“I just have to figure out a way to cheer him up. Then maybe he’ll be inspired to start writing again.”
“I have an idea. How about you and he go through all those damn boxes we brought home from New Haven so we can get them the hell out of my lab?”
“Grump.”
“Call me a grump all you want but when I start charging you a storage fee, don’t complain.”
“Hey. I’m your girlfriend.”
“You are. Lionel is not.” With a sigh, Liam pressed a kiss to the top of her head, untangled himself from Natalie and the sheets and stood. “Speaking of my lab, I have to get moving. Will you make the coffee so I can jump in the shower?”
“Yes.” She pouted.
She’d been hoping Liam would have offered to make the coffee. No such luck.
But to be fair, he had a point about the boxes. They’d filled up the entire storage room of his lab with Lionel’s stuff.
It wasn’t a bad idea to go through it today as a distraction for Lionel. And maybe seeing all his old research would inspire him to jump into the Mudville project.
Jules was coming in to work that afternoon. When she arrived Natalie would take Lionel over to the lab and they’d get started.
With that plan in mind, and a coffee craving she needed to satisfy, Natalie got up and started her day with renewed energy and enthusiasm.
That energy and enthusiasm lasted through roughly half of the first box. Lionel was as nit-picky about his things as he was about his book. And with so many more boxes to unpack, Natalie’s energy was starting to flag.
The Keep pile was exponentially larger than the Toss pile, which didn’t bode well for Liam ever getting his storage room back. They needed a new plan.
“How about we move on to this box next?” she suggested, eyeing the box she remembered dumping all the bottles of vitamins in.
“Fine,” Lionel agreed, arms crossed. He had the distinct demeanor that said it didn’t matter what box they opened next, he wasn’t changing his mind.
They’d have to see about that. These were open, partially used bottles of over-the-counter vitamins, for goodness sake. Lionel couldn’t possibly want to keep all those. And maybe once he got over the hurdle of parting with some of his things, the rest would be easier to let go of.
Isn’t that what those organizational gurus did with the hoarders on television? They started small with non-emotional decisions. Items that didn’t mean anything to the person. Then they moved up to the harder choices.
She moved toward the box, but as she pulled open the flaps, a memory crept into her mind. Liam saying something about wanting to record what Lionel had been taking, to keep for his files. Crap.
“Liam!” she yelled toward the open door to the lab.
A moment later he appeared in the doorway. “You bellowed, dear?”
She narrowed her eyes at his attitude. “We’re starting on the box with the kitchen stuff. Did you want to write down what vitamins he was taking for your research study?”
“Yes. Actually, I did.” Liam nodded.
“Really? Well, I must say that is an intelligent decision,” Lionel said, sounding impressed for the first time when it came to Liam or his research. “There should be a study into how a man as health conscious as myself could suddenly die of a heart attack. In fact, this could be the basis of a class action lawsuit. Perhaps these vitamins were fake. I knew I shouldn’t let my TA talk me into ordering them online for less money.”
Liam returned to the room with a pen and clipboard and stopped just inside the doorway. “Where is he? I don’t want to walk through him.”
“And I do appreciate that. Thank you.” Lionel nodded.
“He’s behind the box. You’re good,” Natalie said looking at the box and realizing exactly how many bottles it contained. “Hey, do you think all these vitamins really do anything?” she asked Liam.
Liam tipped his head. “Depends. In some cases, some can, to a certain extent. But mostly you’re just going to pee most of it out.”
Lionel made a face showing his distaste regarding this conversation. It could have been in reaction to Liam’s mention of urine or his less than glowing opinion of vitamins. Possibly both.
“I have to disagree. As I told you, I was extremely healthy. Surely some of that can be attributed to my regimen of supplements.”
