I was lucky that in October, after a chat with maid-carrie, she talked a friend into holding my key for me. That agreement will last until at least the beginning of spring. I’d already been self-locked for a month by then, so it’ll be six months ..at least.. before I get to collect my key once I receive that phone call saying I’m allowed to go and pick it up. The exact timing is up to her.
Life has its surprises, though; I’ve now become friends with another lady who studies and works here until later this year. Circumstances made me open up about my locked status, why I was doing it, and how the key arrangement worked out with carrie’s friend. She didn’t mind at all and agreed to see if we could make it work for us. While Jackie (carrie’s friend) still holds the official key, she says she is fine keeping it until the set time in spring, even though my new friend and I have established a keyholder-lockee dynamic.
Being single and practicing self-denial through self-locking is one thing; having someone else control your physical access to the key while you do that is another matter entirely. Having a dedicated keyholder who also denies you entry when she chooses is yet something different… But it feels wonderful.