Our Hearts Were Made to Be Broken By Love

Gerard’s P.O.V

I laid on the couch, nearly asleep, as old cartoons danced across the TV screen, before a knock at the door startled me awake. I yawned as I my eyes. I checked the clock on the wall for the time; it was noon. I fell asleep a few minutes after Frank left for work—that’s the best thing about being unemployed.

“Who is it?” I shouted, groggily, as I stood up. I heard a muffled “Mikey” from behind the door and I instantly smiled. I haven’t seen my brother in a while.

“Mikey!” I said as I opened the door before hugging my taller yet younger brother. As I pulled away from the hug, I noticed flecks of red and pink glitter on his face.

“Dude, you have glitter on your face.” I said as I moved out of the way so that he could enter the apartment. He wiped at his face several times with is hands before successfully removing the colored glitter.

“So, what are you doing here? Its noon; you should be at work.”

“Well, I’m off for the next week because my office is being fumigated, and I have something to tell you.” He gushed, nearly bouncing in place in his seat on the couch.

“What?” I asked, unsure if I actually wanted to know. He smiled before exhaling.

“I have a girlfriend. We just started dating last night.” I smiled, giving him a congratulatory punch in the shoulder.

“Wow, man! That’s awesome!” This was really amazing and shocking news—Mikey hasn’t had a girlfriend since he was a freshman in high school—he’s nearly 30 now.

“What’s her name?”

“Candy.” He beamed.

“Candy?” I questionably raised my eyebrow. Candy? That sounds very…strange. I suppose that there actually are people named Candy somewhere in the world, but I’ve always assumed that they were strippers or prostitutes.

“Is that her real name?” Mikey shrugged before replying with “I don’t know.”

“We just met last night. We started talking after her shift and…I don’t know. We just made a connection and started going out.”

“Shift?”

“Yeah, her shift. She’s a stripper.” Oh.

“Um, you’re dating a stripper? Don’t you think that’s kind of…dangerous?” There are so many diseases and infections that he would catch. I don’t want little brother getting some STD from a trashy stripper!

“I know that you’re probably thinking that she has every STD known to man—but she doesn’t. She’s a virgin; she’s only stripping to pay for college.” That’s what they all say. I sighed before smiling again.

“As long as you’re happy, I’m happy.” I anxiously picked at a loose string on my sweat pants as I sighed. I desperately wanted to tell Mikey that this girl ‘Candy’ was all wrong for him. I mean, who the hell dates a stripper? She’s probably just going to end up fucking him over. I didn’t say anything because, well, Mikey is an adult and he needs to make his own decisions. MiIkey smiled at me before we both started to watch television, the cartoons transitioning into cheesy infomercials.

“Hey, why aren’t you at work?” Mikey asked me, randomly.

“I don’t have a job.” Mikey gawked at me.

“You don’t have a job? Gerard, you’re 30 years old—you should have a job at this age.” I groaned. I don’t need a job. Frank’s tattoo shop pulls in enough money to pay for the bills—so, we’re fine. It’s not like we’re struggling or anything. Plus, I’m perfectly content with sitting on my ass all day.

Besides, I don’t even want a job. I quit the last job that I had—my boss was a dick. It wasn’t like I was making a lot of money from it—it was at Wal-Mart for Christ’s sake.

“I don’t have to get a job. Frank’s got the bills all covered. ” Mikey rolled his eyes.

“And, it’s too late in the year to get a job. It’s fucking November. No one is going to be hiring.” Mikey rolled his eyes, yet again.

“Gerard, what do you do all day?”

“…This.” I said,gesturing to the television in front of up.” Mikey shook his head.

“You can’t just sit on your ass all day; it’s unhealthy.” Now it was my turn to roll my eyes.

“Do you have a computer?” He said as he quickly stood up.

“No, b—“ He quickly pulled me up to my feet before picking the remote up from off the couch and switching off the television.

“Come on, we’re going to the library to find you a job” He said as he started to drag me towards the door.

“Can I at least get changed first?” I said as I jerked away from him. Mikey let out an exasperated sigh before telling me to hurry up. I walked to my bedroom and put on a random pair of ripped jeans and a tattered hoodie before we left.

“There’s tons of job openings.” Mikey whispered to me as he stood over my shoulder, peering at the computer screen. I shook my head. All of these jobs fucking sucked; the only openings that I saw were for a bartender at a lesbian bar, a high school janitor, and a DJ at some shitty nightclub. None of these were right for me.

“Mikey, all of these jobs are fucking terrible! If I’m going to get a job, I need something that’s going to put my fucking art degree to work.” I graduated for college with an art degree a few years ago. I love art, but I could never find any desirable art-related jobs.

“Just keep looking.” Mikey said before taking the computer mouse out of my hand and clicking on a different page, more job listings appearing on the screen, each one worse than the last.

“Ah, here’s one that you might like,” Mikey said as he pointed to a link on the screen. “Graphic designer for La’Fonatine Inc.” I nodded my head in approval. That sounds like something that I’d want to do. I clicked on the link, which lead to the company’s web page. I filled out and submitted the resume that was available on the website, with Mikey’s help of course.

“So what time is the interview?” Mikey asked as he stepped to the side so that I could get out of the swivel chair.

“The deadline is tomorrow at 8.”

“Wow! You defiantly need new clothes if you’re going to get this job!” he said as grabbed me by the wrist and dragged me out the door, yet again.