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as possible.

nine
Two snow peas in a wok
    As I walked down Eildon Road I liked the tree-lined street
and the quiet of the area. It was peaceful, and when I saw
the house I felt at home. I was so pleased to be moving to
St Kilda, into a house that was close to cafes and the tram,
and with a flatmate too, so I wouldn't get lonely. Everything
had fallen into place. There was no such thing as coincidence,
and bumping into Shelley the night before had proven
that again.
    She met me halfway up the driveway with a cup of coffee
in her hand.
    'Hihi, I've been waiting for you. So, this is it,' and she
waved her hand around the garden.
    'I love it!' was all I could say.
    'Let me show you around, you might just like the rest of
it as well.'
    Shelley's family were obviously loaded and she offered
me the room at a ridiculous price. Who was I to argue?
I offered to do the cleaning and take care of the garden,
ready to plant herbs as soon as I could. This was better than
Coogee: I had a yard now, and could sit in it to read or
sunbake or whatever, if I wanted to. It was much better
than a balcony. I took a photo of the bird bath and texted
it to the girls.
    'Would you like a Pimm's, Peta?'
    'Love one, thanks.' It was like the old days and having
gin'n'tonics with Alice. It made me like Shelley even more.
    She brought out our drinks and as we sat in the back
garden with birds chirping away and the sun setting, we
shared bits about ourselves as a get-to-know-you session.
I had to confess I didn't know much about the industry
she worked in and I'd always been a bit suspicious of
stockbrokers.
    'Isn't the stockbroking world very corporate and
competitive and, sorry, but just about making money?'
    'Essentially yes, but there are a few of us who are
interested in corporate responsibility and do pro bono work
with community organisations and so on. Most brokers
aren't like that, though, and most of them are men, which
means I'm around money-obsessed blokes all day who just
want a meaningless shag of a night. But I'm not in it forever.
I'll do some good work for some good people and then take
my skills elsewhere.'
    Shelley sounded okay, and when she told me she
collected handbags and shoes, I knew we would get on
perfectly. She also liked watching TV to relax, sleeping
in on the weekends and food. Later that night, when I'd
moved my stuff in, we went to a local Chinese restaurant for
salt'n'pepper squid and talked some more.
    Shelley was Australian-born, but her parents were both
from Brunei.
    'It's on the island of Borneo in South-East Asia. The
official language is Malay.'
    'I'm from Coolangatta,' I told her. I didn't tell her about
my mother's three husbands and that I'd never met my
father – it seemed too far removed from Shelley's perfect
family. I told her about Alice, Dannie and Liza, instead,
and the dramas I had with them when I broke the news that
I was moving to Melbourne.
    'Be prepared for more, Peta. I just ended a relationship
with someone who was originally from Sydney, and he never
let the childish discussions end if he could find someone to
argue with about the two cities.'
    Shelley had been single for only a month after breaking
up with her long-time boyfriend Josh – he just wouldn't
grow up – and she wasn't in any great rush to meet someone
new. Shelley was the only female stockbroker in her firm
and had endured male chauvinism and sexist remarks every
day for five years, so admitted that she had all but started to
dislike men altogether.
    'It really was timely Mum and Dad went away because it
meant I could have the warmth and security of my old room
again. I feel like a bit of teenager.' She ate the last piece of
squid and I was glad, I was totally full.
    'That's so nice. I feel like I've found a home too. See, I've
got a lovely guy, James, in Sydney, and we're trying to do
the long-distance thing for the next twelve months. Well,
he's really trying more than me.