Beyond the Pain

Chapter 7

"THESE WILL BECOME YOURBEST  friends," Ashley said showing me a pile of cleaning products. "Other than me, obviously. We'll share mine for today, and I'll show you where to get your own tomorrow morning. So, weekday mornings, after we get our stuff from the supply closet downstairs, we come up here and clean the bedroom assigned to us that day. Before our lovely introduction, I managed to do all the dusting." She grabbed the duster from the top of her supply to show it off to me. "And the walls and ceiling." She put the duster back down to pick up a microfiber mop. "The handle is extendable and this mop head is specifically for walls and ceilings. You should only use it dry. Don't make the same mistakes I did. When you're ready to clean the floors, you just switch to the ordinary mop head. Any questions?"

That was a lot of information at once and, though it seemed pretty self-explanatory, I didn't know if I was in the right headspace to remember all of it.

"Don't worry. You don't have to memorize everything today. There's a sticker with the list of chores in every supply basket and all the products are labeled. If I can do it, so can you! It's idiot-proof! Not that I think you're an idiot, that's not what I meant. I'm sure you'll get the hang of it in no time."

She gave me two awkward pats on the shoulder before scratching the back of her head.

"Well, before I put my foot in my mouth again, we should start working." She handed me a small colorful cloth and a spray bottle of yellow disinfectant. "You can disinfect the doorknobs, light switches, bedside tables, and dresser. I'll clean the windows, and we'll vacuum and mop the floors when we're done."

I did as I was told and got to work. I started with the detailed brass doorknob, then moved on to the matching light switch. The side tables didn't take me much more time, and I finished with the dresser soon enough.

Mounted above it on the wall was a huge picture of a couple. The beautiful young woman was a few inches taller than her partner. Her revealing white dress cascaded down her body in a flattering way. The darkhaired young man next to her embraced her lovingly as they both flashed wide smiles at the camera. There was nothing out of the ordinary about that picture, yet I couldn't take my eyes off of it.

There was a picture of my parents in which they had posed in a similar way. It had been the one used at the funeral, greeting mourners as they had entered the funeral home. It had made some people smile and others cry, but, for some reason, they all had felt the need to tell me that this picture reflected how my parents would be remembered, as if that was supposed to mean anything. It wasn't how I wanted to remember them, not as two-dimensional and frozen in time. They weren't only an amalgamation of picture-perfect moments. In fact, they mostly weren't.

"Lily," Ashley said startling me. "Sorry, I didn't want to scare you. You just hadn't moved in the past five minutes, and I was starting to ask myself if you were having an out-of-body experience or something."

"I'm sorry, I got lost in my thoughts."

Ashley shrugged, her squeegee and bottle of window cleaner in hands.

"Don't worry about it, it happens to me all the time, sometimes even when I'm speaking. But to be fair, I talk a lot so it's bound to happen a few times. Anyway, I'm gonna get the mop ready. If you're done, could you start vacuuming, please."

She responded to my nod with two thumbs up and disappeared into the ensuite bathroom.

As we were putting our cleaning supplies back in the corner of the room, the watch on Ashley's wrist started beeping. She smiled from ear to ear as she turned the alarm off.

"Finally! It's time for lunch. We can leave all of that here. We'll be back this afternoon to clean the bathroom. Come!"

I struggled to keep up with her as she almost sprinted down the stairs to the kitchen. As we passed through the doors, the delicious smells of freshly baked bread, roasted vegetables and barbecued meat flooded my nostrils and made me salivate. I hadn't realised I was hungry until this moment.