Chapter 63: The Virgin´s Summer, Part 14, Penitents

Shift over, I return to the flat, collapsing onto my bed. I should read a textbook I´m working on, but I want to sleep.

Still fully clothed, I drop onto the blankets, and pull the duvet over myself, trying to ignore the smell of mushrooms that clothes everything in here. Barely have I closed my eyes, when there is a knock at the door.

For a moment, I simply stare at the ceiling. I know who is on the other side of the door. Perhaps if I ignore it, stay quiet, they will go away.

Michael´s voice: "Charlotte, Jenny, whatever you´re calling yourself; open up. We know you´re in there."

I get up and open the door. "You followed me? What are you now? My stalkers?"

Michael looks angry, James upset. Both push past me into the miserable room.

"You´re living here?" demands James. "In an area like this?"

"And working in that dump of a café," says Michael. "Why?"

"A girl´s gotta eat and pay rent, and to do that, she has to work." I snap.

"In this miserable place?" demands James. "