Love, Death & Second-hand Furniture | Complete

Plastic Pollution

It was a week after I discovered the "blanket trick" and Bryan and I lay on the couch together, watching Black Mirror. The huge purple blanket I bought few days prior was draped all around the both of us. It was made of the same exact blend of polyester as the other one – I made sure. The employees of Bed Bath and Beyond must have thought I was insane, with the amount of extremely specific questions I had for them, but that didn't really matter. Not when Bryan's arm was now around me (behind the blanket) and my head was resting on his shoulder (behind the blanket). I still don't know how that works, but it's no longer important. As long as I can feel him, just like this, I'll fill my house in polyester everything. We will singlehandedly save the world from plastic pollution, if it comes to it.

"This episode's fucking weird. Though I'd love me a robot dog. Don'tya think? Could have it guarding the doors at night. Maybe go pick up beer."

"It should be a good deterrent against break-ins, that's for sure," I cuddled deeper into the blanket, felt Bryan's arm tighten against me. It was a perfect evening. My current work-in-progress, brand direction for a soon-to-open bakery downtown, lay barely started scattered across the kitchen counter. The only thing there so far was the sketch of a logo and drawing of a cupcake. I'd barely began on it when Bryan threw the blanket over me, and lifted me into the air like I was nothing, nestling me into the sofa. We've not moved since. Work could wait.

My phone vibrated on the coffee table.

Are you feeling better? Up for drinks Friday?

I felt a pang of guilt for lying to Alice but I couldn't exactly tell her I missed our unmissable Friday ritual (Indian and booze) because my ghost-boyfriend and I finally found a way to touch each-other.

Not that we'd discussed the whole boyfriend thing. But I was a goddamn adult. Some things didn't need to be said out loud to be in effect.

I woke up to the surge of electricity on my cheek. We moved, in our respective sleep, and the blanket had slipped down.

It was a dark night, and quiet. The moon was hidden behind thick clouds and no sounds came in from the street. It's never been so quiet here so long as I could remember. I fought the urge to scream, just to inject some sound into the atmosphere. The quiet was deafening, claustrophobic. There may have been nobody else left in the city. It lay upon me, thick as snow and suffocating. Breathing was harder.

"Clara, you alright? What's wrong? Come to bed."

My stirring woke Bryan, and, half-asleep, he commandeered me to the bedroom. Slowly, the sounds returned.

Must have been a nightmare. Must have still been half-asleep.

"I'm alright. Go back to sleep."

He looked at my sceptically.

"You look pale. Do you want me to stay up with you?"

I shook my head no.

"Alright. Just, make sure to wake me if you can't sleep, ok? I don't mind."

He fell asleep in moments and I followed not much later.

I didn't think anything of it, in the following days, just a strange half-dream like any other. To be honest, the weeks have passed in bliss, and so I didn't worry about anything else. Work was finished on time, but just about. Alice and Jamie suggested meeting after meeting, but Bryan and I were too busy trying to cram a life's worth of being together into one spring. We watched movies, or binged tv shows each night. I woke up at his side each morning. It was hard to imagine it's ever been different – this felt like normality. Even if I couldn't exactly call Mum and gush about my new partner or complain to Alice if we had a spat. Minor problem, that. Didn't matter in the grand scheme of things.

Bryan remembered almost everything now. Almost – with the exception of it, of that last part. He still had that look on his face, sometimes, when the apartment would go cold and, for the lack of a better word, swampy. I was sure by now that the atmosphere was directly correlated to his moods. It broke my heart, watching him like that.

"Hey stranger," I sat on the coffee table opposite from him. Bryan shook himself out of the stupor and focused on me. The apartment immediately grew warmer. I don't think he even knew, or noticed, that he did that.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"About what?" he looked confused.

"You've been lost in that peanut of yours for a couple hours now, anything I can help you with?"

Bryan laughed. "Peanut?"

"Yeh. That head of yours. Its shaped exactly like a peanut shell. I can even hear the little peanut rattling around inside there when you're thinking."

"Oi, 's not nice is it? 'peanut' of all things. I don't have a peanut head!"

I grabbed the blanket of the couch, put it up to my lips and kissed the top of his head through it.

"Course not. You've a gorgeous head. Even though it looks like a peanut."

Bryan laughed and wrestled me playfully to the couch. I reached to touch his face, but only felt the spark. He was looking me deep in the eyes, and became serious, all of sudden.

"I love you."