Chapter 7

"Right there would be fine, Norman." I said, as Norman lugged my boxes filled with books to a corner of the room that Louisa and I would share.

Louisa was standing by the door, overseeing all this. "Louisa, I feel horrid for not allowing your room to be as spacious as it was before."

"Don't be Gemma, don't be at all. I am dying to have company here." Louisa stressed the word "dying", the way she said it, she was sincere about having a roommate. I noticed Louisa was still far more jumpy here than she was at Norman and Ruby's house, and she spoke in a quieter voice, too. I hoped that Louisa wasn't extremely picky about keeping everything in its place, however from what I saw so far, she wasn't. "Well, Miz Doyle, that's everything. Is there anything else you can think of for me to bring?" Norman said politely, even though the look in his eyes told me that he would not be more than happy to bring another box up. There was another box at the bottom of the staircase, but I could bring it up myself.

"No, that will be all, and thank you so much for helping me move my things here." I said, graciously. Upon hearing this, Norman's stance immediately relaxed, and I started to feel guilty about torturing him.

After Norman left, and I brought my final box up, I stood at the end of the room and took a long look at it. The walls had no pictures, but there was maroon wallpaper. There were two beds in the room, each in an opposite corner. There was a wardrobe next to each bed and towards the front of the room sat a screen to change behind, and next to the screen was a mirror. The room was quite ordinary, the nicest thing about the entire room was probably the window, and the tiny fireplace that would keep us warm during the harsh winters.

My routine would be quite simple, on weekdays I was to be inside Dung's studio by 9 o'clock, I was to have all the paint organized, the colors should be ready with the proper texture by 10 o'clock. After that I was to help Dung keep his set in order, and ensure that the lighting was perfect for his painting. I had to organize all of his unveiling events for him, and on days that he was busy, I was supposed to bring his food up to his studio. The cook would make breakfast for me, Louisa, and Dung at 7 o'clock. Because Mr. Raven was the owner of the building, he had privileges, the cook would take his breakfast into his room at around twelve o'clock.

The days came and went as I worked in Dung's studio. I did as I was told, yet Dung still seemed dissatisfied. Occasionally, Louisa and I would go to Norman and Ruby's home for dinner, and even help her out with her cooking, she didn't like being on her feet for too long. Louisa and I got along fine, mainly because I didn't see much of her. She seemed to work a lot, because she was never there when I went to sleep, and always up before I was. She seemed to love the water, it was as though she was always taking a bath in her spare time. I didn't eat very much, I didn't read either. I just slept. If I had nothing to do I would sleep. My hair started falling out, and I had dark circles under my eyes. I didn't notice that I had fallen into this routine until Dung said, "Gemma could you get me that vase please?" I went to a table in the corner of the room and brought Dung the glass vase, it had a single flower in it. "Have you been watering this?" He asked me as he stroked the stem of the flower.

"No, you told me not to."

"I did, didn't I?"

"Mmmhhhmm." Where was he going with this?

"Do you know why I told you not to?" He asked.

"Shall I take a guess?"

"No, I don't really care, because you probably won't get it."

"Oh."

"Gemma, look at this flower. You are no different, this flower is dry, it has no color, no zest, nothing. I told you not to water it, so you might see what you refuse to see every time you look in the mirror."

I said nothing, I didn't know what to say.

"Gemma, there is always something that can be done, no matter how big your problems are. Do what you have to do, to restore yourself, your spirit."

"Alright." Was all I said, and I left the room.

I sat on my bed thinking about what Dung had told me. I left the apartment, and walked to an abandoned restaurant that I had walked past many times with Louisa. I did the only thing that I could think of. I walked around to the back end of the restaurant and I summoned the door of light.