Manage Me

I drove even more recklessly than normal on my way home. I was too excited to pay attention to the speed limit. A familiar looking car passed me when I was a few houses away from my own, but I didn’t really pay attention to it. I didn’t even notice that there was only one car outside of my house and it wasn’t Katie’s when I pulled up. I rushed into the house. Matt was sprawled out on the couch, grinning like an idiot. My eyes swept the room but I didn’t see Katie’s familiar figure. Maybe she was upstairs.

“Sup, man?” Matt called out.

“Hey, where’s Katie?” I asked, glancing around again.

“You mean your kickass maid? She had to leave.” I frowned.

“Why?”

“Dunno.” He shrugged. “She didn’t say. But she did want me to tell you that she’ll be back at the same time tomorrow and she’ll make up the hours.”

My shoulders sagged and I sat down next to him. Matt looked over at me, confused. Then a knowing look crept onto his face. He chuckled, shaking his head.

“Oh, shit.”

“What?” I groaned.

“You got it bad, bro. This is like Rian with Cass all over again.”

“Why does everyone keep saying that?” I groaned.

“Because it’s true.” He laughed.

“Shut-up!” I whined. “Why are you even here?”

“Actually, I’ve been rendered useless.” I stared at him. He smirked. “I was just coming to check-up on you. But I can see that Katie has that all taken care of.”

I frowned. I didn’t like the way he said her name. It was too affectionate.

“Since when do you call her Katie?”

“Jack, chill. I like her, but not like that. I just owe her my fucking life for cleaning you up. Seriously, I haven’t seen you this happy since Holly. I was really worried, man, we all were. I’m glad the old Jack is back.” I grinned. “So have you told her yet?”

“No.” I sighed. “It’s complicated.”

“Well my plans for the night were to save you from drowning in your own vomit, but since Katie has swooped in and brought you back to life, I have all night for you to explain.”

I gave him a skeptical look. He shrugged and smiled before leaning back on the couch. He propped his feet up on the coffee table. I waited for him to say something but he didn’t, silently encouraging me to tell him. I sighed.

“Well Alex actually hired her. He had already paid her for the week so I figured why not let her clean. I was actually pretty rude to her at first, but the second night she was working Zack and I went out and I found a beautiful girl and we hooked up but she left before I got up the next morning.”

“Wait a second.” He interrupted. “A girl you brought home actually left before you woke up?”

“That’s not the point. Okay, it kind of is, but not yet! Just listen.” I waited a second to see if he would respond but he didn’t so I continued on. “Anyway I couldn’t remember who she was and I had never asked for her name, so I was fucked to find her again. She left a key with some initials on it, but that was all I had. Katie showed up the next day and I went to the band meeting, but then the guys wanted to come back here to eat. Zack was talking about how hot Katie was,” I took a breath to wash away the slight anger and then kept talking, “and they didn’t seem to think the house would actually be clean.”

“Can’t really blame them there.” He pointed out. I ignored him.

“When we got here she was dancing and singing along to Dear María.” I smiled at the memory. “And it was then that I noticed how cute she was and how I wanted to actually get to know her instead of just being a dick. I made her play 20 questions with me yesterday and today. I know her full name and her favorite color and all about her best friend Lily and all of these other things that I could go on about forever, but I won’t cause here’s where this story leads: I saw a tattoo on her neck and all of these other pieces came together and I realized that it was her. Katie was the same girl from the club.”

“Why is everything so dramatic when it comes to you?” He joked. I stared at him helplessly. “Look, Jack, obviously Katie likes you.”

“But she left! I mean she had to recognize me as soon as she woke up, even though I know she didn’t when we left together. And she’s never tried to talk about it. Why would she do that if she liked me as anything more than her boss?”

“I don’t know how you've ever gotten any girl. You’re hopeless.” I glared at him even though he was teasing again. “Jack. Katie left because she was freaked out. I mean, what would you do if you went out and got drunk and then slept with someone without realizing it was your boss? Can you imagine what it must have been like when she woke up next to you the next morning?” I frowned. I hadn’t really thought about that.

“I guess I can see where you’re coming from with that, but why didn’t she say anything the next day?”

“She was probably waiting to see if you would remember it was her and when you didn’t she felt rejected. You gotta look at this from her point of view, bro.”

“Do you always have to be right?” I grumbled.

“How else would I keep your ass in line?” He laughed. “You really need to tell her though. Cause she’s pretty awesome and I can tell she makes you happy. And she’s my new best friend.”

“Matt, you spent like two seconds with her. How can she be your new best friend?”

“Did you see the shirt she was wearing? Any girl who rocks a Mickey Mouse shirt is a keeper. Especially one who transformed your house from an episode of ‘Hoarders’ into something straight out of a Home and Garden magazine.” I shook my head. Matt and his creepy ass obsession with Mickey.

“I was actually going to tell her when I got home. I wish I knew why she left.” I pouted.

“She ran out of here pretty quickly. Maybe it was a family emergency or something? Don’t worry, she said she’ll be back tomorrow. And Katie doesn’t seem like the type of girl to bail.”

“She isn’t. Thanks, Matt.” I beamed.

“Anytime, Jack-o.”

We ended up calling the rest of the guys over and spent the night drinking beer and playing Xbox. It kept my mind sufficiently distracted from Katie, though my thoughts did stray to her from time to time. I wondered what she was doing. If she was with Lily or visiting her family. The sly glances from Matt, Rian and Zack didn’t help either. Alex was the only one who hadn’t been updated on the situation so his focus never strayed from the television. I realized I needed to tell him soon because he was my best friend, but right now wasn’t the time.

Matt and Rian left around 10:00. Matt was meeting up with some girl at a bar and Rian had to get back to Cass. Zack went home an hour later, something about having to get up early to go to the gym, which just left Alex and I. I spent a few moments in the kitchen trying to figure out exactly how to tell him all the stuff that was going on with Katie, but when I finally went back into the living room he had crashed on the couch. So I tossed a blanket over him and climbed the stairs to my own room. I fell face first onto my freshly made sheets and spent the night dreaming of Katie.