Blind

chapter eight

Living with a boy wasn't easy. In fact it was the opposite of easy. It was damn difficult. Alina knew from the start that it was going to be that way. She wasn't under any false illusions that boys were the role model of roommates. No. She knew better than that.

Nevertheless she did kind of hope that Noah would be somehow helpful. At least in his part of the house which practically consisted of his room and half of the bathroom. But apparently even that, was too much to ask.

Noah would wake up at eight o'clock every morning, taking off at nine, and would be back by eight in the evening so that he'd eat and then go out again.

That was pretty much how everyday went by. And every single day he did nothing. He didn't even clean his own room. Alina was actually scared to go in there, basically because she wouldn't be able to stand still, let alone walk around and clean it. So she hadn't gone in there since the day Noah had moved in.

But today she was determined. It was past noon and having already walked Debra and cleaned the rest of the apartment she found herself with nothing to do. So she decided to end her misery and, changing into a pair of yoga tights and a top, that she'd never under any circumstances wear in front of other people, she approached the unspeakable room.

She stood in front of the door with her hands on her hips and a confident look on her face. At least she tried to look confident. She lifted her arms and found the wooden door and then the doorknob. Then she opened it and took a step inside. She heard a panting behind her and turned around.

"Deb, you stay here. Okay girl?"

The dog barked once in agreement and Alina turned to face the room.

"Now," she said mostly to herself. "Where should I start?"

She stretched one leg forward and moved it around to see if there were any objects laying in her way. She spotted some and walking closer she bent down and picked them up.

One was a shoe and the other, she realised too late, was Noah's underwear. She made a grimace and held it in her lap. She picked up several other clothes and boxers on her way, some more clean than others but altogether filthy, and held them in her arms till there wasn't enough room there. So she exited the room carefully and headed to the bathroom where she released the unbearable smelly pile of clothes in the washer.

She made that root a couple of times more and after that, she dusted off the shelves and put the vacuum on to clean the carpet, and when she entered Noah's room again she decided that it would be best to take a break. So she sat down on his bed letting out a tired sigh.

She rubbed her neck with her hand while laying on the hard mattress. She turned her head to the side. This room was mostly used by Stella, the days when she came over to stay. Although from time to time her parents stayed there too. Now it was filled with Noah's presence and it was really weird.

She took a deep breath through her nose and all she could smell was him. It was a light smell of coconut mixed with sea water.

He smelled of summer.

She couldn't help the smile that appeared on her lips. It was so Noah.

She shook her head to focus and jumped off the bed with a determined cheer. She moved around the room for a while and then shook her head with a satisfied smile.

There were no longer scattered clothes everywhere and the fear of stumbling somewhere, was gone.

So having cleaned everything, she stepped towards the nightstand and the closet. Although she knew this room by hard she couldn't help but lift her arms in front of her while she walked. The danger of being knocked down by a forgotten item on the floor was still imminent.