Having left home age 16 to travel, I returned to my hometown when I was 28. Everything had changed. All my friends had got married, had babies or moved away. Even my Dad and Stepmother had gone to live with my sister and her family in Dubai.
I did some rubbish jobs for a while just to get by, living in a shared apartment, but being much older than the others, I was soon tired of all the noise and wanted some space.
While looking for work in the local paper, I noticed an advert for someone to live-in with an older gentleman, cooking for him, basic cleaning etc. His family were going to live abroad for a year and didn't want to leave him on his own. It didn't pay much but a room, bills and food was included. I went to meet the family. The old guys name was Pete, in his ear!y 80s. Very charming, you could tell he kept himself fit. He kept going on and on that he didn't need a babysitter and could manage fine on his own. To say it was awkward was an understatement. The family said they would let me know but they had more people to see, and to just ignore his protests. I didn't hear anything over the next week.
I decided to signup for classes at the local college. As I had spent so much time abroad, I could speak other languages and thought I could become an English Teacher for foreign students. On the Monday of the following week, I got a call to say Pete had decided who his new roommate would be and had chosen me! They asked if I could move in as soon as possible. Two days later, my belongings and I moved in.