Painting Flowers

There was no way in hell I was letting Jack sleep. I didn’t care about the repercussions, as soon as it was seven in the morning I pounced on the snoozing musician like an alley cat. He bolted awake taking in my peanut-sized apartment with wild, blood-shot eyes. I sort of felt bad for him but the moment passed quickly.

With my body holding him in position, I stared him down, “You owe me answers. What the hell were you thinking last night? Something is screwed up in your brain to make you drink so much.”

Jack snorted, “Yeah okay, mom.” He promptly pushed me off of him without much difficulty and tried to take refuge under the pistachio couch cushion. I grabbed the pillow and flung it to the stained carpet.

“Don’t ever call me that. I don’t even want kids.” To be honest, I shuddered at the mere thought of me rearing children for the better half of my life. It all went downhill when kids got tossed into the picture of marriage. And I wasn’t too thrilled about the idea of holy matrimony to begin with.

“Whatever, Audrey.” He shimmied down further into the couch and closed his eyes.

Fire boiled in my veins. I had been up for the past five hours watching Jack sleep to make sure he didn’t die from his own vomit. Now he was going to blow me off and dodge my questions. One thing was for sure, Jack didn’t seem to know Audrey Parrish all too well.

“Okay, Barakat. Listen up,” My voice rose with anger, “I’m tired of this sappy, puppy love bullshit. It’s time to move on. So some girl rejected you? Get over it! There are a million other clones of her wandering the street just waiting to be picked up. Get over yourself; there are bigger things going on here then you’re little circle.”

He opened his eyes into daggers, “You don’t know anything. There’s no one like her.”

I groaned, but managed to suppress my eye roll, “That’s so melodramatic. You’re not on General Hospital. Other people have gone through the same shit and you just have to move on. That means with or without the other person.”

I couldn’t help but think about my recent breakup and at what lengths I went to find sanity in the chaos. After things headed south, I packed up and moved towns leaving all of my problems behind. It was the best thing for me, but there were still wounds that stung me when I stopped to think about my past.

“It’s not that simple,” Jack stubbornly declared. His forehead creased and he refused to meet my eyes. And this time I just couldn’t help but roll my eyes.

“It’s not like you make it easy to understand what happened,” I argued back.

“You’re not a very sympathetic person.” He told me, while retying the laces on his high-tops. It seemed as if the musician was looking for the exit before any more interrogating could take place.

I let a breath out, “Okay. I’ll be nice, but only this once.”

Jack looked my way, “What are you talking about?”

“Tell me your problems.”

“What? No. We’re not doing this.” He protested, beginning to unglue himself from the sofa. Just as he made it to his shaky feet, the world turned on him and the guitarist fell right back into place on the couch.

I smirked, “Shouldn’t have drunk so much.”

Jack muttered a string of expletives under his breath and then said, “Well, it was all going pretty well until the fifth or sixth shot after the Four Loko.”

“Damn, it was like your twenty first birthday all over again.” I folded my legs under myself like a pretzel and waited for Jack to continue. After several seconds of silence, I asked, “So how long did you date this girl?”

“We never dated.”

My eyes nearly popped out of my head, “Never dated? You can’t be in love with her then.”

“You don’t know what it was like,” Jack defended. The bags under his eyes seemed more defined than the moment before as he drudged up bittersweet memories, “We clicked, like more than I have before. The connection was amazing. This girl just has an energy buzzing around her.” When he noticed my skeptical expression, he added sourly, “It’s hard to explain, okay?”

“Okay,” I accepted, trying to keep my sympathetic game-face on. “So what was the problem?”

“Only one really.” He took a moment to scratch his scruffy chin and reconsidered, “Well, two if you count her psycho ex-boyfriend.”

“That’s definitely something worth counting,” I chimed in.

Jack had already starting talking again, like a dam suddenly bursting with water, “I tried not to feel anything for her. Really. Some feelings you just can’t plan for. Things just happen, and BAM. Then you’re in love, just like that. I felt bad because of Alex. It goes against all guy code to go after your best friend’s girl, but he was so wrapped up with Caitlyn--.” He abruptly cut off, “Why are you smiling?”

“Because I knew it was this Melanie girl. Honestly, the level of attraction you’re describing is surprising. She’s a pretty girl and all, she’s just so… normal.”

The curly haired companion of Alex at the bar popped into my memory. She truly seemed attractive to the male populace but I thought there must be some missing puzzle piece to my thoughts. The level of attraction Jack was revealing seemed strange. Most musicians liked only one type of girl, the fuck-them-and-leave ones. To be so attached to her brought me to one realization.

“Jack, she played you.”

“No, Jack Barakat does not get played. He is the player.” The musician announced, puffing out his lean chest as a show of pride.

I sighed, “It’s pretty sad. She played your heartstrings like a viola.”

“Did you get that shit from the back of a romance novel?” He asked, incredulous. “That is the weirdest thing I’ve heard in the past four days.”

“That’s a very specific time frame,” I observed, “but don’t try to change the subject on me.”

“I’m not.” He shifted slightly, “Just trying to get over things on my own time. All of this doesn’t matter anyway. Melanie is with Alex. And Alex is my best friend. That’s the end of that.”

“You aren’t that much fun.” I said, staring at the blank television screen covered in dust bunnies.

He scoffed, “There goes you being nice for the day.”

I shrugged, “It’s true. The one thing you can count on with me is that I’ll always be honest. It’s the Sagittarius in me, I guess.”

Jack folded his arms moodily across his chest like a small child, “Well, fix me and make me happy again. What’s the cure? Herbal tea?”

“I was thinking something a little more recreational.” I told him, inclining my body to face his more directly.

“Oh, yeah?” He smirked devilishly, obviously doubting my healing remedy, “Not really feeling up for a nature hike at the moment but thanks for the offer.”

Keeping our eyes connected, I laughed softly, “You’re in luck then; all you need is some good, hot sex.”