Set in Season 1

"You look nice."

"Thank you." A slight smile on her lips made him realize that she cherished his words. Her hand went over her skin, soft strokes so that the colored fluid distributed. It then collects and collaborate with her pores.

He stepped behind her and suddenly wished that he could bring more inches between their bodies- but there was a lack of space in the bathroom. Her smell, which was now creeping into his nose, was to him just a daily fragrance, it had lost its appeal. Was just a constant reminder that he was bound to her.

Alec looked into the mirror, his eyes didn't fell on her face but controlled his own look.

"You look good." She confirmed and reassured him with one glimpse. He nodded and stepped aside.
"Are you done?" He asked.

While Gillian was always punctual- the time she spent in the bathroom sometimes was less than alright for him. Over the years, it grew annoying for him, a grueling game. At the beginning of their relationship he had loved to watch it. To examine how the tasks lead to emphasize the best features of her. Now it was an everyday routine.

Sometimes he wished to just get out- on an undetermined date, not to have to wait for her. Not to be connected to someone.
But in truth he rarely asked her to hurry up in the bathroom. Discussions between them were rare. Sometimes he believed that they were too much of the same nature to have a potentially strong relationship. A relationship which was based on more than the small chemical reaction in their bodies which people called "love".

Already after these few years of marriage, he began to doubt that mutual understanding and love were enough for a long path together.

"I still need a little time." She asked him. He was nodding again and already on his way out of the bathroom. His steps took him into the kitchen; a design fault of the architect. He still believed that it would have been more practical to attach the bathroom to the living room or bedroom. But back then Gillian had convinced him that it was something special. Their own kind of special. A laugh for just the two of them; Ah joke that was worn off by the years.

His thoughts stuck to Gillian, he sat down on the couch in the living room and waited for her. She seemed to look forward to this evening. A Christmas party at her company. Yes, he did admit that he did not begrudge her therefor that she was happy where she was. She seemed to have found there her compensation to his daily grind.
He had sensed for himself that Cal Lightman did challenge and offered her the variety that failed between them.

Yes, and even sometimes in silence of the night, when he sat alone in the kitchen and his thoughts would not let him rest, he believed that his marriage with Gillian would not hold on long enough.

Soon they would succumb to the grind.