(Bear with me, this is where is starts to get interesting….C.)
Life had to be more……..fulfilling than this. More productive. It couldn't just carry on like this, relentless, ever so slightly repetitive, day in, day out. Surely it could be better – had been better. But that was the thing, wasn't it. That tiny, niggling thought, the one that surfaced every now and then and screamed loudly – but was always just out of reach. Something – something was different – had been different, and try as she did, clarity, revelation, remained elusively out of her grasp.
Shaking her head in a vain effort to rid it of the thoughts that always drew her in, drew her down, she turned as the shrill jangle of a bell announced another potential client. The woman flounced in, sat down at the desk and cast a swathe of important looking shopping bags on the floor. Crossing one leg over the other, she let her expensive skirt swish until it settled, her diamond jewelry glinting in the sunlight. It was only when she was sure that she had made an impression, that she began to talk.
"What are you going to do about it?'
Mel made a real effort not to let this woman know exactly what she was thinking she would do about whatever 'it' was. Reaching deep, she dragged what she hoped was a polite smile across her face.
"Good morning ma'am. I'm Mel Draper, how can I help you this morning?" she asked, automatically reaching over for her pen and pad and noting down the date and time.
The woman glared at Mel, before continuing. "That ….man. My so-called neighbour. The man who lives next door to me. You'd think he'd look around and keep things up to par, but no. No, he has to let us all down. Well, I've had enough. I want something done about it, and I want it done now. So, how are you going to sort it out?"
"Sort it out? I'm sorry, but sort what out?" Mel asked, feeling rather proud of herself. This woman really was a pompous waste of space, and she could be busy doing much more productive things, like following up on the report last week of….
"That man isn't brushing the leaves away properly!! His garden looks a mess, the leaves are still scattered on the driveway, and anyone can see it, it's a mess!!"
One, two, three, four, five….. une, deux, trios, quatre, cinq, ……ee, ar, sun, sir, woo. English, French and wonky Chinese. What other languages cold Mel count in? When she was sure that she had retained both her sanity and her manners, Mel took a deep breath.
"You want me to - ma'am, you do know this is a Legal Aid Office? Where we help people with problems regarding the law, or the interpretation of it? You do know that?"