REM // Van McCann

63. Are You Alright?

Helping Florence move in wasn't as bad as I thought. She had a lot of stuff despite putting most of it in storage but we somehow made it all fit in my flat which was getting more and more cramped. There was no surface to set anything down in the bathroom. All her lotion, makeup, and creams took over the little shelf space I had to the point all my stuff was put in the corner. Curious what all those things were for, I spent one afternoon looking through her stuff when she was out with friends. Moisturizer, sunscreen, blush, cleanser, mascara, concealer, eyeshadow.... Bloody hell! No wonder why she takes forever in the bathroom.

Not to mention all the hair she loses in the sink and shower drain. It got so bad that I confronted her about it and she felt bad. After that, the sink and drains were not completely hair-free but it was better than how it was before. We went through toilet paper much faster but she bought toilet paper to make up for it. Most of her stuff was packed away in her suitcase so they weren't lying around and I gave her some room in my closet for her clothes. At first, she didn't want to take up space in my closet but then I'd see more and more clothes every time I looked. She didn't have much privacy sleeping on the sofa bed. Sometimes you want a place you can retreat to for alone time but she didn't have that. I offered my bed to her several times but she was resistant to the point I stopped offering altogether.

Our work schedule was a few hours apart. She starts work and goes home earlier than I do but we still find ourselves bumping into each other in the evening. I thought she'd take advantage of having the flat to herself by taking a shower or making dinner before I got home but she likes to take a shower when I want to take a shower and she likes to cook when I want to cook. At first, we were making our own food but that became too much so we decided we'd take turns cooking and making enough for the both of us to eat and take to work the next day. At least that part was figured out but we were still fighting over the bathroom.

I'm not the cleanest person. I'll leave empty mugs lying around and I'll forget to put stuff back. However, Florence is exactly like me so the mess is getting out of hand. We were careful to keep our things separate but now we just use each other's stuff without asking. Like the other day, I was curious what tea she drinks so I stole a packet and I'll never make that mistake again. Her tea was flowery and I dumped it down the sink. And then my hands were dry from the cold winter weather so I thought I'd try her lotion which was much better than mine and probably more expensive. I've no clue what she uses that's mine and I don't want to think about it.

However, it wasn't all bad. It was nice having someone to talk to. We'd ask about each other's day and ask for advice on how to handle a situation. Even though we were together in the evening and at night, all we did was cook, eat, and clean together but that was it. The rest of the night was spent doing our own thing. Now that things were better and a bit stress-free, I wondered if she'd ever consider doing the study again. She's already missed one week. Florence was lying on her back, watching a film on her phone. One thing I learned about her is that she watches a lot of TV shows and films.

"Would you ever consider returning to the study?" I asked, sitting on the dining room table with my arms crossed, facing her. Florence took an earbud out and looked at me.

"Did you say something?" she asked. I didn't realize she had her earbuds in and I should've known because I couldn't hear her film.

"Oh...I was just wondering if you had any plans to return to the study." Florence paused her film and sat up, taking the other earbud out.

"Do you miss my dreams?" she teased and I shook my head. I do but I'm never gonna admit it. It was interesting seeing what she'd dream about.

With the extra time from Florence taking a break, Bondy has been having us go under to study his dream manipulation project. It was fun at first trying to guess what they were adding but it got old real quick. It was more of the same. Larry's insecurities and Bondy's whimsical nonsense. Of course, there was still Roman on Wednesdays but he dreamt about work and not Portugal this time.