All Downhill From Here

“We sometimes hang out,” I told Carson, not fully lying to her but also not fully telling her the truth, which kind of sucked. Mr. White and me did hang out, but... Not in any way she would ever think. I couldn’t tell her what I had been doing these past couple of months; she’d probably end up smacking me across the face and leaving, never speaking to me again. I’d hate loosing her, so I never dared to tell her unless something came down to me having to tell her.
Carson opened her eyes and stared at me with a confused looked upon her face. I could tell that she was indeed slightly confused – and probably more pissed off than anything - and she could most definitely call bullshit on my reply. “You go and hang out with some old guy in his mid fifties?” she questioned, sounding unconvinced. I shrugged my shoulders at her and quickly thought of a reply. I had to make it sound believable and get her to drop her suspicion. “Yeah, man. I sell him weed, sometimes,” I mentioned, rubbing the back of my neck, “And besides, he’s not even fifty, yet.”
She scoffed and rolled her eyes, “Weed, huh, Jesse? How believable.” She remained unconvinced, but I didn’t know what else to say to her that would get her convinced. I shook my head at her. I didn’t know why this was getting to her so bad. It didn’t even involve her or anything. “Whatever, Carson. Why does it even matter that much to you?” I questioned, pushing off of the doorframe and now just standing in the middle of the doorway. “It doesn’t,” she snapped at me.
“Then get off my back, yo,” I barked, grabbing the door handle and jerking it towards me as I stepped out, causing the door to slam. I dragged myself down the hall and into my own bedroom, slamming the door behind me as I entered. I really sometimes hated how she tried getting so involved in the things that I did. None of it was really ever her business, anyway. I stripped my jeans off and climbed into my bed, not even bothering to change my shirt or anything, considering how exhausted I was.

The Next Morning

I had a rude awakening to Carson violently shaking me. “What the fuck do you want?” I barked, rolling over and squinting my eyes to look at her. “Will you at least quit being an asshole for ten minute to drive me to the interview... Please?” she asked, taking her hands away from my shoulder and crossing her arms over her chest. I looked at what she was wearing and then rolled back over, closing my eyes. “Ugh, was that today?” I questioned her.
She grabbed my shoulder and shook me again, more lightly this time, “Yes, now come on. I’m going to be late enough as it is.” I groaned and sighed, “Alright, fine. Let me get dressed and I’ll take you.” I rolled over to look at her, but she was no longer standing in the bedroom. I shrugged my shoulders and sat up, turning to let my legs dangle off of the bed. I rubbed my face with the palm of my hands before standing up and walking over to my closet and getting out some clothes.
I changed quickly and went downstairs, seeing Carson standing by the front door. I asked if she was ready and when said yes, we immediately headed out and began driving to Andrea’s work. The entire ride there was quiet and I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know if I should continue to stay quiet or if I should say something to her, whether it was apologizing or if it was just to wish her luck.
Carson didn’t exactly seem interested in talking, or really even saying anything, but I couldn’t tell if it was that or if she was just nervous about the interview. I had hoped that if she go the job, she’s come back home and forget all about last night... She’d forget about Mr. White and about the fight and things would be back to normal between the two of us.
I pulled up to the front of the building and turned to her. I looked at her for a little while before putting on a smile and going to say, “I really hope you do good in the interview,” but getting cut off mid sentence by her getting out of the car and slamming the door behind her. I raised a brow, surprised by her actions, and frowned. She really must of have been pissed at me.
I pulled out of the parking lot and drove down the road, not really planning on anywhere to go. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and read the text from Andrea, asking if I wanted lunch. I texted her back immediately, telling her to meet me at the Denny’s considering I was already right by it. I pulled into the parking lot and waiting till Andrea got there before going inside.
We got place at a booth in the back and immediately ordered our drinks and food, letting the waiter to leave us alone for a little while. I looked over at Andre and reached across the table, grabbing her hand in mine. I sighed in frustration and slightly tilted my, head looking at her, making her give me strange look. “What’s wrong?” she questioned, giving my hand a gently squeeze.
I sighed and shrugged my shoulders, “It’s just... Carson.” “Isn’t her interview today?” she asked me. I nodded at her response, but then sigh again. “What’s going on between you two, huh?” she asked, leaning closer to me. I looked into her eyes and shook my head. Andrea didn’t even know what I did, so I had to be sure I didn’t give anything away to her.
“I just hate how involved in my life she tries to get, you know? I mean... She’s constantly in my business and tried see what’s going on and it’s getting kind of annoying. She pokes and prods at me to the point where it’s too much,” I explained, shrugging my shoulders at her, “And we kind of got into an argument last night, so now she’s giving me the cold shoulders, so, whatever.” She gave me a weird look before glancing around the diner and back to me, “That’s not true, Jesse.”
“I’ve seen the both of you and I see how you two are with each other. She never pokes or prods at you to the point where it’s too much, as far as I can see. Yeah, the both of you have your fair share of poking and prodding, but it’s never been that bad. I can see that; anybody could,” she told me, quietly. I furrowed my brows and shook my head, “I guess, but that doesn’t disregard the fact that she’s poking and prodding at my life.”
Andrea sighed and rubbed my hand with hers, “Jesse, hon, it’s because she cares about you. She wouldn’t be doing this if the didn’t care. She’s concerned and what’s to know what going on with you just like everybody else does. She doesn’t mean any harm by it.” I stared at her for a minute and thought. Was that was Carson was doing or was Andrea just making this up? “Look, you two are best friends and you both look out for each other, and this is her way of looking out for you, whether you like it or not. Maybe instead of getting mad at her and jumping her about it, maybe you should say thank you,” she suggested, tilting her head slightly.
What Andrea was saying kind of made since. Carson had shared with me before that she was bad at showing her way of caring and that she never really was that kind of an affectionate person, so she had strange ways of showing her concern, whether it was just overreaction or just being annoying. I knew that I had screwed up with her big time and I owed her a big apology once I saw her again.
I smiled and leaned forward, gently kissing Andrea’s forehead, “You’re so smart.” She smiled at me and chuckled, “Someone has to be the smart one in this relationship.” I leaned back against the booth and raised my brows at her, “Ooh, ouch.” She giggled at me and rolled her eyes, “Oh, you know I’m only playing.” I chuckled and nodded at her, letting her know that I knew. The waiter come over with our food, and finally our drinks, and placed it all in front of us.
The both of us began eating but shortly after, Andrea pulled back from the table and looked at me, “Promise me that you’ll give Carson some space, though... Give her time to cool off.” I looked up at her and shrugged my shoulders, “Yeah, okay.” I didn’t see why I had to give her space if I was going to apologize. Other than apologizing, I didn’t see why I had to give her time to cool off. She’d be cooled off enough by the end of the interview, so I’d talk to her then.



I sat in the car in front of Andrea, and potentially Carson’s, work and waited till Carson walked out. She didn’t say whether or not she wanted to me to pick her up, but I assumed that she would’ve wanted me to. I had only been sitting here for a couple of minutes and I knew she’d be out soon. She had mentioned before that the interview should’ve only last a couple of minutes, unless they wanted her to start right away.
Sitting here for a couple of minutes gave me some time to think about what I wanted to say to her and how I wanted to apologize. I had this whole script set in my head of how the whole thing would go down and what we’d both say, and I felt like this was going to go great. I felt like everything was going to go fine between us.
I looked over and saw Carson slowly walking out of the building. She stopped and looked at the car for a second before slowly approaching and getting in. She put her seatbelt on and leaned against the door, sighing. “So?” I said, raising a brow at her and nudging her arm with me elbow. She looked over at me for a second before looking out the windshield.
I was expecting her to just give me the silent treatment for a while and then get excited and say she got the job, but she stayed quiet for a good two minutes. She just stared out the windshield with a pissed off look on her face. I knew that if she had gotten the job, she would’ve either told me or showed it in her expression, and neither was showing it, unfortunately.
“Can you just take me home?” she barked, rubbing her forehead with her fingertips. I chewed on my lip and started the car up, beginning to drive down out of the parking lot and down the street. I took a deep breath and looked over at her for a second and then back to the road. I drove for a little bit before shrugging my shoulders, “So, look... Uhm, I was kind of hoping that we could talk for a minute.” She shifted in her seat for a moment and put her foot up against the glove department. I pulled up to the red light and looked over at her, “Okay, so, I know that what happened the other day upset you and I know that you kind of overreacted when we tried to talk about it, so I thought I’d be the bigger person and-”
“I overreacted? Excuse me?” she snapped, looking over at me and raising her brows at me, “I wasn’t the one who was fucking overreacting.” “No, no, no,” I shook my head and waved my hands at her, “That’s not what I meant, Carson. Hold on.” “Not what you meant, huh? Then what did you mean ‘overreacting’ to be?” she questioned me, crossing her arms over her chest. I reached over and set my hand on her shoulder, “Let me restart. None of that came out right.”
She rolled her eyes and unbuckled the seatbelt and opening the car door, climbing out and slamming the door behind her. “Carson!” I shouted, climbing out of the car and looking over the hood at her, “Carson, wait.” She walked faster and walked down the sidewalk, not even bothering to look back at me. That literally could have gone so much better than it actually did. Son of a bitch.
“Hey, asshole, lights green. Mind moving your car outta the way?” some guy in a Porche leaned out his window and yelled at me. I ignored him and watched Carson walked away still. I groaned and got into the car, slamming the door and rubbing the palm of my hands on my face.