My phone rings at work
“Hello? “Hello?
“What leak? What’s happened?”
“The leak is upstairs.”
Oh. My pulse returns to normal. My pulse returns to normal.
“That was a long, long time ago. We’re waiting for the ceiling to dry before it can be repainted.
“Yes, I must check the ceiling. It’s been 5 months since we last checked it.” I still remember it well. I stayed in bed all morning to get someone to come and tell me that in old buildings, it can take years for moisture to escape. He also suggested that I rip down the ceiling wallpaper (yes, there is wallpaper on the ceiling) to speed up the drying process. He helped me by ripping a bit of wallpaper off his own to show me. He then left without any indication that he would return at any point before the ‘years’ were up.
I decided that I didn’t want to live in a bathroom with the ceiling falling down and didn’t take down any more paper. I knew I would have moved out by now.
“Right. “Right. After five months of hearing nothing, I’m beginning to wonder what the next step is in this process.
“I’m standing outside of your building, can you let me in?”
“I’m at the office.” Small panic. I’m not going to let him go after waiting so long. It will mean that the deposit will be returned. “I’ll see what I can do to get someone in.”
I save the document that I am working on. After a few phone calls, the meeting is set up. Despite his promise to be there all the time, he doesn’t show up for an hour.
