A Short Story - Good Friends

Lucy is a total perfectionist! She works in an office and all the papers have to be at right angles to each other, that is if she needs any papers on her desk. If not they are filed away neatly. When she works on her computer she makes sure that all the numbers are formatted the same way and hates it when people leave tabs unnamed. People actually appreciate her organisation because she keeps a record of all birthdays and organises any stationery required. When she gets home each day she cleans her house from top to bottom. She immediately files all the bills and then reheats her meal. Every weekend she makes meals for the week and freezes them ready to eat on the right day. She actually has the same meal on the same day every week. Only when the washing up is done after dinner can she relax and watch something on television. As far as she's concerned her life is perfect!

One day she goes into work and her manager tells her the shocking news that her job has been disbanded and she's now unemployed. She can't help but break down, so shocked and worried about the future. She's offered a fairly decent redundancy amount but isn't able to get a job straight away. Her friend Jane invites her to move in. Lucy and Jane are good friends but so different. Jane is pretty messy and as far as Lucy is concerned, very disorganised however Lucy has no choice but to accept her kind offer.

They settle into a routine, Jane goes to work and while she is there Lucy cleans. Jane has never seen the place so clean, or tidy. She struggles to find anything she needs but is very understanding about it to a point. One day she simply has to ask Lucy to stop it. So it's a tricky start but they find that they LOVE living together. Lucy lightens up so much and Jane finds herself enjoying cleaning more and keeping things tidy.When Lucy eventually finds a job they both feel very sad as they have really enjoyed living together. One Friday night when they are both home sharing a bottle of wine, Lucy says "I've loved living with you Jane.." "Me too, it's been so much fun" replies Jane. They smile at each other and as good friends often do, said together "How would you feel about living together permanantly?"