Loverboy

Millie

Leaning against the wall, my one foot resting against it I anxiously twisted my mobile over and over between my fingers, West was never late and despite recent events all I could do was worry. Out of habit I begin to fiddle with my septum piercing – he was really beginning to panic me.

Not less than 2 weeks ago West’s father – the only constant in his life – passed away. It was a shock not only to West, but to his mother and all of his friends as well. His dad had been so healthy and full of life, so for him to die due to a sudden heart attack knocked us all for six.

West was still in college at the time, I had finished last year along with Katelyn, Blaine and Scar but West being West failed and had to re-take the year. However last week – he dropped out completely. I was furious, being his girlfriend for the good part of 2 years I knew he was brighter than he let on.

His mother didn’t give two shits over the matter; she was still in the grieving stage so to speak – bullshit. Being with West allowed me to pick up on a few facts; Fact 1, his mother had been cheating on his father for the good part of 6 months. Arriving at West’s house on day I caught his mother and her lover in the act – she swore me to promise not to tell West or his father, otherwise my chance of seeing West ever again were slim to none.

Luckily for her I kept her sordid little affair under wraps, no matter how much the guilt was killing me on the inside. Fact number 2; I knew she was out for every penny of his father’s money; she has never worked a day in her life. Just drinking herself into oblivion everyday and chain smoking – hence why West relied on his Dad so much – he was the only proper parent he ever had. Now he was gone.

So last week didn’t come as a surprise to me either, to West however it almost tipped him over the edge. I got a call saying West had been admitted into hospital, brought there by our mutual friend Jake – he had alcohol poisoning. When I got to the hospital it was touch and go, it was killing me to see him like that. He was killing me.

When thank god he recovered, he refused to speak to me – he knew I’d ask him why he did it. The doctors and the rest of us tried to convince him to go to therapy – he refused - chucked the leaflets straight across the room, they landed not too far away from the shocked faces of Scarlet and Katelyn.

Eventually I found out his downward spiral was caused by none other than his mother, I saw this coming but I never expected it to be this soon after his father’s death. West had gone home from his day of moping to an empty house, all his mother’s clothes vanished, the wedding ring his father slaved to buy her discarded meaninglessly onto the kitchen counter – with a note.

A note that explained in the most heartless way possible that she had been having an affair, that she felt nothing towards his father for years and that luckily for her, his father still felt something for his deceitful wife to leave her all of his money in his will; Money which she collected from the bank that morning on hearing the news from the lawyers – money which she then took and ran off with her lover with for a “better life”.

Luckily my mother was a nurse and loved West to bits, my dad left when I was little – I don’t remember him – my mother just said he was a coward who couldn’t handle having a family. When I told her about West’s mum, worry was the least of her troubles – she was frantic about his stability. She agreed along with me that West could move in with us, until he got back onto his feet…which at this rate would probably be never.

Today I had just clocked off work, my boss Jamie ran his own tattoo and piercing parlor. I got the job halfway through college; he noticed my portfolio for my art when I wasn’t looking where I was going one day. Immediately he asked me to work for him designing tattoos and now he had even taught me to use the equipment for doing tattoos. Most of my own tattoos were done by me these days.

Walking home I received a text of West to meet in our usual spot, he told me this morning that he was going out to organize a surprise – I hoped his surprise was a job – he needed something to get his mind of recent events. However now he was nearing the mark of being half an hour late, I was impatient – I hated waiting.

But the other side of me wasn’t bothered about him being late or being impatient, the other half of me was wondering what the hell he was doing and whether he was in trouble…again. Nervously I slipped my phone back into my short pockets and twisted the piece of frayed denim from my waistcoat between my fingers.

Suddenly just at that precise moment the sound of approaching footsteps pulled me out of thoughts, leaning slightly onto my left hand side I peeped around the corner of the brick wall. Sure enough my suspicion was right, because at full sprint I saw West running down the alley towards me.

Pushing myself off the wall with my foot and dusting down my jean shorts with my palms; I turned to face my boyfriend who was red in the face and rapidly running out of breath. He ran up to me slowing down suddenly to flash me his charming smile, the charming smile that won me over.

“West? What’s going on I’ve –“

“Not now just run!”

He grabbed my hand in his before quickly pulling my entire body mass off the wall to run along with him, failing at first but eventually my steps matched his as we ran back down towards the main street. Turning to look over my shoulder I noticed two beefy, muscular men run around the corner looking pissed. West noticed my grey eyes widening before looking over his shoulder too, laughing to himself as they seemed to disappear into the background.

Rounding another corner onto the busy high street that led us back into the town, West made quick work of blending us in with the crowd; he took his sunglasses off his head and placed them over my eyes. Surveying the scene and giving the all clear, he dropped my hand from his and bent over at the waist gasping for oxygen. Once his breathing returned to normal he removed his hands from his knees and looked up at me, smiling.

“Oh don’t look at me like that babe”

He replied as he immediately noted the pissed off expression I wore. I knew he was up to something, that whole scene back there was not nothing, but knowing West I knew that he would palm it off as nothing – and I would believe him. Not this time.

“No West! What the fuck was that back there!”

I demanded my face rising to a match that of the color crimson, tapping my foot on the floor and resting my hands firmly to my tiny hips I awaited his response. His eyebrows furrowed together in confusion, he hadn’t expected a blow up from me, biting down on his bottom lip in angst, and his emerald green eyes stared at me intently.

“It was nothing babe”

Bullshit.