How the Other Half Lives

By Clare London

Compulsive neat freak meets chaotic slob: Can their living space survive the conflict?

Martin Harrison keeps himself to himself and his Central London flat as neat as a new pin. Maybe he should loosen up and enjoy more of a social life, but in his mind, that’s tantamount to opening the floodgates to emotional chaos. He agrees, however, to join the flat-sitting scheme in his building and look after another tenant’s flat in exchange for a similar watch over his when he’s travelling for his work.
A floor away in the same building, Russ McNeely is happy with his life as a freelance cook and a self-confessed domestic slob. He also joins the flat-sitting scheme, both to be neighbourly and to help keep his flat in order, as Russ also travels for his work.
For a while, the very dissimilar men never meet. Martin is horrified at the mess at Russ’s flat, while Russ finds Martin’s minimalist style creepy. But in a spirit of generosity, each of them starts to help the other out by rearranging things in their own inimitable way.
Until the day a hiccup in the schedule brings them face-to-face at last.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Clare London
• Release date: Nov 21, 2022
• ISBN: 9781005940089

Clare London

Clare took the pen name London from the city where she lives, loves, and writes. A lone, brave female in a frenetic, testosterone-fuelled family home, she juggles her writing with the weekly wash, waiting for the far distant day when she can afford to give up her day job as an accountant. She’s written in many genres and across many settings, with novels and short stories published both online and in print. She says she likes variety in her writing while friends say she’s just fickle, but as long as both theories spawn good fiction, she’s happy. Most of her work features male/male romance and drama with a healthy serving of physical passion, as she enjoys both reading and writing about strong, sympathetic and sexy characters.Clare currently has several novels sulking at that tricky chapter 3 stage and plenty of other projects in mind . . . she just has to find out where she left them in that frenetic, testosterone-fuelled family home.All the details and free fiction are available at her website. Visit her today and say hello!Join up for her newsletter at http://bit.ly/2WpHlyK and receive a free short story!Clare also writes as Stella Shaw and launched her Love at the Haven series of rent boy romances in 2021.Website + blog: http://www.clarelondon.com / stellashawauthor.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/clarelondonTwitter: https://twitter.com/clare_londonGoodreads: http://bit.ly/2lNSfC2Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/author/clarelondonBookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/clare-londonInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/clarelondon11/Quids&Quills: http://www.quidsandquills.com (accountancy for UK authors)

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HOW THE OTHER HALF LIVES

Copyright ©2011 Clare London

Published by Jocular Press 2021

This book was previously published by Dreamspinner Press 2017

Smashwords edition

All Rights Reserved

This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission. This book cannot be copied in any format, sold, or otherwise transferred from your computer to another through upload to a file sharing peer to peer program, for free or for a fee. Such action is illegal and in violation of Copyright Law.

All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Blurb

Compulsively neat freak meets chaotic slob: can their living space survive the conflict?

Martin Harrison keeps himself to himself and his Central London flat as neat as a new pin. Maybe he should loosen up and enjoy more of a social life, but in his mind, that’s tantamount to opening the floodgates to emotional chaos. He agrees, however, to join the flat-sitting scheme in his building and look after another tenant’s flat in exchange for a similar watch over his when he’s travelling for his work.

A floor away in the same building, Russ McNeely is happy with his life as a freelance cook and a self-confessed domestic slob. He also joins the flat-sitting scheme, both to be neighbourly and to help keep his flat in order, as Russ also travels for his work.

For a while, the very dissimilar men never meet. Martin is horrified at the mess at Russ’s flat, while Russ finds Martin’s minimalist style creepy. But in a spirit of generosity, each of them starts to help the other out by rearranging things in their own inimitable way.

Until the day a hiccup in the schedule brings them face-to-face at last.

INDEX

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 11

CHAPTER 12

CHAPTER 13

CHAPTER 14

More by Clare London

About Clare London

CHAPTER 1

Flat 2a, Abercrombie Buildings, London, SW18

M. Harrison (no unsolicited mail accepted)

No, of course I’m not trying to harass you.

My best friend, Ethan’s, voice is very calm and deliberately soft. From the moment he arrived, he insisted he wasn’t here to annoy me or to interfere with my life. He doesn’t appear to realise that he’s causing the very effect he’s trying to avoid. I often wonder about the empathetic skill he’s meant to possess as a creative artist. Personally, I find his modern abstract work disturbing in the extreme, whatever the Sunday magazines say in his praise.

It’s just a friendly word, Martin. Don’t be defensive.

He pushes back his long blond hair with an impatient yet studied gesture. As an apparently trail-blazing painter, he often refers to his media image. In the past I’ve suggested he gets his hair cut in a more practical style and wears clothing more suited to his age, but even from Ethan—whom I’ve known for years and am very fond of—continued eye-rolling can become very wearing. So I just listen as patiently as I can.

It’s just that your friends can see you… objectively, as it were. And we worry about the impression you give to others.

Impression? I bite my lip. He’s perched carelessly on the side of my sofa, swinging his foot. I stare at it, worried that his boot buckle will snag on the fabric. The sofa is a Victorian chesterfield.

Martin, are you listening to me?

Do I have any choice? I place my drink back on the walnut card table, on a carefully placed coaster. I straighten the top right edge of the coaster so that it lines up with the base of the nearby lamp, then nudge it a fraction the other way, which is much better. Look, I’m fine about the impression I give people. People can like it, or get over it. If they have no wit to cope with an alternative point of view, that’s their problem.

Ethan gives one of those long-suffering sighs that I provoke so frequently in him. His eyes soften towards me even while his mouth purses. I often wonder whether he’d have been better suited to a career in theatre. His whole demeanour is one of compassionate disappointment, to the extent that I think he must practise it in his leisure time. I suggested that once to his partner, but Harry snorted and spat his drink out all over the table. Thank goodness it wasn’t in my flat—red wine stains can be a nightmare to get out. Harry had growled a protest at me, though I was certain his eyes had been laughing. Of course, I’d only been trying to help Ethan gain a deeper empathy.

Today, Ethan’s face is rather flushed and he seems