Finding Linda.(Short Story)

She sat on the stairs, in the old terrace house in Bayswater, and there was something forlorn about her. Her elbows were propped on her knees and her chin was in her hands, and her dark hair fell to her shoulders. Her eyes met mine as I walked up the hall; eyes of a startling blue. I gave a smile in passing and she returned it. When I came down again twenty minutes later, she sat there still, patiently, in the same position.

She said, "I'm waiting for the man with the key to my flat."

Instead of the previous tenant's heavy metal, the muted rhythms of the Beatles now trickled up from below. Linda had moved in.

 
   I'd like to be under the sea 
   In an octopus's garden with you ... 

For me, it was love at first sight. It was as if I had waited all of my twenty-five years to find her. At the same time, I felt guilty. Janine, in Sydney, had applied for a teaching post in London and was preparing to join me. A letter had arrived from her that morning. She had enclosed the latest snapshot of herself: tall, willowy, with cool grey eyes. My transfer had separated us. Janine, always so rational, had urged me to accept. "It's an opportunity you can't afford to turn down."

I didn't give in at once to the attraction. At first, loyalty to Janine prevailed. Linda and I passed occasionally in the hall, acknowledging each other with the casual nods of fellow tenants. At last, I tapped on her door with the excuse: "Do you have any change for the meter? I've run out."

"Come in."