Manage Me

I silently closed the front door behind me at 6:32 that evening. Jack hadn’t returned, though I didn’t really expect him to. I had finished cleaning the pool in his absence, the vacuum thing distracting me more than it should have. I rolled my shoulders, trying to untie the knots as I walked to my car. My skin was a light pink color. Spending that much time in the sun without the proper protection had given me a sunburn. I decided to stop by the store to pick up some aloe on my way home. As I perused my choices, I glanced up and froze. It was him.

There was a leggy brunette draped on his arm and together they were studying condoms. I almost snorted. The first time I see him in over a year and he’s buying condoms. Typical. His girlfriend, or whatever the hell she was, glanced up and saw me. That one look was all it took for me to come back to life. I turned on my heel and began walking away as quickly as possible.

“Katie?”

I cringed, but didn’t stop walking. Maybe he would just go back to his ‘shopping’. Unfortunately for me, I was never that lucky. The footsteps behind me were heavy, and when his hand landed on my shoulder, I stopped. Instead of giving him the chance to say or do anything I whipped around and tore his hand away from my shoulder.

“Don’t touch me.”

“I knew it was you, Katie.” He smiled.

“Oh, fuck off, Matthew. I want nothing to do with you.”

“We both know that isn’t true.” I gagged.

“Get back to your little girl toy, Matty.” I smiled sweetly. “You wouldn’t want to have an accident because you forgot to buy condoms, now would you?”

He gaped at me speechlessly and I took the opportunity to stalk away. My face transformed into a scowl as soon as I was away from him. I silently paid for my aloe and left before Matthew could find me again.

I kept my mind blank as I made my way home through the darkened streets. When I made it to my apartment complex, I finally let out a sigh and hugged my arms around myself. I stripped all of my clothing off, happy to be free of the dirty fabric. I stood in the bathroom, debating whether or not to text Lily and finally snapped my phone open.



I turned the shower on while I waited for her response. I silently prayed that the water temperature would be a tad bit more regulated tonight. Hot water on my tender skin sounded like absolute hell right now. I finally got it to the right temperature just as my phone vibrated against the counter.



I decided to let her sweat it out for a little bit while I showered. I was quick, not wanting to risk losing my normal water temperature by staying in too long. When I grabbed my phone off of the counter I had another text from Lily.



I laughed, tying my hair up in a towel. I wandered out of the bathroom to grab the aloe and quickly replied before covering my hands with the medicated balm.



Lily’s response was almost instantaneous, but I finished slathering myself with the cooling gel before wiping my hands on my towel. I read over the text and then sent her my own.



I sighed and tossed my phone on the bed. I wandered into the kitchen and began making a cup of tea. Did I want Lily to come over? Yes. But could I really do that to her? No. She had class tomorrow and didn’t need me keeping her up half the night with my stupid sob stories and drama. I picked my way back over to the couch, which I had now pulled out into a bed. I fetched my phone.



I tossed my phone to the side again and wrapped myself into a blanket. I took deep breaths as I sipped my tea. By the time it was finished I was still feeling antsy. I buried myself deeper in to the bed, but I just couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t get Matthew out of my head. And for some reason, Jack had taken up residence there as well. I tossed and turned, my thoughts flip flopping between the two boys. It wasn’t until nearly 3:00 in the morning that I finally fell asleep.