Settling back on the sofa with a water bottle and a few snacks, Giselle glanced at her phone and wondered about Ian's whereabouts. After a few minutes of trying to wrap her brain around not knowing anything, she gave up. At least her walk with Annie wasn't bad. It wasn't good either.

Her neighbor was right about the choices she had made. She had been naive and stupid to think she could get away with sleeping with someone living this close. What if Annie had lived further away from them? This thought made her grin sheepishly, but once she realized how dumb it was, she shook her head.

Crunch! Crunch! Crunch!

The noise it made when she chewed the salty sticks irritated her. After finishing a single stick, she put the box away, sipped some water and returned everything into the kitchen. Her body felt tired and her mind exhausted. Despite being curious how that TV show continued, she forced herself to go to bed.

The alarm shattered the dream Giselle had about trees that grew from the ceiling in a breeze that carried purple flower petals. She groaned in annoyance. Memories came back from the previous evening. In bed she had spent another thirty minutes browsing an online store for a skirt. The memory got fuzzy after that.

A quick glance to her side revealed a sleeping Ian. He had come back after all. His alarm would go off later, as usual.

Quietly she went to the bathroom and started her routine like it used to be. First off everything in the bathroom, then clothes and breakfast, after that she'd wake Ian and they'd have breakfast, then she'd leave for work.

It shouldn't have woken Ian up, her quiet search through the drawers in the wardrobe. Yet when she slipped into her pants, his phone beeped and he pushed himself up. "Morning", Ian said while rubbing his eyes. Then he yawned like a lion. "Hey. Hope you slept well? Didn't hear you come home", his wife smiled at him. She made an effort to come across casual, pushing away her curiosity. "Yeah, well, it got late. The night was okay, but I need to head out earlier today. I'll just pack some breakfast", he sighed, seemingly unhappy about getting up so early.

"Sure thing, I'll pack something in a minute", the brunette said. She thought her husband was awfully vague. Maybe it was intentional, but she was afraid of starting an argument just to quench her thirst. It wouldn't be worth it.

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A few minutes later, Ian dashed out of the house. He was in a hurry. Giselle suspected something was bugging him and she'd ask about it in the evening. Her breakfast was brief and then she packed up for work herself.

When her feet hurt her yesterday, she decided to go with a different choice in footwear. She got flats. No heel. Nothing fancy. Then she left into the stairwell for the bus.

Her key locked the door. That was when she heard a click and another door opened. It was her neighbor. The blonde woman stepped out and smiled at her brightly, "Morning Giselle!". The brunette beamed, "Hi Annie!". The fighting had been a huge burden on her, but now that it was over, relief and happiness flooded her. "You seem in a good mood?", the other woman grinned as she locked up the apartment door.

"What can I say? Happy to see you", Giselle said and Annie nodded, "Ah, I see". Both walked down the stairs. "Did you know, someone is moving in under your apartment?", the blonde said, pointing at a door without a name tag. "Didn't even know the place was empty", the brunette admitted and raised an eyebrow, "Do you know when?". Annie shrugged in response, "No clue, no. Soon I presume". "How do you know?", the older woman inquired and they walked past the door. "Some folks made a lot of noise the other days. Sounded like construction work, but it's done now", Annie explained and waved at her when they reached the ground floor. "Have a nice day!", Giselle told her neighbor and walked out to the bus station. Most other people in the apartment complex seemed to use the car to get to work or other places. Not her, she took the bus. Always had.

Laureen came in late and wasn't very talkative. When Giselle asked about it, all she got was a grumpy complaint and was waved off. Most adults become tempered and controlled eventually, but her coworker had seemingly skipped this development step. Most days, especially the ones with good mood, this wasn't an issue. Today however the woman had a problem and wasn't able to deal with it. Giselle banned her into the storage area as soon as her grumpy attitude made the customers weary of her. During the afternoon, Laury had cooled down visibly and when she approached her about it, she received her explanation, "That young fuck from the cinema? Remember him? I caught him stealing money today. From my purse of all places! Not like I have much money on me usually, but I mean, what do you do with that now?".