You can't cure me (REWRITING)

Some time later I arrive at my house. I run up the five steps and stop dead in my tracks. In front of my front door, a single black rose is lying on the ground, a little note attached to it with a rubber band. I bend over and pick up the rose, carefully so I won’t cut my fingers on the thorns. I straighten my back and hold the little card between my thumb and index finger. On it's written, in black ink and a nice handwriting, the simple words:

I’m sorry.

I stare at it for a minute and then proceed to open my door. I have no time for this, I have to get ready for Jake’s suprise. Thinking about it makes me all nervous again. I don’t really like surprises. I used to, but ever since my parents’ death, I want to be certain that whatever is going to happen in the future is in my hands. It's stupid of me to even think I can control the future, I know, yet I have already planned out the main lines in my life. I even have planned out my own funeral. Morbid, isn’t it?

I push open my front door and let it fall close after me. I walk to the living room and tossed my keys on the little table. It's already 6.10 and I still need to get ready. I chuck the rose on the counter in the kitchen while running upstairs to get ready. I grab the clothes off my bed and run into the bathroom, nearly hitting my bathroom door in the process. I quickly turn on the shower and undress myself while waiting for the water to reach the right temperature. I quickly hop in, wash my hair and body and got back out. I glanc at my phone, it had only taken me 10 minutes to shower, a new personal record. I rub some of the lotion on my body, letting it soak in and chang into my clothes, it's just a black skirt with lace at the bottom, a wine red blouse and black heels. Looking at the heels in my hands I suddenly doubt if wearing them would be such a good idea. I don’t know where Jake's planning on taking me and for all I know, I would have to stand up for a very long time. I’d get sore feet for sure. I can also wear them and take an extra pair of flats with me. I decide I'm going to do that and pull the heels on. I, then, start blowdrying my hair. I settle for curling my hair so I plug in my curling iron. I don’t feel like wearing much makeup so I just go with a bit of eyeliner and mascara and red lipstick. I throw another look at my phone’s clock which indicates it's only twenty minutes until Jake would be here. I look at myself in the mirror on more time and nod to my reflection in approval before walking out of the bathroom.

When I come into the living room I realize I completely forgot about the rose. I start digging through the kitchen cabinets but can’t find what I am looking for. Sighing deeply, I begin filling a tall glass of water and put the rose in it. Right after I placed it on the counter, which seperates the kitching from the living area, the doorbell rings. I open the door to reveal Jake standing in front of me.
“Hey, Jake. You’re early.” I greet him happily.
“Hey, Lisa. Yeah, I wanted to make sure I was here on time so I left my place early, considering the traffic here. But there wasn’t much so here I am, ten minutes early”, he smiles at me.
“Oh yes, traffic can be a pain in the ass sometimes, can’t it. Well, you want to come in while I grab my things?” I offer as I move aside.
“Sure”, he smiles as he enters my house. I close the door behind him and follow him. He's staring at the rose.
“If I had known you liked roses, I would’ve brought some with me”, he says.
“I actually don’t like them that much. In fact, I think they’re kind of overrated”, I say looking at the flower, “Obviously my secret admirer doesn’t know that”, I add jokingly. Jake looks at me with big eyes. Seeing the look on his face is enough for me to erupt in laughter, which confuses the poor boy even more.
“I'm only kidding, Jake. I don’t even know who it’s from. I just found it lying at my frontdoor when I got home. Someone probably left it there by mistake. It wouldn’t be the first time. Anyhow, I’m ready to go, so shall we?”
“Oh. Okay. And yes, we shall. Now that there’s so little traffic. Better take advantage of that.”
I grab my keys and purse and opened to the door for Jake to walk out first. I switch off the lights and follow him outside, locking the door.
As soon as I step out of my frontdoor, I am overwhelmed by that feeling of someone watching me. I just shrug it off and walk towards Jake who is waiting for me by the side of his car.
As I approach him, he opens his car door and takes a seat behind the wheel. I walk around the car and place my hand on the handle of the door. Before I open it, I glance around one more time before shaking my head slightly. I open the car door and sit down next to Jake.
“Are you alright?” he asks as soon as I am seated. Oh no, did he notice I wasn’t quite feeling at ease?
“Yes, I am. Why do you ask?” I ask as innocently as possible.
“Nothing. It’s just, you had this really weird look on your face when you walked over here. It was only for a brief moment but it almost seemed as if you were frightened or something.”
“I’m just a bit nervous because I don’t know where we’re going. I like to plan my things and the fact I don’t know where we’re headed is kind of freaking me out.” I lie. It's just a little white lie. I am in fact nervous but it isn’t the main reason why I am acting the way I am.
“I can’t tell you where we’re going, but I can tell you, we won’t be alone. Which reminds me, those necklaces you made for Sammi were finished, right?”
“Ehm…yes, they are. Why?” I turn my head to face him and raise an eyebrow.
“Do you have them with you? Sammi said she’d be meeting us later tonight so I thought that maybe you could give them to her then?” Jake suggests. I frown at him.
“What?” he asks nonchalantly.
“You’re being weird. But anyways, if you insist on me taking them with me then you should wait a moment so I can go get them”, I open the car door and get out. Jogging towards my house and unlocking it. I flip on the lights and glance around and see them lying on the table. I quickly grab the necklaces and run back, making sure the lights are out and everything is locked again. I hop back in the car and buckle my seat belt. Jake simply flashes a smile at me and starts the car.

Fifteen minutes later we stop in the parking lot of some sort of bar. Jake takes the keys off the ignition and gets out. I unbuckle my seat belt and right when I put my hand on the handle to open the door, Jake opens it for me. I laugh and get out. Jake smiles too and shuts the door.
“You look beautiful”, he simply states while walking to the entrance of the bar. I look around. There's quite a lot of people here. Some are sitting in a booth and some are sat at the bar. At the back of the building there(s something that looks like a small stage on which two keyboards, drums, three microphones and guitars are set up. I open my mouth to ask Jake about it, but I'm cut off by another voice coming from next to us. I look next to me and notice two men joined us. I recognieze them as being in Jake’s band. The one on the right is named Jinxx. I remember his name because I find it to be quite a weird name.
“Hey Jake! Hey Lisa!” the man on the left greets us. What's his name again? The others are called Andy, Jinxx and Ashley. But it can’t be Jinxx because he's standing next to him. Why can’t I come up with his name. I know it isn’t a difficult one. CJ or CC. Either way, this man is waiting for a reply. Well, here’s to hoping I pick the right name.
“Hello… CC?”. Great, it comes out as a question. It’s not even been ten minutes since we got here and I’m already embarassing myself. That’s just great. To my surprise the boy starts laughing. His laughter is so contagious and I soon feel myself smiling with him.
“I’m surprised you remembered my name. We didn’t exactly talk much when we first met, did we. I hope you’re feeling better than that night.” he says.
“I’m sorry about taking off so quickly. I really am.” I say quietly as memories of the other night flooded my mind. They probably must’ve thought I faked the whole thing because I didn’t want to be there. Which was not the case at all. Sometimes I really hated these headaches. They ruin everything. But not tonight. I've taken my precautions and slipped some painkillers in my purse the other day. Tonight I am going to have fun and not think about my life for once. I'm so caught up in my thoughts I'm startled a bit when CC’s voice sounds.
“Why are you sorry? We all saw you were in a lot of pain. That’s nothing to be sorry about.” he says caringly. Is he serious? Or is he just trying to be nice. I don’t know. I just shrug.
“I don’t really know”, I scratch the back of my head. My skills in keeping a conversation going are close to none. I guess Jake noticed how uncomfortable I am because he speaks up.
“So CC, didn’t expect to see you here”, he chimes in.
“Well, yeah, I tweeted that I was bored and then Sammi replied that she had a show, so I managed to get her to put me on the guest list,” he explains. Now I'm confused. Jake said Sammi would be meeting us later tonight, and now CC’s saying she’s got a show. What kind of a show is it then? I guess the confusion's visible on my face because CC’s contagious laughter sounds once again.
“Doesn’t she know?”
Jake shakes his head as he replies.
“No, she doesn’t. It’s a surprise, so..”, Jake places his finger in front of his mouth signaling CC not to spill anything. CC makes an “Oh” sound and nods understandingly. I'm just stood there, not knowing what the hell is going on.
“Alright”, CC says in an obvious attempt to change the subject, “Who wants a drink? First round’s on me.” We all say our orders and Jake and CC leave to get it, leaving Jinxx and me behind. Jinxx looks at his watch.
“The shows about to start. Let’s go,” he says as he turns into the direction of the bar. He makes some weird hand gestures and then turns around again and grabs my hand, leading me to the back of the building, closer to the stage. A couple of minutes later we're joined by CC and Jake who give us our drinks. I take a seat behind a table closeby. Soon CC, Jake and Jinxx sit down next me. Right then the band who's about to perform get on stage. They don’t look familiar to me at all. Except for one person, the girl that takes a stand behind a red keyboard. It's Sammi. I only then realize my mouth i0s hanging open in shock so I quickly close it, earning a laugh from CC who had apparently seen it. I can feel my cheeks burn red in embarrasment.

The first notes start playing and the singer begins to sing soon followed by Sammi’s backing vocals. I listen and watch attentively and at the end of the first song, I'm already starting to like their sound.

At the end of their show, I make a mental note to buy their album off iTunes when I have the money to do so. I'm reminded that I have to make work of promoting my webstore otherwise I won’t be able to pay my rent which I have to in two weeks. I just refuse to touch the money I have on my bank account. It's the money the insurance company paid me after the fire and it's enough to pay my rent for years, but I just couldn’t bring myself to use it. In my opinion, it's something people gave to me in a failed and morbid attempt to make up for the fact I no longer had parents.
“Hello guys. Hey Lisa”, Sammi greets us happily, pulling up a chair. She gives Jinxx a quick kiss and sits down.
“That was another great show, love”, Jinnx compliments her.
“Thank you, love”, she smiles.
“I’m going to get something to drink. Anyone else who wants something?” CC asks and everyone replies. Except for me.
“Lisa? You want something to drink?”
“Huh? Oh, just an orange juice. Thank you.”
“Alright." CC and Jinxx leave to get the drinks.
“Oh, great show Sammi. I didn’t know you're in a band. I’m sorry, but can I ask you what’s the name of your band?” I ask Sammi.
“My Satellite, and thank you.”
“Alright, do you guys got any albums out perhaps?”
“Yeah, we have released two EPs. We are a self-funded band, so we don’t have a lot of money to record a studio album.”
“Well, I’m definitely buying your EPs then. I think I can say you’ve got yourself a new fan”, I admit smiling.
“Really? Thank you. I’m glad you like us.”
“No, thank Jake. He's the one who brought me here and technically introduced me to your music.” I pointed at Jake who puts up his hands.
“I only did so because I assumed you’d like them because you said you liked Automatic Loveletter.” I don’t know what to say, but I just hug Jake. Just as I pull away, CC and Jinxx come back with the drinks.
“What did we miss?” CC asks and soon everyone is chatting with each other.

“Lisa, is there something wrong? You’re being quiet. It’s so unlike you”, Jake asks all of a sudden. For the past minutes, I have been thinking about the rent and I guess I haven’t really been paying much attention to what everyone was saying.
“Huh? Ehm, yes. Ehm, I mean, no. Nothing’s wrong.” Wow, that has to be one of the most transparent lies ever.
“What’s wrong, Lisa?” Jake persists.
“I don’t want to bug you with my problems. I can’t bother you with them.”
“Lisa, we’re your friends. You can tell us”, Sammi says sweetly.
“You can tell us, Lisa. Who knows, maybe we could help?” CC chimes in.
I let out a deep sigh.
“It’s just.. You know I run a webstore, right?” Everyone at the table nods. “Well, it’s not going so well. I haven’t had any orders lately and rent is due in two weeks and I refuse to take money from my bank account. It’s money from the assurance company and it’s mine, but it’s just a matter of priniciple. I’m just worried that if I don’t get any money soon, I won’t be able to pay it and I will get kicked out. I made a Facebook and Twitter account this morning, but that’s all advertising I can afford and I know it won’t be enough.” I sigh.
“I think we can help you with that. What’s your Twittername?” Jake asks.
“LisAJewels. Why?” I ask still not getting how they're going to be able to help me. Jake looks at the others and they pull out their phones at the same time.
“What are you guys doing?” I'm flustered.
“Well, seeing as our combined number of followers on Twitter is.. well, a lot, I’m sure there will be some of them who buy something off your webstore. You got a Facebook too, you said?”
“Yeah, but.. I can’t ask you for this big of a favor. That just isn’t right.” I say reluctantly. Don’t get me wrong, I lovethat they want to do this for me, but I could never repay them for it. It’s just too much.
“No buts. Besides, technically spoken you didn’t really ask. So what’s your Facebook?” Jake says sternly.
“Ehm, it’s the same name. But really, guys, I can’t ask you for this. I’d never be able to pay you back. I mean, I love that you are willing to do this for me, but…”
“It’s okay, Lisa. Really. Do you think we’d do this if we didn’t want to?” Jake cuts me off.
“No, I guess not. But-“
“Lisa, enough with the buts, alright? I’ve already tweeted it, so there’s no going back, okay?”
“I tweeted it too”, CC chimes in.
“Me too," says Jinxx.
“And me”, Sammi joins.
“Thank you guys, I don’t know what to say. I honestly can’t thank you enough.”
“How many times do we have to say it’s our pleasure? Your stuff looks incredible and the world deserves to know about it.” Sammi says. I suddenly remember.
“Oh, that reminds me. I’ve brought the necklaces you asked for.” I grab my handbag, pulling out two satchets and handing them over to the girl who's sat over me. She takes them and looks at them.
“Oh my, these are great. How much do I owe you?”
“Nothing.”
“No, I want to pay for it. It must’ve taken you quite some time to make this. Besides, you just said you needed the money. So, how much?”
“No, I can’t take your money. You helped me, so you get them for free. It’s the least I can do the repay you.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, Sammi, I’m sure.” I smile.
“Thank you. And I promise to pay for the next ones I order, alright?”
“Fine.”