The Liberation of Alice Love - Abby McDonald [22]
A sudden sharp knock on her door broke through Alice’s reverie. She peered through the peephole to see her landlord waiting in the hallway, his arms folded and a scowl on his wrinkled face.
She braced herself and opened the door. “Mr. Bloch,” Alice exclaimed, trying to sound warm and friendly. “How are you?”
He glared back, unmoved. “I came to give you this.” He thrust a single sheet of paper into her hand. “I’m a reasonable man, so I’m giving you three days. That should be plenty of time to get your things out.”
Alice stared at him in confusion. “What do you mean?” She glanced at the typed letter. “I don’t under—”
She stopped, her words catching in her throat as the black ink arranged itself into letters and words, curled innocuously across the page despite their ominous meaning: Notice to evict.
“No.” Alice looked up at him in panic. “You can’t.”
“Oh, yes I can.” Mr. Bloch puffed out his chest. “You’re four days late with this month’s rent.”
“But I told you the standing order wouldn’t go in this month,” Alice protested. “I explained, about what happened with my bank!”
“And I was understanding.” He pursed his lips. “I let you have a whole extra day to pay by check. But it bounced.”
Alice’s heart fell. “Next week—the bank said it would have my current account refunded by Wednesday, at the latest!”
Mr. Bloch was unmoved. “Your tenancy agreement clearly states all rent must be paid on time. And since you were already on probation, you’ve left me with no choice.”
“Please, I—”
“I’ll be around to inspect the property before you leave.” He shot a suspicious look past her. “I expect everything to be accounted for.”
Alice watched him march back down the stairs, her mind already buzzing with panic. What was she going to do? There were still two weeks until her next payday, and she barely had enough for day-to-day living, not a temporary rental or the security deposits on a new lease. And where could she go? Staying with Ella or Cassie was one thing, but what about her belongings—a whole flat full of books and furniture and…
With a sinking heart, Alice realized there was only one place she could go now. A place of chaos, disorder, and distraction.
She was going home.
Chapter Six
Alice woke with an ache in her back and the sound of breaking china echoing through the Sussex cottage. She yawned, bleary eyed. The muscle pain was from hoisting boxes all weekend, and sleeping in the tiny single bed in her childhood room, but the china? She could only imagine.
There was another crash.
Alice reluctantly went to investigate, her feet bare on the dusty floorboards. She’d only brought up a haphazard suitcase of things from the van, so she took a blanket from the hall cupboard to wrap herself up against the draft that always drifted through the house. It was a charming home, with wooden beams, an open fireplace, and an abundance of small nooks, perfect for a small child to hide away with her latest book. As a girl, she’d loved it, but now, all Alice could see were the patches of damp creeping in the corners and the original features crumbling into disrepair. And the clutter. Oh, the clutter. Between her father’s ever-expanding collection of secondhand books (hunted down at every charity shop, church rummage sale, and car-boot sale in a twenty-mile radius), and Jasmine’s hoarding for future art projects, every room and shelf in the place was loaded down with random knickknacks. Her bedroom, still papered with fading floral print, now housed three vast oak bookshelves, a broken set of mirrors, and a collection of chipped figurines showing shepherdesses in various states of repose. Alice had dreamed of porcelain sheep all night long.
By the time she reached the kitchen, there had been several more crashes. Alice paused cautiously in the doorway and peered in. Her stepmother was standing in the middle of the room, her petite frame swathed in a bright sarong, her graying curls caught back from her face as she happily hurled china at the far wall.
“Oh, hello, sweetie. I didn