Rafe kept an excellent record of being on time and was a diligent, hard-working studentâfor a total of three and a half weeks. That's almost a month! In his world this was a bit of an accomplishment, considering how much effort and energy those lessons took out of him. So today, feeling extra tired after binge-watching TV shows on his laptop till late, he smacked his alarm clock to switch it off.
Groggily, he decided he'd figure out a way to placate Nora later. Maybe come up with an excuse that he was sick or something. He was good at being fake sick. He texted her to cancel the lesson. Maybe she'd even give him one of those delicious Japanese biscuits.
The sleep was blissful and deep. He started dreaming of sunny Italian coasts and focaccia bread and girls in summer dresses until he heard a bang and his door jerked wide open. His head snapped up from under the covers to check who had so rudely and loudly barged into his room.
To his horror Nora stood there, at the entrance to his room with that neutral, leaning towards murderous, look on her face.
He always suspected her of being a ninja - stealthy walk, catlike reflexes and a glare that could kill. He didn't know his theory would be put to the test and proven when in a split second, she grabbed his shoe that lay by the door and sent it hurling at his head. It grazed the top of his head and he just had enough time to dodge the other shoe.
Rafe said words in Italian that would have sent his grandma to her grave. Or actually, send her bible hurling his way.
"Cazzo! You lost your mind? The fuck is your problem?"
"You stood me up! You promised me no more tardiness!"
"I'm not feeling well!" He squeezed out a pathetic cough. His voice already hoarse from being up so early.
"You look absolutely fine to me," Nora said, narrowing her eyes at him. There was no way to convince her now. He should've known she was psycho enough to hunt him down.
"You have five minutes to get dressed. We'll study in your common room."
His room was tiny. There was a desk placed right next to the window sill, a small closet next to the entrance. His bed was right opposite the door. There was a small bedside table on his right. Unlike the others he hadn't bothered to buy anything for the room to make it homey or adorned with posters. He hated spending time indoors. His roommate Alex, who was currently sitting at his desk hogging his laptop as always, was frozen on his spot, his wide red dopey eyes looking at Nora, then at Rafe and back to Nora again.
Nora's eyes landed on a mountain of shirts and clothes on the chair that stood in the corner of the room. Her lips thinned in what Rafe guessed was a display of disgust. She left the room, slamming the door behind her.
"Shit," Rafe muttered, throwing off the blanket and grabbing his jeans.
"Jesus Christ mate, what the hell was that?"
"That was my tutor from hell," Rafe said, rubbing his head where the shoe grazed him, then grinned as he made his way to the bathroom to shower. "I think she likes me."
Alex sighed. "Then that shoe must've hit harder than it looked."
She sat in the common room study, which had longer desks alongside the walls, a couple of chairs, some computers and shelves filled with old books. Some brightly coloured bean bags were scattered around in front of the TV, and plastic cups with drinks were littered around the room.
He sat down groggily, not feeling the energy to study at all. He still couldn't get over the shock of having her barge into his room like that. What if he had been naked? He loved sleeping commando back in his apartment in London. But his roommate liked to frequently come to his room to use his Mac, borrow the charger or use his headphones. Rafe didn't mind sharing his stuff, but he did miss his privacy. He'd never had to live in a dorm or have roommates before.
When Nora had previously threatened to hunt him down if he bunked his lessons, he was sure it was just a joke. This girl was no joke.
After a couple of hours of bickering, fake crying, and bargaining, Nora still managed to stand her ground and make him complete the work. For the first time, he'd completed work that was not due for another week. Besides the work that they had to complete together for class, she was now making sure he was actually ahead of schedule. Rafe stretched out on his chair with a feeling of accomplishment. He finally did it.
Rafe was sure Nora was sharing his triumphant mood until he caught her looking concerned, almost uncomfortable.
His happy bubble burst. "What now?" Rafe asked.
"Why do you have that pile of clothes in your room? It's horrible."
"Why do you care?" Rafe snapped in defence. Is that what she was thinking about this entire time? So, Rafe hadn't imagined it; she had been a bit edgy since she entered his room this morning. He just assumed she was mad at his 'disrespect for her time' again.
"Well?" she asked.
"It's a pile I was meant to take to the dry cleaners, but I keep putting it off because I can't be fucked."
"Dry cleaners? Didn't you say you were cut off?"
"My dad still sends me a small allowance for survival. But he thinks in London rates. Everything in this town is cheap. My biggest expense here is private tutoring. So if you want to give me a discountâ"
"Out of the question. Rafe, seriously, don't you know how to do your own washing and ironing?"
"Well, I never had to do any of that before, did I? We've always had housekeepers."
Nora sighed and rubbed her forehead. "I thought I told you to be neater."
"I am," Rafe said hotly, "I have a pencil case for god's sake. What else do you want from me?"
"Let's go. I'm teaching you how to do the laundry. "
"You're joking, right?" But why would he even bother to ask that when he knew that, a) of course, she wasn't joking, the girl never joked especially when it came to cleaning and neatness and order. And b) at the end of the day, she'd still have her way.
"No. No way. I'm not doing it. I have better things to do."
"I think we've agreed before that you don't. Let's go; it's easy. Definitely easier than literature. You can consider it a break, and after that I'll check your French homework."
"How is doing chores a break?" Rafe exploded.
"Let's go," Nora said. "We're going to wash your stuff."
"I said no. I'm a man, and my word is final."
Nora stood beaming triumphantly as Rafe sorted through his clothes, grumbling endlessly. As much as he complained, he worked through the pile quickly and methodically. She showed him where the washing instructions were on his clothes, what each symbol meant, which degree and which setting to use the iron.
"Shit, I've never noticed these before. Very clever," Rafe commented, looking through the white labels on the sides of his clothes. He caught her looking at him with a sort of pride and shook his head.
"I still can't believe you're making me do this. I don't pay you to force me to do chores, you know," he said. Recently he'd been finding it very hard to say no to her. Initially, he'd challenge her on everything. Arguing with raised voices and firing back three questions to each of hers. But he'd realised he liked it better when they got along.
"No...but you did promise to do what I asked. And thank you for doing just that."
"I still don't get why you bother with this stuff. It has nothing to do with studying. It's like you like finding new ways to make me miserable. In fact I feel like that's what you do in your spare time. You wake up and think, hmmm how can I ruin Rafe's day today? Oh, I know; let me go and break down his door."
"It's hardly broken."
"My wall has a dent in it from the doorknob smashing into it. And my skull probably does as well."
"Have you ever heard of Kaizen?" she asked.
"I've heard of the term."
"Kaizen is a business philosophy that helped Japan recover economically with incredible efficiency after World War II. My grandpa helped me adopt Japanese philosophies into my studies and way of life in general. It's the most valuable lesson he gave me. Before he started any kind of homework with me, he made sure I exercised and... ate properly." There was a moment of hesitation before she went on. Whenever she spoke to him, it was like she thought through each word before it escaped her lips. Like she measured just how much of her she wanted to give away to Rafe. He found himself hungry for more, but whenever he pushed, those walls went right up.
"The reason I make sure you're neat and on top of everything is that it helps clear your mind. Keeps you and your thoughts organised. Take small steps to change your habits. If your life is organised, your thoughts are organised. It gives you clarity."
Rafe realised he had come across the term before when he'd attended one of the meetings his father held, but the word just went over his head. Now that Nora had explained it to him and was forcing him to practise it, he was more eager to learn more about it.
And as he began to understand her methods more, it helped to understand her more.