The air remained still and silent as a morgue. He’d get used to that soon enough, but not yet. He wasn’t ready. After rising, Louis stepped into last night’s jeans and made his way into the en suite. The first thing he noticed, or rather failed to notice, was Jake’s aftershave. The squat little bottle usually sat on the shelf under the bathroom cabinet along with his toothbrush in a glass, right next to Louis’s. The toothbrush was missing as well, but he soon located that in the little bin by the sink. There was no way the brush had dropped in there by accident. What was Jake playing at? Had he started packing already? He would need a while to get his things together. His bits and pieces littered the rooms like confetti. Louis didn’t mind so much, because it made the place look lived in. Now there were only his few toiletries in the bathroom again. He didn’t wear aftershave or hair gel or any of the paraphernalia Jake fetched over from home.
