FICTION posted by Rio
I love you, said the SMS. My heart would have gone haywire right there and then, but I bit my lip and replied, “WTF. Wrong send, dude.”
“Ooooops! I’m sorry!” you quickly texted back.
I had been writing when my phone beeped, and when I turned back to what I was doing, I suddenly had a numbing feeling. “Fuck,” I spat at the half filled page.
I fumbled with my cigarette case. I stared at my half finished work as smoke swirled in front of the monitor and I reminded myself of my deadlines. Maybe I should start turning off my phone when I’m working. By the time I finished two cigarettes, I decided that it was hopeless. Both my assignment for the day and you.
“You sound annoyed.”
“Why are you calling again?” I croaked.
“You’re grumpy. Did I wake you?”
OF COURSE YOU DID. “No, I was just getting up. What’s up?”
“I’m on my way to your house.”
“What?! Tell me, why do I put up with you?”
“Because I’m your friend and you love me?”
OH, FUCK YOU.
I yawned into my hand as you sat down in front of me. The smell of donuts and coffee perked me enough to make decent conversation. With only two hours of sleep, I could tear anybody’s head off at a moment’s notice.
You had barged into my room – thank God it was a cold night and I was wearing enough clothes – and dragged me out of the house. I grumbled a thank you when you handed me my cup and wondered out loud why I was sitting in the middle of a non-smoking coffee shop.
“But there’s wi-fi here,” you reasoned as you opened your laptop and started to encode a stack of papers.
“What am I doing here again?”
“I need help with something.”
Ah. “With what? Need something proofread or something?”
“Not with work. I’m just getting some things done while you’re having… breakfast,” you said as you flipped though the stack.
“You didn’t answer the question.”
“It’s for…”
Your mouth kept moving, but there was a sudden buzzing in my ear. I nodded and absently fiddled with my cigarette case. James Dean stared at me from the tin box and I itched for a cigarette even more.
Afterwards, we watched a movie and had dinner. We talked about everything and anything and nothing. You glanced at your watch and realized that it was 1AM. “I should bring you back home,” you said. I almost laugh; good of you to remember I’m a girl for once. At the door you smiled, “Thanks for the help.”
I mutter something about you being a bother, but we both knew I was just keeping up the act. I’m sure you pretended not to notice how long it took for me to reply, how I bought two packs of cigarettes and joked that I planned to smoke two on each hand. How somewhere in the middle I remembered that I was your friend.
As you drove away, I took out my phone and sent an SMS of what I had forgotten to say: Ingat. And that was a nice ring you bought her. Good luck proposing.
I dragged my weary ass upstairs and as soon as I open the door, I smell you. One of the few male perfumes I do not have an aversion to. I don’t bother flicking on the light. I flopped down on my bed and thought that I should disappear for a while. I’m sure you’d understand, I don’t attend weddings if I can’t wear jeans to them. I rolled over and hugged my pillow. Did you roll around in my bed while I was taking a bath?
I stood up automatically. I changed my sheets.
