Dear Mary | 28 February 2009

Q. I am at the mercy of a very over-the-top decorator provided by the management of our block of flats. He is like the worst sort of game-show host, cracking jokes all the time and bullying me and the young man working with him. I thought he was only here for four days but have just been told he will be here all next week as well, sometimes hanging out of my bedroom window strapped to a harness, a block of wood tied to his waist to stop him falling out — I am on the sixth floor. This morning I have literally had to walk the streets to keep out of his way, although I am supposed to be finishing a book. I cannot spend all day in a library as I have a dog. The trouble is, I am always too friendly. If I was a Sloane Ranger, I feel I could have maintained a haughty distance and not engaged with him so much.