Categories > Celebrities > My Chemical Romance > A Change of Pace
Of Endings and Beginnings
4 reviewsAna is a normal girl, who just happens to be dating an extraordinary jerk... that is, until she meets someone new at the comic shop. (NOT NEAR DONE!! give it a chance please!)
1Ambiance
I own nothing except half a bottle of diet coke- and, alas, it is almost gone...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The wind cut through my jacket and I hastened my pace. The sky was dark and I still had quite a ways to walk before I reached my small apartment. I don't generally walk home when it's dark, but I had intended on staying the night at Jeff's place. I certainly hadn't expected to walk in on him and another woman. I don't even think they noticed me; they may have heard me slam the door, but I sure as hell didn't stick around to find out. The crazy thing is, I'm not even that angry. I have always known that he was sleeping with his secretary, and occasionally some of the women from his firm, but I never really minded. I honestly didn't want our relationship to go too far anyway, Jeff had been drinking a lot more lately and taking his anger out on me. He never really hit me hard, but he would get totally hammered and expect me to just lay there while he fucked me, or jacked off, or whatever. It was getting really old. I honestly don't know why I kept going back, but I did. I suppose it was his success that attracted me so much; his Armani suits and his BMW. He is really too good for me anyway. I am not cut from the same fabric as the woman he needs to take to his banquets, to take to the office Christmas party. He could never introduce me properly to his colleagues: "This is my girlfriend, the English major over at Rutgers... she works part time bartending at the Velvet Room, and full time at some little comic book store..." I can't even imagine wearing pearls, or having drinks with the other wives from the firm- I serve alcohol, I don't sip it while nibbling hors' dourves.
Lost in such thoughts, I didn't even realize where I had wandered. Looking around and recognizing nothing, a brief moment of panic and nausea swept through me before I mentally slapped myself and headed for the distant Starbuck's sign for directions and caffeine. The building was virtually empty and the warmth of familiarity filled me as I stepped up to the register and ordered a tall white mocha and asked for the quickest route back to my neighborhood. It didn't take me long to figure out that it would be much easier (and safer) to just take a cab. Digging in my pocket, I was pleasantly surprised to find a twenty. I finished my drink and emerged to the cold street to hail a cab.
Sunlight filled my room as I awoke the next morning and something just didn't feel right. I reached over for my alarm clock and noticed that it wasn't showing me the time in its characteristic red numbers. Rolling out of bed, I flipped the light switch but nothing happened...
"Oh shit!"
Usually, my landlord let me slide a few weeks on the rent, but he apparently was in no mood for grace this month. I grabbed my cell phone to check the time, pulled on a hoodie and my chucks, and ran the four blocks to work.
The shop opens "promptly at 10" according to the sign in our front window, right next to the life-size cutout of Spiderman, but most of our clientele don't wake until well after noon so I usually open a little later. Conveniently located around the corner from the Belleville high school, we got most of our business around the lunch hour and then later in the afternoon after marching band practice was finished and right before I passed the register off to Joe- our faithful closer.
Expecting little business for an hour or so, I flopped down on the sofa to check my messages... One from my landlord (too little, too late) and four from Jeff. He would be over tonight- before I left to serve drinks- to discuss "us." I sighed and turned the damned thing off, only to look up and realize there was a man standing at the counter. He was slim, with unruly chestnut hair and wearing skinny jeans and a black t-shirt- your stereotypical gamer. He smiled with a boyish charm as I rubbed my tired eyes and made my way to the counter.
"Can I help you?" I mumbled, as was my custom.
He was looking for vintage Hellboy. His disappointment was obvious when I told him that I would have to ask the owner if he had it hidden away somewhere...
"Oh, ok." He was smiling again.
I felt that it was only fair to warn him, "If Max does have this comic, it will probably cost you a pretty penny to get it."
"Excellent! Can you call me when you find out?" He turned a little red as he slipped me a scrap of paper with a number scrawled on it, "Or, if you want to grab some coffee sometime, you can call me then too."
I couldn't help but smile as he blushed and headed for the door. I told him that I would definitely think about it and he waved as several kids from the school pushed their way in and headed for the back.
"My name's Ray by the way!" He yelled over the bustle.
"I'm Ana. Adriana."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A.N.:I'm getting there, I swear, just give me time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The wind cut through my jacket and I hastened my pace. The sky was dark and I still had quite a ways to walk before I reached my small apartment. I don't generally walk home when it's dark, but I had intended on staying the night at Jeff's place. I certainly hadn't expected to walk in on him and another woman. I don't even think they noticed me; they may have heard me slam the door, but I sure as hell didn't stick around to find out. The crazy thing is, I'm not even that angry. I have always known that he was sleeping with his secretary, and occasionally some of the women from his firm, but I never really minded. I honestly didn't want our relationship to go too far anyway, Jeff had been drinking a lot more lately and taking his anger out on me. He never really hit me hard, but he would get totally hammered and expect me to just lay there while he fucked me, or jacked off, or whatever. It was getting really old. I honestly don't know why I kept going back, but I did. I suppose it was his success that attracted me so much; his Armani suits and his BMW. He is really too good for me anyway. I am not cut from the same fabric as the woman he needs to take to his banquets, to take to the office Christmas party. He could never introduce me properly to his colleagues: "This is my girlfriend, the English major over at Rutgers... she works part time bartending at the Velvet Room, and full time at some little comic book store..." I can't even imagine wearing pearls, or having drinks with the other wives from the firm- I serve alcohol, I don't sip it while nibbling hors' dourves.
Lost in such thoughts, I didn't even realize where I had wandered. Looking around and recognizing nothing, a brief moment of panic and nausea swept through me before I mentally slapped myself and headed for the distant Starbuck's sign for directions and caffeine. The building was virtually empty and the warmth of familiarity filled me as I stepped up to the register and ordered a tall white mocha and asked for the quickest route back to my neighborhood. It didn't take me long to figure out that it would be much easier (and safer) to just take a cab. Digging in my pocket, I was pleasantly surprised to find a twenty. I finished my drink and emerged to the cold street to hail a cab.
Sunlight filled my room as I awoke the next morning and something just didn't feel right. I reached over for my alarm clock and noticed that it wasn't showing me the time in its characteristic red numbers. Rolling out of bed, I flipped the light switch but nothing happened...
"Oh shit!"
Usually, my landlord let me slide a few weeks on the rent, but he apparently was in no mood for grace this month. I grabbed my cell phone to check the time, pulled on a hoodie and my chucks, and ran the four blocks to work.
The shop opens "promptly at 10" according to the sign in our front window, right next to the life-size cutout of Spiderman, but most of our clientele don't wake until well after noon so I usually open a little later. Conveniently located around the corner from the Belleville high school, we got most of our business around the lunch hour and then later in the afternoon after marching band practice was finished and right before I passed the register off to Joe- our faithful closer.
Expecting little business for an hour or so, I flopped down on the sofa to check my messages... One from my landlord (too little, too late) and four from Jeff. He would be over tonight- before I left to serve drinks- to discuss "us." I sighed and turned the damned thing off, only to look up and realize there was a man standing at the counter. He was slim, with unruly chestnut hair and wearing skinny jeans and a black t-shirt- your stereotypical gamer. He smiled with a boyish charm as I rubbed my tired eyes and made my way to the counter.
"Can I help you?" I mumbled, as was my custom.
He was looking for vintage Hellboy. His disappointment was obvious when I told him that I would have to ask the owner if he had it hidden away somewhere...
"Oh, ok." He was smiling again.
I felt that it was only fair to warn him, "If Max does have this comic, it will probably cost you a pretty penny to get it."
"Excellent! Can you call me when you find out?" He turned a little red as he slipped me a scrap of paper with a number scrawled on it, "Or, if you want to grab some coffee sometime, you can call me then too."
I couldn't help but smile as he blushed and headed for the door. I told him that I would definitely think about it and he waved as several kids from the school pushed their way in and headed for the back.
"My name's Ray by the way!" He yelled over the bustle.
"I'm Ana. Adriana."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A.N.:I'm getting there, I swear, just give me time.
Sign up to rate and review this story