MirrorMirror

6 / And Chill

It was dark when Cassidy awoke.

He moved slightly, looking for his phone to check the time and regretting it. Yes, his sofa was comfy, but he was adept at nodding off in positions not conducive to actually being comfortable, if stayed in for any length of time. Sprawled out with his neck bent at an awkward angle was fine if watching television for a while and, if he felt the need, he could move. Sleep, on the other hand, didn't care if your neck was stiffening or your back was straining. It kept the facts secret, hiding them from you until you left its domain.

Then it would sit back and enjoy the pained expressions and grunts of a body in distress.

It was not long after 10 pm. Cass would often still be up an hour for another hour or more. During the week, he rose at 6:30 am for work, but enjoyed a lay in on a weekend. As he'd been asleep for a while, he wasn't tired enough to think about going to bed. Instead of having the television churn nondescript content into the room, he decided to find a film to watch.

He had an extensive collection of movies and shows on a couple of hard drives that were plugged into a small computer attached to his TV. Though he loved going to the cinema, he would regularly build on his collection by downloading the latest blockbusters, then stream them through a media server he'd set up. It meant he could watch them from anywhere, just by using the correct app.

And, in almost 2000 films and twice as many episodes, there was nothing that he fancied. He was fancying science fiction, but had seen everything he might choose. A decent horror film was hard to come by. Comedies could be too cheesy. A thriller? Possibly but... meh.

Wow, he was in a hard to please mood. Was this what solitude did to you? It had been a while since he had been on his own. The sudden change was obviously getting to him more than he'd admit.

Choose something to watch and just enjoy it, for fuck's sake.

Fine. If all else failed, Cassidy would forgo his collection and watch a comedic panel show. There were a great many, and the same faces would often be seen across them all. Sometimes it seemed that's all comedians did nowadays. Leap frog from show to show, cashing the pay cheque while dishing out anecdote after punchline.

Cynical as well as finicky. What a mix?

Panel show it was. One or another was always guaranteed to be on. There were so many channels and streaming services, it was impossible for there not to be. A quick search gave him what he wanted and he settled back again.

Ah. Best just stand up and stretch his back before giving it cause to get worse. And, while he was on his feet, a drink and snack wouldn't go amiss.

Twisting from side to side to free his protesting muscles up, he walked into the kitchen. He could see his reflection in the window and shook his head.

Looking a bit of a mess there, mate.

He'd get back into his groove, whatever that might be now, soon enough, he told himself. He looked rougher than he should have. Dishevelled. He knew it was the result of waking up on a sofa rather than in bed, coupled with pain. By morning, with a shower and change of clothes, he'd look less like a vagrant.

He rinsed his bourbon glass out and filled it with water. Yes, it would have been as easy to get a fresh glass out and just one more still didn't mean there'd be lots of pots to wash, but it was a habit he found hard to break. Again, it drew from his parents. Why make more pots than you needed to? It meant there'd be less when you might really need them, and the three seconds or so it took to wash that glass could be better spent doing something else entirely.

The thought was spoken in his head with his father's voice. Cassidy raised his glass in salute to the man. Some habits were hard to break, even though you knew they didn't really make sense.