My upstairs neighbor's schedule is more consistent than any alarm clock I've ever owned

I have lived below this person for eight months. I don't know their name. I have never seen them. I know them entirely through sound.

6:07 AM is when something heavy gets dropped. Every morning. I've tried to think of what falls at exactly 6:07 AM every single day. I have no explanation. It is not loud enough to be alarming but loud enough to wake me up when I'm in the half-sleep zone.

6:22 AM: pacing. Not stressed pacing. Purposeful, rhythmic pacing. Like someone learning a floor plan by feel. I can track the path by listening: kitchen to hallway to bedroom, back to hallway, kitchen. Same route. Same cadence.

11:30 PM: more pacing. The evening installment is slower. More contemplative. Sometimes there's a pause near what I've identified as the bathroom, then it resumes.

I filed 4 noise complaints. Building management came by twice and said they couldn't find any violation. I know. I know it's not technically a noise violation. It's just the steady rhythm of someone living above me at exactly the hours I need to be unconscious.

I've started calling it "the ritual." My girlfriend thinks this is funny. I've started thinking of it as having a housemate I've never met. Last week I realized I have a weird comfort in knowing they're up there, pacing. If one day the pacing doesn't happen, I'll worry about them. This is what a year in Uptown apartments does to you.