The Nocturne

Diegetic

    For a second night running I had fallen asleep at dawn, but today I woke up early at about eight in the morning. In light of having slept for so many hours the day before it meant that I was not feeling particularly tired. I was feeling thirsty and hungry again though and I decided it was time to go and get some provisions for myself, from the local store. I also knew that I would have to go past the restaurant and grovel an apology to my boss for missing my shift last night. Hopefully he was not in the mood to fire me. At the thought of this a feeling of despondency flickered through me and my gut reaction was to reach for my flask. During my year of mourning this would have contained vodka or cheap cider, but nowadays it only carried water. As I put the bottle up to my parched lips I realised I was again out of drinking water. I decided to quickly go up to the kitchen to fill the bottle before I went out. I could hear that my housemates were up and about in the house, but when I stuck my head around the kitchen door it was empty. As I went to fill my flask with water I noticed that the Thank You note that I had left for Yasmina on the fridge was gone. I was turning to leave when I heard Yasmina's voice call up from a little way off, down the stairs. 

   "Ally do you have any concealer?" 

   Allegra suddenly strode into the kitchen, and I could see that she was not in a particularly amenable mood. "What do you need concealer for? I am getting you some ice." She called down to Yasmina, through the open door. I thought she sounded a little vexed and as she turned and came into the kitchen she spotted me by the sink. "Oh, hello Edgar," she said her voice sounding tired and weary and I noticed that she had a concerned and troubled look on her face, and that her brow was furrowed by deep worry lines. As she saw me she shook her head and sighed loudly. She looked anxious and agitated over something. She did not say what was wrong but I could tell something was bothering her. She quickly moved past me and went to open the fridge. "Where is the ice?" she asked, speaking more to herself than to me, and I thought that she sounded a little irritated. She found some cubes in a tray in the freezer and set about bashing the tray against the worktop in order to shake them loose. "Pass me that towel," she said in her no nonsense fashion. Allegra always had a firm tone to her voice. It could be mistaken for being a little hard or stern and emotionless, but one look at the empathetic look on her face betrayed that she was a compassionate person. I handed her the tea towel, and as I passed it to her she lightly touched me, gently on the back of the hand and I was startled to see a type of alarm in her eyes. 

   Yasmina entered the kitchen at that moment and Allegra quickly pulled her hand away and went back to bashing the ice cube tray, shaking her head and muttering inaudibly to herself as she did so. 

     "I don't need ice Ally," Yasmina said in what I thought sounded like a false cheery sounding tone. "I will just cover it with a bit of make up. Oh hi Edgar," she said noticing me by the sink. 

   As I saw Yasmina I felt myself involuntarily break into a smile. I thought she was about to smile back, but as she did so she threw her hand up to her mouth in pain. "Ouch." she winced. "Oh Ally. It's bleeding again." 

   I noticed then that her bottom lip looked spilt and swollen. And a thin trickle of blood ran down her chin. 

   "Here," said Allegra firmly, offering her the cold compress. 

  "Don't make a fuss Ally." Yasmina said initially rejecting Allegra's healing balm and shooting a pleading look to her. She said nothing, she obviously did not need to as Allegra understood her meaning, but she nodded in my direction  as if to say 'Not here  Ally,. Let's not discuss this here in front of stranger' . 

   I, not wanting to cause her any undue embarrassment decided to look away from them and put my water bottle in my bag, ready to leave. But Yasmina surprised me by saying