The Science of Sleep

Following the death of his father from cancer, Stephane - Mexican on his father's side, French on his mother's side - agrees, despite his less than proficient use of the French language, on his mother's request to move back to France from Mexico, she not only letting him live in her apartment in his old bedroom in the building she owns while she stays with her current boyfriend Gerard, a magician, but she having found him a job using his graphic art skills at a calendar shop. The job ends up not being quite as she had made it out to be - it more a dead end menial job - but Stephane is still able to eke out a friendship of sorts with his new coworkers, especially Guy, the senior employee, a bully of a man-child who obsesses about sex and who becomes Stephane's confidante. Concurrently, Stephane strikes a friendship with his neighbor, Stephanie, and her friend, Zoe, Stephane and their friendship stemming out of some mistruths, including the two artistically inclined women not divulging they, like him, lead dead end nine-to-five jobs, and Stephane also not divulging that he is actually Stephanie's neighbor and the son of her landlady which allows him to spy on Stephanie's apartment without notice. While Stephane is romantically interested in Zoe, he believes Stephanie in turn is interested in him. Regardless, Stephane forms a special bond with Stephanie, their similar names only one of the many factors which may indicate that the cosmos meant for them to have this bond. Despite what Stephanie may feel for Stephane in return, their friendship/relationship will be affected by Stephane often not being able to differentiate between reality and what are, to him, his very vivid dreams.