Away With Him

03 - Clothes Minded

The bright lights from the airport and its surrounding buildings quickly disappeared behind us and soon I couldn't see anything out of the car window except my own reflection. I'm not sure how long the drive was. Despite my urge to resist falling asleep in the car, I did doze off a few times, though each time I jerked awake suddenly thanks to a bump in the road or a sharp turn. Luckily I was awake by the time the car slowed to a stop outside a small house. Louis unlocked the front door and I stepped in after him. I tried to take a look around the house but my eyes were so heavy that they were almost closed. Camille took me by the hand and guided me up a small flight of stairs and into a room.

"This is your bedroom. I hope you sleep well. See you in the morning," she whispered before exiting the room.

I was too sleepy to take notice of anything in the room or even to take off my clothes. I collapsed on top of the bed and was asleep before my head had touched the pillow.

It was morning. My eyes weren't open yet but I knew that it was bright outside already. I rolled over on the bed and felt a strange warm air on my face. It was an unusual sensation I hadn't felt before. I peeled my right eye open slightly and found myself eye to eye with a golden retriever sitting only a few centimetres from my face. It stuck out its tongue and licked my nose and I felt that strange sensation again.

"Woah!" I shrieked as I pulled my face back the dog. But as I moved away my head slammed into the wall behind me causing a loud whack to echo around the small bedroom. Spooked, the dog let out a squeal and ran out of the room. I sat up in bed and held my hand against the back of my head where I could feel a lump forming. I rubbed the sore tender spot for a few minutes as I allowed myself to fully wake up.

The bedroom was small. Much smaller than my bedroom at home. I was sitting on a single bed which was pushed up against one wall. The door didn't fully open because it hit against the end of the bed. Opposite the bed there was a dresser below a small window. Thin white lace curtains hung from a crooked rail above the window. I parted the curtains to look outside and was shocked at what I saw. Empty green fields stretched on as far as I could see. There were about a dozen other small houses that I could see from the window, but other than that, the land looked uninhabited. I don't know how I'm going to get used to this.

There was no clock in the room so I had no idea what time it was. I pulled my phone out of my pocket but it was dead. And of course the charger was in my suitcase. Last night I hadn't even taken my wallet or my phone out of my pockets before I fell asleep. I examined the clothes that I had been wearing for over 24 hours by this point. My plain white t-shirt was a mess of wrinkles and creases. Patches of sweat were becoming visible under my armpits and I wasn't smelling too great either. They seemed only fit to be burned. But they were the only clothes I had.

After my head stopped hurting so much I heard muffled voices coming from elsewhere in the house. They're awake. Well, I better go and meet the people I'll be living with for the next four months. I ran my hand through my hair even though it did little to help it and I walked out of my bedroom.

I stepped out onto a small, narrow landing. There was a door to my right and another straight ahead of me. To the left was a short wooden staircase. I had to duck my head at the bottom of the stairs to avoid hitting the ceiling. Downstairs in the house was essentially one big room. Directly at the bottom of the stairs was a red couch with about a dozen mismatched cushions thrown on top of it. The couch faced towards a compact television atop a low coffee table. In one corner of the room there was a small wooden table set with four plates with two benches on opposites sides. And only a few feet away, Camille was standing with her back to me in front of a row of counters, a sink, a fridge and an oven.

"Good morning," I croaked, slowly approaching the table.

"Good morning! How did you sleep?" Camille beamed. As she turned to face me, I spotted a tray of fresh croissants in her hands and my lips started to tingle.