HOME | DD

Description
People walked by in their own hurry. Dressed in thick fall jackets, the fray on their scarves were being tossed around in the wind. Geoff watched as people went by, observing how they changed with the declining weather. It was warm in the sun, but the wind made it much too uncomfortable to open the window. Javert pawed at the glass impatiently waiting for it to open up.
"Not today, Javert" He looked at the cat, and the cat looked back with a cross stare. Geoff went into the kitchen and got out a small pot of exceptionally long grass out of a cupboard and set it out on the counter to keep Javert busy. Geoff returned to the window, this time with a small notebook, and wrote things down as he watched. Small notes about the way people walked, the length of their strides, 3/4 blocks or one block, he counted the different colours of coats, things they were carrying, and how many people were wearing boots.  He sketched out shapes of people that he thought were particularly interesting.
Soon into his writing, Geoff stopped and became absorbed in the movement of the city, everyone walking around with somewhere to go, whether it be their home, or perhaps just to the next square of cement on the ground.
"Geoff, are you home"
"Oh, hey Mark. What are you doing here" Geoff replied as he awoke from daydreaming.
"Do you still want to meet me downstairs for lunch?"
"Oh yeah, let me throw something else on." Mark has been Geoff's friend since they met when they were thirteen and Mark moved to town. They don't have much in common, and are probably only friends because neither of them have any other friends. "Okay, I'm ready to go."
"Don't forget your wallet, dude."
.  .  .

Geoff sat across from Mark watching him stuff his face with eggs and toast. There was a solid spray of spit and debris flying from the corners of his mouth.
"Are you close to finishing your thesis yet?"
"No, I still have quite a bit to do. What makes you ask?"
"It's been almost a year, Geoff. Is something wrong with you?"
"Nothing, I just want to take my time with it, that's all."
"I call bull shit on that, Geoff. I think you're scared to get your master's."
"What makes you say that?"
"Because you're a pussy."
"Thanks, Mark."
"Well it's true. You can't even talk to women."
"You're not any better at it."
"At least I can get laid, Geoff."
"No you can't, Mark."
"Shut-up, Geoff, how would you know?" Geoff Stared at him from across the table. Cranberry juice in hand, he said,
"Because you're a tool."
"Shut-up, Geoff." Geoff threw the last few pieces of cantaloupe into is  mouth and finished up the last of his juice.
"See you later, tool." Geoff said as he slid out of the booth and made his way over to pay at the counter.

Upon leaving the cafe, instead of going upstairs to his apartment Geoff decided to pick up a few things from the connivence store a block down. As he approached the street to cross, the light turned red. He turned to push the button to cross, and looked down. There was a list at his feet. He picked it up and it read:
Bananas
        Cucumbers
Lotion
Coffee
Powdered Sugar
Geoff stood and thought about the list's contents. He didn't have any of these things in his kitchen. Perhaps he would add this to his own list.
The walk down the block was cool. He passed three people heading in the opposite direction, and when we walked into the connivence store called Joe's, there was but two people there, buying milk, cheese, a bag of gummy bears and a box of condoms. Geoff walked down the first aisle of the small store, picking up a bag of oranges as well as three bananas and a cucumber. He picked up a can of soup, a sandwich from the small deli and the rest of the things on the foreign list. He payed the man at the front counter, and left back to his home. The sun was on the edge of the horizon and in Geoff's eyes the whole block home. We walked upstairs above the Café to his apartment where Javert greeted him with a welcome rub, anticipating dinner. Geoff put a cup in his bowl, then put away his loot from the store, and head off to the bathroom to get ready for bed.
Javert is taken care of and Geoff's pajamas (wool socks and underwear) are on. He has his clothes set out for work tomorrow, but before he turns off the light and turns on the telivision for the night, he steps into the kitchen for a brief moment to grab a banana and eat a small snack before bed. He peeled it and disposed of the yellow shell into a compost bin separate from the regular waste and then disposed of the sweet flesh into his mouth. The wood floor was cold on his feet as he stepped of the kitchen tile to return to his room for sleep.

Geoff didn't know where he was. The air was dusty and dry. There was fog blanketing the surrounding landscape, making it next to impossible to see anything around him, lest the few tress standing close, just beyond the reach of his toes. He struggled to stand up, his head pouding inside his skull, beating a strange kind of morse code in his head, and his legs sore, knees buckling as though they've never held up the weight of hos body before. He slowly turned to scope out his things around him. Though he was disoriented, he could understand that there was but only trees to his left and right. He buried his hands into his head, trying to rub the fog out of his sight. When his eyes re-adjusted, there was still a heavy mist clouding the air, but now Geoff could see a path in front of him. He started moving towards it. It was paved with what looked like clay, and had small stones imbedded into it at various intervals. It looked as though it only lead to more trees, but Geoff took ut upon himself to walk down it anyway, figuring it was better to get out of the clearing of trees rather than stick around.
As he moved down the path, one foot in front of the other, different sounds started to cut through the fog and reach him. Birds started chirping. he could hear the leaves ruffling around with each other. Water was moving fast, past rocks and falling over small drops in the river bed. As Geoff continued down the path, life continued to blossom, through the fog and wrap around him. Geoff was excited to reach the end, taking bigger, more confidant strides, nearly running. The trees seemed to open up around him, the path getting wider, the sound of the water getting louder and now he could see the birds that were making the chatter amung themselves. The birds were actually growing in numbers at a rapid pace. They were swarming around his head, diving in pairs in front of him. The swarm was slowly moving down, their wings flapping with furocity, blocking out all the peace around him with a heavy wind. Geoff was disoriented, violently swatting at the birds, now in his face; he could not see where he was going. He covered his head with his right arm, and thrashed around his other, ducking and running. The birds were pecking at him, and Geoff continued to run, pushing himself as fast as he could carry himself. He did not know if he was on the path anymore, all he could focus on was getting out of the swarm. He ran and ran, until his side ran into a branch, and he stumbled off in a tangent, trying to keep himself from falling. Suddenly, the ground was no longer under him, there was no more long grass and no more dirt, just air -- he was falling, air rushing past him. It seemed as though he fell for tens of minutes, and then a chill flew up his back, and he felt uncomfortable. The cold radiated from his back to all over, and he felt constricted. The falling stopped, but he was moving in another direction now. Geoff's arms were thrashing about and it stung to keep his eyes open, so he held them shut tightly. He kept on thrashing until he could hear noise again, this time all he could hear was the sound of rushing water, and then he realised that we was in the rushing water, and it was carrying him downstream. He felt tree droppings brush by his feet and small fish nibble at his toes. The water was slowly getting warmer, and more and more fish were gathering around his feet. He tried to kick them away, but more kept swimming up to him, He kicked harder and harder, the nibbling turning to biting, the fish persistent until the river dumped him into a small lake, almost small enough to be called a pond. His legs were very tired, and then became sore again. Geoff floated them up to the surface and floated on his back. The current was relaxing as it slowly pushed him around and rocked him back and forth, though it didn't last long as he was beached onto a dark sandy shore. The granules of sand were silky on his thighs and back, he was too tired to stand. He ran his fingers through the sand slowly, relaxing himself, until he realised that he was naked, and then thought back to where he started in the clearing, not sure if he was ever wearing clothes, and now very confused as to where they went.
"Geoff!" A woman's voice shouted from the distance. He raised his head and looked around quickly to find the source. "Geoff!"
"What?"
"Over here!" He kept scanning around, looking for the voice, but to no avail.
"Ge-off!"
"Where are you!"
"Geoff!" She popped up behind him, running her fingers through her hair.
"Who are you?"
"Would you like some chips and salsa?"
"Wha-?"

Geoff woke up in a cold sweat. He whipped his head around the room. He was in his bed, the sun  was coming in through the window, and everything looked as though it was in it's place. He lifted the blanket to make sure that what he had on was still there, and it was. The time on his alarm clock showed 10:30 AM, he had slept in. The comforter got tangled around his ankles as Geoff lept out of bed into the bathroom to shower. He couldn't get his socks and underwear fast enough, and ended up falling over trying to do so.
The hot water ran over his body and calmed down his jumbled thoughts. He wasn't completely sure what had happened during the night, and he was confused about the woman that he saw. He thought about the dream the entire length of the shower, then jumped out and got ready in a hurry. Geoff had arranged a meeting downstairs in the diner at eleven with a co-worker, and didn't not want to be late. Geoff had no time to gather any of the project that he had wanted to bring along, so he just grabbed his work-bag from off the back of his desk chair and hoped that he had enough material in there. Throwing on his grey blazer and slipping on his shoes at the same time, he flew out the door and down the stairs to the diner.

"Do you have the prototype with you, Geoff?"
"Um, I have..." Geoff frantically looked through his bag while Mary fixed her eyes on him looking while sipping the tea she ordered while waiting. Geoff had never cared for Mary as a person -- she was high strung and annoyingly punctual, though a really great person to work with. Because she was high strung and punctual, the projects they collaborated on for work were usually done very much on time and beyond good quality. "I have something here for you," Geoff could feel her eyes fixated on him, judging very loudly his unpreparedness.
"Do you have it, or not, Geoff?"
"Um, no, I left it upstairs in my apartment."
"Well, that's great Geoff. Take me up there so we can work on it."
"Excuse me?"
"Let's go upstairs, Geoff. We can't work on something that's not here." Geoff certainly did not want to go up there. He could barely stand Mark loitering in his doorway, much less have Mary come in and sit down on the furniture. Geoff's Apartment his is own space; his messy, disorganized, cat hair infested space. Javert especially didn't like strangers either. "Are you coming?" Geoff was lost in doleful thought while Mary already had her foot out the door.

Geoff had a hard time unlocking the door, he was so hesitant to let her in his apartment. "Alright, mary, um, let yourself in, I guess." Javert ran to the door to great Geoff's returning, and when he was met with an awful smell, he whined and turned away.
"Ew, you have a cat." Geoff could see that mary was scanning his space in disgust, her nose up in there air trying to avoid the smell of bachelor, looking for where to sit.
"The couch is over there behind my desk, I'm going to go grab the boards and everything." She walked on her toes over the plush navy blue couch that sat infront of a very large window. Outside she could see the city below, cars going by and people walking down the street, and she felt slightly mesmerised by the busy activity, on a late monday afternoon. Geoff came stumbling into the living room from his bedroom with two large white cardboard displays and set them up agaisnt his glass coffee table, then went over the the black cupboard by the desk on which his computer sat upon to get a paper model out and bring it over as well. "Here, this is everything I've worked on so far."  Mary looked at everything with a harsh technical eye. Geoff wasn't nervous before, but the intensity of her stare made him sweat a little.
"I'm impressed, Geoff. It looks like you spent a lot of time on this." Geoff was surprised at her reaction, and had a hard time of finding what to say next. "I think we're in good shape for the meeting this Wednesday." She looked up at him with an appreciative smile, and he smiled back at her, feeling good about the work he did. "I guess there isn't much that we have to add on is there?"
"I suppose n-not."
"Do you want to go back downstairs to eat something?" Geoff was surprised at her tone, it had changed from her usual snarky judgement and she seemed a lot more patient.
"Um, sure. Let's go." Geoff put his coat and shoes back on, and locked the door as they headed downstairs.

"What do you recommend here?" Mary had her face buried into the menu, carefully weighing all of her choices.
"Usually, I just get fruit or pie and a glass of cranberry juice."
"That's it? There's five pages of food, and you stick with that?"
"It works for me." Geoff was befuddled at her change of person, it's almost like someone flipped a switch on her back.
"What can I get for you two?" The waitress who came up to them was the same one that served Geoff every day he came down. She was a nicely sized woman, who was working full time this summer to save up for an apartment, but summer turned into fall when her boyfriend stopped working full time to concentrate more on school, and left her stuck living with her parents for another quarter of school. But that's another story. She liked Geoff, he was easy to take care of and could always be counted on to leave a tip. And the feeling was mutual. Geoff could always count on the waitress to be quick and efficient. Plus, she knew his usually, and Geoff was delighted at the idea that he had "a usual."
"I'll have my usual."
"And you, miss?"
"I'll just have a cup of tea and a muffin."
"Almond, blueberry, orange cranberry-"
"Surprise me."
"Will do." She finished writing and left though the big kitchen doors, her butt swaying side to side.
"So, Geoff," she looked at him with kind eyes and rested her head in both her hands, a very cliché gesture. "How's everything?"
"Uh, it's fine I guess." He was taken aback by her question, for Mary had never taken an interest in his personal life before.
"Are you still in school or did you finally finish your degree?"
"Well, actually, no, I'm still working on my thesis."
"Hasen't it been a while? Did something go wrong?"
"Um, no, I've just been taking, well I mean, there's been some personal things-"
"Geoff! Hey!" It was Mark, he had just walked into the diner with a woman who looked like she didn't really want to be here. "Hey, buddy. I knew I'd find you here. Me and the new lady friend here were going out for lunch, and I told her that they have great pie here. Mind if we join you?" Without hesitating Mark flew into the seat with Geoff in it, pushing him over with his donut-stuffed thighs. Mary slid over politely for Mark's new "lady friend", who was clearly an attempt to reconcile his manhood from the conversation that they held earlier. She had the same shape as a box of Nilla Wafers, but squeezed into skinny jeans, and with limp brown hair that grazed her shoulders. She looked nice, but Geoff picked up in her waggishness disposition, and was weary of her sitting with them. She seemed that she was a good match for Mark, even if he just saw her as a lay.
"Have you guys already ordered?"
"Yes, we put in our order, but it was just for baked goods and tea, so she should be back soon." Mark could still not get over the change in Mary, it was as if someone had flipped a switch in her back.
"So what were you two doing here anyway?"
"We were talking about work, actually. Mary have you met Mark yet?"
"No, I don't believe I have. Are you too good friends?"
"Actually, we met when we were little kids, so we're REALLY good friends." This was Mark's attempt at causal humor, and it never worked. He was awkward around strangers, and when there was now a potential mate involved, he was even worse. Mark had no idea about how to act in public, it was as if he grew up in the wild, until he met Geoff.
"Oh, that's nice." Mary said with an uninterested nod.
"Here you go." The waitress had thankfully intervened at just the right moment, coming in with both arms full. "Can I get the new comers anything?"
"Just a piece of pie and some coffee."
"I'll have what he's having." she said, alluding to Meg Ryan. Geoff rolled his eyes, and Mary and Mark giggled.
"Coming right up." Even the waitress had felt tired by this old joke. She left back into the kitchen again, and the conversation continued on it's awkward down spiral.
The group kept on talking about things like college and strange dates, and hidden gems around the city. Soon everyone had food in front of them, and they were happily eating. Some more happy than others, Mark mostly, and they were socializing like all good young adults should.
After the food was gone, Mark took over the conversation, his lady friend having a delightful time, giggling at every other word that shot out of his mouth without first being approved by his brain, and Mary soon made a game with the clock, seeing how many times she had to look at it before it changed. It was nearly one, and they had been there far too long.
"Well, it's getting late into the morning, I better head back to the office." Mary cut into Mark, in a desperate attempt to leave.
"Oh, I'll walk with you. There is a few things I should probably pick up from the office myself."
"Great, we'll go together." Mark and his company scooted out of the vinyl, releasing their conversational prisoners. "I enjoyed meeting both of you."
"Yeah, it was great!" Mark and his over-acheving enthusiasm. "We'll see you two later, I'm sure. Oh, and Geoff, We'll be putting this on your tab." He gave the most terrible wink, and Geoff spit out a laugh at how pathetic Mark's social skills were.
"You coming, Geoff?" Mary already had both her feet out the door, ready to get going.

They were walking side by side down the street in awkward silence. Usually they didn't talk to each other at all during work, but there was a thick feeling in the air between them that rubbed them both the wrong way. "Are you cold?" Mary was just wearing a small blazer, and though the walk to their office building was short, the air still had a piercing shiver in it. "No, I'm okay, thanks." Geoff had only another blazer to offer her, but it was another layer.
"How long have you lived here, Geoff?"
"In Synecdoche? My whole life. I grew up in the suburbs, but moved downtown for college."
"It's a great city, isn' it?"
"Yeah, it is." A large group of people walked by them who looked like they were on their way to to or from some kind of art showing. They were dressed up in tule and feathers and had glitter smeared across their fluorescent makeup. Mary watched as they walked by and turned around to watch them walk away. She sighed and smiled, and it wasn't awkward anymore.

The lobby of where Geoff and Mary worked was streaked with bright oranges and pinks. The entire building had a handful of different businesses among the thirty or so floors, and they both worked for a small advertising company that was spread out on the 11th, 12th, 13th, and 15th floors. Right in the middle, with a great view, unfortunately, they shared a spacious cubicle that was in the middle of the 12th floor. There was a receptionist's desk that sat in the middle left of the room, and most of the time it sat empty, but on occasion a temp sat there, not knowing what she was doing.
Geoff and Mary shared an elevator ride up, and got off together, both heading for their desks. She moved piles of paper over to sit down, while Geoff leaned against the desk.
"What were you picking up?"
"Nothing, I just saw an opportunity to get out of that and took it. Mary laughed, and swivled around in her chair so her body was facing Geoff's. She looked relaxed, something Geoff would never have described her as before. "Well, I better get going back home. I have some projects that need my attention"
"I guess I'll see you around then?"
"I'm sure you will" Geoff took his leave, and pushed the button to ride the elevator down. He watch the numbers light up as the elevator lifted itself to him. The 12 light up and the doors opened, but he wasn't alone, as there was a woman on a cell phone that would be sharing the ride.
"Hey, Matt... No, did you read it? Ha ha, she got pushed into him, it was so funny." As she talked, Geoff took out the small sketch book he had in his bag, and began to write down what she was saying. "He said that it would be really awkward if both of them came... No... No, he's going to bring Noodles... I know, it makes me want to quit." Geoff kept scribing on the paper, as fast as his hand would allow him too. "I think that was a typo." Geoff wasn't sure why he journaled things like these, but he felt like they were important, or that they would be one day. "I was reading about Stockholm Syndrome, and she didn't even mention it!"

...

Geoff went home. The walk was uneventful, for he didn't run into too many people, nor was there anything interesting to be observed. He unlocked the door to the stairway up to the hallway in which his abode was. He unlocked the door and Javert came up to welcome him again. He was thankful he had Javert to come home to everyday. He took off his shoes and jacket, and then went into the kitchen to replenish Javert's food dish. It was running quite low and he got cranky if it wasn't at the suitable level. Geoff also gave him fresh water, and got a cucumber from the fridge to slice up and eat while he worked. He only meant to cut up half, but ended up cutting the whole log into small slices, he put them on a small white plate and carried them over to the living room. He put the plate on his coffee table and then sat in his large white over stuffed chair and looked out the window. It was quite out, and then sun was starting to set. He forgot how short the daylight was in the fall. Too short. He got up quickly to get his small sketch book from his bag, and get a much larger one out from one of the drawers of his black desk. He laid down on the couch with both in hand, and started to sketch things blown up from the small book onto the larger one. He had sketched a couple of birds sitting out on a tree branch outside the window of the diner a couple weeks ago, and wanted to blow it up to make a stencil. Geoff had a small hobby of making graffiti stencils since his sophomore year in college, when he found that he loved art, and planned on going out one night to paint the city, but he was too hesitant, and had not yet found the courage to do so. In a cupboard on the side of his desk, there was maybe fourteen stencils that were waiting to be taken out for a night on the town.

He was working well into the night, it was about eight 'o clock now, and he had gotten home from his escapades at around three. He had pushed all of the furniture in the living room back against the walls, and had heavy paper and tape spread out all over the floor, and was using an X-acto knife to cut out his design. He had already did the birds, and was now doing a stencil of a sheep. It's not that he had seen a sheep within the city, but had seen a picture in a small store he wandered into a while back, and he liked the way it looked. I suppose he did see a sheep in the city. Geoff was fully into working right now, and feeling good about what he had done so far. He had eaten most of the cucumber slices, and the two or three that remained were being licked dry by Javert, who would soon finish with the vegetables, and find a corner on he couch to curl up and sleep on. He was tired. Geoff was still working away when a knock came about his door. He sighed and yelled "What do you need Mark?" but he was answered only by another set of knocks. He slowly stood up and hobbled over to the door, his legs feelingless from sitting on them in various uncomfortable positions for so long. Geoff turned the deadbolt and swung open the door. It was Mary with a small white box in hand.
"What are you doing here?"
"I brought you a little something as a gift." She held the box out in her hands straight out from her body, and Geoff picked it up. He opened it, and inside there were four cupcakes, all of a different variety.
"What are these for?"
"A thank you. For doing so well on our project." He looked at her with an eyebrow raised. "I couldn't have done that myself." She stood there for a while, and smiled, then turned her body slowly to leave.
"Why don't you come in again. We can share." Geoff tried to smile back, but he felt weird after inviting her in to his home again. Her face light up though, after he had said this and she turned back and walked in through the doorframe. She took off her shoes and Geoff took her coat, and hung it on the hooks behind his front door. She stood there with her hands held together in front of her, waiting to be invited to sit. Geoff led her into the kitchen, and sat the cupcake box down in front of one of the three barstools on one side of the counter. He walked to the cupboards next to the fridge and got out two short glasses. "Would you like something to drink?" 
"Do you have orange juice?"
"Just cranberry."
"That sounds good." He poured two glasses of red drink, and set them next to the box. He got two small plates from a cupboard with glass plating before sitting down next to her.
"There's carrot cake, red velvet, coffee cake, and cream cheese. I didn't know what you liked, so I got a hodgepodge."
"Those all sound really good to me." Geoff said, trying to be polite. He wasn't sure why Mary was giving him this peace offering, but he wasn't going to reject it. He was trying to sound as excited as possible, as to not hurt her feelings or make anything awkward again.
"You pick first." Geoff pulled the Carrot cake one out of the box, not without getting frosting from all the others all over his hands though. He liked the frosting carrot that was piped onto the op of the frosting, and assumed that you couldn't go wrong with carrot cake.  She took the cream cheese one, but was much more neat that Geoff when she took it out of the box. They each took a bite in silence, staring at the back of the wall.
"So, where did you get these?"
"The bakery off 12th street. I think they only do cupcakes and cookies. Oh, and espresso too, I believe."
"I think I've walked past there before. Is there a big whisk out front?"
"That's the one." They both chuckled and continued trying to fit their mouths around the cakes. The rest of the eating was silent, as well as the drinking of the juice.
"What happened to your living room?"
"Oh, I'm just working on something. Nothing important." Mary got up slowly and walked over to look. She bent down and was examining Geoff's work. He tried not to watch her do so, as he was very embarrassed to have anyone see. 
"What are these for?"
'Well, they're stencils. For painting and things like that." His head was still bent down forward, focusing on the white plate with brown crumbles on it.
"I like this sheep one."
"You do?"
"Yeah, I like the way you're cutting out the fur up here." She waggled her fingers around the top to show him. He stood up and walked over next to her to look at his own work. He liked it too, but he never thought anyone else would.
"Thanks." He turned and smiled at her, and she turned her head towards his to catch it and smile back. He looked away, but she stayed turned and concentrated on his profile. She leaned over and kissed the side of his face, his skin was clean and slightly sprinkled with stubble. He stood up straight and took a step back and looked at her, not sure what to feel right then. She looked down at her feel and Geoff walked around his work on the floor over to the couch. He sat slightly to the side and looked out the window at the lights from the lamp poles and street signs reflect off the dew on the glass. Mary walked over to him and sat too. She looked out the window withcF him, but Mary concentrated on the sky, rather than the street below them. She looked at the stringy clouds and the skyline wrapping around the view from the window. She turned to him again and leaned in slightly. He leaned back and kissed her. Geoff was confused as they sat on the couch embracing. He didn't know what had changed in her, and he wasn't sure why he gave into her kiss, and he knew that this wasn't something that he would usually do, but he gave into himself and ran his hands across her back. He took the clip out of her hair and let it fall down past her shoulders, and ran his fingers over the straps of her bra. She raised her hands up to his hair and grabbed a handful, and held on. She pulled him back on top of her, and started unbuttoning his shirt. Geoff now felt beyond himself, not feeling the canvas of the couch, or the chill on his bare skin, and didn't even feel like himself. He felt outside of himself, just a bystander to this bizarre affair. He lost himself to her skin and fingers twirling the hidden waves and curls in his dark hair. He felt her hand move down and unbuckle his belt. Then he was lost again, to the touch, and the since long ago feeling of a primal nature take over his body. He really let go, and felt like he was floating, in nothing.

  A cool dawn was coming in the window. The light warmed the room and light up the bed with a body inside. Feet wiggled at the end of the bed. The sun kept rising higher and continued to light up the small cottage bedroom. The wiggling feet kicked off the thick cotton blanket covering the woman. She sat up and stared out the window for a few thoughtful moments. She stood up then shivered, and walked off the bathroom while she took off her nightgown. When she came out again, she was clean and dressed in an old shirt tucked into loose jeans. She closed the door behind her as she went into the kitchen.
She pulled on a filthy pair of garden boots and threw on a long corduroy jacket that was a colour slightly darker than the boots. The clock on the wall had both of it's hands on the five, and the still rising sun gleamed of the doom of glass covering the face. The woman smiled as she looked out the glass window in the door, and let out a big sigh. She opened the door, and before it was even two inches from the frame, and large black shadow darted out, and turned around to "meow" at the woman walking down the three concrete steps. The trees rustle and birds fly into them. It's peaceful and you can't hear a sounds. It's as if the waves to make them haven't even woken up yet. The cat races the woman to a large wooden shed. It wins and paws at the door for it to open. She eventually catches up and takes a long brass key out from one of her pockets. It makes two large clicking noises as it tumbles and then releases from the door, falling to the grass below it. The cat and the woman enter, fumbling about for things the shed holds, and soon emerge out of it. She's carrying two pails of seed and oats, and the cat comes out behind her, toting a small brown mouse in it's mouth behind her. They walked together to a humble chicken coop, and she clicked her mouth, and out came two roosters. She spread the feed out before the two, and they started to eat while four more chickens came trotting out the small door and down the small plank. They all eagerly peck away at the ground, chortling and squawking as they bobbed up and down. She looked down and laughed at the chickens, and then walked over to another pen to feed others. This one was full of sheep. Tens of sheep. She threw the bucket up, letting all the oats and everything fall down over the ground. The sheep all started to bleet and run, shoving each other to get to the food.
"Haha! Geoff look at them go!"

Geoff woke up on the rug in front of his couch. He was under a small throw blanket, but naked otherwise. It was eight in the morning, and he was confused again at his dream. He stood up and draped what blanket there was to run into his room for fresh clothes. He pulled a crisp pair of boxers out of the drawer, and slipped them on, as well as a pair of socks and a shirt he used to sleep in. Geoff walked into the kitchen to get a glass of water. He filled up a cup with tap water, and walked into his living room to sit down and watch something on the television. He turned it on to the news, but there was a morning show on and they were just talking about food. He turned his head out to the window and watched people on their commute to work, walking, driving, and the rare bicyclist at this time of year. People were still in their winter coats, scarves still flapping, and boots still treading on, block after block. It took him until now to realize that he was alone in his apartment. He looked over to the door, and there was only his own coat and shoes on the hooks and on the mat. He wasn't sure when Mary had left, or what exactly happened last night. He got up to go over to his bag hanging next to his coat, and took out his neglected cell phone. There were only two messages from Mark, one saying, "Guess what" with a semi-colon smile face, and the other just inquiring where he was. Geoff knew this implied that Mark had slept with his friend, or at least tried to, and was lying about what actually happened. He was hesitant to go into work that day, but knew he probably should, there was usually reason enough to have him come in three or four days of the week, and if he didn't he would get a terrible call from one cubicle over telling him that he was in trouble, though he wasn't. Geoff walked into the kitchen to feed and give fresh water to Javert as usual, then went into his bathroom to get showered and ready for work.
He put his coat and shoes on and locked the door as it shut behind him. Javert sat in the door way and stared him down as he closed it slowly. He was walking down the hall towards the stairs and it hit him that he left all of his paper and stencil work out, and hoped that Javert wouldn't decide to chew or pee on anything while he was gone. He opened the glass door at the bottom of the stairs and walked out onto the sidewalk with the rest of the working force. There wasn't many people out now, as most of them were already at work. He walked past the train station and a few different boutiques and consignment shops. Everything was just starting to open, women flipping over or on the "open signs" in just about every window. There was a small van infront of a small café with a man carrying boxes out the back into the front door. People getting ready for the day looked good. Geoff enjoyed the busyness and the commerce. He walked past a yarn shop and inside there were women sitting in a large circle in the front window, working away on a variety of needles, hooks, and looms.
The walk up to his own building was not so nice. Geoff was nervous to confront Mary; he did not know how she felt or what had happened, and was not ready to deal with the social repercussions. He walked in and as usual there was no receptionist, and the lobby was empty except for the furniture. He walked to the elevators and pushed the button to go up. There was nobody inside so he rose up alone. When the light lit 12, the doors opened and he got off on his floor. It was unusually quiet, and some of the lights were off. He walked through a path of cubicles to his own, and it was filled with papers and his desk, but no other people. He peeked over to the cubicle that shared a wall with his desk, and saw that Jon had come in today, and was working on his own project.
"Where is everyone?"
"Half the office is at a confrence thing, and most of the other people took today off since so many people were gone."
"Why did you come in?"
"Because we have that meeting on Tuesday next week and I have to put together some shit for it."
"Hm." Geoff decided to sit and work for a while. He turned on his computer and waited for it to boot up, and tried to put all his files in a somewhat manageable order. The machine made an awful noise as it was trying to turn on. It was old, but it did what Geoff needed it too.
"Hey, are you actually going to stay here, Geoff?"
"Maybe for a little bit." Geoff wanted to stay just to keep his mind off things, but was scared of staying too long and running into Mary. The computer finally was ready to be worked on, and Geoff got busy with things, just to make the time pass a little faster.

It was almost two, Geoff had lost track of time editing work and starting to design some concepts for a soda company that had just hired the firm to come up with an updated design for their bottle labels. He was tired of work, and put what he had done onto a flash drive that he took from a small side pocket of his bag, incase he needed access to it at home. A thick wall of tired hit Geoff in the face, and he felt like he needed something to help shake it off. He re packed all of his things together and put his coat back on. "I'm going to go out now, Jon. How's your thing going?"
"Fine, it's just freaking time consuming."
"At least it's quiet here."
"Yeah, whatever." Geoff could see that Jon was consumed in his projects and turned to leave.
"See you, Jon!"
"What?" Geoff stepped back into the elevator as soon as it arrived, and went back down to the ground level. The lights in the lobby were dimmed, and the sun coming in from the front wall of windows wasn't doing much to help light up the space at all. He walked out the old revolving door for fun and it squeaked, then got stuck halfway through Geoff's turn. He threw himself into the door, and it released him free to the outside. It was slightly warmer than it had been in the morning. There wasn't much sun shining down, but it was enough to warm up the air on top of that, the wind had come almost to a standstill, so there wasn't a chill blowing past walking down the street. Geoff decided to take a different way home than usual, taking a left at the end of the block rather than going straight, so that he would end up at the back of his building, rather than the side with the door to where he lived. He hadn't been down this way in quite some time, and saw that some of the shops had changed, remodeled or otherwise. He looked into each one as he passed. There was a chiropractor, an antique shop, a bar, and things of that nature. The street didn't look as old as his, but you could see a park from here, just a few blocks down. The dense presence of tress and green stuck out very much against the heavy grey and black of the city buildings. He kept on walking, past a gas station and a sandwich shop, until he got to a florist's shop. He didn't remember this being here last time he had strolled down this street, and his attention was caught on the painting that was done to the outside of the window. It said in intricate script letters TULIP'S HOUSE OF FLOWERS with reds and golds of glittery colours highlighting the letters. He looked into the window and it looked very new in there, like it just opened. He backed up a couple steps and opened the door to walk in. He was greeted by a cat.  A big fat black one that he could not see from looking into the window. He said hi to it as it rubbed against his legs fiercely, to get his smell over the smell of another cat's. Geoff laughed at the territorial dispute, and walked in farther to the menagerie of flowers and plants. He walked into the back of the store, and saw there was a small doorway, through witch there was even more space dwelled by green and flowers. He went in and kept walking around. The air in the small shop was fresh and dewy and warm. He enjoyed the way it felt, and kept on weaving through the tables. He was walking and admiring, until he came across one table that attracted his attention quite intensely. It was a table full of what looked like those japanese bamboo plants that people kept on their desk and gave away as small holiday presents, except these plants were much bigger and more elaborate in their twists and curves in the stalks. He ran his finger from the bottom to the top of one really tall one, letting it trace around the loops and fly over the bumps. He was enthralled by these skinny plants, and started to look around for a price tag.
"Hi there." A woman popped out from behind a grove of palm plants. She had long hair and tall boots on, the rest of her covered by a brown apron.
"Oh, hi."
"Can I help you with anything?"
"Oh, well I was looking at these bamboo plants." She chuckled.
"Is it for yourself or for a gift?"
"Well, myself I suppose."
"Was there a specific one you liked?"
"Well, this one I guess." He rested his hand on the one that he was touching. She went over back behind the palm plants and came back with a cart that she set over to the side before walking over to the table of bamboo plants. She stepped next to him and reached over to grab the one the Geoff was claiming with his hand. She pulled it up from the table, and kept pulling and pulling. It was very much longer than Geoff had originally suspected it to be. It must have been as tall as himself.
"You sure it's this one?"
"Yeah, I like that one." She took in and went back through the doorway to the room that Geoff walked into. The black cat that welcomed Geoff in was following her close behind. He peered over to see where they went, then quickly followed the both of them. She was standing at a counter against the wall that Geoff had not seen earlier. It was covered in small hostas and some other plants that Geoff didn't recognize. He walked over to the counter, and the cat jumped up and rubbed against him again.
"She really likes you." She chuckled again. Her laugh was small and nice to listen to.
"I think she's smelling my own cat."
"Oh, you have one of your own?"
"Yeah, he's quite the cat. Javert is his name."
"What a handsome name. I bet he's a handsome cat."
"He has his days." She laughed at that too. Geoff wanted her to laugh more, he loved to hear it.
"Oh, would you like some grass for Javert? Cats love it."
"Oh, do they?
"Oh, yeah, they really go to town on this stuff Here, let me go get some for you.
"Thanks." She went into the other room to go grab a pot of it. Geoff already had a small pot of grass for Javert, but he liked talking to the flower girl and didn't want to cut the conversation short or make it awkward. He criticised Mark often for his terrible social skills, but Geoff knew that his weren't the best either. He could turn a conversation sour very easily.
"Here you go!" The pot she came back with was much bigger than what Geoff had expected. Javert would kill himself trying to eat all that grass.
"Wow, that's quite a pot of grass." He didn't want to ask for anything smaller out of fear of being rude.
"I have a couple of these at my place of Tulip here to munch on." Geoff looked down on the counter and could see that clearly. If Tulip could pass for a pig, she could probably win a couple of prizes at a county fair. He then thought about how the cat carried itself all the way up to the counter with a jump. It's legs must be quite muscular from carrying around so much weight. She rang up the bamboo and the pot of grass, and placed them both in a bag the best she could. He petted Tulip while doing this and then paid her when she was ready. He wasn't ready to leave quite yet, but wasn't sure what to say as an excuse to stay. He tried hard to think of one, but it just didn't come. "Well, thanks for stopping in." She smiled and waved. Tulip burrowed her way under her other hand resting on top of the counter, and now her attention was devoted to Tulip. Geoff walked out of the store door, and continued to walk back home. He was a little anxious to see how Javert would welcome his new pot of grass. From the floral store, there was only about two blocks left to Geoff's house, but his arms were already getting very tired from carrying the heavy pot and trying to balance the bamboo plant so it was standing mostly straight up. He cut through an ally a block before his house so he wouldn't have to walk around the entire building and past the large windows of the diner.
When he got to the glass door to the stairs, he had to set down the bag of plant matter on the ground to dig his keys out of his pocket. It was a struggle to juggle his bag half hanging off his shoulder, and the plants that were getting heavier each step up the stairs. He had the same problem opening the door to his apartment, but eventually made it in, almost smacking Javert with the door. Javert circled around his legs and smelled them discriminately, and started to viciously rub up against his pants. It was a wonder that Geoff made it into his kitchen without toppling over onto the ground. He took the bamboo plant out of the bag and found a vase that would be able to hold it until he had the chance to go buy a better one. He then took out the pot of grass for Javert and set it on his breakfast bar. Javert jumped up on the counter and stuck his head in the middle of it smelling widely. He smelled the pot and rubbed his face against the entire circumference of the pot. After this ritual was done, he dug right in, smacking his mouth and making an odd sound as he chewed on individual strands of the long plant. Geoff picked up the bamboo plant and went to relocate it near the window in his living room. He then filled the vase up with as much water as it would hold, trying not to kill it the first day it's in his house. Geoff returned to the kitchen, but he saw that Javert had one foot on a plate, and the other in a glass trying to reach a specific blade. Geoff took the plate and glass out from under Javert, as well as another set that was sitting on the counter next to it. They were the plates from last night. Geoff quickly took them to the sink and rinsed them off before throwing them into the dishwasher below. He had forgotten about what happened, and didn't care to think about it much longer. He went over to his bag to check his phone again, and there was just another single message from Mark: "What are you doing tonight?" Geoff didn't want to see him tonight, since he knew that he would only want to talk about how great his night was last night. Geoff went back into the kitchen and opened the fridge to make himself something. He took out a package of hot dogs and then went into the cupboard beneath the counter to take out a pot of water to fill and set on the stove to boil. He walked over by the front door to his pantry, which also held the water heater and Javert's box. Geoff went in there to grab a box of macaroni and cheese to make himself. He hadn't eaten much in the last few days, and thought some food would calm his butterfly infested insides. The water boiled and he dumped in the noodles. But when he grabbed the pit handle to turn it, he burnt his hand, not realizing that the rubber cover had fallen off the end of the handle. He ran it under the sink, but it still hurt very bad. He thought for a minute, then went into the bathroom to put some lotion on it. Thankfully, he had picked some up from the store that day. The aloe in the lotion helped the burning go away. Geoff grabbed a hand towel from a drawer, and continued to make his dinner.
By the time it was done and in a bowl, Geoff was exhausted. Cooking was something that he did not enjoy, and he plopped himself down on his couch and turned the television on again. He flipped through until it landed on something worth while to watch. He expected Javert to come up and sit with him, but he was to busy gorging himself with grass. Geoff felt more exhausted than he had in  a long time, and was glad that the day was soon over. He thought about what he did today, and thought that it was kind of a waste. He didn't do much, but go into work and spend too much on houseplants. He was in no mood to do any kind of artwork, and left that sitting on the floor. If Javert hadn't done anything to it by now, he certainly wouldn't anytime soon.
When Geoff's bowl was empty, he sat it on the floor, and reclined down onto the couch, and curled up onto a pillow he had sitting in the corner. The television was comforting to watch. He was tired of the world around him, and felt good to get lost into some parallel world through the screen. He got up again to put more lotion on his hand. The skin was smooth and had blistered over. He thought about putting a bandage on it, but remembered that he only had the small rectangular ones that wouldn't fit across his hand. We walked into his bedroom to get out of his dress pants and shirt, and into something much more comfortable. Socks and his underwear. He went into the living room to turn off the television, and put the huge pot of grass somewhere where Javert couldn't access it; under the sink. He returned back into his bed room and crawled under his down comforter. He reached for the remote on his nightstand and turn the small tv on in his bedroom. He would sit and watch for nearly an hour before falling asleep to the soft sound of sitcoms and the soft electronic light that emitted from it. He stopped watching it about ten minutes into whatever show was on and thought about what he was going to do tomorrow. He wanted to do something where he felt productive. He was going to wake up early and go into work briefly. He was going to go to the diner and have a conversation with the waitress. He was going to go back into the floral shop and ask the woman her name. He really like the woman. He wished he could've stayed longer and talked to her more and hear her laugh just one more time. He wanted Tulip to rub up against him more. And he decided that if he ran into Mary, he would talk to her like he always does. Like if nothing ever happened. He wasn't going to let one mistake ruin the great place he has at work.
Geoff wasn't ready to fall victim to sleep just yet. He set his alarm quickly before he forgot, and called Javert into bed with him. Javert cuddled into the small alcove Geoff's legs made in the comforter, and Geoff petted him for quite some time. Javert had short hair, but it was particularly soft, especially since he didn't look soft at all. Javert purred very loudly, so deep that Geoff could feel it in the bed springs under him, and before he knew it, he was asleep again.

When Geoff woke up, he felt like he didn't dream at all last night. He was still in his bed and Javert was still in bed with him, although he had moved to the end and was sprawled out on his back. Geoff popped out of bed and headed into the bathroom to get ready for the day. Hew was excited to get get things done today. And go back to the floral shop. He shaved today, and put on clean dress pants rather the grey ones he had been wearing all week. He decided not to eat anything  and just skip right down the diner for his breakfast. He filled Javert's bowl, and he came trotting out of the bedroom to eat. Geoff also put his grass plant down on the counter for Javert, hoping that would keep him away from the bamboo in the living room. He locked the door behind him as always, and left for down stairs.
There were only two other people sitting in the diner when Geoff walked in. An older couple and man sitting by himself, probably in his late thirties. Geoff sat in his usual spot; a booth against the wall and across from the doors to the kitchen. He sat and his regular waitress came up to him. She had taken is order everyday since she started working. He hadn't said much to her beyond ordering his food. He wondered what brought her here, to this corner of New York.
"The usual?"
"Am I really predictable?"
"When you get the same thing every day you are." Geoff laughed at her joke.
"That sounds good, thanks." Geoff looked around while he waited. He watched the old couple talk to each other over a plate of eggs and pancakes. They were both wearing thick wool coats and hats, they were cold even though he heat was on in the diner. They looked at each other with compassionate eyes from across the table, and had very small talk about things that Geoff couldn't quite hear. Geoff turned his attention towards the man sitting by himself, he had ordered a bowl of soup and half a sandwich. He didn't look lonely, but more alone, at peace with himself. Geoff felt like he could relate to the alone man, finding solace in spending time with yourself. He wondered if people looked at him and saw the same thing, or saw a lonely man. Geoff took his small sketch book out of his bag and started to take notes about things around the diner and about the people in it. He didn't get very far before the waitress came back with a plate and a glass for him.
"Is there anything else I can get for you?"
"Are you busy?"
"Um, I suppose not."

Description
People walked by in their own hurry. Dressed in thick fall jackets, the fray on their scarves were being tossed around in the wind. Geoff watched as people went by, observing how they changed with the declining weather. It was warm in the sun, but the wind made it much too uncomfortable to open the window. Javert pawed at the glass impatiently waiting for it to open up.
"Not today, Javert" He looked at the cat, and the cat looked back with a cross stare. Geoff went into the kitchen and got out a small pot of exceptionally long grass out of a cupboard and set it out on the counter to keep Javert busy. Geoff returned to the window, this time with a small notebook, and wrote things down as he watched. Small notes about the way people walked, the length of their strides, 3/4 blocks or one block, he counted the different colours of coats, things they were carrying, and how many people were wearing boots.  He sketched out shapes of people that he thought were particularly interesting.
Soon into his writing, Geoff stopped and became absorbed in the movement of the city, everyone walking around with somewhere to go, whether it be their home, or perhaps just to the next square of cement on the ground.
"Geoff, are you home"
"Oh, hey Mark. What are you doing here" Geoff replied as he awoke from daydreaming.
"Do you still want to meet me downstairs for lunch?"
"Oh yeah, let me throw something else on." Mark has been Geoff's friend since they met when they were thirteen and Mark moved to town. They don't have much in common, and are probably only friends because neither of them have any other friends. "Okay, I'm ready to go."
"Don't forget your wallet, dude."
.  .  .

Geoff sat across from Mark watching him stuff his face with eggs and toast. There was a solid spray of spit and debris flying from the corners of his mouth.
"Are you close to finishing your thesis yet?"
"No, I still have quite a bit to do. What makes you ask?"
"It's been almost a year, Geoff. Is something wrong with you?"
"Nothing, I just want to take my time with it, that's all."
"I call bull shit on that, Geoff. I think you're scared to get your master's."
"What makes you say that?"
"Because you're a pussy."
"Thanks, Mark."
"Well it's true. You can't even talk to women."
"You're not any better at it."
"At least I can get laid, Geoff."
"No you can't, Mark."
"Shut-up, Geoff, how would you know?" Geoff Stared at him from across the table. Cranberry juice in hand, he said,
"Because you're a tool."
"Shut-up, Geoff." Geoff threw the last few pieces of cantaloupe into is  mouth and finished up the last of his juice.
"See you later, tool." Geoff said as he slid out of the booth and made his way over to pay at the counter.

Upon leaving the cafe, instead of going upstairs to his apartment Geoff decided to pick up a few things from the connivence store a block down. As he approached the street to cross, the light turned red. He turned to push the button to cross, and looked down. There was a list at his feet. He picked it up and it read:
Bananas
        Cucumbers
Lotion
Coffee
Powdered Sugar
Geoff stood and thought about the list's contents. He didn't have any of these things in his kitchen. Perhaps he would add this to his own list.
The walk down the block was cool. He passed three people heading in the opposite direction, and when we walked into the connivence store called Joe's, there was but two people there, buying milk, cheese, a bag of gummy bears and a box of condoms. Geoff walked down the first aisle of the small store, picking up a bag of oranges as well as three bananas and a cucumber. He picked up a can of soup, a sandwich from the small deli and the rest of the things on the foreign list. He payed the man at the front counter, and left back to his home. The sun was on the edge of the horizon and in Geoff's eyes the whole block home. We walked upstairs above the Café to his apartment where Javert greeted him with a welcome rub, anticipating dinner. Geoff put a cup in his bowl, then put away his loot from the store, and head off to the bathroom to get ready for bed.
Javert is taken care of and Geoff's pajamas (wool socks and underwear) are on. He has his clothes set out for work tomorrow, but before he turns off the light and turns on the telivision for the night, he steps into the kitchen for a brief moment to grab a banana and eat a small snack before bed. He peeled it and disposed of the yellow shell into a compost bin separate from the regular waste and then disposed of the sweet flesh into his mouth. The wood floor was cold on his feet as he stepped of the kitchen tile to return to his room for sleep.

Geoff didn't know where he was. The air was dusty and dry. There was fog blanketing the surrounding landscape, making it next to impossible to see anything around him, lest the few tress standing close, just beyond the reach of his toes. He struggled to stand up, his head pouding inside his skull, beating a strange kind of morse code in his head, and his legs sore, knees buckling as though they've never held up the weight of hos body before. He slowly turned to scope out his things around him. Though he was disoriented, he could understand that there was but only trees to his left and right. He buried his hands into his head, trying to rub the fog out of his sight. When his eyes re-adjusted, there was still a heavy mist clouding the air, but now Geoff could see a path in front of him. He started moving towards it. It was paved with what looked like clay, and had small stones imbedded into it at various intervals. It looked as though it only lead to more trees, but Geoff took ut upon himself to walk down it anyway, figuring it was better to get out of the clearing of trees rather than stick around.
As he moved down the path, one foot in front of the other, different sounds started to cut through the fog and reach him. Birds started chirping. he could hear the leaves ruffling around with each other. Water was moving fast, past rocks and falling over small drops in the river bed. As Geoff continued down the path, life continued to blossom, through the fog and wrap around him. Geoff was excited to reach the end, taking bigger, more confidant strides, nearly running. The trees seemed to open up around him, the path getting wider, the sound of the water getting louder and now he could see the birds that were making the chatter amung themselves. The birds were actually growing in numbers at a rapid pace. They were swarming around his head, diving in pairs in front of him. The swarm was slowly moving down, their wings flapping with furocity, blocking out all the peace around him with a heavy wind. Geoff was disoriented, violently swatting at the birds, now in his face; he could not see where he was going. He covered his head with his right arm, and thrashed around his other, ducking and running. The birds were pecking at him, and Geoff continued to run, pushing himself as fast as he could carry himself. He did not know if he was on the path anymore, all he could focus on was getting out of the swarm. He ran and ran, until his side ran into a branch, and he stumbled off in a tangent, trying to keep himself from falling. Suddenly, the ground was no longer under him, there was no more long grass and no more dirt, just air -- he was falling, air rushing past him. It seemed as though he fell for tens of minutes, and then a chill flew up his back, and he felt uncomfortable. The cold radiated from his back to all over, and he felt constricted. The falling stopped, but he was moving in another direction now. Geoff's arms were thrashing about and it stung to keep his eyes open, so he held them shut tightly. He kept on thrashing until he could hear noise again, this time all he could hear was the sound of rushing water, and then he realised that we was in the rushing water, and it was carrying him downstream. He felt tree droppings brush by his feet and small fish nibble at his toes. The water was slowly getting warmer, and more and more fish were gathering around his feet. He tried to kick them away, but more kept swimming up to him, He kicked harder and harder, the nibbling turning to biting, the fish persistent until the river dumped him into a small lake, almost small enough to be called a pond. His legs were very tired, and then became sore again. Geoff floated them up to the surface and floated on his back. The current was relaxing as it slowly pushed him around and rocked him back and forth, though it didn't last long as he was beached onto a dark sandy shore. The granules of sand were silky on his thighs and back, he was too tired to stand. He ran his fingers through the sand slowly, relaxing himself, until he realised that he was naked, and then thought back to where he started in the clearing, not sure if he was ever wearing clothes, and now very confused as to where they went.
"Geoff!" A woman's voice shouted from the distance. He raised his head and looked around quickly to find the source. "Geoff!"
"What?"
"Over here!" He kept scanning around, looking for the voice, but to no avail.
"Ge-off!"
"Where are you!"
"Geoff!" She popped up behind him, running her fingers through her hair.
"Who are you?"
"Would you like some chips and salsa?"
"Wha-?"

Geoff woke up in a cold sweat. He whipped his head around the room. He was in his bed, the sun  was coming in through the window, and everything looked as though it was in it's place. He lifted the blanket to make sure that what he had on was still there, and it was. The time on his alarm clock showed 10:30 AM, he had slept in. The comforter got tangled around his ankles as Geoff lept out of bed into the bathroom to shower. He couldn't get his socks and underwear fast enough, and ended up falling over trying to do so.
The hot water ran over his body and calmed down his jumbled thoughts. He wasn't completely sure what had happened during the night, and he was confused about the woman that he saw. He thought about the dream the entire length of the shower, then jumped out and got ready in a hurry. Geoff had arranged a meeting downstairs in the diner at eleven with a co-worker, and didn't not want to be late. Geoff had no time to gather any of the project that he had wanted to bring along, so he just grabbed his work-bag from off the back of his desk chair and hoped that he had enough material in there. Throwing on his grey blazer and slipping on his shoes at the same time, he flew out the door and down the stairs to the diner.

"Do you have the prototype with you, Geoff?"
"Um, I have..." Geoff frantically looked through his bag while Mary fixed her eyes on him looking while sipping the tea she ordered while waiting. Geoff had never cared for Mary as a person -- she was high strung and annoyingly punctual, though a really great person to work with. Because she was high strung and punctual, the projects they collaborated on for work were usually done very much on time and beyond good quality. "I have something here for you," Geoff could feel her eyes fixated on him, judging very loudly his unpreparedness.
"Do you have it, or not, Geoff?"
"Um, no, I left it upstairs in my apartment."
"Well, that's great Geoff. Take me up there so we can work on it."
"Excuse me?"
"Let's go upstairs, Geoff. We can't work on something that's not here." Geoff certainly did not want to go up there. He could barely stand Mark loitering in his doorway, much less have Mary come in and sit down on the furniture. Geoff's Apartment his is own space; his messy, disorganized, cat hair infested space. Javert especially didn't like strangers either. "Are you coming?" Geoff was lost in doleful thought while Mary already had her foot out the door.

Geoff had a hard time unlocking the door, he was so hesitant to let her in his apartment. "Alright, mary, um, let yourself in, I guess." Javert ran to the door to great Geoff's returning, and when he was met with an awful smell, he whined and turned away.
"Ew, you have a cat." Geoff could see that mary was scanning his space in disgust, her nose up in there air trying to avoid the smell of bachelor, looking for where to sit.
"The couch is over there behind my desk, I'm going to go grab the boards and everything." She walked on her toes over the plush navy blue couch that sat infront of a very large window. Outside she could see the city below, cars going by and people walking down the street, and she felt slightly mesmerised by the busy activity, on a late monday afternoon. Geoff came stumbling into the living room from his bedroom with two large white cardboard displays and set them up agaisnt his glass coffee table, then went over the the black cupboard by the desk on which his computer sat upon to get a paper model out and bring it over as well. "Here, this is everything I've worked on so far."  Mary looked at everything with a harsh technical eye. Geoff wasn't nervous before, but the intensity of her stare made him sweat a little.
"I'm impressed, Geoff. It looks like you spent a lot of time on this." Geoff was surprised at her reaction, and had a hard time of finding what to say next. "I think we're in good shape for the meeting this Wednesday." She looked up at him with an appreciative smile, and he smiled back at her, feeling good about the work he did. "I guess there isn't much that we have to add on is there?"
"I suppose n-not."
"Do you want to go back downstairs to eat something?" Geoff was surprised at her tone, it had changed from her usual snarky judgement and she seemed a lot more patient.
"Um, sure. Let's go." Geoff put his coat and shoes back on, and locked the door as they headed downstairs.

"What do you recommend here?" Mary had her face buried into the menu, carefully weighing all of her choices.
"Usually, I just get fruit or pie and a glass of cranberry juice."
"That's it? There's five pages of food, and you stick with that?"
"It works for me." Geoff was befuddled at her change of person, it's almost like someone flipped a switch on her back.
"What can I get for you two?" The waitress who came up to them was the same one that served Geoff every day he came down. She was a nicely sized woman, who was working full time this summer to save up for an apartment, but summer turned into fall when her boyfriend stopped working full time to concentrate more on school, and left her stuck living with her parents for another quarter of school. But that's another story. She liked Geoff, he was easy to take care of and could always be counted on to leave a tip. And the feeling was mutual. Geoff could always count on the waitress to be quick and efficient. Plus, she knew his usually, and Geoff was delighted at the idea that he had "a usual."
"I'll have my usual."
"And you, miss?"
"I'll just have a cup of tea and a muffin."
"Almond, blueberry, orange cranberry-"
"Surprise me."
"Will do." She finished writing and left though the big kitchen doors, her butt swaying side to side.
"So, Geoff," she looked at him with kind eyes and rested her head in both her hands, a very cliché gesture. "How's everything?"
"Uh, it's fine I guess." He was taken aback by her question, for Mary had never taken an interest in his personal life before.
"Are you still in school or did you finally finish your degree?"
"Well, actually, no, I'm still working on my thesis."
"Hasen't it been a while? Did something go wrong?"
"Um, no, I've just been taking, well I mean, there's been some personal things-"
"Geoff! Hey!" It was Mark, he had just walked into the diner with a woman who looked like she didn't really want to be here. "Hey, buddy. I knew I'd find you here. Me and the new lady friend here were going out for lunch, and I told her that they have great pie here. Mind if we join you?" Without hesitating Mark flew into the seat with Geoff in it, pushing him over with his donut-stuffed thighs. Mary slid over politely for Mark's new "lady friend", who was clearly an attempt to reconcile his manhood from the conversation that they held earlier. She had the same shape as a box of Nilla Wafers, but squeezed into skinny jeans, and with limp brown hair that grazed her shoulders. She looked nice, but Geoff picked up in her waggishness disposition, and was weary of her sitting with them. She seemed that she was a good match for Mark, even if he just saw her as a lay.
"Have you guys already ordered?"
"Yes, we put in our order, but it was just for baked goods and tea, so she should be back soon." Mark could still not get over the change in Mary, it was as if someone had flipped a switch in her back.
"So what were you two doing here anyway?"
"We were talking about work, actually. Mary have you met Mark yet?"
"No, I don't believe I have. Are you too good friends?"
"Actually, we met when we were little kids, so we're REALLY good friends." This was Mark's attempt at causal humor, and it never worked. He was awkward around strangers, and when there was now a potential mate involved, he was even worse. Mark had no idea about how to act in public, it was as if he grew up in the wild, until he met Geoff.
"Oh, that's nice." Mary said with an uninterested nod.
"Here you go." The waitress had thankfully intervened at just the right moment, coming in with both arms full. "Can I get the new comers anything?"
"Just a piece of pie and some coffee."
"I'll have what he's having." she said, alluding to Meg Ryan. Geoff rolled his eyes, and Mary and Mark giggled.
"Coming right up." Even the waitress had felt tired by this old joke. She left back into the kitchen again, and the conversation continued on it's awkward down spiral.
The group kept on talking about things like college and strange dates, and hidden gems around the city. Soon everyone had food in front of them, and they were happily eating. Some more happy than others, Mark mostly, and they were socializing like all good young adults should.
After the food was gone, Mark took over the conversation, his lady friend having a delightful time, giggling at every other word that shot out of his mouth without first being approved by his brain, and Mary soon made a game with the clock, seeing how many times she had to look at it before it changed. It was nearly one, and they had been there far too long.
"Well, it's getting late into the morning, I better head back to the office." Mary cut into Mark, in a desperate attempt to leave.
"Oh, I'll walk with you. There is a few things I should probably pick up from the office myself."
"Great, we'll go together." Mark and his company scooted out of the vinyl, releasing their conversational prisoners. "I enjoyed meeting both of you."
"Yeah, it was great!" Mark and his over-acheving enthusiasm. "We'll see you two later, I'm sure. Oh, and Geoff, We'll be putting this on your tab." He gave the most terrible wink, and Geoff spit out a laugh at how pathetic Mark's social skills were.
"You coming, Geoff?" Mary already had both her feet out the door, ready to get going.

They were walking side by side down the street in awkward silence. Usually they didn't talk to each other at all during work, but there was a thick feeling in the air between them that rubbed them both the wrong way. "Are you cold?" Mary was just wearing a small blazer, and though the walk to their office building was short, the air still had a piercing shiver in it. "No, I'm okay, thanks." Geoff had only another blazer to offer her, but it was another layer.
"How long have you lived here, Geoff?"
"In Synecdoche? My whole life. I grew up in the suburbs, but moved downtown for college."
"It's a great city, isn' it?"
"Yeah, it is." A large group of people walked by them who looked like they were on their way to to or from some kind of art showing. They were dressed up in tule and feathers and had glitter smeared across their fluorescent makeup. Mary watched as they walked by and turned around to watch them walk away. She sighed and smiled, and it wasn't awkward anymore.

The lobby of where Geoff and Mary worked was streaked with bright oranges and pinks. The entire building had a handful of different businesses among the thirty or so floors, and they both worked for a small advertising company that was spread out on the 11th, 12th, 13th, and 15th floors. Right in the middle, with a great view, unfortunately, they shared a spacious cubicle that was in the middle of the 12th floor. There was a receptionist's desk that sat in the middle left of the room, and most of the time it sat empty, but on occasion a temp sat there, not knowing what she was doing.
Geoff and Mary shared an elevator ride up, and got off together, both heading for their desks. She moved piles of paper over to sit down, while Geoff leaned against the desk.
"What were you picking up?"
"Nothing, I just saw an opportunity to get out of that and took it. Mary laughed, and swivled around in her chair so her body was facing Geoff's. She looked relaxed, something Geoff would never have described her as before. "Well, I better get going back home. I have some projects that need my attention"
"I guess I'll see you around then?"
"I'm sure you will" Geoff took his leave, and pushed the button to ride the elevator down. He watch the numbers light up as the elevator lifted itself to him. The 12 light up and the doors opened, but he wasn't alone, as there was a woman on a cell phone that would be sharing the ride.
"Hey, Matt... No, did you read it? Ha ha, she got pushed into him, it was so funny." As she talked, Geoff took out the small sketch book he had in his bag, and began to write down what she was saying. "He said that it would be really awkward if both of them came... No... No, he's going to bring Noodles... I know, it makes me want to quit." Geoff kept scribing on the paper, as fast as his hand would allow him too. "I think that was a typo." Geoff wasn't sure why he journaled things like these, but he felt like they were important, or that they would be one day. "I was reading about Stockholm Syndrome, and she didn't even mention it!"

...

Geoff went home. The walk was uneventful, for he didn't run into too many people, nor was there anything interesting to be observed. He unlocked the door to the stairway up to the hallway in which his abode was. He unlocked the door and Javert came up to welcome him again. He was thankful he had Javert to come home to everyday. He took off his shoes and jacket, and then went into the kitchen to replenish Javert's food dish. It was running quite low and he got cranky if it wasn't at the suitable level. Geoff also gave him fresh water, and got a cucumber from the fridge to slice up and eat while he worked. He only meant to cut up half, but ended up cutting the whole log into small slices, he put them on a small white plate and carried them over to the living room. He put the plate on his coffee table and then sat in his large white over stuffed chair and looked out the window. It was quite out, and then sun was starting to set. He forgot how short the daylight was in the fall. Too short. He got up quickly to get his small sketch book from his bag, and get a much larger one out from one of the drawers of his black desk. He laid down on the couch with both in hand, and started to sketch things blown up from the small book onto the larger one. He had sketched a couple of birds sitting out on a tree branch outside the window of the diner a couple weeks ago, and wanted to blow it up to make a stencil. Geoff had a small hobby of making graffiti stencils since his sophomore year in college, when he found that he loved art, and planned on going out one night to paint the city, but he was too hesitant, and had not yet found the courage to do so. In a cupboard on the side of his desk, there was maybe fourteen stencils that were waiting to be taken out for a night on the town.

He was working well into the night, it was about eight 'o clock now, and he had gotten home from his escapades at around three. He had pushed all of the furniture in the living room back against the walls, and had heavy paper and tape spread out all over the floor, and was using an X-acto knife to cut out his design. He had already did the birds, and was now doing a stencil of a sheep. It's not that he had seen a sheep within the city, but had seen a picture in a small store he wandered into a while back, and he liked the way it looked. I suppose he did see a sheep in the city. Geoff was fully into working right now, and feeling good about what he had done so far. He had eaten most of the cucumber slices, and the two or three that remained were being licked dry by Javert, who would soon finish with the vegetables, and find a corner on he couch to curl up and sleep on. He was tired. Geoff was still working away when a knock came about his door. He sighed and yelled "What do you need Mark?" but he was answered only by another set of knocks. He slowly stood up and hobbled over to the door, his legs feelingless from sitting on them in various uncomfortable positions for so long. Geoff turned the deadbolt and swung open the door. It was Mary with a small white box in hand.
"What are you doing here?"
"I brought you a little something as a gift." She held the box out in her hands straight out from her body, and Geoff picked it up. He opened it, and inside there were four cupcakes, all of a different variety.
"What are these for?"
"A thank you. For doing so well on our project." He looked at her with an eyebrow raised. "I couldn't have done that myself." She stood there for a while, and smiled, then turned her body slowly to leave.
"Why don't you come in again. We can share." Geoff tried to smile back, but he felt weird after inviting her in to his home again. Her face light up though, after he had said this and she turned back and walked in through the doorframe. She took off her shoes and Geoff took her coat, and hung it on the hooks behind his front door. She stood there with her hands held together in front of her, waiting to be invited to sit. Geoff led her into the kitchen, and sat the cupcake box down in front of one of the three barstools on one side of the counter. He walked to the cupboards next to the fridge and got out two short glasses. "Would you like something to drink?" 
"Do you have orange juice?"
"Just cranberry."
"That sounds good." He poured two glasses of red drink, and set them next to the box. He got two small plates from a cupboard with glass plating before sitting down next to her.
"There's carrot cake, red velvet, coffee cake, and cream cheese. I didn't know what you liked, so I got a hodgepodge."
"Those all sound really good to me." Geoff said, trying to be polite. He wasn't sure why Mary was giving him this peace offering, but he wasn't going to reject it. He was trying to sound as excited as possible, as to not hurt her feelings or make anything awkward again.
"You pick first." Geoff pulled the Carrot cake one out of the box, not without getting frosting from all the others all over his hands though. He liked the frosting carrot that was piped onto the op of the frosting, and assumed that you couldn't go wrong with carrot cake.  She took the cream cheese one, but was much more neat that Geoff when she took it out of the box. They each took a bite in silence, staring at the back of the wall.
"So, where did you get these?"
"The bakery off 12th street. I think they only do cupcakes and cookies. Oh, and espresso too, I believe."
"I think I've walked past there before. Is there a big whisk out front?"
"That's the one." They both chuckled and continued trying to fit their mouths around the cakes. The rest of the eating was silent, as well as the drinking of the juice.
"What happened to your living room?"
"Oh, I'm just working on something. Nothing important." Mary got up slowly and walked over to look. She bent down and was examining Geoff's work. He tried not to watch her do so, as he was very embarrassed to have anyone see. 
"What are these for?"
'Well, they're stencils. For painting and things like that." His head was still bent down forward, focusing on the white plate with brown crumbles on it.
"I like this sheep one."
"You do?"
"Yeah, I like the way you're cutting out the fur up here." She waggled her fingers around the top to show him. He stood up and walked over next to her to look at his own work. He liked it too, but he never thought anyone else would.
"Thanks." He turned and smiled at her, and she turned her head towards his to catch it and smile back. He looked away, but she stayed turned and concentrated on his profile. She leaned over and kissed the side of his face, his skin was clean and slightly sprinkled with stubble. He stood up straight and took a step back and looked at her, not sure what to feel right then. She looked down at her feel and Geoff walked around his work on the floor over to the couch. He sat slightly to the side and looked out the window at the lights from the lamp poles and street signs reflect off the dew on the glass. Mary walked over to him and sat too. She looked out the window withcF him, but Mary concentrated on the sky, rather than the street below them. She looked at the stringy clouds and the skyline wrapping around the view from the window. She turned to him again and leaned in slightly. He leaned back and kissed her. Geoff was confused as they sat on the couch embracing. He didn't know what had changed in her, and he wasn't sure why he gave into her kiss, and he knew that this wasn't something that he would usually do, but he gave into himself and ran his hands across her back. He took the clip out of her hair and let it fall down past her shoulders, and ran his fingers over the straps of her bra. She raised her hands up to his hair and grabbed a handful, and held on. She pulled him back on top of her, and started unbuttoning his shirt. Geoff now felt beyond himself, not feeling the canvas of the couch, or the chill on his bare skin, and didn't even feel like himself. He felt outside of himself, just a bystander to this bizarre affair. He lost himself to her skin and fingers twirling the hidden waves and curls in his dark hair. He felt her hand move down and unbuckle his belt. Then he was lost again, to the touch, and the since long ago feeling of a primal nature take over his body. He really let go, and felt like he was floating, in nothing.

  A cool dawn was coming in the window. The light warmed the room and light up the bed with a body inside. Feet wiggled at the end of the bed. The sun kept rising higher and continued to light up the small cottage bedroom. The wiggling feet kicked off the thick cotton blanket covering the woman. She sat up and stared out the window for a few thoughtful moments. She stood up then shivered, and walked off the bathroom while she took off her nightgown. When she came out again, she was clean and dressed in an old shirt tucked into loose jeans. She closed the door behind her as she went into the kitchen.
She pulled on a filthy pair of garden boots and threw on a long corduroy jacket that was a colour slightly darker than the boots. The clock on the wall had both of it's hands on the five, and the still rising sun gleamed of the doom of glass covering the face. The woman smiled as she looked out the glass window in the door, and let out a big sigh. She opened the door, and before it was even two inches from the frame, and large black shadow darted out, and turned around to "meow" at the woman walking down the three concrete steps. The trees rustle and birds fly into them. It's peaceful and you can't hear a sounds. It's as if the waves to make them haven't even woken up yet. The cat races the woman to a large wooden shed. It wins and paws at the door for it to open. She eventually catches up and takes a long brass key out from one of her pockets. It makes two large clicking noises as it tumbles and then releases from the door, falling to the grass below it. The cat and the woman enter, fumbling about for things the shed holds, and soon emerge out of it. She's carrying two pails of seed and oats, and the cat comes out behind her, toting a small brown mouse in it's mouth behind her. They walked together to a humble chicken coop, and she clicked her mouth, and out came two roosters. She spread the feed out before the two, and they started to eat while four more chickens came trotting out the small door and down the small plank. They all eagerly peck away at the ground, chortling and squawking as they bobbed up and down. She looked down and laughed at the chickens, and then walked over to another pen to feed others. This one was full of sheep. Tens of sheep. She threw the bucket up, letting all the oats and everything fall down over the ground. The sheep all started to bleet and run, shoving each other to get to the food.
"Haha! Geoff look at them go!"

Geoff woke up on the rug in front of his couch. He was under a small throw blanket, but naked otherwise. It was eight in the morning, and he was confused again at his dream. He stood up and draped what blanket there was to run into his room for fresh clothes. He pulled a crisp pair of boxers out of the drawer, and slipped them on, as well as a pair of socks and a shirt he used to sleep in. Geoff walked into the kitchen to get a glass of water. He filled up a cup with tap water, and walked into his living room to sit down and watch something on the television. He turned it on to the news, but there was a morning show on and they were just talking about food. He turned his head out to the window and watched people on their commute to work, walking, driving, and the rare bicyclist at this time of year. People were still in their winter coats, scarves still flapping, and boots still treading on, block after block. It took him until now to realize that he was alone in his apartment. He looked over to the door, and there was only his own coat and shoes on the hooks and on the mat. He wasn't sure when Mary had left, or what exactly happened last night. He got up to go over to his bag hanging next to his coat, and took out his neglected cell phone. There were only two messages from Mark, one saying, "Guess what" with a semi-colon smile face, and the other just inquiring where he was. Geoff knew this implied that Mark had slept with his friend, or at least tried to, and was lying about what actually happened. He was hesitant to go into work that day, but knew he probably should, there was usually reason enough to have him come in three or four days of the week, and if he didn't he would get a terrible call from one cubicle over telling him that he was in trouble, though he wasn't. Geoff walked into the kitchen to feed and give fresh water to Javert as usual, then went into his bathroom to get showered and ready for work.
He put his coat and shoes on and locked the door as it shut behind him. Javert sat in the door way and stared him down as he closed it slowly. He was walking down the hall towards the stairs and it hit him that he left all of his paper and stencil work out, and hoped that Javert wouldn't decide to chew or pee on anything while he was gone. He opened the glass door at the bottom of the stairs and walked out onto the sidewalk with the rest of the working force. There wasn't many people out now, as most of them were already at work. He walked past the train station and a few different boutiques and consignment shops. Everything was just starting to open, women flipping over or on the "open signs" in just about every window. There was a small van infront of a small café with a man carrying boxes out the back into the front door. People getting ready for the day looked good. Geoff enjoyed the busyness and the commerce. He walked past a yarn shop and inside there were women sitting in a large circle in the front window, working away on a variety of needles, hooks, and looms.
The walk up to his own building was not so nice. Geoff was nervous to confront Mary; he did not know how she felt or what had happened, and was not ready to deal with the social repercussions. He walked in and as usual there was no receptionist, and the lobby was empty except for the furniture. He walked to the elevators and pushed the button to go up. There was nobody inside so he rose up alone. When the light lit 12, the doors opened and he got off on his floor. It was unusually quiet, and some of the lights were off. He walked through a path of cubicles to his own, and it was filled with papers and his desk, but no other people. He peeked over to the cubicle that shared a wall with his desk, and saw that Jon had come in today, and was working on his own project.
"Where is everyone?"
"Half the office is at a confrence thing, and most of the other people took today off since so many people were gone."
"Why did you come in?"
"Because we have that meeting on Tuesday next week and I have to put together some shit for it."
"Hm." Geoff decided to sit and work for a while. He turned on his computer and waited for it to boot up, and tried to put all his files in a somewhat manageable order. The machine made an awful noise as it was trying to turn on. It was old, but it did what Geoff needed it too.
"Hey, are you actually going to stay here, Geoff?"
"Maybe for a little bit." Geoff wanted to stay just to keep his mind off things, but was scared of staying too long and running into Mary. The computer finally was ready to be worked on, and Geoff got busy with things, just to make the time pass a little faster.

It was almost two, Geoff had lost track of time editing work and starting to design some concepts for a soda company that had just hired the firm to come up with an updated design for their bottle labels. He was tired of work, and put what he had done onto a flash drive that he took from a small side pocket of his bag, incase he needed access to it at home. A thick wall of tired hit Geoff in the face, and he felt like he needed something to help shake it off. He re packed all of his things together and put his coat back on. "I'm going to go out now, Jon. How's your thing going?"
"Fine, it's just freaking time consuming."
"At least it's quiet here."
"Yeah, whatever." Geoff could see that Jon was consumed in his projects and turned to leave.
"See you, Jon!"
"What?" Geoff stepped back into the elevator as soon as it arrived, and went back down to the ground level. The lights in the lobby were dimmed, and the sun coming in from the front wall of windows wasn't doing much to help light up the space at all. He walked out the old revolving door for fun and it squeaked, then got stuck halfway through Geoff's turn. He threw himself into the door, and it released him free to the outside. It was slightly warmer than it had been in the morning. There wasn't much sun shining down, but it was enough to warm up the air on top of that, the wind had come almost to a standstill, so there wasn't a chill blowing past walking down the street. Geoff decided to take a different way home than usual, taking a left at the end of the block rather than going straight, so that he would end up at the back of his building, rather than the side with the door to where he lived. He hadn't been down this way in quite some time, and saw that some of the shops had changed, remodeled or otherwise. He looked into each one as he passed. There was a chiropractor, an antique shop, a bar, and things of that nature. The street didn't look as old as his, but you could see a park from here, just a few blocks down. The dense presence of tress and green stuck out very much against the heavy grey and black of the city buildings. He kept on walking, past a gas station and a sandwich shop, until he got to a florist's shop. He didn't remember this being here last time he had strolled down this street, and his attention was caught on the painting that was done to the outside of the window. It said in intricate script letters TULIP'S HOUSE OF FLOWERS with reds and golds of glittery colours highlighting the letters. He looked into the window and it looked very new in there, like it just opened. He backed up a couple steps and opened the door to walk in. He was greeted by a cat.  A big fat black one that he could not see from looking into the window. He said hi to it as it rubbed against his legs fiercely, to get his smell over the smell of another cat's. Geoff laughed at the territorial dispute, and walked in farther to the menagerie of flowers and plants. He walked into the back of the store, and saw there was a small doorway, through witch there was even more space dwelled by green and flowers. He went in and kept walking around. The air in the small shop was fresh and dewy and warm. He enjoyed the way it felt, and kept on weaving through the tables. He was walking and admiring, until he came across one table that attracted his attention quite intensely. It was a table full of what looked like those japanese bamboo plants that people kept on their desk and gave away as small holiday presents, except these plants were much bigger and more elaborate in their twists and curves in the stalks. He ran his finger from the bottom to the top of one really tall one, letting it trace around the loops and fly over the bumps. He was enthralled by these skinny plants, and started to look around for a price tag.
"Hi there." A woman popped out from behind a grove of palm plants. She had long hair and tall boots on, the rest of her covered by a brown apron.
"Oh, hi."
"Can I help you with anything?"
"Oh, well I was looking at these bamboo plants." She chuckled.
"Is it for yourself or for a gift?"
"Well, myself I suppose."
"Was there a specific one you liked?"
"Well, this one I guess." He rested his hand on the one that he was touching. She went over back behind the palm plants and came back with a cart that she set over to the side before walking over to the table of bamboo plants. She stepped next to him and reached over to grab the one the Geoff was claiming with his hand. She pulled it up from the table, and kept pulling and pulling. It was very much longer than Geoff had originally suspected it to be. It must have been as tall as himself.
"You sure it's this one?"
"Yeah, I like that one." She took in and went back through the doorway to the room that Geoff walked into. The black cat that welcomed Geoff in was following her close behind. He peered over to see where they went, then quickly followed the both of them. She was standing at a counter against the wall that Geoff had not seen earlier. It was covered in small hostas and some other plants that Geoff didn't recognize. He walked over to the counter, and the cat jumped up and rubbed against him again.
"She really likes you." She chuckled again. Her laugh was small and nice to listen to.
"I think she's smelling my own cat."
"Oh, you have one of your own?"
"Yeah, he's quite the cat. Javert is his name."
"What a handsome name. I bet he's a handsome cat."
"He has his days." She laughed at that too. Geoff wanted her to laugh more, he loved to hear it.
"Oh, would you like some grass for Javert? Cats love it."
"Oh, do they?
"Oh, yeah, they really go to town on this stuff Here, let me go get some for you.
"Thanks." She went into the other room to go grab a pot of it. Geoff already had a small pot of grass for Javert, but he liked talking to the flower girl and didn't want to cut the conversation short or make it awkward. He criticised Mark often for his terrible social skills, but Geoff knew that his weren't the best either. He could turn a conversation sour very easily.
"Here you go!" The pot she came back with was much bigger than what Geoff had expected. Javert would kill himself trying to eat all that grass.
"Wow, that's quite a pot of grass." He didn't want to ask for anything smaller out of fear of being rude.
"I have a couple of these at my place of Tulip here to munch on." Geoff looked down on the counter and could see that clearly. If Tulip could pass for a pig, she could probably win a couple of prizes at a county fair. He then thought about how the cat carried itself all the way up to the counter with a jump. It's legs must be quite muscular from carrying around so much weight. She rang up the bamboo and the pot of grass, and placed them both in a bag the best she could. He petted Tulip while doing this and then paid her when she was ready. He wasn't ready to leave quite yet, but wasn't sure what to say as an excuse to stay. He tried hard to think of one, but it just didn't come. "Well, thanks for stopping in." She smiled and waved. Tulip burrowed her way under her other hand resting on top of the counter, and now her attention was devoted to Tulip. Geoff walked out of the store door, and continued to walk back home. He was a little anxious to see how Javert would welcome his new pot of grass. From the floral store, there was only about two blocks left to Geoff's house, but his arms were already getting very tired from carrying the heavy pot and trying to balance the bamboo plant so it was standing mostly straight up. He cut through an ally a block before his house so he wouldn't have to walk around the entire building and past the large windows of the diner.
When he got to the glass door to the stairs, he had to set down the bag of plant matter on the ground to dig his keys out of his pocket. It was a struggle to juggle his bag half hanging off his shoulder, and the plants that were getting heavier each step up the stairs. He had the same problem opening the door to his apartment, but eventually made it in, almost smacking Javert with the door. Javert circled around his legs and smelled them discriminately, and started to viciously rub up against his pants. It was a wonder that Geoff made it into his kitchen without toppling over onto the ground. He took the bamboo plant out of the bag and found a vase that would be able to hold it until he had the chance to go buy a better one. He then took out the pot of grass for Javert and set it on his breakfast bar. Javert jumped up on the counter and stuck his head in the middle of it smelling widely. He smelled the pot and rubbed his face against the entire circumference of the pot. After this ritual was done, he dug right in, smacking his mouth and making an odd sound as he chewed on individual strands of the long plant. Geoff picked up the bamboo plant and went to relocate it near the window in his living room. He then filled the vase up with as much water as it would hold, trying not to kill it the first day it's in his house. Geoff returned to the kitchen, but he saw that Javert had one foot on a plate, and the other in a glass trying to reach a specific blade. Geoff took the plate and glass out from under Javert, as well as another set that was sitting on the counter next to it. They were the plates from last night. Geoff quickly took them to the sink and rinsed them off before throwing them into the dishwasher below. He had forgotten about what happened, and didn't care to think about it much longer. He went over to his bag to check his phone again, and there was just another single message from Mark: "What are you doing tonight?" Geoff didn't want to see him tonight, since he knew that he would only want to talk about how great his night was last night. Geoff went back into the kitchen and opened the fridge to make himself something. He took out a package of hot dogs and then went into the cupboard beneath the counter to take out a pot of water to fill and set on the stove to boil. He walked over by the front door to his pantry, which also held the water heater and Javert's box. Geoff went in there to grab a box of macaroni and cheese to make himself. He hadn't eaten much in the last few days, and thought some food would calm his butterfly infested insides. The water boiled and he dumped in the noodles. But when he grabbed the pit handle to turn it, he burnt his hand, not realizing that the rubber cover had fallen off the end of the handle. He ran it under the sink, but it still hurt very bad. He thought for a minute, then went into the bathroom to put some lotion on it. Thankfully, he had picked some up from the store that day. The aloe in the lotion helped the burning go away. Geoff grabbed a hand towel from a drawer, and continued to make his dinner.
By the time it was done and in a bowl, Geoff was exhausted. Cooking was something that he did not enjoy, and he plopped himself down on his couch and turned the television on again. He flipped through until it landed on something worth while to watch. He expected Javert to come up and sit with him, but he was to busy gorging himself with grass. Geoff felt more exhausted than he had in  a long time, and was glad that the day was soon over. He thought about what he did today, and thought that it was kind of a waste. He didn't do much, but go into work and spend too much on houseplants. He was in no mood to do any kind of artwork, and left that sitting on the floor. If Javert hadn't done anything to it by now, he certainly wouldn't anytime soon.
When Geoff's bowl was empty, he sat it on the floor, and reclined down onto the couch, and curled up onto a pillow he had sitting in the corner. The television was comforting to watch. He was tired of the world around him, and felt good to get lost into some parallel world through the screen. He got up again to put more lotion on his hand. The skin was smooth and had blistered over. He thought about putting a bandage on it, but remembered that he only had the small rectangular ones that wouldn't fit across his hand. We walked into his bedroom to get out of his dress pants and shirt, and into something much more comfortable. Socks and his underwear. He went into the living room to turn off the television, and put the huge pot of grass somewhere where Javert couldn't access it; under the sink. He returned back into his bed room and crawled under his down comforter. He reached for the remote on his nightstand and turn the small tv on in his bedroom. He would sit and watch for nearly an hour before falling asleep to the soft sound of sitcoms and the soft electronic light that emitted from it. He stopped watching it about ten minutes into whatever show was on and thought about what he was going to do tomorrow. He wanted to do something where he felt productive. He was going to wake up early and go into work briefly. He was going to go to the diner and have a conversation with the waitress. He was going to go back into the floral shop and ask the woman her name. He really like the woman. He wished he could've stayed longer and talked to her more and hear her laugh just one more time. He wanted Tulip to rub up against him more. And he decided that if he ran into Mary, he would talk to her like he always does. Like if nothing ever happened. He wasn't going to let one mistake ruin the great place he has at work.
Geoff wasn't ready to fall victim to sleep just yet. He set his alarm quickly before he forgot, and called Javert into bed with him. Javert cuddled into the small alcove Geoff's legs made in the comforter, and Geoff petted him for quite some time. Javert had short hair, but it was particularly soft, especially since he didn't look soft at all. Javert purred very loudly, so deep that Geoff could feel it in the bed springs under him, and before he knew it, he was asleep again.

When Geoff woke up, he felt like he didn't dream at all last night. He was still in his bed and Javert was still in bed with him, although he had moved to the end and was sprawled out on his back. Geoff popped out of bed and headed into the bathroom to get ready for the day. Hew was excited to get get things done today. And go back to the floral shop. He shaved today, and put on clean dress pants rather the grey ones he had been wearing all week. He decided not to eat anything  and just skip right down the diner for his breakfast. He filled Javert's bowl, and he came trotting out of the bedroom to eat. Geoff also put his grass plant down on the counter for Javert, hoping that would keep him away from the bamboo in the living room. He locked the door behind him as always, and left for down stairs.
There were only two other people sitting in the diner when Geoff walked in. An older couple and man sitting by himself, probably in his late thirties. Geoff sat in his usual spot; a booth against the wall and across from the doors to the kitchen. He sat and his regular waitress came up to him. She had taken is order everyday since she started working. He hadn't said much to her beyond ordering his food. He wondered what brought her here, to this corner of New York.
"The usual?"
"Am I really predictable?"
"When you get the same thing every day you are." Geoff laughed at her joke.
"That sounds good, thanks." Geoff looked around while he waited. He watched the old couple talk to each other over a plate of eggs and pancakes. They were both wearing thick wool coats and hats, they were cold even though he heat was on in the diner. They looked at each other with compassionate eyes from across the table, and had very small talk about things that Geoff couldn't quite hear. Geoff turned his attention towards the man sitting by himself, he had ordered a bowl of soup and half a sandwich. He didn't look lonely, but more alone, at peace with himself. Geoff felt like he could relate to the alone man, finding solace in spending time with yourself. He wondered if people looked at him and saw the same thing, or saw a lonely man. Geoff took his small sketch book out of his bag and started to take notes about things around the diner and about the people in it. He didn't get very far before the waitress came back with a plate and a glass for him.
"Is there anything else I can get for you?"
"Are you busy?"
"Um, I suppose not."