[[[all of your flaws]]] [[[part i]]]

47.

'Previous experience?' The middle aged lady asked me. We sat in her office, surrounded by paper work and various cleaning products I'd never heard of.

'I, erm, I've never done anything like this before, but I'd like to try because I think I'll be good at it. I help out a lot at the house I share with my-' I paused. I'd never said this outloud. 'Boyfriend.'

'So why should I hire you over the people who have worked as a cleaner before?' She put me on the spot. That was a good point. I just tried to remember the words Dan had said in the car.

'Because I'm happy and enthusiastic, I like working on my own and as part of a team. I like things being done properly, thoroughly. I have a good eye for detail.' She smiled at my response and wrote something down on the application form in front of her.

An hour later, after we spoke about where I could be working, from office blocks to hospitals, I said goodbye with a firm handshake and my head held high. For a first job interveiw I thought it had gone well. Dan was sat outside in the car listening to the radio and jotting down lyrics in his note book as always.

'Hi!' I beamed.

'It went well then?'

'I think so?' He looked so pleased for me and hugged me across the handbrake.

'Lets go celebrate at the pub.'

'Wicked.'

We found a pub beside a canal, and sat outside in the lovely August sunshine. This had been the longest, hottest summer I could recall. Definitely my happiest. If I could get this job then I could start paying Dan back and become more equal in this relationship. I wondered what would happen when I could afford rent? Did he want me to move out? I liked where I was. It felt like home.