again - that laugh but it wasn't coming from Barbra nor Trixie but from the person in the blonds shiny new iPhone. So that was the owner of the infamous laugh then. However, she did not expect that the girl would be so pretty. She had thick, long almost black hair, eyes bluer than any oceans and rivers combined, along with a cheeky but astonishing smile. She wasn't pretty, she was gorgeous. But, she had made fun of Patsy's name and was therefore presumed enemy for the time being. God she was beautiful. And a bitch. Yes, a bitch, but still so beautiful...

"I'm afraid not. I have a lot of unpacking to do still, maybe next time?" Patsy lied, well it wasn't really a lie because she  I did have to unpack but she  I just didn't have that much to do. Trixie knocked back the remainder of her scotch, and began heading out the mysterious caller still trying to get noticed by Trixie."I suppose we'll forgive you. This time. And you better or else we'll have to blackmail you into it!" The quiet brown-haired girl then spoke up. Barbara. 
"You do not want to get onto Trixie's bad side. Trust me." Trixie slapped her across her shoulder and the pair walked out laughing. So, that was her roommates. This might prove to be harder than patsy had originally thought... 

Patsy  resumed unboxing the rest of her belongings, filling the kitchen with necessary and useless cutlery, bleached the sink, cleaned the bathroom and decorated the majority of her room. Her room was an average size for a bedroom, it had a bay window that looked out onto the rooftops and if you looked carefully you could see the bridge of the River Thames in the distance. The walls were white which she had filled with black and white photo frames of Singapore, flowers and people, and her bed was facing the window so when the red head woke up she would be watching London wake up with her.

It was 8:30 and patsy had just finished unpacking so she broke into the bottle of wine she had  bought earlier that day and took it to her room. She didn't think the others were king to be back anytime soon so she didn't think bout saving it. With a glass of wine in her hand and her phone in the other patsy put down the glass, plugged in her earphones, chose a playlist, took a sip of her wine and closed her eyes quickly falling into a light slumber.