FicWad

Crunch. Clink. Clink. Crunch. Crunch.

I frowned, annoyed by the sounds disturbing my unconscious state.

Clink. Clink. Clink.

My eyes shot open as the sounds persisted. For a moment I wondered what was going on and where I was. The stained ceiling was definitely that of my own apartment, but what the hell were those noises.

I sat up and looked around for the source of the disturbance.

“Good morning, Gee!”

Mikey sat at the kitchen table eating cereal and that was what the clinking and crunching sounds were all about.

“Want some cereal?” he asked, holding the bowl up.

I shook my head, one, to clear it and two, to let him know that I didn’t want any. “I don’t really do the breakfast thing. I never have time in the mornings. Speaking of. “What is the time?”

Mikey looked at his watch, still busy chewing. “It’s almost a quarter to eight.”

“Ah, shit. I have to get going before I’m late for work.” I was halfway to my bedroom when I stopped and turned to look at Mikey. He seemed fine for someone who should be hung-over given his condition the night before. Or maybe he was one of those people who had all the energy in the world the next morning, but gets sick at the mention of alcohol. It didn’t matter though, aside from the fact that I was jealous. “What time do you have to be in?”

“I only start at nine,” the cocky little kid smirked at me.

I grumbled the rest of the way into the bedroom where I changed my clothes and had time to fix my hair and even brush my teeth.

“Have a great first day at work, Mikes!” Simply to be an asshole, I ruffled his hair as I passed him on my way out of the apartment.

“Gerard, you dick! I already styled it!” Mikey shouted irately, glaring after me. I didn’t respond other than to smile to myself.

I reached the Starbucks quicker than I usually did – man, I guess being completely hung-over really did affect your physical abilities – and I was surprised to see that Kat was already on duty.

“Look who’s up early and actually on time for work,” I smiled as I approached her.

“Here’s looking at you,” Kat grinned back at me. “What can I get you?”

“I think today I’ll treat myself to a regular coffee, but only one sugar please.”

“On it.” Kat turned away to get my coffee ready and I pulled out the right amount of money while I waited. “I have no idea how people can drink their coffee bitter like this. I hate coffee if it has less than three sugars in it.”

I chuckled at her comment. “Not all people have a sweet tooth like you clearly do.”

“I don’t, but come on, it really doesn’t taste nice.”

I shook my head. “I like it this way. Three sugars are too sweet, but to each his own.”

She shrugged, handing me my coffee and taking the money. “Will I see you tonight?”

“I’m sure we can work something out. I’ll probably have dinner with my brother, but I’ll meet you afterwards?”

“Sure,” she smiled in response. “Enjoy work.”

“Thanks.” I was out the door and back on the busy street with that, heading to another day of work.

*

“Where are you going?” Mikey asked when I put my jacket on and grabbed my wallet after dinner.

“I have plans with a friend,” I answered vaguely, looking around for my keys.

“What time will you be back?” he wanted to know, getting up and following me to the door.

“Don’t wait up,” I told him with a small smile.

It took a few seconds for him to say, “Okay, have fun!”

I disappeared out the door and made a beeline for the stairs. Kat was probably already waiting for me. Mikey and I talked so much during dinner that it took longer than I had planned. It was fun, but I was looking forward to spending some time with Kat again. I’ve seriously neglected her during the last couple of weeks. The vague answers I gave my brother were only to keep him from asking questions that I wouldn’t be able to answer without lying. I was only trying to protect him, I kept telling myself. He did not need to get dragged into my train wreck life.

I arrived at the little nowhere bar to find Kat already waiting and having a drink. Then again she’s probably been here a while.

“Hey, sorry I’m late,” I apologized, sitting down on the bar stool next to her.

She smiled as soon as she saw me. “No problem. I got an early start anyway. Besides, I don’t want to steal your time with your brother.”

“We spend enough time together,” I assured the female. “He’ll be fine without me.”

Kat shrugged. “Okay. How have you been?”

“Me? Somewhat busy, but good I guess and you?”

“How well can it really go?” she countered.

“Fair point,” I conceded, turning to the barman and ordering a beer. “Do you remember some time ago when you wanted to know what was wrong with me and we ended up talking about random stuff instead?”

Kat chuckled lightly. “Gee, we always talk about random stuff.”

I frowned at her observation, but then realized that it was only the truth. “Yeah, we do. Why do we do that?”

“Well,” she paused to take a sip of her drink. “It’s easier than to talk about our real problems.”

I remembered. No personal questions. It was easier, but on the other hand, it was unnecessarily shallow. How could you ever form a real bond with someone if they had no idea who you were or where you came from? It was stupid.

“Okay, mind if I change things up a little then?” I asked and she shrugged again. “I was upset that day because a person I had gotten really close to left the city and it was entirely my fault.” Kat nodded slowly, listening intently to what I was telling her. It was nice having someone to talk to, someone who somewhat knew my problems and wouldn’t judge me for it. “Sarah and I worked at the same place. That’s how we knew each other. We were complete opposites, though, and when she found out about my addictions, she wanted to help me clean up. I wasn’t ready and that was pretty much the end of it.”

“So she left?”

“Not exactly like that, no. Earlier on when we’d only been getting to know each other, I told her that life held more for her and that I thought she should go deeper into art. It turns out that she had listened to me and she had applied to a Boston college in order to further her art studies. That was the real reason why she left. What I actually wanted to tell you was that she called me today and things are going great over there. She’s working hard, but she’s having a blast doing what she loves.”

Kat smiled, “I’m happy to hear it, especially that you guys are still keeping in touch. It seems that she’s special to you. I remember how torn up you were after she left.”

I nodded solemnly. “I miss her.”

“I can imagine that you do.”

“That first night we spoke, you said that everyone has friends. Why haven’t I seen you with yours before?” I inquired curiously, suddenly wanting to change the subject. Yes, I opened up to her on my own, if only a little, but that did not mean that I wanted to share everything at once. This was going to be a long process and it wasn’t going to be easy either. The fact that I told her about missing Sarah was already a big step.

Kat clearly didn’t expect my question, judging by the look she gave me. I genuinely wondered about it, though. The raven-haired beauty seemed to be a great girl and yet she was always alone. I couldn’t figure out why she never had anyone with her. Despite the fact that she could be a real bitch if she chose to be, she was actually pretty nice and kind of shy. I enjoyed her company and couldn’t see why other people wouldn’t. Then again she was good at keeping people away with her distant attitude and due to the fact that she didn’t exactly welcome any company. I remembered the first time I tried to talk to her and how that ended. Oh well. We got along perfectly fine now and I’ve been seeing more of her recently. She was finally relaxing a little around me. Maybe she’s finally realizing that I won’t bite.

She shifted awkwardly after a moment.

“It’s okay. You don’t have to answer that,” I told her, picking up my beer and taking a swig.

“No, it’s okay,” she assured me. “I don’t actually have friends. I mean, I had friends once upon a time, but that was a long time ago.”

“What happened?” I started. “Sorry, I’ll stop with the personal questions…”

“Good, but honestly, reality happened. Life finally caught up with me.”

I frowned confused. I had no idea what she meant by that, but I wasn’t going to pry. I didn’t need her running out on me again like before.

“One more question?” I said uncertainly.

“Shoot.”

“How can a girl like you be single?” It was a very rude question, but I couldn’t contain my curiosity.

“What makes you think that I’m single?” she countered.

“Well, you don’t have any friends and you’re always alone. Besides, I don’t think your boyfriend would approve of you going out and getting drunk with me night after night,” I explained my query. It was fair of me to wonder.

“Fair enough, but I’ll have you know that I’m not single.”

That was an unexpected response.

“In that case I’ll have you know that your boyfriend’s an ass, because it seems that you spend more time with me than you do with him.”

“I’m actually married,” she informed me with a small smile and my jaw dropped.

“No fucking way!” I exclaimed, unable to stop myself.

She smiled innocently, holding up her left hand to show off the thin gold wedding band on her finger.

“You look so young,” I pointed out still completely stunned.

“I am young,” she replied deadpan. “I’m only twenty.”

I couldn’t even collect my thoughts properly, because my mind was unable to wrap itself around the fact that she was only twenty and already married. Married! How was that even possible?

“And how long have you been married?” I continued attacking her with questions. I just couldn’t believe she was really married and despite the fact that she showed me the proof.

“A little longer than a year now,” she responded.

“Wow, you didn’t waste any time,” I murmured, taking a large gulp of alcohol.

“No kidding,” she agreed with a roll of her eyes.

It would probably take me some time getting used to this new information, a lot of time.

“You know, normally the ring on my finger keeps guys away. No one wants to talk to a married woman,” she joked. “But for some strange reason you just didn’t seem to give a damn.”

“I never noticed you wearing a ring,” I admitted a little freaked out. “Maybe if I had, I would’ve kept my distance as well.”

“And now that you know that I’m married?” she wanted to know, her blue eyes watching me intently.

I thought about her question. Yes, her being married was definitely a huge surprise, but it didn’t really change anything. We were just drinking buddies and if he didn’t have a problem with it before then I don’t see what the problem would be now. I didn’t mind her being married. It didn’t have anything to do with me.

I shrugged, “It doesn’t really change anything. We’re just two friends hanging out.”

She smiled, satisfied at my words and nodded, “We are. And there’s nothing wrong with that.”

“Not at all,” I agreed also smiling.

It didn’t change anything. I wasn’t going to give up good company simply because she was married.

“Where is he, your husband?”

“He’s most likely at the library or at home studying. He’s really busy, working and doing his business degree simultaneously.” I could see how proud she was of him. Something didn’t make sense, though. It would seem that everything was good. She seemed to be happily married. I couldn’t reconcile that image with the girl who took pills and alcohol to feel better. Something was still off, but I decided not to ask. We’ve done enough sharing for one night. There was no point in freaking each other out with our entire life stories all at once. We had time.

*

Bet no one saw that coming...