Back to the Bathroom

Jamie felt disgusting. Sure, he'd already had a shower, but he had been working so hard, cleaning so intensely, that he had gotten filthy. Garbage spilled on his clothes, dog waste on his shoe, not to mention the sweat. He could feel it beneath his shirt, in his underwear, dripping, drying...

Now that he was done his chores, and while he had been cleaning he had decided that they were, in fact, his chores, Jamie decided to once again clean himself up. Spending a few moments to give the house a final inspection, and finding with satisfaction that it was as clean as could be, Jamie returned upstairs to the washroom. The house wasn't large, so Rob and Jamie shared one washroom. Since it was only the two of them, though, there were hardly any conflicts about time spent, especially since Judy was no longer in the picture.

Rob and Judy's relationship had been hot and heavy at first, and Judy had spent far more time at Rob's place than at her own. The washroom still held a lot of her toiletries, left over from before the breakup. When Jamie had been cleaning up, he briefly wondered if he should do Rob a favour and throw it away. There really wasn't a reason that Rob would want to keep this stuff around, make-up, perfume, flowery shampoo (gross!), all sorts of things that a woman would like. In the end, though, Jamie's frugal nature kicked in and reminded him that he never knew what the future would hold, and that all of these things might come in handy one day.

Plugging his MP3 player into the speakers that Rob had in the bathroom, Jamie was looking forward to a nice hot shower with some of that new ambient music playing to sooth his nerves. Cleaning was fun, but it was hard work. What Jamie needed was to unwind, and his experience with Rob's music told him that it was just what he was looking for.

The water on, steam filling the room, Jamie stepped into the tub as he felt the music wash over him. It was so relaxing, so soothing, Jamie quickly began to zone out. The water poured down his body, and he slowly rubbed his bar or soap up and down, lathering every surface. His mind wandered as he rinsed off, reminding him of all the nice things that Rob had done for him since Jamie lost his job. Allowing him to move in was just one thing. Taking care of the bills, listening to him complain, hanging out with him, being his best friend; Rob was incredible. Jamie couldn't believe his luck, living with a guy like Rob, having Rob take care of him like he had.

Grabbing the floral shampoo he had found earlier, Jamie squirted some out and ran it through his hair, relishing in the scent and feel. Feeling pampered is exactly what the doctor ordered. The track swelled, filling Jamie with a sense of calm. He rinsed his hair and sighed. All the stress of unemployment, of feeling like he owed Rob for his generosity, washed down the drain with the shampoo. In its place was a peaceful sense of purpose. If he wasn't able to get a job, if nobody was going to hire him, the least Jamie could do was to treat living with Rob as his job. He would take care of him, everything he needed. Make his house into a home.

Turning off the water, Jamie stepped out of the shower, wrapping a towel around his body under his armpits. Yes, he felt like he had a new attitude, a new outlook on life. And life was about to get so much better.