Love in All the Wrong Places

Maybe it was just my imagination, but I was almost sure I saw his face falter when I asked him about my roommate and best friend Jessie. Who knows, but in the instant I asked him, he seemed to go from his happy-go-lucky self that I’d come to know, to stone-faced and lifeless, and almost as quickly, back to his-self. Maybe it was just that nagging part of my subconscious tugging at me to find fault in every person I meet in order to somehow confirm that that person was indeed too good for me, or vise-versa. Whatever the case, I decided to let what I thought I saw slide, as I waited for his response.

He looked right at me, cocked his head to the side slightly, and with an arched eyebrow and slight smirk on his face, shook his head and asked who that was. I sighed internally with relief and just shook it off as I got a firmer grip on his hand, and leaned against his left arm to have us continue our walk. He smiled at this and tightened his grip on my hand as we continued to walk. I’m not sure how long we walked, but I didn’t mind. I was enjoying his company and he seemed to be enjoying mine. We walked all over the city hand in hand, as we talked about our interests. Luckily for me, his interests were very similar to mine in that music was his life. We talked about our favorite bands, favorite concerts we attended, concerts we wished we could’ve gone to, and pretty much anything else relating to music. Turns out he was quite the music buff, much like myself, which made our conversations quite entertaining.

“Ok ok; so Jake, you’re telling me, that The Beatles are overrated?!? Are you kidding me? They helped set the standard for so much of our music today!”

He laughed. “True, but uh, you gotta admit, Yellow Submarine was not a shining moment for them…”

“Fine. But how else do you peak kids’ interests? Their initial concept of the song was to have it played whilst reading an illustrated story that went along with a book. Admit it, pretty clever.” I refused to back down this war. The Beatles are my all-time favorite band, and you don’t have to like them, but you can’t tell me they weren’t an important part of music history or that they’re over-rated.

“Alright. That aspect was an okay idea. It works for kids and druggies that watch Saturday morning cartoons.” He laughed as he said this and I playfully hit him on the arm.

“There’s just no giving in with you is there?” He shook his head no while giving his heart-breaking grin. “Fine, fine. Well, while we’re on the topic of things being ‘over-rated’, which The Beatles certainly are NOT, what’s your opinion on album covers? Favorite one.”

“Oh, that’s so easy. Boston’s self-titled album. The artwork on that was BRILLIANT. Paula Scher, wow, such a visionary. Not only is that album fantastic, but it also contains, in my opinion, one of THE best cover designs ever. What about you?”

“Hmm…that’s actually a difficult decision. However, something you gotta understand about me, album art is what got me interested in graphic design. One of the first CDs I ever got was The Beatles Yellow Submarine songtrack, which contained every song from the film minus the musical scores. I remember as a child looking through the CD insert and being mesmorized by the illustration in there. At the time I hadn’t seen the film. Truth be told I didn’t see it until a couple years ago, so I didn’t realize that the illustrations in the insert were from the movie. I was so attracted to the illustration styles and bright colors used that I wanted to be a part of it. I would then browse my dad’s CD collection, which to this day, is the best one I’ve ever seen. I grew up listening to so much amazing music that so much of our generation doesn’t appreciate. It’s such a shame. However, my favorite album cover would have to be…The Beatles Revolver. I love the illustration style on that cover. A style I’ve yet to master, but am working on.”

“Ok, so I’ll give you that one. Revolver has a pretty great cover, and ok. The music on that album is pretty great too. So you’re a designer huh? You just keep surprising me. And you want to design for bands? What kind of stuff do you want to design?”

I smiled at his interest in what I do. “Oh ya know, posters, album covers, t-shirts, website layout, and just any merch that they may want me to do.”

“But if you had to choose specifically what you wanted to do, what would it be?”

“The two things I have the MOST interest in are designing posters and album artwork. I feel like if need be, I’m proficient enough to photograph and use said photographs to incorporate into my designs, however it’d be just that. I would use the images I take as a minor part of the design, but would put more illustration work in there. I doodle a lot. I carry a freaking sketch book with me everywhere because of it.”

He laughed a bit at that. “Really now? Any chance I would get to see these sketches in said sketch book?”

“Maybe at some point. I mean, I have it with me, but I’m still deciding on whether you’re worthy enough to see it yet.” I was giving him my best shit-eating grin at this point.

He mocked a hurt expression and began to poke my sides and tickle me, all the while trying to convince me that he was indeed worthy enough. I was so caught up in our conversation and in avoiding being tickled to death to notice that we had stopped. I turned to my right and saw that Jake was standing in front of this small ice cream shop. He opened the door motioning me to go inside. I walk in to discover this small ice cream shop.

“Wow Jake, this place is great! How do you have such a knack for finding all of these hidden treasures in the city? I’ve lived here for almost 5 years and as much as I go exploring, have NEVER found any of these places! How do you do it?”

He lightly chuckled and replied, “Hidden superpowers. No, an old friend of mine used to own this ice cream shop and even though he’s moved on to bigger and better adventures, I still like to come here. In my opinion, they still serve the best ice cream around.”

He put his left arm around my shoulders as we walked up to the counter. The smell of fresh waffle cones being made filled my senses as I took in the huge selection of ice cream flavors to choose from. As if he read my mind, he leaned in and whispered in my ear, “All of this ice cream is homemade. I wouldn’t take you to anything less than the best.”

I felt the heat rise in my checks as I smiled at his response, and the tickling sensation of his breath hitting my ears and neck. Maybe Jessie was just being paranoid. For all I knew, she was talking about a different Jake. How could this Jake be so dangerous? He was endearingly sweet. I continued to look at the selections in front of me before settling on my favorite flavor, mint chocolate chip. Once I made my decision, I went to the counter to place my order, and I was about to pull out my wallet, naturally, Jake stopped me and insisted on paying; always the gentleman. He then placed his order and paid. We got our ice cream and decided to eat our ice cream while continuing to walk. I had no idea where our destination would be, but at this point I didn’t care. I would walk around the city all night with him if I could, and by the way things were going, that was becoming more and more of a possibility.
Once we stepped outside, instead of grabbing my hand, he instantly put his left arm back around my shoulders. I didn’t mind, and was happy that we bonded so quickly and he felt comfortable enough to do so. I moved my ice cream from my right hand to my left so I could put my right arm around his waist. For someone who has never dated, I wasn’t sure if this was moving too fast or not, but with Jake, it seemed natural that he only respond the ways he has. Everything about how we interacted seemed so natural.

We continued walking around the city and ended up walking all over the park across the street from my apartment. Our conversations never ran out. We always found something to talk about. As much as we both enjoyed music, that’s not all we talked about. We ended up talking mostly about our childhood after we got our ice cream and it brought back memories that I forgot I had. He told me endless stories of him as a child and his many summers at camp. I learned very quickly that he was quite a cheeky kid; nothing that was extremely bad, but enough to make him a bit of a troublemaker. The stories he told me of all the pranks he pulled had me laughing the hardest I’d laughed in a while. We seemed to connect so easily.

It wasn’t until I subconsciously yawned that Jake looked at his phone to see what time it was.

“Shit Christy, it’s 3:30 AM! We gotta get you home girl!” he said as he rubbed my left shoulder with his right hand.

I lazily nodded and curled deeper into his left side. I shivered a bit from the breeze that was currently blowing due to my bare arms and lack of jacket. Jake felt my shiver and curled his arm tighter around me, and with his right hand, began rubbing it up and down my arms in an attempt to warm me up.
“You a little chilly there?” he chuckled.

Once again, I nodded, too tired to respond.

He airily laughed and began making leading us back to one of the entrances. “Where do you live? I wanna walk you back.”

I mumbled the complex I lived in and I could momentarily feel him tense up when I told him where I lived. I looked up at him confused. He shook it off, and looked down at me and smiled; a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Lucky for you sleepy head, I know where that is and we’re not far from there.” I gripped his waist tighter and he kissed the top of my head as we continued our trek to my apartment.

When we arrived at my complex, I let go of his waist and began to walk inside.

“Woah, woah, woah there! Where do you think you’re going missy? You honestly think you’re awake enough to climb those stairs by yourself without injury? Let me help you.”

I looked back at him confused and he walked up to me, put his left arm back around my shoulders, and with his right arm, grabbed behind my legs. He then lifted me up and carried me bridal style inside and up the stairs. The whole time I’m laughing and hitting his chest to put me down, but all he does is just hold me tighter. Now, I’m not the thinnest person to ever live, but I’m not exactly huge either; but even I was impressed at his ability to effortlessly carry me up the six flights of stairs to my room. Once we arrived at my room, he gently set me down. I looked up at him, and he looked back, giving me a huge smile. I felt the heat rising to my cheeks, so I looked down and bit my lip. He gently grabbed my chin and brought my face up to look at him.

“I hope this makes up for me scaring the shit outta you yesterday and making you feel uncomfortable.” He looked at me with hope that this day lived up to his expectations.

To be honest, considering the lack of dates that I’ve actually been on, I have nothing to compare it to. However, as far as just days in my life that were overall awesome, this one has definitely been one of the best. I bit my lip again, trying to surpress the huge smile threatening to take over my face when I looked up at him and replied, “Trust me, today has more than made up for that. I haven’t really been on a date before, but this has been one of the best days of my life. Thank you.” I then stood up on my tip toes to reach his cheek and give him a small peck on the cheek.

He then looks at me with a slightly furrowed brow and says, “Um, I think you missed.”

I look at him quizzically, and before I could respond, he bent down and gave me a short, but sweet, kiss on the lips. He then tucks a piece of hair behind my ear and says, “Tonight was amazing and I’d love to see you again.” I nodded eagerly. He then takes my hand, pulls a pen out of his pocket, and proceeds to write on my palm. Once he finished writing, he kisses my knuckles and says, “Don’t be a stranger now”. He then winks at me, and proceeds to head back down the stairs and out of the complex. I look down at my hand and it says

Call me. Tonight was great. 555-8123 -Jake

I couldn’t hide my smile anymore and reached into my purse to pull out my keys and go inside. I closed the door behind me, leaned back against it, and thought to myself about how wonderful tonight went. I couldn’t get over how natural being with Jake felt. I then went to my room and changed for bed.

***

To be honest, everything about my relationship with Jake came as the most natural thing in the world. So many times I wondered what life was like not being with Jake. Granted, we took things slow, which I was more than fine with. We went on several more dates after our first one before he asked me to be his girlfriend. We had dated casually for a few months before we became official. Every date we went on just further confirmed how much I had grown to like him. We spent those early dates getting to know each other and establishing a really strong friendship. By the time we started dating, he had become one of my best friends.

I had invited Jake over to Jessie and my apartment a few times for dinner to meet her and Dave. Dave and Jake got along extremely well, and Dave highly approved of my relationship with Jake. Honestly that surprised me given the circumstances. I wasn’t sure if Dave honestly approved of Jake for my or Jessie’s benefit; or if he was genuinely happy. Dave and I never brought up what he confessed to me a few months ago the night before my first date with Jake. The awkward tension eventually went away and Dave and I were back to normal and were actually closer, if that was possible, than before. I wasn’t sure if he still felt as strongly towards me, but he hadn’t made any indication that he did and he had just bought Jessie’s engagement ring. I took that as a good sign.

Speaking of Jessie, she however, was a different story when it came to Jake. The first time she met him, she was cordial, but being a borderline hostile bitch. I don’t know what had gotten into her. It was almost as if Jake set off some switch inside of her that turned her into this heartless, cold person whenever he was around. I’ve tried talking to her about it, but she would never acknowledge that anything was wrong. Something about Jake seemed to set her off, and I was determined to figure out what it was. Not to mention, since that morning a few months ago when she was acting all weird with Dave, they haven’t seemed as close, despite the fact that Dave is literally on the verge of proposing to her. She seems distant from him, but Dave doesn't notice it. He thinks everything is great. I'm not completely convinced. Something is definitely up with her. Dave doesn’t know what it is, mainly because he doesn't really see anything wrong with her other than her rudeness towards Jake. She refuses to talk about whatever it is. All I know is that she didn’t start acting strange until I met Jake. I’m praying that it’s just a coincidence, because Jake has given me no reason to not trust him.

It wasn’t until the day that Jake came over to watch a movie, and upon Jessie answering the door to see him standing on the other side, slamming the door in his face, that I decided to talk to her as soon as possible. After she had so rudely slammed the front door and stormed into her room, I got up off the couch to answer the door to a surprised, and slightly hurt Jake. I gave him a quick kiss and told him that I was going to talk to her. Seeing the worry etched into my face, he put his hand on my check and gently stroked it with his thumb before telling me I should go ahead and talk to her now. He said he would be around whenever I was finished, but I needed to be there for my friend. He gave me a quick kiss on the check and left. Sad to see him leave, I slowly closed the door, and then turned and glared at Jessie’s closed door. I was going to figure out what the hell was up with her if it was the last thing I did. I can’t believe her sometimes, but this time she had gone too far.

I stomped over to her door and viciously knocked on it and demanded she get out of her room so we could talk. I heard slight movement from the other side of the door as she sauntered over to the door. I was flabbergasted when she opened the door as if nothing had happened and calmly asked me why I was so upset. She’s unbelievable.

“Why am I upset? WHY AM I UPSET? Jessie, are you freaking kidding me?! You slammed the door in my boyfriend’s face for no reason! He has been nothing but nice to you, and for some reason you can’t be anything but a bitch to him and I want to know why! What is it about Jake that sets you off so much?” I was fuming, fists clenched at my sides, and doing all I could to keep my breathing even.

She leaned casually against the door frame, looked down at her hands as she picked at the nail polish on her fingers nonchalantly, and replied, “I told you to avoid him. You didn’t listen. I told you he was bad news. You date him anyway. I have no pity for your situation.” She then looked up at me, shrugged her shoulders, and brushed past me to go sit in the living room.

“Wait, you have no pity for me? For what? Jake has been nothing short of amazing! I honestly don’t know what your hang-up with him is. You need to sort your shit out before you completely snap.”

“Woah, I’m the one that needs to sort my shit out? You’re the one dating a dead-end, good for nothing, asshole.”

I couldn’t stand it anymore. If her only defense for her actions was unexplained distaste for him and name-calling, I wasn’t going to put up with it anymore. I marched over to where she was sitting in the chair, and slapped her across the face as hard as I could before grabbing my keys and purse and storming out the door. I was shaking as I left the apartment and grabbed my phone out of my pocket. I dialed Jake’s number and thankfully he answered after the first ring.

“Hey babe, what’s up?”

“Jake, I’m coming over. Jessie and I just got into a fight and I slapped her. Hard. I can’t be around her anymore right now.”

With that, I hung up, and made my way down the 5 blocks to his apartment. Jessie was done having a hold over me and my emotions. I would keep Jake as far away from her as I could.