Loneliness in London

There she was. All alone in London. The 18-year-old girl ran away from home, saying she would be fine in London. She didn’t need anyone, she just needed a job. She looked at her reflection in a store. She weakly smiled as she put a streak of brown hair behind her ear. She hasn’t eaten today, so she was starving. She couldn’t spend too much money, only in case of emergencies. She carried one black, big bag full of clothes and food. Okay, where to start. Where to sleep. She entered a bakery and bought a croissant.

‘It is really good!’ she happily said. She really needed to eat something. ‘Wow, I have never seen anyone this happy with a croissant,’ the guy from the shop laughed. The girl smiled. He had these eyes of enjoyment, she became happier by talking to him and tried to read his name tag. ‘That’s probably true, Charles’ she laughed. ‘Hey, not fair. What’s your name?’ Charles asked. ‘I am Kathy,’ the girl answered. ‘So, what are you doing here? Why are you carrying this big bag?’ Kathy tried to stop her tears. ‘I am looking for a job, I just ran away from home’- she didn’t know why she told this to a stranger. ‘I see,’ he said. He went through his blonde hair with one hand. ‘Why?’ he asked. ‘They were only fighting at home. My father hit my mother and I couldn’t be there anymore. I just had to go away,’ she said. ‘I see.. Well, we are looking for full-time employees. Do you think you can bake some bread?’ – tears filled Kathy’s brown eyes. ‘Yeah!’ she said. ‘Good, fill this in and I will call you tomorrow,’ Charles said as he was handing Kathy the form. Kathy nodded and realized she brought her phone with her. She wondered if her parents tried to call her already, but they probably haven’t even noticed she’s gone. It hurt.

She went to the shop again in the morning to buy another croissant and saw an older man this time. Probably the owner. ‘Good morning!’ she said as cheerful as possible. ‘Good morning,’ the man had a friendly smile. She bought another croissant. ‘How are you doing?’ she continued. She needed the job. She needed money to rent a room.

‘I have applied for the full time job yesterday,’ Kathy smiled. ‘Oh, is it you? You look quite young for a full-timer’ the man said. Kathy couldn’t do anything else but agree. ‘I know, but I want to. I love to interact with other people. Please, let me try ..’ She never begged for a job. But she needed this one. ‘Okay, you can try for two weeks’ Kathy almost hugged the man. ‘Seriously?!’ she asked. The man smiled as he nodded.