Jealous Minds Think Alike

Kalysta sighed heavily as the numbers on the computer finally read 11:00 a.m. She closed out the windows she’d been playing with for the last hour and shut the whole computer down. Her mouth pulled into a small smile as she stood up and grabbed her bag from under the desk.

“Heading out so soon, Kay?” This was one of those particular mornings where everyone that was working, Kalysta couldn’t stand. The particular manager that was currently speaking to her was always lumped into the group of people she wished she didn’t work with.

“Uh, yeah.” She kept her answer short to keep from adding unnecessary comments. Her smile widened as she thought of how Josh would be proud of her.

“Well, have a great day!” The obnoxious fake redhead yelled after her, but Kalysta barely gave a wave as recognition of the comment. She kept her head down as she walked through the center. She made sure to grab her lunch box and clock out before trudging into the brightness to reach her car.

It seemed to take her far too long to finally make it to the apartment she shared with Josh. She shuffled her feet with her eyes half closed toward the door. Once she made it inside, her bag dropped to the ground on the way to the back bedroom. She didn’t even care where it landed.

Upon opening the door to the bedroom, she found Josh still curled up in the blankets of the one bed in the place. She would have rolled her eyes at him but she was even too tired for that. “Move the fuck over.” She mumbled as she made an attempt to push him. Really all she did was place her cold hands on top of his chest. He hummed in response and she groaned before whining his name. “Josh.”

“Kalysta.” He whined back at her as he rolled over halfway. It left just enough space for her to slip in beside him. “What are you doing home so early? I thought you worked over today.”

She had just enough energy to snort as she snuggled her face into his warm pillow. “It’s almost fucking noon, you twat.” He chuckled as he rubbed at his eyes. “Now get the fuck out of my bed.”

“Five more minutes.” He yawned and stretched his legs out some.

“Whatever.” She kicked her foot a bit to try and get the blanket to go over her body. After he watched her failed attempts, he moved to bring the blanket over the both of them. “Dan’s going to kick your ass if you don’t make it to his place by one and we both know it takes you more than an hour to get ready.”

“It’s just five minutes, I swear.” He flipped onto his side so that he was facing her.

“It’s your ass, not mine.” She giggled into the pillow with her eyes closed. He watched her take in the even breaths, looking like she was already asleep. The doorbell rang and her mouth curled into a mischievous smirk, letting him know she was anything but asleep. “And that’s probably Max coming to save your ass.”

He groaned but then chuckled with her. “Can’t a guy get any sleep round here?” That made her giggle harder. He could tell she was at that point where everything seemed hilarious because she was so delirious.

“Get out of here, Josh.” She lightly shoved him again, though honestly she was using what energy she had left to really shove him. “An’ tell all the boys I said hi and love them all.”

“Sure thing, sweetheart.” He let the pet name roll of his tongue like every other morning and smiled as he slowly got out of the bed. He rubbed at his eyes a few more times and scratched at the back of his head before finally shuffling his feet toward the front door. He rolled his eyes as he opened the door and looked his best friend over, just as she had guessed. “Hey Max.”

“Were you honestly just sleeping?” Max raised his eyebrows and then shook his head as he walked in. “Dammit, Josh. I don’t know how Kalysta puts up with your ass.”

“Yeah, me either.” He laughed and closed the door before following Max to the kitchen. “She said hello and love you in the same breath, by the way.”

Max nodded with a sly smile. “She’s off to bed already? Is that what kept you there so late?” He snickered and watched as Josh rolled his eyes again.

“She actually just got home. You know she’s pulling extra shifts like crazy the past week.” Josh ruffled his hair as he couldn’t help but worry over the fragile girl asleep in his bed. With the crazy work schedule she’d been pulling, she hadn’t been sleeping much and he was sure she wasn’t eating as she should either.

“Saving up, yeah.” Max nodded again, keeping that smirk on his face. He knew exactly what Kalysta was putting herself through hell for.

“I wish she’d just let me help her pay for the car and stop working herself to death.” He sighed and leaned against the counter. His senses were mostly asleep, but his concern for her outweighed everything.

“She’ll be fine, Josh.” This was Max’s turn to roll his eyes. “She’s the toughest girl round, honestly.” They shared a look of agreement and then laughed. “She just needs some sleep so go get a shower and let’s get out of here.”

“Yeah,” Josh pushed off the counter and headed back for the bedroom. He kept as quiet as he could as he grabbed fresh clothes from his dresser. He glanced over his shoulder at her every so often, making sure she wasn’t disturbed.

Then he crept into the adjoining bathroom and quickly showered before changing into his new clothes. He didn’t bother shaving or even brushing his hair. He left the bathroom and tiptoed through the bedroom again, trying to find his shoes.

After he finally found them, he gently and carefully sat on the edge of the bed to put them on. It squeaked under him, making his whole body freeze every other minute. He managed to tie his shoes without waking her and then headed back out to find Max sprawled out on the couch.

“C’mon Max,” he tossed Max’s coat to him and grabbed his own after hanging Kalysta’s back up. “Let’s grab something to eat on the way.”

“Sounds wicked.” Max hurriedly stood and threw his coat on as well. “Should we stop on the way back to get Kaylsta something?”

“Yeah; she’ll be starved when she wakes up.” Josh chuckled as he imagined the scowl on her face when she would wake up hungry.