At the office Randall was all three-piece suits and proper posture, but at home where he was safe from prying eyes, he much preferred oversized jumpers and lounging on his couch. His house was still perfecting organized, with everything in its proper place, except one glass of whiskey that constantly sat on the coffee table out of line with the edge of the table.
He sat at home in a jumper that he had stolen from Lix when he left, or rather ran away from her. (It was technically his in the first place, but Lix ended up wearing it far more often than he did.) He had taken it as a kind of reminder of her, or a safety blanket of sorts.
A knock came from the door, making him jump slightly before setting down his book and slowly walking to the door. He never had guests, especially the unannounced sort. The knock came again and this time he recognized it.
Lix.
He opened the door and stared at her without saying anything. She was holding a bottle of whiskey in one hand and the other was stuffed the pocket of her jacket and she was leaning against his doorframe.
“Randall,” she said simply.
“Please come in,” he said, moving out of the doorway. She followed him to the couch and he could feel the way that she was looking at the whiskey glass on the table.
“Glasses?” she asked holding up the bottle. He silently nodded before he turned to the small kitchen and grabbed two glasses and moved back to the couch. Lix had kicked off her shoes, but lined them up against the edge of the couch so that they are perfectly perpendicular to it. She’d also tucked her legs under herself and had opened the bottle. When he sat down next to her she filled the glasses and took one from him.
She downed hers quickly and poured herself another that she sipped more slowly. They stayed like that for hours, just sipping their drinks. Eventually Randall went back to his novel because watching Lix watch him was just too much. She seemed content to continue watching him as he read, though. Midnight came and went and it was almost two in the morning before Randall stood up and said he was going to go to bed.
Lix just nodded and stayed where she was.
“I can get you a blanket and pillow if you’re staying,” Randall offered after a moment of watching her stare out at nothing.
Her vision snapped back up to him. “Is that your way of asking me to leave?” she asked. “Because if it is, you’ll need to be a little more forward with me.”
“No, it’s my way of asking if you’re going to stay or leave in the middle of the night like Barcelona,” he countered quickly. His mind snapped back to when they were first getting to know each other. On particularly rough nights Lix had a tendency to show up at the little flat that he was staying in and force herself into the room. She wouldn’t speak for hours but she would drink and stare at nothing even after he was fast asleep, but in the morning she would be gone without a trace.
The corner of her mouth twitched at the memory before shaking her head. “I’ll be fine. Go to bed, Randall.”
He almost asked what had happened, but he knew she didn’t want to think about it, let alone talk about it, and he wasn’t about to make her. Instead he just turned and went to his room. He didn’t sleep much because there really wasn’t time between wondering what Lix was doing in his living room and trying to sort out his feelings about it.
When he left his room the next morning in his suit for work he found Lix still sitting on the couch, fast asleep with her head resting on the back of the couch. Silently, he went to the kitchen and started making breakfast for two. He only woke her up when he placed the coffee, just how she liked it, down on the coffee table in front of her a little more loudly than necessary.
“Good morning,” he said going to the table where he had placed his breakfast, hers was still on the counter since she changed her mind as to where she was going to eat on a regular basis.
Lix stretched as she stood up, running fingers through her hair. “Morning,” she said through a yawn. She went to the counter and grabbed a slice of her toast off the plate and started eating it over the sink. They ate in silence and she downed her coffee in a few gulps.
After she finished eating she grabbed her coat and hung it over her arm. She stood next to the door for a moment before she turned around and looked back at him. “Yesterday was her birthday,” she said before she turned around and walked out of his flat.