Beautiful Mess

I walked into my Los Angeles apartment that I share with my boyfriend to find it empty, just as it normally is when I get home. Brandon works almost all day, seven days a week so any alone time besides when we’re sleeping is pretty rare.

I met him when I moved to LA about six years ago, and we’ve been dating for almost three years now.

Looking at the clock, he should be home in about an hour so I put some spaghetti noodles on the stove, and begin to make dinner. I’m supposed to cook every night that we don’t go out, which we hardly do. According to him, cooking and keeping the house straight should be my main priorities since he works so hard to get us the nice things we have.

I work too, but my job isn’t nearly as important as his is. I work behind the scenes of a television company as the director’s main assistant. The pay is decent and it doesn’t required long, grueling hours so I like it well enough.

The door opened just as the timer for the last part of our meal went off. I heard two men talking and he walked into the kitchen with his best friend Dylan following.

“Hey babe, how was your day?” I asked as she went over to give him a kiss.

“Tiring,” was all he replied. I sighed at his lack of interest in any conversation.

Dylan smiled at her, “Hey Brinlee, whatever you’re cooking smells great!”

A smile came onto my face, “Well I try my best, are you going to stay and eat with us?”

“Yes Brinlee, he is. That’s not going to be a problem, is it?” Brandon basically told rather than asking. Of course it wasn’t a problem, his friends were always welcome and he knew that.

This had been how his attitude was towards me lately. But it hadn’t always been like this. He used to treat me with respect and make her genuinely happy, but lately being around him was more stressful than not.

The three fixed their plates, and the two guys went to eat in front of the television to watch a baseball game. I ate by herself at the bar in the kitchen. Just after i was done she began to put the leftovers away.

Somebody walked in and I looked up to see Dylan, “It was delicious.”

“I’m glad you liked it, did you want some more?”

“Oh no thanks, I’m stuffed. I just came to put away my dishes.” He walked over and turned the sink on.

“No, no, I’ll wash yours with mine and Brandon’s. Don’t worry about it!” It was my job after all as the host after all.

Dylan backed off and hopped on the counter beside of where I was at to keep me company. We talked about how the filming for Teen Wolf was going and the conversation just started to flow. For the first time in a while, I felt like she was just talking to a friend. Brandon could hear our laughing at whatever we were talking about over the game and yelled for Dylan to come back, that he was missing it.

The laughter quickly faded. “You should probably go in there, no telling what you’re missing.” He laughed and nodded, before returning to the living room.

I went to take her makeup off and hopped in the shower, hoping to wash off the thick tension coming from Brandon. Getting out, I dried my hair, and put on my pajamas which consisted of spandex and an oversized t-shirt.

I walked into the hallway just in time to hear Dylan on his way out. Brandon walked right passed me in the hallway, and I went to snuggle up on the couch, trying to find a movie. There was a soft knock at the door.

I opened it to find Dylan standing there with his hands shoved in his pockets. “Hey… um I think I left my phone here.”

“Oh alright, I’ll help you find it,” I offered. I opened the door and led him into the house.

She couldn’t see him, but his eyes were scanning her toned legs from behind. It was his best friend’s girl, but he couldn’t help but look. No harm done in just looking.

I stood there, lost in thought, as he dug around in the couch for his phone. He found it and came and stood in front of me. “You good?” he asked, noticing the blank stare.

“Oh yeah, fine.” I answered quickly. “So you found it?”

“Yeah, I did.” We just stared at each other. “I had fun tonight, I liked talking to you.”

I blushed, not used to being complimented anymore. “I really did too.”

“Well I’ll be back soon, don’t worry.” He winked. He gave me a friendly hug before saying goodnight and leaving for real this time.

I turned the TV off and went into the bedroom that was shared with Brandon. He was already asleep so i quietly crawled in, staying on her side. My mind was on everything except sleep even though I was beyond exhausted.

My last thought before I dozed off, why was Brandon not a little more like Dylan?