Yulia is writing in her diary, which she has kept since the age of 13 — In Arigni #22

She does not fill her diary with vulgar things

Photo by Nils Schirmer on Unsplash

#22

Yulia set her alarm so that she had plenty of time to get ready in the mornings. It had always been her nature to be well-prepared. And well-presented.

She needed time not just to shower and do her make-up, but also to write her journal. She had been keeping a daily diary since the age of thirteen.

Back at home she would generally have written it in the evenings, but when on the late shift at the hotel she was too worn out to sit in front of a blank page, so the diary writing had become a part of her morning routine, irrespective of what shift she was on.

She was still enjoying being away from home and the sense of independence having a room to herself brought her. However, it was a small room and, being in the basement, windowless. When she had arrived just under a month ago, she had been told this was because a very large party of guests was staying at the hotel, and staff rooms on the attic floor had had to be requisitioned. But she knew that the large party in question had left some time ago and no word was being said about her being able to move. Not only that, but when she had spoken to other members of the staff team about her room in the basement being a temporary arrangement, they had said nothing, just given her a knowing look.

Never mind. She was of an optimistic disposition and her grandmother had ingrained in her a make-the-best-of-what-you-have outlook.

The writing of the diary brought back the encounter with the other Yulia. The guest Yulia. She had seemed really nice on first meeting. Very merry and happy-natured. The high-fiving had been fun. But the way she had shouted and become extremely angry was frightening. And her boyfriend was vulgar. Very vulgar.

She did not like to fill her diary with vulgar things. So all she wrote about this incident was…

By the pool I picked up a guest’s phone for safekeeping. I had only good intentions but it was something I should not have done.

The room was very small. Bed, shower, toilet, chest of drawers, a stool. Yulia…