Worlds Apart. Ber Carroll

longer. She would begin work on her application right now. Mel could help. With both of them working on it, it would be perfect. She had to get this job. Nothing had felt so important for a long, long time.

      * * * * *

      ‘Shit!’ Laura stared disbelievingly at the streak on her pants, which had started off as white, the same colour as the bleach, but was turning to orange before her eyes as fabric dye was stripped away. ‘Shit, shit, shit!’

      It had been a stupid idea to start cleaning at this hour of night, and now the satisfaction she craved from having at least achieved something concrete today had been completely eradicated by the fact that she’d spilt bleach on her suit pants. Should she give up? Leave the bathrooms until the weekend? No, she’d continue. At least she’d be able to tick something off her to-do list. Mind you, she’d also have to add something else straight on the end of it: buy a new suit.

      She scoured the walls of the shower, her frustration lending extra vigour to each scrub of the nailbrush on the grout. In the distance, she heard the slam of the front door. Kasia was home. Laura scrubbed even harder. She knew she was being unreasonable, but she hated that a virtual stranger could walk in and out of her house at will. The situation wasn’t helped by the fact that Kasia was not communicative about her movements. Sometimes she joined the family for dinner, sometimes she didn’t. Sometimes she stayed in her room in the evenings, other times she went out. She never announced her plans until she was sitting at the dinner table, or on her way out the door, and the uncertainty of what to expect each evening made Laura constantly ill at ease.

      Opening the cabinet above the vanity to stow away a spare bottle of shampoo, she noticed that the lid on one of the other bottles – an expensive perfume – was slightly askew. The scent was not a favourite one, which was why she kept it in the spare bathroom, but nevertheless it was odd. Laura was meticulous about things like that.

      ‘Oh, you are cleaning.’ Kasia hovered at the bathroom door, quite obviously startled to see Laura ensconced in there.

      ‘Yes,’ Laura replied, looking over her shoulder, aware that she must look ridiculous in her bright yellow rubber gloves and office wear. ‘Unfortunately, the only time I have free for cleaning is late at night,’ she added pointedly.

      ‘I will clean this,’ Kasia indicated the bathroom with an unenthusiastic motion of her hand, ‘in the future.’

      Given that Kasia was the person who predominantly used the spare bathroom, Laura had been hoping that she would take the hint.

      ‘Thanks.’ Closing the cabinet door, Laura removed a tiny streak from the glass mirror. ‘Did you have a nice night?’ she asked, making a conscious effort to be friendly.

      ‘Yes.’

      ‘Were you catching up with friends?’

      Kasia nodded vaguely.

      ‘In town?’

      ‘Yes.’ Kasia, clearly not willing to be drawn into a conversation, stepped back from the doorway. ‘Goodnight, Laura.’

      ‘Goodnight.’

      God, it was so hard to like her. If she had revealed something, anything about her night, that she’d been out with girlfriends, or on a date, or seeing her cousin, Laura could have latched onto that one thing and felt that she knew this stranger slightly better than before. But Kasia consistently refused to reveal anything, so she remained a stranger, and Laura couldn’t get comfortable with having a stranger in her house and, more importantly, caring for her daughter.

      Basin, chrome taps, mirror, Laura scrubbed and scoured until the rest of the bathroom was as clean as the shower. There, she was done. Now she could go to bed feeling at least slightly on top of things. Before she turned out the bathroom light, her eyes returned to the cabinet above the vanity. The perfume might spoil; she should put the lid on properly. No, she would leave it for now. It would be interesting to see if it was still askew the next time she thought to check.