*Shhh* We're not alone...

It was the end of the day, another fruitless job hunt. I had planted my C.V. in various agencies at the beginning of the week and was now liberally watering them with calls and visits. My harvest of jobs was slow in coming.

I was discouraged and wasn’t looking forward to the empty flat. Following 18 years living in a full house and another four years in the dorms, I wasn’t sure what to do with myself with such little human contact. It sounded ridiculous, I had all the amenities I needed there at the flat. It was fully furnished, complete with a clothes washer, high-speed Internet, TV and DVD player, and cooking pots and dishware. However, human contact was what I required the most.

After finishing my shower I went to my room. I greeted one of my flatmates as I passed him down the hall. [WAIT! Did I say real, live, breathing, flatmate?.. You’d think I would have seized the opportunity to introduce myself, maybe make a new friend. Nope, I just said “hi” like it was an everyday occurrence to see strange men in the flat.] Three lonely days passed before I saw anybody again.

My subsequent contact consisted of passing ‘the flatmate’ the phone and meeting ‘the flatmates friend’ at the door when he was out. Finally both ‘the flatmate’ and ‘the flatmates friend’ were in the flat together working on the computer. Somehow we managed to make conversation and I discovered this was Michael Rice of 'Room 1'. I was still unsure who ‘the flatmates friend’ was. They invited me to the shop and I awkwardly accepted. Along the way I discovered they were both working odd hours at the call centre, which accounted for the strange appearances at the flat.

I began to look forward to the unexpected visits from Michael and John (yes, he finally had a name) and some of the treats they would bring. I sampled a the various Tayto crisps flavors as well as Cadbury chocolate and Fruit Pastels. I also met Joe, the inhabitant of 'Room 3'. He was only in for the evening as he worked full time in his hometown.

This bout of living inhabitants in 47A Fitzroy lasted only two weeks. They moved very, very far away: 15 doors down and across the street to 16 Fitzroy.