A Story Left Untold

I

𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓐𝓻𝓻𝓲𝓿𝓪𝓵

"𝓦hen is she arriving again?"

Somehow, two months ago, I had got myself a new housemate. My mother had asked me whether I had a spare room available, and I answered honestly, not knowing the following question. I had a spare room available, more than just one, in fact.

My mum didn't talk to me about it for a month. When mum called me about the spare room a month later, I had forgotten she had even asked. When she told me about the niece of one of her friends from when she was a teenager, it clicked. The girl would attend the University of Surrey that fall and needed housing. The girl hadn't found a place to live, and I was her short-term solution. She was Max's and mine new housemate.

"At two this afternoon. Her father and brother will join her to ensure Nova has settled. Did you clean the house from top to bottom?"

I looked around the living room. I had just cleaned, and for Max and my standards, things were quite neat. It could be a lot worse, but I knew my mother would never qualify the current state of the house as tidy.

"That depends on your standards of what is clean."

"Lando, she is going to live with you and Max. Please make sure the house is tidy and clean. You want to make her feel at home, right?"

I ran my hand through my hair in frustration. "I will do my best, mum. Don't worry about it."

I could hear the front door open, and fall closed again. Max was home from grocery shopping. We had to make sure we could at least offer our new housemate and her family a cup of tea or coffee, depending on what they preferred.

"That is great to hear, honey. Let me know if I can help somewhere. I have my phone with me all day and nothing is keeping me from answering the phone."

My mother was the best, albeit she was the reason I had a new housemate. I knew I could count on her if I ever needed her. She is an exceptional mother to my siblings and me. "What was her name again?"

"Were you listening to what I said? I think I have said her name three times at least, but it is Nova. Please do your best to remember."

I nodded, picturing how the girl could look. It wasn't the only thing I didn't know about her.

"But you go clean up the house, and make sure Max helps. He lives there too and if I remember correctly, he can make quite a mess. I'll check in later to see how it all went."

"I love you, mum."

"Love you too."

I ended the call and stood up from the sofa. What would need tidying if I looked through my mother's eyes? A few cups were scattered on the coffee table, so I started there. I grabbed them and walked to the kitchen, where Max was cleaning the counter.

"The groceries are all-" Max watched me, laughing, as I stood there, looking around where I could put them so they would be out of sight. "You called your mother, didn't you?" Max knew I wouldn't be cleaning up even further had I not called her.

I didn't dislike cleaning up. I just knew that if I were to start now, I wouldn't be able to finish the more thorough cleaning spree without being interrupted, and the thought alone annoyed me.

"Just help me, will you? My mother was right. We don't want her to be frightened right away because we can be so messy. She can find that out on her own after she has been with us for a couple of days."