Free Junk by Josephine Myles Page A

definitely the most organised hoarder I’ve ever encountered. I love that you have a plan.”
    “You don’t think I’m mad?”
    “Mad? Who’s to say what’s mad? You could have a point. There are plenty of theorists warning us about the collapse of Western civilisation.”
    “So…all this…” Jasper gestured around himself. “All this is okay?”
    “The answer to that doesn’t lie in whether or not the reasoning behind hanging on to all these books is valid. Only you can answer whether or not it’s okay. Are you happy with living in a house that’s been taken over by books you’re never going to read? That’s the question.”
    “Happy?” Had anyone ever really asked him whether or not he was happy? Jasper laid a hand on the nearest stack of books. These books had made him happy, once, when he brought them home with him, but now they were in the way, forcing him now to turn sideways in order to get to his bathroom. Irritation surged down his arm, and he shoved them hard. There was nowhere for them to go, though, wedged in as they were by so many other books. “No. I’m not happy. I can’t get into my living room anymore, and I can’t find anything I want. I’m too embarrassed to invite anyone around here because they’ll see how hopeless and weak-willed I am. Did you know, you’re the first person other than me to set foot in this place for more than six years? I’m not happy. I’m lonely. That’s what I am. I’m really fucking lonely.” The expletive shocked him. He never swore. Mama had washed his mouth out with soap and water the one time he’d unwittingly cursed in front of her.
    But Lewis didn’t look shocked. He seemed to be taking it all with the same maddening calm. “Good,” he said.
    “Good? I just tell you I’m lonely, and all you have to say is good?”
    “That’s not what I meant. It’s good that you’re strongly motivated to change. You can work with that. Get this hoarding beat. And I’m going to help you through it, I promise.”
    “Are you going to stop me feeling lonely too?”
    Some indecipherable emotion flickered across Lewis’s face, and he turned away, starting gingerly down the stairs. “I’m always there for you, at the other end of the phone. How about I book you in for a session early next week? I can do Monday mornings at nine. And we could stick with this Friday session too, if you like.”
    “Mondays are good. I’m on the late shift then, so I don’t go in till twelve.”
    “That’s sorted, then. Two hours on a Monday morning, and two on a Friday afternoon. We charge twenty pounds an hour for one of us, and thirty for the two of us when we get into major clear-out mode. You think you can afford that?”
    Jasper mentally calculated based on their hourly rate. “Yes, that’s fine. I was expecting it to be more, actually.” In truth, he had enough savings to pay for Lewis to be round all day every day for the next year, but the man probably had other clients depending on him too. Besides, asking for that would look kind of weird and needy.
    “Brilliant. I’ll make sure I get that down in the diary. To keep you going till then, though, I’m setting you some homework.”
    “Homework? I did your worksheets already.” He’d completed the main questionnaire during his lunch break. “They’re in my bag. See? Amazingly enough, I actually know where they are.”
    “Excellent. But this is an extra assignment. I want you to select a book you’re ready to let go of.”
    “I already tried that.”
    “Oh yes? When?”
    “This morning. And I couldn’t do it.” Panic clenched Jasper’s stomach hard. “I’m not ready.”
    “Okay. You weren’t ready this morning, but you’ve got the whole weekend ahead of you. I want you to find something in this house that you’re ready to get rid of.”
    “What, throw it away? I don’t think I could do that.”
    “No, not send it to landfill. Just to release into my safekeeping, and let me decide what to