Live Alone and Like It by Marjorie Hillis

Author:Marjorie Hillis [HILLIS, MARJORIE]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780446571173
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: 2009-11-29T05:00:00+00:00

CASES

Case XV: Miss W.—Miss W . is twenty-seven and has a good secretarial position, with the usual limited salary. She has, also, the Domestic Instinct. So she found herself a so-called one-room apartment—which had, in reality, a not-very-large living-room, a diminutive foyer, a kitchenette the size of a broom-closet, two real closets, and a bath. Its special feature was that it was high up (in a walk-up apartment), and most of two sides of the room were taken up by windows. Miss W. then hunted up a good but inexpensive carpenter and annexed, in addition, another willing worker in the shape of an ardent beau. Under her direction, they constructed in all of the available space on the windowed sides, book-shelves and cupboards made of light colored, modernistic-looking wood. The doors of these conceal a radio, a bar, and a wide variety of shelves and equipment, all as compact as a Pullman. The room contains a couch (also modern, and beige upholstered), which can be turned into a bed; enough, but not too many modern chairs and tables; several white-shaded lamps, and some charming white pottery.

Closets, kitchen, and cupboards contain everything she needs—-from Basque linen from Macy’s to red glass from the ten-cent store. And the result, while not elegant, is as gay and chic as a millionaire’s villa on the Riviera-—so charming, in fact, that the beau (now a husband) is sharing it with her, thereby putting Miss W . out of this book.

Case XVI: Miss D.—Miss D. is the same age as Miss W. and has the same salary, but the Domestic Instinct is missing. She doesn’t believe in spending money on things that don’t show, so she lives in a small, inexpensive room in a boarding-house. It contains a lumpy bed, an ugly bureau, an oak table, and two chairs, and there is a stain in the ceiling from a winter-before-last’s leak. Miss D. says it doesn’t matter, as she lives her life outside.

When Miss D. leaves for the office at quarter to nine in the morning, or for a date at seven-fifteen or eight-thirty in the evening, she is a work of art, from her beautifully made-up face to her small French heels. But, like the rest of us, she has neither the strength, money, or invitations to go out seven nights a week, and there are also Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays, when she does not go to the office and her hours spent at home are distinctly depressing. When she is sick in bed, she is miserable. The bed is not comfortable enough to encourage sleep, the light is not good enough for reading, and the appearance is not suitable for inviting guests.

Since Miss D. cannot afford to do much entertaining in the smart restaurants where she likes to eat, she is seeing more of the rich friends who invite her to them and less of old friends who do not, and getting to be a bit of a sponger. And since she cannot ask her men friends to her house, she is getting to be a little too ready to go to their apartments.

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