AllFreeNovel
Share Us
We reached the door of the aircraft and were directed to our seats. I had the window seat in row twenty-three, and by some weird coincidence, the girl had been assigned the seat beside mine.
Once we were seat-belted in, we introduced ourselves. Dolly Majar explained her family lived in Darwin, and she was headed back to Sydney University after visiting them for Christmas on a break between semesters.
We talked about our lives for the next four and a half hours. When the plane began its descent into Sydney, I got the first views of my new home. I was speechless; the place was so much bigger than I’d pictured in my mind. Flying in over the harbour and seeing the famous bridge for the first time was a moment I would never forget. Once the wheels touched down, Dolly asked if I would like to meet her at a bar on Friday night—The Myrtle Lounge on George Street. When I explained where I’d be living, she instructed me to catch the train from St James to Town Hall Station, take the George Street exit, and she would meet me outside the Town Hall building. We’d have dinner and then walk to The Myrtle Lounge together. We exchanged phone numbers and walked up the air bridge side by side. I was thankful she was with me because Sydney Airport was more extensive than any I’d been in, and I would have had no idea where to go for my luggage.
Downstairs we collected our bags and said goodbye. Dolly headed for the train that would take her to Broadway, where the university and her accommodation were located, while I made my way in the direction she said led outside to the taxi rank.
I found my way to the front of the queue, and the cabbie stepped from his car and helped me move the bags into the boot. I pushed the trolley off to one side where others were lined up and climbed into the back seat of the taxi.
Grabbing the phone from my handbag, I pulled up the address in Paddington where I was renting a room and sat back to enjoy my first sight of the city.
The driver, a man who seemed intent on telling me his life story and whose name I couldn’t pronounce, began pointing out places of interest when he learned it was my first time in the city. He explained how he had felt when he, his wife, and four children had first arrived in Australia ten years earlier. He spoke of the opportunities his children now had that they hadn’t in India. I liked the man very much and it was interesting to me how a man from a foreign country could make me feel so comfortable in my own.
The taxi came to a stop in front of a three-storey, blue-painted tenement house with a knee-high brick wall across the front. A blue-painted gate in the centre was open revealing a brick path.
The driver swiped my credit card for payment and retrieved the cases from the boot. He wheeled two while I took the other one along the brick path to the bottom of the steps leading up to a stoop and the front door. I said goodbye to the driver and rang the doorbell. Harper, one of the girls I’d be sharing the place with, had said she didn’t have uni and would be home when I arrived.
While waiting, I glanced around at the immaculate pocket-sized gardens that sat on either side of the path. There were beautifully manicured lawns, a couple of tall trees, and dozens of flowering plants in an array of colours. I had no idea what any of them were, but I looked forward to pottering in the garden on my days off.
The door opened and one of the girls I’d spoken to on the phone at the post office a couple of times smiled wide.
“Elizabeth?”
I glanced down at my suitcases at the bottom of the steps. “Unless you are expecting someone else to move in with you.”
Harper laughed. “I can see I’m going to enjoy your sense of humour. So, let’s grab the bags and I’ll show you to your room.
I wrestled two of my suitcases while Harper, a tall slim girl with piercing blue eyes and raven black hair that hung to her waist, carried the third.
“Your room is on the third floor with mine.”
“Great. I should have just bought everything once I got here so I could bring it up a few pieces at a time.”
Harper laughed again and I manhandled the cases while following her up the stairs to the third floor. At the top, she turned right,and we headed along a passageway to a closed door. She swung it open, moved aside and I stepped into a beautifully decorated bedroom that I couldn’t believe was mine.
A queen-sized bed with a white-painted iron bedhead and foot sat in the centre of the room, flanked by two white chests holding pink-shaded lamps. The coverlet was pastel pink, matching the heavy drapes hanging at the window. The four corners were decorated with white porcelain caps painted with pink roses. It was pushed up against a partial wall that was about a metre from the ceiling and each wall. Along the left wall was a bank of white-painted doors that also had white porcelain knobs. The opposite wall had a dresser and pink-covered stool. Above it was a large window. On each side were numerous shelves, ideal for pictures, trinkets, or books.
Harper pointed at the doors. “That’s your wardrobe. Come with me and I’ll show you the bathroom.”
Leaving the suitcases at the base of the bed, I followed her as she passed through one opening in the wall, and we stepped into a beautifully appointed bathroom. The porcelainware, including the sink on the countertop of the vanity unit, was white. The tiles on the walls were grey and white, and the floors and countertop were grey marble with a white thread meandering throughout. A large mirror sat above the vanity. After having a good look around, Harper and I headed back to the bedroom.
“This is a gorgeous room, thank you.”
“Ellie’s parents had the place extensively renovated a few years ago when they bought it so it would be suitable for her and a couple of friends to share. Each room is similar with our own bathrooms but where yours is pink, mine is blue and Ellie’s, on the floor below, is green. Come and I’ll give you the ten-cent tour.”
I followed Harper to the other end of the hall, and she opened the door to show me her room. As she’d said, it was identical to mine but in shades of blue. After a quick look, we went downstairs to the floor below. Ellie, as she’d insisted I call her when we’d spoken on the phone, had her room beneath Harper’s and it was decorated in pale green as I’d been told. We walked along the passageway to the room below mine which turned out to be a study. Three desks were positioned against walls, each with a desktop computer. They had black leather chairs, shelves above, and a filing cabinet alongside each. A free-standing printer had a small cupboard on one side and Harper said that was where the spare paper and ink were kept. She also pointed out the empty desk she said was mine, but I had no idea when it would be used.
“We’re really fortunate to live here because Ellie’s parents are not only wealthy but also very generous. They pay for a lot of what we need and won’t hear about being paid back.”
“How long have you known Ellie and lived here?”
“Ellie and I attended MLC—Methodist Ladies College, Burwood, and have been best friends since our primary school years. Our parents have homes about two streets away from each other in Point Piper. When we finished school we were both accepted into Sydney University. Ellie is in her third year of Computer Science and I’m in the third year of Engineering. You said you weren’t interested in going to uni?”
“No. I was a distance education kid and just an average student so once I finished year twelve, I started working at the station full-time so I could save money. At the end of last year, I made the decision I would stay home for Christmas and New Year and then come down here. I was really lucky. About a week ago, I had a call from the employment agency that I’d registered with, took part in a zoom meeting, and was offered the position. I start at Jackson Enterprises on Monday, as I said on the phone. I don’t have a clue about data entry, but the man who interviewed me said they’d give me training.”
“Once you learn what’s expected, Ellie and I will be able to help you learn on the desktop here. We’re both very computer savvy.”
“Thank you, I appreciate your offer.”
