I woke up on the floor with a sharp ache in my cheekbone. I sat up and rubbed at the sore spot. Ow.

I hadn't fallen far—our mattress and boxspring were still right on the ground—but the new place's floors were wood, and hard. The bright, warm sun that danced across it contrasted sharply with the cold water of my nightmare.

Yet another nightmare, I thought as I tried to remember it, though it was already fading. All I could remember was the threat of the dark water... What was it with the water? This wasn't the first time I had dreamt of being swallowed up by it, and it probably wouldn't be the last.

I groaned as I pulled myself up to sit on the edge of the mattress. I had hoped, like Luc had suggested, that this new apartment would help put these damned dreams behind me. Maybe it was too soon to tell; we had only been here for a week, after all.

The honk of a car horn made me jump, tearing me from the memories of my gloomy dream. After living in Polly's quiet upscale neighbourhood for so long, I was readjusting to the sounds of the city. But it was a good reminder that the day waited, and I had work to do.

After a quick stretch, I wandered out into the main room. Aside from the small pile of boxes pushed into one corner, it was completely empty. Today that was going to change...
A louder, longer honk—like someone was leaning on the horn—echoed through the apartment. I realized then that the windows that overlooked the street were open. Curious, I wandered over and stuck my head out one.

Parked right out front was a large blue pickup truck. Its box was crammed with lumpy fabric, crisscrossed with rope and bungee cords. It honked again, then someone leaned out the passenger side window. "Yo, Rachel!"

Ah! Something clicked in my mind, and I realized that I recognized the truck; it belonged to the thrift shop. They used it to deliver furniture orders. My furniture order.
But they aren't supposed to be here until ten...

I glanced at the clock on the microwave. Green digits blinked back at me. 10:16.

Shit!

Another honk. "Raaaachel!"

I popped my head out the window again. "I'm here! I'll be right down guys! Sorry!" I pulled myself back inside and ran to the pile of boxes, rifling around for something I could pull over my pajamas. Grabbing a dark teal sweatshirt of Luc's that would conceal the fact that I didn't have time to put on a bra, threw what hair I could into an elastic, grabbed my phone, and ran down the stairs.

At the foot of the stairs, with the sweater halfway over my head, I nearly collided with Luc who was just emerging from the storage room.

"Hello there!" he said, steadying me. "Did I hear someone calling your name? And is that my sweater?"

"Yeah," I said, shoving my arms through the sleeves. "The delivery is here. You were supposed to wake me up!"

Luc glanced at his watch and swore in French. "I'm sorry, I completely lost track of time."

"Of course you did," I said, half-teasing. I knew that once he started working it was hard for him to remember anything else. With a quick kiss, I pushed past him and ran out into the main room.

Zeke and Isaac were now standing in the shop's open door. The brothers were actually a few years apart—something that Isaac reminded his younger sibling of as often as he could—but in their matching overalls and red baseball caps they looked like they could be twins.

"There you are!" Zeke said, his eyes brightening as I ran towards him.

"We were beginning to worry you had forgotten about us," Isaac added, jutting his lower lip out in a mock pout.

"Forget about you guys?" I gasped, still breathless from rushing. "Never!"

Isaac laughed. "Where do you want us to start?"

"Uh..." I drawled; my mind was still struggling to catch up. My eyes scanned the box of the pickup, overflowing with stuff. I had put my new 20% discount at the thrift store to good use. Where to start, where to start...

"How about the bed frame?" Zeke offered when my silence began to drag. "That obviously goes in the bedroom. And that'll give your brain some time to wake up." He winked at me before heading back to the truck with his brother. I glared, but didn't say anything because he was right.

As they started to unload the wrought-iron bed frame from the back, I hunted around the bare room for something, anything, to prop the door open.

"Here."

I jumped and turned. Luc had snuck up behind me, quiet as death. He was holding an old, chipped brick in his hand. It was perfect.

"How did you—" I began and then stopped myself. How else? Duh. I smiled sheepishly, and took it. "Thanks."

"Happy to help," Luc replied, his eyes softening as he took a step closer, "Especially after I forgot to wake you up."

"It's okay," I said, like I always did. "Don't worry about it."

"If you say so." He curled his arms around my waist. "But, to make it up to you, why don't I grab some coffee for you and the guys?"

"That would be amazing. I really could use a latte right about now," I said just as a yawn broke. "Maybe with an extra shot."

Luc chuckled. "Then a double-shot latte you shall have. Now, what do you know how the guys like their coffee?"

"Black is fine," Zeke said as he brushed past, carrying one end the headboard. "And the bigger, the better."

"Ditto!" Isaac added, following after his brother with the other end.

"One triple-shot latte and two extra-large black coffees," Luc repeated, counting the order on his fingers. "Alright! Will you guys be okay on your own for a bit?"

"Yeah, I've helped them move furniture before," I said as I stifled another yawn.

"Not today, chica!" Zeke called from the back room as his brother was leading the headboard up the steps. "You're a customer today. And besides, we brought some extra help."

"Extra help?" I asked after them, but they were already out of sight, maneuvering the headboard up the stairs. I turned back and found Anne looming in the doorway, holding a single chair.

I tried to force my face into something friendly. "Oh! Hi Anne, I didn't see you there."

Her heavy-lidded eyes levelled her usual glare."Where do you want this?" She jabbed the chair at me, brandishing it at me like she wanted to club me with it, which, knowing her, she probably did.

"Uh, that's staying down here, so you can just put it over there," I said motioning to the far left wall.

"Cool," she said, dropping the chair just inside the door, nowhere near where I had pointed. "I'll go get the rest of them." She turned back towards the door.

Luc suddenly stepped forward, blocking her exit. "Hi there! I don't believe we've been formally introduced." He offered her his hand and one of his glowing smiles. "I'm Luc."

But Anne didn't take his hand. She just stared at it, then him as her eyes slid up to meet his.

He cleared his throat, then tucked his rejected hand away in his pocket. "Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks for coming to help out."

Anne suddenly jolted, like she realized where she was. Her hostility melted from her face and a deep pink blossomed across her tan cheeks. "Oh, uh, it's... it's nothing!"

Luc was either oblivious or too polite to notice Anne's weird reaction, because he just kept smiling at her. "It's not nothing. We're very grateful. Anyway, I was just going to grab coffee for everyone. What would you like?"

"Me?" The pink spread further, inching into her hairline. "No, no, I don't need anything. I'm good. I'm fine!" Then, without another word, she turned tail and half-ran back to the truck.

"Wow," I said, after she was out of earshot. "What'd you do to the poor girl?"

"Huh?" Luc said, blinking at me. "What are you talking about?"

I just laughed and shook my head. How can he be so oblivious? "I had never seen her be anything but surly... And that's putting it nicely."

He peered out the window, where Anne was pulling out three more chairs from the back of the truck. "She seems shy."

I snorted. She was never "shy" around me.

Without warning he pulled me close for one more kiss, then headed out the door. I watched him as he jaywalked across the street and into the coffee shop... The one I was still too cowardly to enter.

Things continued smoothly while he was gone. Anne brought in the rest of the chairs, so I stacked them in the corner, out of the way, until Luc decided how he wanted to arrange his shop. Isaac and Zeke came and went, effortlessly dragging larger pieces up and down the stairs, still not letting me bring anything in myself. I occupied myself by imagining how the whole place would look once everything was in place. Seeing it all come together gave me a strange thrill, a rising hope, like I was finally getting a proper chance to start over.

"Careful with that!" Isaac shouted.

I snapped out of my daydreams, and looked around. He couldn't have been talking to me; I was wrestling a massive armchair into place by the window. It was a violent green velvet with mahogany legs and anything but delicate.

Then I spotted Anne by the door with one of the very last pieces, a flat bundle of bubble wrap. She was struggling; it appeared to be very heavy. Isaac set down one end of the kitchen table he and his brother were taking up the stairs, and swooped in on her.

"That's glass!" he said, taking hold of the package.

"This is glass?" she grumbled, happily conceding the package to her brother. "It weighs a ton!"

He carried it easily over to the corner and gently leaning it against the shelves. "It's a mirror."

"Ooh!" I forgot about the chair and rushed to his side. I knew exactly what mirror he was talking about. I descended on it and began tearing at its packaging. Soon the edge of its frame was visible.

"What's that?"

Luc had returned, carrying wide box with a tray of coffee balanced on top. He  dropped his burden on a small table that had been left by the door and came closer. As soon as Anne caught sight of him, she stepped back and slipped out the door.

"You'll see," I said, pulling back the last of the wrapping.

My own face was revealed, but it didn't look like me. My features were twisted; one of my eyes bulged and my mouth slanted downwards in a stretched scowl. The ugliness in the mirror contrasted against the beauty of its frame, gold against silver, curling outwards in a delicate design.

Luc brow furrowed as he inspected the mirror over my shoulder. Even his beautiful face looked monstrous in it. "What's wrong with it?"

"It's just old," I said, lifting the mirror with some effort; it was heavy. My arms shook as I held it to the bare wall, trying to find the right placement for it. "The backing is warped, but I think that's part of its charm. It's kind of spooky, right? It's like art. I thought that'd be appropriate for the shop." I flashed him a knowing smile.

He just tilted his head as he continued to study the mirror.

My smile faded. "You don't like it?"

"No, it's not that." He chewed his lip, watching his own distorted reflection do the same. "I guess it does have character."

My arms were beginning to ache so I set the mirror down, leaning it against the wall. "We don't have to keep it if you don't like it. We can just get a painting or something..."

"It's fine," Luc said, finally tearing his eyes away from it. "If you like it, we'll keep it."

"But it's your shop—"

"That you're helping me decorate... And I trust my decorator," he said, smiling. "Now, how about that coffee?"

Taking my hand, he led me to the little table and gave me a large cup with my name written on it—sort of, the rushed scrawl made it kind of look like Ratchet. "One double shot, as requested."

"Thank you," I said, immediately taking a long drink. It was hot and smooth, and I felt a rush of energy rush through me, like life being breathed into my lifeless body.

I heard a bustle of steps on the stairs before Zeke and Isaac emerged, dusting their hands off.

"I think that's the last of it!" Zeke said.

"Perfect timing," Luc replied. "Coffee's here. And I got danishes from that new bakery down the street."

With a whoop, Zeke and Isaac rushed the table.

Isaac grabbed the nearest pastry and shoved it in his gaping maw. "Fanks!" he mumbled through the mouthful.

"It's me that should be thanking you," Luc said. "And that small coffee is for your sister, just in case she changed her mind."

"Changed her mind?" Zeke said, pausing mid-bite. His brow furrowed, and he looked to me for confirmation. "Anne turned down coffee?"

A smile tugged at my lips as I remembered how Luc had flustered her, but all I did was shrug.

"Dat's weerd," Issac continued, still chewing. He paused to swallow, and looked out the window; Anne was sitting in the passenger seat, her arms folded across her chest, glaring out into the distance. "She never turns down coffee."

"Is she not feeling well?" Zeke wondered.

There was a flurry of chimes as several phones went off at once. Everyone except me—my broke-ass phone, on top of everything else, no longer rang—stopped to pull them out and check if it was theirs.

Zeke and Isaac tapped at their phones for a moment before exchanging a look. Isaac started darting around the room, collecting the bungee cords and moving pads that had been scattered around.

"We've gotta go. There's another delivery," Zeke explained as he stacked the small coffee on top of his own, and put another danish on top of that. "Sorry to eat and run!"

"Don't worry about it," I said. "I'll see you guys on Monday!"

"See ya!" they said in unison, then headed out into the sun, back to the truck where their sister was waiting.

"Alright," I said, looking back to Luc. "Which room did you want to start with?"

But he hadn't heard me. He was pacing at the back of the room, his phone pressed to his ear, speaking in muted tones.

My heart sank. I knew what he was going to say before he had even jabbed at his phone screen and turned back to me. His usual look of apology was already glinting in his green eyes.

"Let me guess," I cut in just as he opened his mouth. "Tory?"

Luc closed his mouth again, and his shoulders slumped. "Yeah," he said finally. "He got a call..."

Instead of answering, I surveyed the room, buying myself a moment to blink back the stupid tears that were prickling in my eyes. I had pushed a few pieces of furniture into place already, but that was only a sliver of the work that needed to be done. With Luc, it would've been so much easier. Fun, even. But without him...

"How long will you be gone?" I asked, finally, turning my eyes back to him once I was sure they would no longer betray me.

"I'm not sure," Luc said, his big green eyes shining at me like some kind of baby animal. "But I'll return as soon as I possibly can."
I inhaled deeply, trying to push everything down inside. Just forget it, I thought as I massaged the bridge of my nose. Once this place is set up, he won't have to leave all the time. "Fine," I whispered. "Go. I'll do what I can on my own."

"You are the best, Rachel," Luc said, swooping in to kiss me. "I'm really sorry to leave you hanging like this. Again."

"Again," I repeated under my breath. I shook my head. "Just... Hurry back, okay?"

"I promise I will," he said and planted another kiss on my forehead. "I'll text you when I'm on my way." And with a final kiss, Luc dashed out of the store, quickly disappearing onto the street.

As I turned back, I caught sight of myself in the mirror as it leaned against the wall. The warp in its glass pulled my frown down farther, making me look more than a little monstrous. With a sigh, I looked away and went back to work.

+ + +

Hmmm... more dreams...
Do you think Rachel's dreams mean anything?