Authors: Rebecca Ann Drake
One small, green sofa bed stood against the wall directly
across from the bedroom door. Across from the sofa was an ancient box TV which
stood on a small brown TV stand, two large, bent, rabbit ears poked out from
the top of the TV. To the right of the sofa was a small kitchen consisting of a
small black wooden work surface about five feet long, with a small round silver
kitchen sink, three under-unit cupboards and two small draws, an old white
cooker and a white fridge/freeze. The hob was covered with old, burnt
bits of food and an inch thick of grease. The fridge/freeze looked relatively
new and practically clean from the outside. The kitchen work surface curved
round the wall and joined up with the side of the cooker. The carpet was beige
like the rest of the house, but it didn’t appear to be too badly stained in
comparison to the rest of the house.
There was a strong smell of dirty water that filled the
kitchen vicinity as Madison approached it. The wall directly behind the sink
had spots of black mold slowly growing up the yellowy coloured wall. Madison‘s
mouth filled with salvia as she tried to resisted the urge to vomit. The smell
and sight of this tiny bedsit was far worse than anything Madison could have
imagined and the thought of living here for any length of time was absolutely
petrifying to her. She took a deep breath, trying only to breathe through her
mouth and not her nose - a deep intake of air through her nose would surely
make her vomit.
Apart from the necessities the room was bare and
undecorated. There was no kitchen utensils or anywhere for Madison to do her
laundry and she was beginning to feel like she had been corned by Alison who’s
eyes burned holes in the back of her head – urging her to rent the dingy bedsit
with every look and gesture. She was now feeling the pressure to accept, Alison
had made it quite clear that Madison wouldn’t find anything else in this part
of London at her price range. She half expected Stephanie to jump out from
behind a corner and shout
“got ya!“.
She prayed that this house of hell
was a stage for some kind of prank TV show that Stephanie had set her up on,
but there was no hope. Looking past the awful smell, the dirt and the cramp
room, there was still a small glimmer of hope that she could turn this enclosed
space into something that resembled a home. Alison remained silent by the
large dirty window; she followed Madison with her eyes as she wondered around
the small room examining every tiny bit.
“The bathroom is through there” Alison said, pointing
towards the door next to the fridge/freezer.
Madison turned sharply and grabbed the door handle to the
bathroom. Her hand suck to the sticking, brass door handle as she twisting it –
opening the door. The smell hit Madison like a ton of bricks – an invisible
barrier in the doorframe. It was so overpowering it almost knocked her off her
feet. Madison gagged unwillingly, making no noise and swallowing down the vomit
that burned the back of her throat. She threw her hand up over mouth and
pitched her nose, trying to peer through the bathroom with only a crack of the
door open.
“What’s that smell?” she said, muffled.
“Umm…damp” she said, unconvincingly.
“That’s not damp! It smells like something’s died in
there?!” Madison spat, disgusted.
“We suspect there might be dead rats under the floor boards.
It just needs a good clean and a couple of air fresheners to take the smell
away. I’ll arrange for a cleaner to come in before you move in” Alison
protested.
The bathroom was the same layout of the bathroom in the
Travel Lodge. The only dissimilarity was a small window above the toilet that
looked out onto a brick wall of the building behind, the brick wall was too
close and too high to allow any real light into the room. From what Madison
could make out of the bathroom furniture it looked quiet new, but like the rest
of the bedsit, it was covered in a thick layer of brown dirt. The smell was too
much and Madison quickly shut the bathroom door before the urge to vomit came
back. She turned to face Alison slowly, removing her hand from her mouth and
nose.
“So…what do you think?” Alison said, after a few seconds of
holding eye contact.
“You’re joking, right?” Madison asked sarcastically.
“I’m sorry? This is all we have in your price range. You can
wait and see if anything else comes up, but properties this cheap in central
London are extremely rare” Alison said sympathetically – knowing she had
Madison backed into a corner.
Madison was hopeless, she knew Alison was right, but living
her would be like her worse nightmare. She had little other option, and this
property was right in the center of London, with a little TLC the property
could be brought up to a habitable standard - It was either this or go home to
Phil. He probably hadn’t even noticed Madison was missing yet, and even if he
did, he didn’t know Madison’s mobile phone number to contact her. She had left
it for him countless amounts of times on the fridge, should there be an
emergency, but he always lost it or put it in the bin. The thought of returning
home to Phil and her old life of misery – Madison would rather take her chances
in the house of hell!
She scanned the room one last time and took a deep breath.
“I’ll take it” she said faintly.
“Excellent” Alison said, clapping both her hands together in
victory.
“But… You have to get someone in to clean this place before
I move in. And get them to do something about the smell” Madison ordered.
“Consider it done” she said happily, a satisfied smile
creeping across her face.
Madison imagined that Alison and her work colleagues would
have a good laugh at her expense back at the office. She would probably get a
nice big pay rise after closing this deal.
They left the room together and began to head back down the
large main staircase towards the front door.
“When do you want to move in?” Alison asked.
“As soon as you can get the cleaning done, how long do these
things normally take? Do you need references and stuff?” Madison asked.
“Not for this place. All we need to know is that you have a
job and can make the rent payments?” she said, flashing her unusually white
teeth at Madison.
“Yes, I do have a job” Madison lied. Firstly, she had to
inform her current employer back in Thatcham that she wouldn’t be returning to
work, and then she would find a new job in London. She wasn’t planning to be
unemployed for very long and she had savings for all the necessary upfront
payments of a deposit and first month’s rent.
“Great! How’s tomorrow at midday sound? I’ll get the
cleaners in first thing tomorrow morning” she said.
“Great” Madison said, stepping reluctantly down each step.
Back at the office, Alison pushed document after document
under Madison’s nose. All the normal legal contacts you expect to see when
signing a rental agreement. One form stated Madison was employed, another
requesting a small deposit which Madison withdrew from the bank along with the
first month’s rent and the last form was detailing her bank account details so
they could deduct the rent each month. Once all the legal documentation had
been filled out and money had been exchanged for keys, Madison left in search
for food.
She flipped the sunglasses back down from the top of her
head as she exited the Estate agents. She had forgotten about the bruising on
her face during her viewing at the house of hell, but suddenly she felt
strangely insecure as she entered the sea of pedestrians on the streets of
London once again. The warm delicious smell from the bakery next to the Estate
agents hit Madison causing her stomach to rumble violently. It occurred to her
that she had not eaten since 5.30pm yesterday; she needed something more
substantial to eat then a pastry from the bakery – so she went in search of a
proper meal. The street was busier than it had been this morning, people lined
up along the pavements as they tried to find their way through the crowds. Cars
and taxies roared down the three lanes road, blowing their horns at pedestrians
who attempted to cross the street. Madison’s stomach rumbled again, it felt
empty and hollow. She headed against the sea of people, turning to the right at
the corner and walking down the pavement. She pasted three shops before she
came to a halt. A billboard sat on the pavement in front of her – it read “
hot
and cold food served all day, bar opening times are from 11am - 3am”.
At
the bottom on the billboard scribbled in yellow chalk was another sign, it read
bar staff wanted.
Madison had never worked in a bar before, but she had
nothing to lose by applying for the position. The nightclub was in an ideal
location, just walking distance from her new home.
Pushing through a gap in the crowd, Madison headed up the
large concrete steps of the nightclub. A gold sign hung from the brick wall
next to the two large, solid, wooden doors of the night club –
Luxuriance
it read. She pushed open the door to the left and entered. Inside the entrance
was a wide room that was painted completely black. Spot lights lit up the room,
two elegant, red sofas sat in the middle of the room - centered around a glass
coffee table. A large mahogany receptionist’s desk sat to the right of the
entrance, an Apple computer sat central on the desk. Dark brown, varnished,
floor boards stretched across the room, behind the sofa’s, across from the
entrance was another set of double doors. Madison made her way around the
sofa’s and coffee table towards them – she pulled open the closest door. The
next room was almost ten times bigger than the one she had just entered, and
even more elegant. On the right side was line of round glass tables with very
expensive modern, silk chairs position around them. In the middle of the tables
and chairs, was silk sofa’s position around glass coffee tables. To the left of
the entrance, across the back wall was the bar. It was the biggest bar Madison
had ever seen, stretching across the entire length of the back wall. It was
made out of black, sparkly, marble that glistened under the hundreds of spot
lights on the ceiling of the nightclub. Bottles of alcohol hung from the wall
behind the bar, fridges filled with bottled beers and alco-pops sat behind the
bar. The whole room was very stylish and furnished to a high standard.
A middle aged woman stood behind the bar, her face was a
little wrinkled, but she looked good for her age. Her long blonde hair was
swept up into a messy pony tail, she wore black trousers and a black shirt with
the nightclubs name -
Luxuriance
sewed in gold thread on the right
breast pocket. At end of the room was a large, raised, stage for live bands and
DJ’s to perform on. A balcony in the VIP Lounge overlooked the stage below. The
rest of the floor space was one big, black, dance floor - a few high tables and
chairs were spread out around the room surrounding the dance floor. The
nightclub was the biggest Madison had ever seen and without a doubt the most
elegant and exclusive. Night clubs in Thatcham consisted of a few smelly old
sofa’s and a little dance floor that was normally too crowded for anyone to
dance properly. The bouncers would pack everyone inside like a tin of sardines,
their sweaty bodies grinding up against each other in a smelly, damp, pit of
mess. The middle aged woman ducked underneath the hatch of the bar and walked
towards Madison.
Madison continued to stare around the room in amazement; she
was too taken back by the sheer beauty of the room to notice the middle age
woman was now standing at her side.
“Table for one?” she asked.
“Uh, Yes” Madison replied, spinning around face her.
“This way…” she gestured towards a glass table to the right.
Madison followed, sitting down in the low, red, silk chair.
She placed a menu in front of Madison and smiled politely.
“Thanks” Madison whispered.
All the food on the menu sounded delicious - seafood
platters, Moroccan style spiced lamb with homemade couscous, roast beef and
Yorkshire puddings. However, the price of these dishes was extremely expenses –
even the drinks menu was twice the price you expect to see in most restaurants.
After studying the menu for a couple of minutes, Madison decided to go for the
safest dish and cheapest dish she had had many times - cheese burger and chips.
She glanced around the room again as waited for her order to be taken. The
décor of the nightclub was extraordinary; each piece of furniture had its own
unique detail. The sink sofa’s had specks of gold thread woven into the
material, the legs of the glass coffee labels had gold ivory painted into them
and the spot lights on the ceiling were designed to look like the nights sky –
hundreds of tiny stars sparkling brightly.
From the outside the nightclub looked like any other
building, but inside it was a picture of taste and sophistication. Specially
designed and modernized for upper class of London.
“What can I get for you?” said a voice from her side.
“Umm…the cheese burger and chips, please” she said, smiling.
“What drink?”
“Coke, please”
The middle aged woman scribbled on her note pad and turned
towards a door across the dance floor which led out into a brightly lit
corridor.
“Excuse me?” Madison’s said shyly.
She stopped on the spot and turned back towards her.
“I would like to apply for the job advertised outside”
Madison said confidently.
“Have you got any experience working behind a bar?” she
said, eyeing Madison.
“Umm…Yes” Madison lied – the second lie today. Phil had taught
Madison to mix drinks from an early age. When Madison was a child, Phil
experiment with his drink, now he generally just stuck to Whiskey, but back
then he drank cocktails and various other spirits mixed with a soft drink.
Although Madison had never worked in a bar, there wasn’t a cocktail she
couldn’t make.