FJÄLLBERGET : a Melendaire story

Maybe she had had a bad idea asking for more place… She had so many shoes, bags, clothes and she needed something to tidy them. Since she was living with Neil, she had already taken a lot of his living space. All things used to have their places there. But for months now, it was more her stuff invading all the rooms. He told it was Ok but she knew he was not at ease with all this mess in the apartment.

"You seem preoccupied… Everything's OK?"

"Oh I'm fine, Alex. It's just some ideas crossing my mind."

"You and Neil are Ok?"

He was one of the only people Claire had told she moved in with Neil. He was his best friend, his confident. And he was so good at keeping secret.

"Oh yeah. We're fine. In fact, it's even better than I've expected. I'm kind of like having someone to share my daily life with… And he's a god of cooking!"

"A good point for you!" He laughed. She laughed too.

"Don't make fun of me… I may suck at cooking, but it's not my fault… And as Neil says, I can't have all the skills." She gave Alex a mischievous look.

"Ah ha ha, love makes you blind."

"Enough, Alex, I thought you were my best friend. I'm disappointed!"

For sure, Alex knew how to make her smile. She was feeling a little better now.

"But seriously, you seem worried. What's going on?"

She nodded her head for more seconds. Then pouted. "Since I moved in Neil's apartment, I have not yet tidied all my stuff… And they are all over in the rooms… And I know he's crazy because of this but he doesn't say a thing because, you know…"

"Because he loves you…" She lowered her eyes. "Come on Claire, you can say it out loud. It's so obvious he's fond of you. You should see the puppy eyes he gives to you each time you talk…"

She blushed. "I'd like to make something for him before he comes back from his colloquium in Minneapolis tomorrow evening… I was thinking to go to Ikea to buy a piece of furniture I could place in the friends bedroom and I could tidy all my shoes and bags in it… And tomorrow is my day off…"

"I could give you a lift? I'm not working either."

"You could?"

"Of course, anything for a friend. Nine at your place?"

"Perfect! Thank you so much!"

[…]

She spent all her night looking for the perfect piece of furniture for her to put her stuff away from Neil's eyes. It should be modern, classy and design. After hours of research, she found the perfect one: FJÄLLBERGET ! Unpronounceable but ideal! And it was in stock in the closest shop. She wrote all the product details and put the paper in her handbag.

Neil called her just before sleeping, as he did every time when he was away from home.

"Can't wait to come home… I miss you."

"Miss you more… Bed is empty without you by my side. And I'm cold."

He burst into laughing. "So this is all I'm for you? A convenient radiator?"

"Maybe…" She giggled before taking a more serious tone. "You know you're more than that, right?"

"I do… My bed is empty too… And I miss your lil snoring."

"That's cheap, Mr. Melendez… Not my fault if my sinus are bad- shaped."

They talked for almost one hour before hanging up. "Love you, C. Have sweet dreams."

"Love you too, Neil."

[…]

At 9, Alex came to pick Claire. He called to tell her he was there. "Right on time! Let me two minutes to take my bag."

She met him some minutes later. She explained him the piece of furniture she had found. It was the perfect one and it fitted with the style of the friends bedroom. Alex smiled. He liked seeing his friend so enthusiastic. She had been through too much those last years. She deserved to be happy and since she was with Neil, she was overjoyed and smiling all the time.

Alex parked the car and took a trolley. They entered the IKEA shop and looked for the piece of furniture Claire had identified last night. They found the section pretty quickly but the little cupboard was not on the shelves. Alex called a seller who was around to ask her if the cupboard was available.

"Hello, I'm Lana. How can I help you?"

"Nice to meet, Lana. My friend over there is looking for the FJÄLLBERGET cupboard. But It's not on the shelves. Have you some of them in stock?"

"Just give me some minutes!"

She vanished in the shop before Claire even noticed she had been here. Alex waved at Claire who looked puzzled in front of the storage. She turned her head to look at him.

"Claire, It's Ok. I've asked a seller to check for us."

Lana came back a few minutes later with a voucher. "You just have to go to the storehouse at the end of the shop. My colleague has kept one of those for your friend."

"Thank you so much!" Claire yelled so loud that Lana jumped.

"My pleasure, M'am."

They went to the storehouse, got the cupboard and paid it at the cashier. Alex loaded it in the car and drove back to Claire's place. He helped her to bring the heavy box to the apartment and left it in the friends bedroom.

"Are you sure you don't need help to assemble the cupboard? "

"No. I've told you. I want to do it on my own but it's really nice of you to ask. I've used enough of your time! Enjoy the rest of your day to spend time with Kellan. And thanks again to drive me there!"

Alex left her alone. And now she had to find Neil's tools. She swore she had seen them in the lobby the other day when he fixed the kitchen sink. She found them a little later in one of the drawers of the chest of drawers in the corridor. She took the whole kit and brought it to the friends bedroom where Alex had dropped the box on the floor.

She undid the box to get the cupboard out. She found the notice and realized it will take a little more time than expected. By chance, Neil's flight landed in more than 7 hours and he will need 3 more hours before being home. She needed to be focused and the place will be perfect when he will be there.

First, she gathered all her stuff in boxes she kept in the kitchen and brought them to the friends bedroom. So all the mess was reunited in only one place. That was the easy part. Now the messy work could start. First finding the right pieces to put them together. Easy to say, less easy to do. She spent hours to try to figure out the instructions of the notice and understanding the drawings.

Damn, this thing was worst to understand than a human body! At least, when she fixed a liver or a heart, she knew how to deal with all the complications. Here, the more she read, the more she got lost. She took a deep breath and reread the notice again. And then something made sense. She began to assemble some pieces together and it seemed to fit. After more than two hours, she had built only the bottom of the cupboard. And her stomach was groaning.

She got up to go the kitchen and put a part of Neil's lasagna in the micro oven. She took the hot plate with her and got back to the notice. Time was running out and this place was still a mess. She needed to go faster. She ate and drank her orange juice while analyzing the future steps of assemblage. She lost count of time surrounding by screws, hammer, wall plugs and screwdrivers. The whole room was a mess but she didn't care, the cupboard was half done. A feeling of proudness seized her. She was doing well!

"So A is going with B and it had to be screwed with D using the part I assembled before… Ok I get that… But where the f**k is B and why A is not looking as in the picture?!" She grumbled. "Claire, stop be mad and focused, you're gonna do it!"

She heard a little laugh coming from behind her. She turned to see that Neil was already home. "You're already here?"

She looked puzzled and looked at her watch. It was already 10PM. "Damn… I didn't see time passed. I wanted to make you a surprise…"

He smiled at her and came to sit next to her on the ground. "I can help you, you know… And to be fair you've done the biggest part of the job."

"That's nice of you to say but I can feel a hint of irony in your voice, you know."

He laughed. "Not my style!"

"To others, Neil. I know you better than you know me." She stuck her tongue at him. He enjoyed the moment to drop a kiss on her lips. She let him do it. She loved when their tongues met. It was always electric, magical. They rested each other's head on their forefronts.

"I suck at this, right?"

He let out a grin. "Everyone does, Claire… This notice is the definition of torture. I spent 2 days to assemble the piece of furniture of the living room…"

She giggled. "Two days, really?"

"For real… And I thought my head was gonna explode…"

He smiled. They were so fine sitting there on the ground, in this room. In fact, right now, it was his definition of the best place in the world.

"I forgot to ask you, your colloquium in Minneapolis was interesting?"

"Not really... The conferences were kind of boring but at least, I saw some of my old mates from Stanford."

"Ah ah ha ha! So you got more drunk than you listened to the professors there."

"It's always about booze with you." He answered to her, his happily idiotic smile on his lips.

"So you're telling me you haven't drunk anything with them?"

"I've not said that."

"So you drank?"

"Maybe."

She burst into laughing. "Told you, I know you better that you know me."

He was so in love with this tiny person. She had made her daily life way funnier, more colorful, more agitated, messier. But to be honest, he didn't care about all the stuff she let in the apartment. She brought him so much more.

"Claire Browne, would like to come to bed with me?"

"An indecent offer, Mr. Melendez?" She took her naughty tone.

"Maybe…" He held his hand to her. She smiled and took it. He pulled her to their bedroom. The mess in the friends room could wait till tomorrow.

This night, they didn't sleep a lot. But who cares? When you felt so well with a person, you didn't want to lose even a second not enjoying her and his company, body and mind…