The Preoccupied Man

In the pitch blackness of 7:00am when I make my way to the kitchen to switch on the hot water and on the edges of my consciousness I just about am aware there is something unusual happening. I ignore it and after my shower am still aware of something that has fallen out of the usual pattern of these winter weekday mornings. Down in the Mews there is some kind of noise - the noise of one of the workshops opening. A white van sits outside the workshop opposite here, usually only seen at night. In the flat above the workshop I see the Preoccupied Man. I have noticed him for a week or two now. I only ever see him in the room of his flat that would correspond to the living room here. There is nothing in the room and is lit by the flat light of a dull bulb. I do not know remember whether or not there is a lampshade. Set in the far wall of the room, there appears to be some kind of window, an interior window, for the room is not deep enough to extend to the back of the building. The man is always preoccupied with something on the floor. I have always imagined it to be some kind of woodworking project - or maybe something to do with a carpet. I have never seen him before dawn before so can only assume - perhaps wrongly - that his appearance is somehow connected to the fact that one of the workshops is operating before dawn.