A Nice Quiet Life. Chapter 4

Chapter 4
This is Ciane’s renovacy.
The link to the story and the download is here:
https://2sim3.wordpress.com/other/container/ Pretty cool, huh? That’s my new home – me and my sweet Briar Rose. Doors and windows ready fitted – Marcello knew a guy who knew a guy – you get my drift?
I mean, like, can you believe it man, this was going to be thrown away! Just because the railway had sprung for a proper office instead. I got it free, as long as I paid for it to be moved. Doors and windows ready fitted…
Wanna see inside my little palace? The guys at the freight yard gave me the plumbing for nothing. Well, I sang them a few songs in their lunch break. Me and Briar Rose, we could say we got it for a song, couldn’t we?
Bed, I had to pay for. Shop-soiled, though, so I got it real cheap. Reduced even further if I promised not to sing outside their shop!
Yeah, the walls are, like, a bit dreary. Watch this though! See! I’m not just a singer, you know. Art, I’m good at. Like, my art degree was the first rift between me and the rest of my family. And when I say rift – man, think Grand Canyon. Think Great Rift Valley. They so did not dig what I was doing. Thought I should go into the family business, like the rest of them. Okay, maybe my palace does need a kitchen. Some time. I guess if I try and cook outside, under the stars, little miss Don’t Do That will make a fuss, and get me kicked off before the paperwork’s even got the ink on it, never mind dry. So I’ll just have to eat out for a while. Maybe if I check out the junkyard, I might find something for my kitchen. And until the ink’s on the paperwork, Marcello said I’d better keep a low profile. So I’m playing in the out-of-the-way places, which doesn’t, like, pay as well…
There’s always some dude wanting to read. Man, these reading types so do not appreciate good music. I’m lucky if they give me anything except dirty looks. This picture – little miss Don’t Do That inspired me. I can’t help feeling that there’s someone else behind that rule-keeping façade of hers. Someone with a bit of romance in their soul.
I mean, she’s like seriously weird. Have you noticed she only ever wears grey? Don’t know what her house is like inside because she’s put blinds up at all the windows, but when I’m done here, I’ll show her my place and maybe she’ll open up a bit. “And what do you think you are doing?”
Man, she’s so uptight - and so dumb. What does it look like I was doing? Stealing things? But, hey, make ̛em smile and you’ve won them over.
“Lady, I was passing, and this poor plant cried out to me that it was just dyin’ of thirst. So I stepped over to answer its plea.”
“Oh.” That was one non-committal sound. No smile though, and it didn’t take long for her to be back on form.
“Well, I can do that for myself. Thank you very much and goodbye.”
And, like, that thank you didn’t mean thank you. More like, get lost, mister. I can take a hint. I left her to it. And it was one hot day to be lugging all those cans of water round. Marcello tipped me the wink that it’s like, safe, to play in the town square again. All my paperwork’s processed and I am one legal dude. His highness the mayor ain’t got nothing on me now. But I better make sure I pay my part of the ground rent, or little miss Don’t Do That will have me hustled out of there faster than I can riff. So I made sure she saw me paying my part of the rent – I waited until she came out to tidy up the papers. Man, she tidies for England, she does. It’s like her world just has to be so ordered. But it gave me a chance to speak to her all casual-like, invite her up to see my palace now I’d got it all decorated and so on. I could tell she was curious. And I knew she’d been asking around if I was safe to live near – Marcello said she quizzed him.
He told her I was a lousy guitarist (so not true!) but one of the good guys. “There you are. What do you think of Briar Rose’s and my little place? Cool, isn’t it?”