Day 33
The apartment was impeccable, so clean it was almost sterile. The cushions aligned with precision, the scent of lemon cleaner mixed with the aroma of freshly brewed coffee emanating from the huge cup on Alyx's desk.
She was sitting in her chair, working on her laptop with a nervous and alert energy, a slight tremble in her hands, dark circles under her tired eyes, dressed comfortably, and her hair pulled back in a practical way.
Marshall was on the sofa with a blanket over him. Next to him, a plate with a sandwich made by Alyx. That's how Robin and Ted found them when they entered the apartment. After brief greetings, they settled next to Marshall on the sofa, focused on their love bubble while watching a movie.
A few hours later, Marshall comes out of the bathroom with a bottle of women's shampoo in his hands and while smelling it, "I found her shampoo, and it smells like lavender and seashells, like hope. It keeps that scent that is erotic and comforting at the same time..." he says with an intoxicated and fascinated expression.
Ted, Robin, and Alyx watch him in silence.
"It's my shampoo," Robin interrupts.
"Ah, sorry," expresses Marshall, embarrassed, and returns to the bathroom with the shampoo. With him out of the living room.
"That was weird, don't you think, Ted?" Robin expresses doubtfully. "Yeah, a little, but he's getting better," says Ted.
Alyx, throughout, said nothing, just watched the scene thoughtfully.
At night, while Ted and Robin were kissing in Ted's room, they are interrupted when they hear the voices of Marshall and Alyx with a loud thud.
Worried, they quickly leave the room and are surprised to see Alyx on top of Marshall, both on the floor at the door of Marshall's room, while he says, "Okay, you're right! No, I won't call her!"
"What are you doing? Are you okay?" asks Ted, worried.
Robin approaches to help Alyx get off of Marshall.
"Yes, Ted, nothing's happening," Marshall says as he recomposes himself from the floor and avoids everyone's gazes while hiding the phone.
"You're calling Lily," Ted says upon seeing Marshall's actions.
"Nooo?" expresses with doubt.
"Oh, come on, friend," says Ted as he takes the phone from his hands.
Day 34
That day, Alyx had left the apartment early to buy more cleaning supplies. She didn't expect to find Marshall with an annoyed expression and the phone in his hand upon returning.
"Are you okay?" she asks while leaving the purchases by the kitchen entrance.
"No, it's okay, I called her," he says, standing up and approaching Alyx. "And she changed her number. What does she think, that I'm going to stalk her?" he says with emotion. "As if she were so special, right?" he expresses, having a conversation about Lily with Alyx for the first time.
"I don't think she changed it... Maybe she lost it, or I don't know. She wouldn't change it, not for you or me. She wouldn't do it," Alyx finishes with conviction.
"You think?" Marshall asks himself as he heads to his room.
"Of course, if you look, you might have made a mistake. It's impossible that out of the 4.2 Lily Aldrins in San Francisco, there isn't some statistical counting error since it's not so recent from when she left, according to the last public database. And the probability that the number dialed belongs to Lily in this attempt is 22.5%. It's not statistically efficient or valid for it to be correct," Alyx recounts in an empty and direct manner.
Marshall turns and looks at her confused. "You're talking about data?"
"It's the only thing that doesn't hurt, Marshall. Numbers don't leave you, they don't promise to make a life with you and then go paint vases in San Francisco." She says while entering the kitchen.
"They don't leave you with a broken heart and taking care of another heart of someone you love," she murmurs to herself as she turns on the coffee maker again.
Later at the Bar
Robin, Ted, and Barney were at a table talking about their friends.
Robin was telling Barney how Marshall interrupted them that morning in the shower to tell them that Lily changed her phone number and that although Alyx believed it wasn't even his Lily but another one with some percentage, he knew it was her.
"Plus, he acts like a baby. He can't eat without someone watching him, cries a lot, and sometimes wakes us up," says Robin, fed up with the situation.
"Come on, haven't you tried breastfeeding him so he sleeps well?" Barney says mockingly.
Ted and Robin look at him disapprovingly. "Come on, they were together for nine years; it's only been a month," Ted recounts.
"Yeah, but last night he came to our room to sleep with us," Robin says.
"Come on, he watched a scary movie," Ted tries to reconcile.
"It's time we get tough with him. Get him out of the apartment to breathe fresh air, get some sun, something. It's not healthy for him or for Alyx. I've barely seen her leave; she seems like Marshall's shadow, taking care of him, and they don't even talk much. It seems like they broke up or ignore each other besides Alyx faithfully taking care of him. And the apartment, although it looks very clean, is excessive," Robin says, worried about her friends.
"But she's not as bad as Marshall. At least she goes out alone, eats well, and works normally, don't you think?" says Ted, convinced.
"I don't know, it's weird that she doesn't show her sadness like Marshall," Robin tries to continue.
"Come on, she must be fine; she's always like that... She's not that bad," Barney concludes, convinced, while thinking more about his next plan. "Hmm, Marshall needs sun," murmurs Barney.
Day 41
-"Gentlemen, welcome to the stage, Sun!"
"I don't think this is going to work," says a hesitant Marshall, who is sitting at the bar of the strip club where Barney has taken him.
"Come on, you know why you haven't been able to get over Lily. Because you still remember her naked, since the male brain remembers an infinite number of images of breasts, and yours is a hard drive saturated with Lily's and Alyx's," Barney recounts.
"Now, since you don't even look at Alyx's, you're only stuck with Lily's in your mind, you need a journey that may require up to millions of pairs of breasts to forget the redhead's." "Wow, how beautiful they are; look, there are four," he says, pointing to the dancer on the stage. Meanwhile, Marshall remains mesmerized, watching them.
A huge and warm thank you to Sunduz_Karacaoglan (twice, wow! 😮) and to Batata_SAMA for the Power Stones! You guys are amazing! Seeing that support for the story fills me with energy to keep writing. Thank you so much! 🙏❤️