Doreen sat at her coffee table, rubbing her temples, feeling half-dead. The coffee machine, surprisingly loud despite operating a lot slower than when she first got it, still didn't outdo the noises coming from next door. Every apartment she'd lived in had their pros and cons, and every previous con felt negligible compared to the paper-thin walls that often felt cosmetic for how little it kept heat insulated and especially how effortlessly sound traveled, as if there was no real barrier between domiciles.
Nursing what was on its way to becoming a splitting headache, grumpy grumblings aimed themselves at the anti-sound-proof wall, hearing her neighbor in 6G dance as if she was on her way to a club to dance the night away. Eyes darting to the clock reading 10:02 am, she was hoping some other neighbor stayed home from work that day so they could scream what Doreen internally roared - "It's too early for this shit! Shut the fuck up, please!" The rent increase she imagined ponying up for stronger, sound-suppressing insulation was an amount she couldn't afford, but it was a pleasant thought that kept her from really screaming, at least for that moment.
Doreen considered herself a pretty reasonable, agreeable person, the way she most times considered Kristie in 6G to be. About five years younger, Kristie was only a few years out of college, and obviously hadn't totally grown out of the campus party scenes. After a year or two with mostly silence and the occasional sound issue, they came to an unspoken agreement about how quiet Doreen preferred her evenings. It was only when Kristie had company over that the agreement really got tested, and much to Doreen's dismay, company seemed slated to stay for at least a week.
Hearing the occupant head for the door, Doreen decided to let misery have its company and give Kristie an earful, complete with the disheveled look of a sleep-deprived woman from the last few nights or so. Opening the door with a whooshing force for effect, before Kristie could head to the elevator, a yelp got the woman's attention, and Doreen adjusted her eyes to see a totally different woman.
"Y-yes?" the confused woman turned to Doreen, shocked to some degree, but a lot smaller than she expected, which Doreen felt fortunate for. Mad as she was, there was less inclination to give any grief to Kristie's guest.
"I'm...sorry, I thought you were Kristie," words came through the pain.
"You're her neighbor?"
"Yes, Doreen," the hand holding her forehead winced to be away from massaging it for a minute, but still reached out for a handshake.
"I'm Carlita, nice to meet you."
"Likewise, mostly," she admitted, keeping one hand on her forehead, futilely combating the pain with gentle pressure pushing back.
"How bad?" Carlita asked, her expression transitioning from cheerful to understanding effortlessly, as if she knew exactly what was literally going through Doreen's head.
"...I wish I could sugarcoat it, let's say that."
"I'm sorry to hear that; I've been there sometimes, and to say 'it's a pain' is weirdly insulting, the way the real pain feels."
"Heh, damn right," the ailing woman agreed, feeling slightly better in this woman's presence. Sometimes amiable conversations or pretty sights could help ease headaches for her, and the longer Doreen noticed Carlita, the more she realized Kristie's guest fulfilled both. A tan that most likely originated from the equator, brown, shoulder-length curles with a bounce that Doreen envied, cute freckles strewn about her face and close to her cleavage, dressed like a fashion model while having no trace of the arrogance of one, even having the empathy of a nurse or doctor, each detail made the woman increasingly attractive, unconsciously taking attention away from the pain. Doreen wasn't attracted to women, she'd reasoned to herself often, but she could still appreciate beauty where she found it. Doreen could certainly be a looker herself, under better circumstances and the right stylist for her black bangs, but she envied the kind of beauty Carlita possessed. Half-listening to Carlita's words for a while, she almost consciously missed her offer.
"Hey, I'm going to get a latte from the place nearby. I think there was a pharmacy next door to it; want anything from over-the-counter to help?"
She smiled at the offer, then grimaced as she heard her loud coffee machine make an odd, discouraging sound.
"Ugh, I think I'll take a latte too. And thanks for the other offer, but I've already tried some meds, and they're only kind of helping. None of them will get to the root cause, I think."
"What's the root cause?"
"Lack of sleep."
A flicker of something crossed Carlita's face, Doreen noted, something nearly producing a smile. "If that's the case, are you sure you want caffeine, and don't want to try to get a nap or something?"
"My sleeping is really weird. Naps just don't happen for me, and it's been hard to sleep at night for a bit."
The corners of curling lips stopped holding back a smile that confused Doreen.
"Well, let me get those lattes before you do end up napping. Be right back."
Watching the younger woman walk away, interested confusion raptly kept her attention as her mind tried unraveling certain aspects about the visitor, but delving too deeply, a sharp pain hit her and she retreated to her apartment in order to sit down and nurse her head.
Time easily escaped noticing as it felt like a virtual minute later when there was a knock at the door. Doreen opened her door to a tall latte and compassionate smile greeting her. She took the warm cup, and reciprocated with a warm smile of her own. Before she could even say thank you, Carlita spoke. "You know, I thought about sneaking off to the pharmacy to see what I could find for you anyway, but I might know a simple technique that could help you out. Wanna hear about it?"
It felt easy to open the door to Carlita, caring less if it made Doreen feel desperate about getting help or just having Carlita's balming presence improve her disposition a little longer. She led her guest to her dining table, and they both sat down to enjoy their coffees, the ghost of Carlita's smile still present on her face.
"I hope it was alright I got you a standard latte; should've asked how you like it."
"It's good as is, thank you for making the effort," she sipped on it slowly, trying to savor something good, admitting to herself that enjoying it with company made a big difference. Even the strange, smiling look Doreen sensed from Carlita seemed to help with distracting from the pain, though it she looked surprised to see she was caught giving it.
"I'm...sorry for the weird look; just something you said earlier got me thinking."
"What did I say?"
"About the trouble sleeping. Part of the weird smile I probably didn't realize I was giving was because I might know a way to help with that, and maybe with the pain too."
"Oh?" Doreen sounded interested, though kept her skepticism to herself, expecting home-made remedies or meditation suggestions to be made. She also had to keep the pain of frustration to herself, knowing trying these mostly-likely failing techniques would make her angry later for not working.
"It might sound hokey coming from someone you just met, or honestly just based off of what I have to say, but I can tell you about it, to see if you think it's even worth trying."
"I'm willing to hear about it, sure." Polite honesty laced her words, letting them hint at some of the present skepticism, but both knowing she was hoping they'd work.
"It's something I learned when I was a lot younger; honestly I think it was all the jumps to different climates that threw my body and head out of whack."
"Where were you traveling?"
"My parents are scientists, worked a lot with the international community, so traveled regularly with me in-tow, to the point of having dual citizenship in Bolivia and the US; so a whole lot of travel. It got really bad in the winters, from tropical heat to a snow storm in New York, my body always felt in flux, and complained loudly, like head-bangingly."
"I can sort of relate to that, with the traveling at least. My family's from Turkey, emigrated to the US when I was young, but parents were engineers, working for the big airplane companies. Don't think I had it as bad as you."
"Did you go into science for school? If so, take it easy on any kids you might have later."
"Heh, no, I went into advertising, though there's a bit of traveling involved there. Hopefully science has treated you well."
"Different science for me; chose psychology, much to my climatology parents' displeasure," Carlia laughed at the notion with pride lacing her voice.
"Just to get back at them?" Doreen wondered aloud with a raised eyebrow.
"No, a scientist friend of my parents noticed what I was going through when I was young. He majored in multiple things, including psychology, and took me through some exercises that surprisingly did the trick for me at that age, and have worked since. Definitely the kind of good will I like to see spread in the world, and contributing it when I can."
Doreen had almost forgotten about the fact that she had a headache, conversing with Carlita proved to be very pleasant. She'd learned more about her neighbor's guest in 10 minutes than she'd ever learned about her neighbor, which wasn't surprising as the ailing advertiser had to admit she wasn't the easiest person to open up to, often more reserved than she should've been to foster good relations with neighbors and the few friends she had. The Bolivian-born psychologist just proved to be one of those kinds of people who shined significantly instead of too brightly, who could reasonably draw a person to a state of comfort. Carlita smiled in how Doreen never seemed to notice her true intent, taking her mind off the pain with small, gradual psych techniques. Unthinkingly, Doreen took deeper breaths that matched Carlita's. The hand nursing her forehead now rested under her chin and on the table, eventually matching Carlita's posture of showing interest in whatever her new companion had to say. And most subtly, the friendly tone of her voice constantly shifted from a higher pitch, to a lower, smoother, timbre in the space of several sentences, a timber that could be mistaken for seductive in many cases. Easy smiles from both women reflected one's reaction to the joy of the other woman reacting perfectly to a light, conversational trance.
"How does it work?" The listless-sounding ending of her interested question nearly made Carlita smirk with satisfaction.
