TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS
Chapter 2: Number Four is Let at Last
"Dear Ginny!" Mrs. Lathers cried as Ginny opened the front door to her apartment. "Have you heard the news?!"
"Heard what, Mrs. Lathers?" Ginny asked warily. She liked the old woman for her kind manners, but sometimes Mrs. Lather's meddling gossipy ways wore on Ginny's nerves. She ushered the woman into her small kitchen and had her sit in one of the chairs at the table as she started to prepare tea.
"Number four is let at last!" Mrs. Lather's proclaimed upon sitting.
"What?"
"Oh, Ginny dear, how can you be so tiresome?! Number four, the flat next to yours. I have finally found someone to rent it!" She thanked Ginny for the cup of steaming tea that she had just handed her.
"That's great."
"Yes, yes it is! Do you wish to hear about your new neighbor? Of course you do." She prattled on before Ginny could open her mouth to reply.
"He is a most charming young man. Around your age too, I believe. He had the most stunning eyes! The rest of him wasn't bad to look at either." Mrs. Lathers winked at Ginny conspiratorially.
"He seems to be quite rich. And the best part is…" Here Mrs. Lathers paused for dramatic effect.
"He's single!" The elderly lady cackled gleefully and smiled sweetly at Ginny with a strange gleam in her eye.
"I promised him that I would introduce him to his neighbors."
Ginny sighed inwardly. Great, she thought, as if having my mother play matchmaker wasn't bad enough. Ginny's mother, Molly Weasley, was determined to have her only daughter married and settled as soon as possible. Ginny had grown sick of all the hinting at Sunday family dinners that she "had been single too long" and "should find a nice boy to settle down with".
Her mother's thinking was that Ginny would be much happier if she wasn't living on her own, and Mrs. Weasley only wanted the best and happiest life for her daughter.
This was the one and only point on which Ginny and her mother agreed. She knew she would be a lot happier if she wasn't such a recluse, but past experiences in love kept her wary.
"Yes, I would love to meet my neighbor." Ginny said after a long deliberation. She actually couldn't care less about meeting this mystery man, but Ginny couldn't bear to disappoint the woman who had been so kind to her. And besides, meeting a handsome man couldn't hurt…
After saying her goodbyes, Mrs. Lather's stepped out of Ginny's flat. This is going to be interesting, Mrs. Lathers thought as she walked down the street, humming softly to herself.
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