Chapter I from the book Blossom Hill
Mia had just left the shuttle at Folkestone after passing through the Euro-Channel from Calais and traveling the fifty-mile route through the world’s longest underwater channel by train with her car—thirty-seven miles undersea in just thirty minutes. She was excited. North London University had offered her a place, one of the rare limited places in her subject. The university offered only fifty places a year for her area of study. Mia planned to move in with her boyfriend who had found an apartment in an old North London villa and share with several students.
A further ninety-minute drive through Kent, making her way through South London and the Blackwall Tunnel, Mia had to take a break to refill her tank.
She stopped at a gas station, filled up and went to the cashier. For some reason, her card failed and, of course, she hadn’t enough cash.
Mia was a slender girl, standing five feet four in her sandals. She was simply dressed in jeans and a T-shirt and she blushed bright red when the Point of Sale rejected her credit card. This had happened to her once before when she had accidentally exceeded her limit, but this time the card was seriously creased, the result of her sitting on it during her long trip from Germany. Despite Mia’s general level-headedness, she could be careless at times.
Everything happens for a reason. “Do I need to wash cars now?” Mia asked with a smile. Turning towards the customer behind her, she said, “Does your car need some polish?”
The man, a handsome thirtysomething year old, athletically shaped with dark blond hair laughed. “No, love, it’s just coming out of the car wash now, but I imagine you would do a better job.”
“Well, is there an ATM machine close by?”
“No, not that close,” the cashier said. “The next cash machine is about fifteen minutes away.”
“So, what can I do? Would you accept me leaving a deposit like my ID card? I would come back later with the cash. I’ve just come from Germany and I’m moving to North London. I could leave my address and telephone number with you.”
The cashier shook her head, but the handsome guy behind Mia said, “I can take it on my card and you can come to my office next week and pay me.”
“That would be great; I don’t know what to say.”
“It’s okay,” he replied. “And I got the number of an attractive German, right?”
The two exchanged addresses, phone numbers, and the man paid using his card. Mia felt ashamed but surprised that someone was so generous.
“You made it all the way from Germany with one tank filling?” He smiled and continued, “Don’t worry; I had a similar situation lately, so I know how it feels and someone helped me out, too. My name is Jason. Anyway, I got your car license, so I will find you if I have to.”
Mia thanked him again. “I will pass by your office tomorrow and leave the fifty pounds for you at the reception.”
Jason nodded, “Any time. See You.”
On her way-out, walking over to her fully packed Ibiza, Mia noticed that only one other car had stopped at the gas station. It must be his—a shiny Porsche 911.
Mia had planned to pick up her boyfriend Bo at his old address and then drive over to the new flat. When she arrived, Bo was standing, as always, talking with his landlady, an attractive African woman from the same country as him. She was a little older. She had a little boy and always had her eyes on Bo. She looked at Mia with hardly the friendliest Hello.
Bo grabbed his one suitcase and he and Mia drove over to Lordship Road, to the old villa where they would move in. Mia parked the car and followed him inside.
They were standing in the dark entrance hall, trying to find the light. Mia, excited, finally found the switch. Wrapping her hands around Bo, wanting him to kiss her, and Bo standing there with his hands in his pockets, cold as ice. Mia would have expected a jumping heart, an intensive hug, and a long sweet kiss, anything but this. She had waited all summer for this moment. A cold shower was running down her back. All she felt was a moment of nothing, knowing this love had been an illusion, all this sweet talk on the phone, cards, presents and whatever. The moment she had waited for had turned into a moment of no emotion at all. All she felt was disappointment. The illusion of love she had held had just dropped down to the hall and into the basement!
Normally she would have turned around and be gone, but she had just left one life behind and she didn’t want to give up another—her dream study-place she had worked so hard for. She closed her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath and thought, “Okay, this is better than no love at all, and at least I got my study place. This is what I came here for; I will manage; I won’t give up that, too.” Mia felt as if she had hit an iceberg while on board the Titanic and all her love was drowning. All she could do was let go and keep herself together.
Mia unwrapped her arms and with a fresh, friendly smile, said: “Alright, the light’s on, now you find the lock with the right key, it’s a really cool house.” Bo opened the apartment door, but the light switch inside didn’t work. The electricity in the house used a point system, which meant you had to purchase credit and charge on a meter in the corridor. With the help of her lighter, Mia made it to the bathroom. Bo, opening the bathroom door, said: “Ah, here you are.”
“Yes, here I am,” Mia replied with a grin.
“I got to go back to my apartment, I left something. I will be back later on,” Bo said. This was nothing new; Bo always had something to do. Every phone conversation had been like this—except that she had somewhere to go this time. It had happened so often that he would accompany her and for some reason managed to make her arrive late for her appointments or whatever she had to do, or miss them altogether.
“Yes, and buy some points for the electricity charge,” Mia shouted from the bathroom. She was alone now in the dark.
*
In the kitchen, Mia found some candles. The flat had a nice style, sliding doors separated the kitchen and the living room and bedroom were spacious. The house was an old villa; in better condition, it would make a beautiful apartment. Mia immediately thought of decoration ideas but she wasn’t sure if it was worth it. Despite the candlelight, the illusion of having found the love of her life, the picture she had created in her mind to study here in London for three or four years, and then her move to Berlin with Bo—all that had vanished and she thought it might be better to get her own room. Still, the way she had planned the move she knew they needed each other. Bo had signed a year’s contract and she did not want him carry it by himself.
Mia started unpacking, and made the bed. By eleven thirty, she was tired and ready to sleep. She had had a long day. She felt excited about her first day at university. She had to go to the administration office by nine before she would start her first class. She lay down and closed her eyes.
At one thirty a bright light and loud voice woke her up: “Hey, the light is on, look I bought the electricity points. It’s working.” Bo, putting his head through the open bedroom door, looked at Mia.
Mia, now fully awake, said, “Great, Bo, yes, it couldn’t shine any brighter, after midnight, could it?” She used her ironic voice.
“What? Oh, yes, you were sleeping already. Keep on sleeping. I got to make a call for university tomorrow; I need to ask a colleague something.” Bo, as usual, had something else to do. Mia couldn’t be bothered about that now. She turned over and fell asleep once more.
At six thirty, the alarm clock rang and Mia got up. Mia walked into the living room, which was an inlayed room, so there was no window. She opened the sliding doors to the kitchen and made it to the bathroom, where she looked through a huge window front onto the garden. Wildflowers grew between wild bushes—a stunning view, almost the whole front built with glass windows and on the side a beautiful old-fashioned bath. A view into the wild that delighted her.
Mia dressed and made some coffee. The sun was shining through the kitchen window. The kitchen had a door to the backyard. Mia opened the door and had her cup of coffee in the magnificent backyard that looked like a jungle. She took a deep breath and wrote a quick note to Bo, who was still asleep. The last thing she would do was wake him. All he would do was suggest he join her and make her miss her first class—for whatever reason.
Mia grabbed her bag and sneaked out, walking along Lordship Road, a beautiful avenue with huge old trees between Victorian houses, and passed a little lake. Turning onto Holloway Road, she grabbed a coffee at “Le Café”—her favourite coffee shop. Arriving at the university, she picked up her student card, timetable and did all the necessary paperwork. The secretary asked her to call the number of the design department head to confirm some details. Mia called immediately and the voice at the other end said: “Mia? Oh, you again, I know you, Mia. It’s Paul.” He laughed.
“Oh no, Paul? You are here now. You were at Reading College, weren’t you?” Mia giggled into the phone. She knew him from Reading College, where she had been two years before but had left because of some family situation when her Mom had cancer and Mia was asked to come back to help out. He had called her when she was already in the car driving towards the ferry. He had asked her at the time if this was what she wanted. It wasn’t, but she did it anyway and somehow was happy that she had spent the last years with her mother and was now ready for a new chance.
Mia had fifteen minutes to make it to class. Walking through crowded corridors, she was asked by several people for a particular room or department. She had no clue where to go herself but somehow made it to the other side of the building, taking the stairs to the top floor where, of course, there was a queue in front of the door. She entered the lecture room and even got a seat. Five minutes later the room was full; the door was still open and people were standing outside. Mia wasn’t impressed; she had not imagined this many students in the class.
The first ninety minutes were over and Mia went for a break. As she stood outside the building, one of the girls came over. She was from Ukraine. “I can’t believe, what was this! This guy telling me I can’t get in? I paid seven thousand pounds to attend this class and he tells me to stay outside! My whole family saved all they had to make this possible” and she started shouting, “If this guy thinks I will stay outside the classroom again I will kill him.” One of the English guys, a typical go-getter who originally came from North London said, “What, you paid what for the class? ”
“Yes, we are not subsidized as we are non-EU. That’s why we have such an insane high study fee.”
Mick, the English guy, said, “Wow, then we are really lucky, yeah, then I would shout like that, too.” He paused. “Oh, we have one hour more till the next lecture starts. Come on, let’s go over to Sunshine’s and have lunch!” One other girl, Mac, who was standing in the group, said: “Yes, that’s a great idea. Let’s go over there.” Everyone agreed and the four went over to the Sunshine Bar and sat down at one of the roundtables. Mick, grabbing an extra chair, made himself comfortable and immediately ordered a lager.
“A gin and tonic, please,” Mac said.
“A vodka orange,” the Russian girl called Versa said.
“And a Gin Fizz.” Mia ordered her drink at last. Surprisingly everyone is going for an alcoholic drink at this time of day, but they think, why not?
“Oh, something uncomplicated, light, fresh and timeless! Great choice!” Mick comments. It doesn’t take long for the drinks to arrive. “Cheers, everyone. Let’s start this season. I’m excited about the digital class tonight; we will work on a huge project at the end of term.” Again, everyone agrees and cheer their classes.
*
The afternoon passes quickly; they get their schedules, terms and organisational stuff done. At seven, the evening class starts which means two hours to go. The best class, the design class for which everyone waits, includes an extraordinary design project. Luckily, it is a small class with a maximum of twenty people. The tutor, a man who had previously worked for an international agency, introduces the project, including all the programs and tools they will be using and explains all the processes about how the system works and gives some insights from the industry to the newbies. Mia is excited; this will be a blast!
They have a short break and Mia turns on her mobile. A message from Bo: “Call me back, it is urgent.” Mia calls back. “Mia, can you pick me up, I’m down south, it is urgent, I have to meet someone. He leaves at ten so you have to come now.” Bo keeps talking into the phone. Mia, taking a deep breath, wonders why he’s down south when he should be at Uni or his part-time shop, which is here in North London. “Hey, Bo, sorry but I have my class to nine. I can come down after the class has finished but I also need to get to the car. This will take some time. I might be down by ten.”
“No, why can’t you leave, now? It is important; the guy might be gone by ten if you don’t make it.” Bo keeps pushing. Mia already knows the so important thing is probably a CD or some other bullshit to pick up and keeps persisting. “No, Bo, some people pay like seven thousand pounds to get a chance on taking this course, do you know that? I’m not leaving now, what for? You have to wait, honey, but I’m not leaving early on the first day. I got to go. I’ll call you when I leave the Uni.” Mia puts down the phone. This was so typical! Any plan she had was interrupted by something so important, but no, not this time.
The class continued and they set the team members for the projects and for brainstorming first ideas. It was a tough assignment with a short deadline. They had three months to finish, which was not much for working out the details, their ideas for a design, their business plans, concepts, and planning the opening. They were excited and wondered if their concept and idea would be approved and subsidized. This was a joint project by the university together with local companies. It was an amazing chance.
At ten o’clock Mia arrived at Bo’s friend’s house. She made it on time and whatever it was that was so important, now there was plenty of time for chatting, eating and watching movies. At twelve, Mia asked to leave; she had an early class in the morning—Bo had an early start, too, but obviously he did not mind how much sleep he would get.
A half hour later they were sitting in the car driving up the Tufnell Park Road, Mia angry that it was so late, talking about the night before, asking where he had been while she was driving and the London traffic still busy. Bo, fully relaxed and chilled, looked over and complimented the car next to them: “Oh, a BMW, that’s a nice car.”
Why was it always like this? Mia was upset trying to work out something and he didn’t care at all, talking about something so different. Shaking her head, looking over to the car next to her, observing the same thing—a girl sitting at the wheel, heavily gesturing with her hands while talking, obviously not being amused about something, and next to her a guy, totally relaxed, not caring what she was saying.
The man looked over to Mia, blinking an eye and smiling at her. Mia shook her head again. This was unbelievable! It was the same situation in the car next to her. She felt like she had just seen her own reflection and had to smile about it. She thought: My boyfriend is also staring out of the window right now flirting with the girl in the car next to him. Of course, it wasn’t just the BMW but the driver, too, a thirty-something attractive woman now smiling at Bo. Mia had had enough, but she kept calm. It wasn’t worth it. She moved on. She would not bring up any more issues. It was simply a waste of time. Bo would never change.
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Natalie Hush 