Living with friends is all well and good - after all they've got a spare room and you need a bed and it's free but sooner or later you need somewhere of your own. Apart from anything else whilst he's a mate, she's an ex and you can't live with an ex forever. Not when she's married to your mate. And you're in your 30s. And they're friends with your ex wife. You need a little independence - or what's the point in living in London again?
I spent the first few weeks after the move back to town living in the Club and a hotel in New York with work. At least that dealt with the perennial shirt problem - no need to find an ironing board (and nothing quite matches the finish of a New York shirt!). But somehow it's not that homely and you really haven't got anywhere to put things for more than 5 minutes, so a friends' flat was better than that. But. You've got to at least try to sort yourself out.
Make an offer to rent a flat - Green Street in Mayfair. On the upside you can park in the West End on a residents' permit, walk to work. On the downside it's a funny old part of town to live if you're not spending your weekends in Saint Tropez and it's was a pretty ugly apartment building. Anyway it falls through so I have to look again. Offer on a place on Beaufort Street - this time in Chelsea - handy as it's the last street inside the congestion zone and very near an extremely charming girl I've known for a while! Falls through again...I'm doomed to stay a lodger with a mate and an ex forever!
Final push to find somewhere I throw caution to the winds. Or at least Google. Here's to living in Barnes, that's what I say. Village pond, River, Common all come as part of the package and it's got a fine selection of coffee places to sit in the weekend sun and admire the yummy mummies' passegiata. Even got a book shop...could be an expensive habit to form!
Slightly surreal process to renting the place but I'll save that for next time..
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