Sweet Little Tale That Ended Sour

Waking up, doing my normal morning routine I’ve been doing since high school. 5:30 blinking on my alarm clock after I get done. I wake up too early. I slip on my red vans and my big oversize hoodie. It’s my security blanket, in all honesty. I slide my phone into my pocket, after pulling the charger plug out. I walk to the kitchen, ignoring my mother passed out on our couch. I start coffee for her and myself. I make eggs and toast with jam. I glanced at the clock. 5:50. I groaned and put my coffee in a thermos and put my eggs on my toast and jam and ate it really quickly. Nausea filled me up. I put my thermos in my bag and my bag on my shoulders. I walk to my mum with coffee in one hand, the food on a plate in another. I set them down. I quickly get the pain medicine and a glass of water, setting them down next to the other things. I shake my mum slightly. She sits up, I hand her the glass and the medicine.

“Thank you, Joshy,” using her sad voice as she takes her medicine, “I’m suppose to get you up and ready and cook you breakfast.”
“Mum, don’t worry,” I say as I glance at the clock. 6:00.
“Bye Joshy, have fun at work and school today,” She says kissing my cheek and picking up the plate.
“Bye mum, love you,” I say as I walk to the door.
“Love you too,” She replies.

I make my way outside and start walking to the bus stop. I have a plug in my ear buds and currently had one in my ear, listening to random song that came on. It’s by a local band. They aren’t that bad, but my band is better! I finally arrived and sat down on the bench that is there. I look up to see the bus pulling up. I glanced at my phone. 6:23. The bus is a couple minutes early. I used my bus pass and got on, sitting down next to a familiar face.

Name: Maximus Helyer
Business: Café Worker, rhythm guitarist for Josh’s band, college student at King’s College London
Age: 20
Relationship: Taken

“Maximus,” I say kind of bluntly.
“Joshua,” He says in a teasing matter.
“What’s up mate?” I ask, looking at him as I pull my ear buds out, my full attention on my best friend.
“Nothing, I’ve been cramming for this end of course work. What about you Joshua?” He replies with the tired expression on his face.
“I’m worried about my mum, thinking about sending her to an AA meeting. I’ve been doing this end of course work for my English class, since it’s the last one I need to do.“ I respond, a small frown at the mention of my mother.
“Man, that’s got to be rough. You know if you ever need something, I’m here.”
“Yeah, cheers mate.”

We road up to Max’s college first and we exchanged our good byes and he got off. The bus started up again. There was a weird kid in the further seat from the driver. He had his headphones and his fringe in front his eyes. He must have moved into this bus route cause I’ve seen him at Uni. It’s just him and I on this bus, and the driver of course.

“’Ello Josh.” The bus driver says.
“Hey Mathias,” I reply.
“How is your mother doing?”
“She’s doing quite alright. She came home at 8pm instead of 10pm. She’s going to an AA meeting tomorrow.”
“That’s good for her.”

I nodded and we finally arrive to the Uni. The strange kid and I got off the bus. I fucked off and went to find my other friend. I walked around looking for him. Finally, laying eyes on him, I found him.

Name: Christopher Miller
Business: College Student at Uni of London, guitar player for Josh’s band, parent’s money
Age: 20
Relationship: Taken

“Jooooooosh, will you come meet Matt finally?” He nags.
“Yessssss, Chris, I will.”

Chris has been seeing this college dropout. They’re in love so I’m not arguing with him. We walked to the little café by the Uni. We walked in and this guy is sitting at the table, Chris pulls me over to him.

“Matthew, Josh. Josh, Matthew.” Chris says.
“Nice to meet you.” I say.
“You too mate.” Matthew spoke.

Name: Matthew Nicholls
Business: Drummer for Oliver’s band, record shop stock boy
Age: 20
Relationship: Taken

“Don’t you work at the record shop?” Matt asks in a nice tone of voice.
“Yeah, I do,” I reply.
“I work there too. I’m the stock boy…” He adds.
“I thought you looked familiar,” I comment.
“Small world.” Chris interjects.

Chris and Matt exchanged saliva. I get uncomfortable and go to buy some coffee. I get up the counter and order what I want. I pay the amount due and go to where give you your coffee. I get my coffee when they call the drink order. I started to drink it and I didn’t see Chris or Matt anywhere. I scrunched up my nose at the thought of them. I wonder out of the café and to my first lecture hall. I get there and go in my normal spot. I looked around and saw the kid form the bus on there. He was drumming his fingers on the desk, singing quietly to whatever song that was playing in his iPod. One of my band mates comes and sits down next to me.

Name: Daniel Flint
Business: College Student at Uni of London, Drummer from Josh’s band, restaurant waiter
Age: 19
Relationship: Single

“Josh,” he grumbles. I know he needs coffee. I get out my thermos and hand it to him.
“Coffee?” I ask.
“Yes please…” He whines.

I open the thermos and hands it to him. He takes a sip and a big smile spreads across his face. He loves the coffee when other people make it. He cannot make coffee. Writing Skills class is my least favorite but I’m really not complaining about it. The teacher is rather attractive to look at, Mr. McKinnon. His beard kind of makes me act like a twelve-year old. I have no shame though. He knows he’s cute. Writing Skills class. This is my least favorite class. I hate having to type up long stories and short stories and poem and lyrics. Lyrics are not that hard for me really. I look down at my phone, silencing it. Mr. McKinnon is super harsh about phones. After I put my phone away, Mr. McKinnon started the lecture about, something really pointless, so I just turned on the voice recording on my phone and put it under my notebook, hiding it from the teacher. I took out my laptop and opened it up, I clicked on the word document I had up. I looked over it, realizing it was a song. Dan looked over my shoulder. I could feel his gaze. I looked over at him. He nodded his approval. I smile, with slight confident. I look at the computer screen and started typing quietly as I could so Mr. McKinnon couldn’t hear me and yell at me for not paying attention. He was everyone’s favorite teacher. He played the vocal cords. He’ll sometimes play at like festivals the college has. I gave up about half way through class to finish this song. I closed my laptop and put it away. My eyes wondered over to the kid from the bus. He looks a bit gothic, but I’m not one to judge. He actually looked kind of cute. Class ended and I closed my computer and turn off the voice recording. I slid everything into my bag and headed towards my next class. I walked into my Music Theory class. This is usually easy, it is filled with a couple of notes we write, or type, down. We’ll look at bunch of pictures and talk about them and how we can get inspired for music by these pictures. She may have said there was a test today. I’m not a hundred present sure. I walk into class and see Lee Malia. I come sit down next to him, like always.

Name: Lee Malia
Business: College Student at Uni of London, guitarist for Oliver’s band, cashier at record shop
Age: 20
Relationship: Fancy Daniel, so Single

Malia and I work at the record shop together. He does the register and I help people find the CD or vinyl they are looking for.

“Joshua, I have off the rest of this week but the boss’s son should be in, working the register,” Lee says.
I let a quiet sigh before reply, “I don’t know the boss’s son though. Is he cute?”
“Very,” Lee replies with a small laugh.
“Good, he’ll be the only descent looking person in the whole place,” I comment.
“Josh, you are just so picky. Since you did it with Abigail and that made you gay you’ve been impossible to find a man for.” He lectures to me.
“Leeeeeeeee, but I don’t want just any guy,” I whine.

Lee rolls his eyes. I get everything out and sigh quietly. Ms. Williams started the notes. After notes, she handed us a paper. It wasn’t a test. Her voice was frog-like, so we were doing the pictures on paper today. She wrote on the board that if we were done with the pictures to hand them in and we could go. I always some philosophic answer when she shows us the picture. I knew it would take me to the end of class. I started working on it right away. The class was about over and the class was empty. It was Malia, Barnes, and I left. They finished before I. I heard the bell rang and finished the last word. I walked down the stairs to get to her desk. I hand it to her and she smiled.

“Your answers are my favorite ones to read, Mr. Franceschi,” She croaks.
“Thank you, Ms. Williams,” I reply and turn around slowly.
“Bye Josh,” she comments as I turned around.
“Bye.” I say and hurry up the stairs.

I leave the classroom and walk off to get to McDonalds for lunch. I get there and get food and then catch the bus to work. I get to work and I walk inside. Huh, the boss’s son must have gotten here already, the door is unlocked. I set my food on the counter and started eating. The store doesn’t open for another 15 minutes. I kind of ate in silence and threw away my bag and stuff. A man appeared form the back.

“Oh, I thought I’d be the only one here. Dad didn’t tell me,” The boss’s son, who is the gothic kid from the bus and Writing Skills class.
“Yeah, I’m Josh,” I say as I look at him with my best kiss ass smile.
“I’m Oliver or Oli,” Oliver answers and smiles back, “Aren’t you in my writing skills class?”
“Yeah, I am. I also saw you on the bus this morning,” I say kind of quietly.
“Oh, yeah, I like riding the bus. The things I think about whilst I look out the window and watch the scenery pass.” Oliver philosophizes.

My inner body’s jaw dropped and eyes widen. My actually body wasn’t like that. I just nodded and turned the sign to ‘open’. A few people came in. I helped a couple people find the CDs. Oliver was speaking to one of the customers.

“Five pounds for my band’s EP,” He says.
“Alright, I’ll take it,” the customer says.

I was getting more and more curious about this boy. Once the people left and there was no one in the shop, I made my way to the register. I lean on the counter.

“So, you are in a band?” I ask.
“Yeah, I am. What about you?” He answers and questions.
“I am,” I answer.
“Do you guys have a CD yet?” He asks.
“No. We have nowhere to record it,” I muse.
“There is a recording studio way in the back, past dad’s office,” He comments.
“Oh, I didn’t know that,” I mumble.
“We can get you in there…” He muses.
“I-I should get back to work…” I mumble quietly.
“Okay….” He says and takes out a notebook. He places it on the counter.

I wondered off to the rest of the store. Oli had slipped in one of his band’s EP CDs in the over all sound system. This shit was heavy. I wonder back over to him.

“Who sings?” I ask.
“I do…” Oli says with a smile.

The vocals were amazing, astounding, and other adjectives as well. He was really good. I couldn’t build up the courage to tell him that I loved his vocals. They range to many different ranges. He was amazing.

“You’re amazing,” I mumble quietly.

He didn’t hear me over the music I guess. He turns down the music a bit.

“Repeat,” he commands.
“You’re amazing, like your vocal cords,” I says a bit louder.
“You don’t have to kiss my ass, just because I am the boss’s son,” He comments.
“I actually meant it, but yeah sure being sweet to the boss’s son is totally what I was doing,” I rolled my eyes and walked away.

His eyes went wide at my words. I was a bit grumpy now. A costumer walks in; I threw on a fake smile and greeted them. They say hi back and walked up to Oli.

“Oli, mate,” He greets Oli in a friendly matter.
“Vegan….” Oli says and they lean over in a friend hug.
“I’ve got a lunch hour let’s go get some lunch,” Vegan nags.
“All right Vegan, let me talk to the employee and see if he can handle the store till I get back,” Oli says half walking over to me.
“Alright, mate,” Vegan says. What is this kid’s real name?
“Josh, aye, Matt and I are going to get some lunch, we’ll be back in like an hour. Can you handle the store alone till then?” Oli asks.

Name: Matthew Kean
Business: Student at King’s College London, bassist for Oliver’s band
Age: 19
Relationship: Taken

“Yeah, it’s fine,” I answer with a small smile. I was still a bit pissed at him.
“Okay, see you later,” Oli replies.

Matt and Oliver left, leaving me alone in the store alone. I took out Oli’s EP and put in one of my band’s EP CDs. We had already recorded with Chris’s mum work. I play it. I sing along to my own voice, as weird as that is. I saw Matthew Nicholls walk in the store. I quickly turn off the music. We gave each other a nod. He looked around at CDs. I watched him carefully, since he is making Chewy, Chris, happy.

“Hey, do you know what Chris wants for his birthday?” He questions.
“He needs guitar picks, a new guitar, hair ties, a hair cut….” I mumble the last thing quietly.
“I love his hair, I like….” Matt goes quiet after that.

I just shake my head at him; I really do not want to know. Matt turns red and walks off to the guitar part of our store. We have a few guitars on a rack and guitar essentials. I see people walk into the store; I ask them if they need any help. They said no, so I just pissed off, and just went behind the counter at the register. Everyone at once walked up to the counter. Matt rushed up to the other register and helps get theses people check out. I look over at Matt with a smile.

“Thank you, man,” I say as I look at him.
“Where is Oliver?” Matt asks.
I smile slightly, hopefully Matt didn’t notice, “He went to lunch with Matt Vegan.”
“Fun,” Matt comments, “I need to talk to him about taking Chris’s birthday off. I want to spend all day with Chris instead of in band practice.”
“You two are in a band?” I ask him, cocking my head slightly.
“Yeah with Kean, Lee, Fishy, and Oli,” he replies.
“What is your position?” I question.
“I do drums,” He answers with a smile.

I nod taking in all this new information. I felt kind of goofy just finding out all this stuff. I look at Matt, opening my mouth to speak.

“Is Oliver single?” I ask a bit flushed.
“Yes, and gay, if you are asking,” Matt answers.
“Yes…I was,” I mumble back at him.

Matt laughs and I flush a deep crimson. I just think Oliver is attractive to look at. Oliver and the other Matt walk in the store sharing a laugh.

“WANKERS!” Matt Nicholls yelled.
“TOSSER!” Oli yells back.
“CUNT!” Kean screams.

They all laugh and I felt out of lope. I look at them, well really Oli. I watched them embraced. I stood there kind of awkwardly. They said good-bye to Kean. Kean left. I just organized the CDs kind of ease dropping.

“It’s Chris’s birthday Friday and I wanted to spend it with him…so can I skip out on band practice?” Matt asks Oli.
“Yeah, it’s fine. I’ll just cancel practice. No big deal,” Oli replies, “Go make your boyfriend happy.”
“Thanks mate…Hey speaking of boyfriends…” Matt starts, I feel his gaze on me, “What do you think about Josh over there?” Matt’s voice got lower.
“I don’t really know him, so maybe we’ll go on a date…like Friday I suppose…” Oli answers quieter. I bit my lip at his answer. He wants to go on a date with me?
“Go ask him!” Matt says louder to Oliver.
“Okay, okay…damn…” Oli mumbles as he starts walking to me.

He walks up behind me and taps my shoulder. His voice goes shy, “Josh…”
I turn around; dreading this, “Yes Oliver?” I ask him.
“Do you want to go on a lunch date, Friday at like 1?” He asks in the shyest voice ever.
“I…sure…” I reply.
“Really?” He says for confirmation.
“Yes, really,” I nod with a reassuring smile.

He smiles and frolics over to Matt, nodding his head. Matt just laughed. I felt my cheek burn up to a crimson shade. I haven’t been asked on date in a really long time. I slid my phone out of my pocket texting Dan, who has A+ dressing skills.

I have date Friday…so come over before one so you can help me pick out something to wear I guess…

It’s been a while since I have had to send a text like that to Dan. I impatiently wait for a reply from Dan. I just keep organizing. My phone buzzed in my pocket. I take out my phone and click open on Dan’s text.

Of course, mate. Be prepared to rummage through your father’s stuff. I’ve seen your closet. This is what your first date in like a year.

I bit my lip. That was true, this is my first date in like a year. I didn’t want to go through my father’s stuff though. I rather buy a new shirt or jeans or whatever I need. I hit reply and started typing.

Cheers. I rather buy a new shirt…or jeans or whatever I need.

I pressed send and slide my phone into my pocket. I look up to see Oli walking to me.

“Do you want to go the bar after work? We could have a coupe of drink…and I don’t know, converse…I suppose,” Oli seemed really shy as he was asking.
“No…I have shit to do tonight…Cheers for asking, though,” I felt kind of bad…
“That’s fine…I work here tomorrow then I’m gone,” Oli rambles.
“Alright, “ I say.

Oli walks back the register. I sigh quietly, looking down at my hands. I don’t know if dating the boss’s son is such a good idea. What if I hurt him and his father fires me because of that. I haven’t even had one date with the bloke and I am already thinking about me fucking this up. I am such a negative person. I look up at the clock. 5pm. One more hour. One more long fucking hour. I have to get home. I’m tired and I have to do homework. By homework, I mean read. My eyes bolt up to meet with Oliver’s. I waltz over to him.

“How do you spell your phone number?” I breathe.
“That’s adorable. Let me see your phone,” He says.

I hand him my phone and he starts typing his number in. He snaps a quick selfie, I’m assuming to set it as the contact picture. His fingers glide across the screen. A little ding comes from his pocket. He hands my phone back to me.

“I found a cute selfie you took and sent it to myself,” He comments.
“Oh….okay,” I say a bit shyly.
“Why are you so shy about this Josh?” The words roll off of Oliver’s tongue.
“I haven’t had a date in like 1 year. No crushes. No one night stands…nothing,” I answer honestly, my cheeks dims red from embarrassed.
“Oh…” Oli says, “I’ll take good care of you, that’s for sure.”
“Thanks,” I say with a small smile creeping on my lips. I feel a bit more confident about our date now.

Oli smiles and walks to the register. The hour passed and I clocked out. Oli did too. I made everything was up to par before I grabbed my bag.

“You riding the bus home?” Oli asks.
“Yeah. It’s my only way around unless someone offers a ride, which is usually Lee but,” I reply with.
“I’m riding the bus too,” He states.

I just nod as we make our way to nearest bus stop. The bus arrived at the stop a few minutes later after us. I got on, showing him my pass. Oliver got on after me, showing his pass as well. I sat down where I sat this morning. I yawned quietly and Oli sat down next to me. I wanted to rest my head on his shoulder, but then, I realized he had no idea where the hell my stop was so he couldn’t wake me up to get me off the bus. I take out my phone and saw a text from Max.

Mate, we have to cancel band practice tomorrow and Friday. We are spend Chris’ birthday tomorrow since he’s going to be out with his boyfriend all Friday.

I just shook my head this wasn’t any new news to me. I pressed reply.

That’s fine with me. I have a date Friday anyways…

I glanced at Oli who was looking at my screen. I flushed a bit dark, looking down. Oli was smiling. I looked at him. He leaned back into his seat and closed his eyes. The bus stopped what felt like a million times. It finally stopped at my spot. I shook Oli’s knee.

“See you tomorrow,” I sort of whispered in his ear.
“Bye Josh,” he says.

I get up and get off the bus. I watch the bus pull away. I started towards home. “Another dark walk home,” I mumble. I sigh quietly. I know this route like the back of my hand. I finally get to my house after a bit. I open the door and walk in. The house smelled of pasta and chicken. I raised an eyebrow as I put my bag down by the steps and slid off my shoes and jacket. I walked into the kitchen. My mum was cooking food, sober. I smiled a bit.

“Hi mum,” I say.
“Oh, Joshy! I didn’t even here you come in,” She says in a happy tone of voice.
“Are you happy?” I ask her.
“I am. Some feller at work today asked to go to dinner Friday,” She replies.
My face fell slightly, “ Oh…how nice.” My date wasn’t important to me anymore.
She turns around to look at me, her face falling when she sees mine, “Joshua, listen, your father as been gone for quite some time now. You have to let mummy move on okay?”
“It’s only been three years!” I argue back.
“Joshua…please try to be happy for me,” She begs.
“But…mum,” I say trying to not sound like I admit defeat.
“Joshy, I will always love your dad,” She says knowing that will make me admit defeat.
“Okay mum,” I say, “I have a lunch date Friday.”
“That’s great,” She says with a smile.

She kissed my cheek as she turns her direction back to the cooking. I grab two plates and eatery and set the table. I sit down as my mom comes in with the food.

“Chicken Alfredo. Found it on some American cooking website,” She says smiling.
“Sounds delicious. Thanks mum,” I say.

She puts some food on my plate then some on hers. She takes my hand and smiles. We close our eyes. She whispers her grace. This is something we did with my father. It was the only thing that made him feel close to his parents. We dropped each other’s hand, picked up our forks, and started to eat. I just smile. I felt like I had a mom, who apparently can cook really good American food. We sort of ate in comfortable silence. I had one day of work and reading ahead of me. Friday was going to happen, uni and work, then a date with Oli. It seems so close but so far away.

“Joshua? Why are you smiling?” Mum asks me.
“No reason. I’m just happy about my date, I guess,” I mutter my reply.
“Well, good, I am glad you are happy,” She says, “I love you Joshy.”
“I love you too, mum,” I say back to her, “The food is amazing. You should cook more off of that American website.”
“Alright, I will baby,” She says with a big smile on her face.

We finished eating. I cleared the table, loading everything into the dishwater, putting in the cleaner, and started the dishwasher. I walked into the living room and grabbed my backpack before sitting down on the couch. I grabbed my Writing Skills class book and opened the chapter I was on. I think I had to read at least one chapter but I’m going to read two.

“Joshua, Sunday, we’re going back to church,” My mum states as she walks to the steps.
“But…” I started before mum cut me off.
“No buts, we are going,” She interjects.
“Fine…” I mutter as I start reading the chapters I need to.

After reading the chapter I felt exhausted. I made my way up to my room. I threw off my shirt and socks. I took off my jeans. I grabbed my phone out of my jeans’ pocket. I looked at it, a text from Oli.

Hey, ummm…take the rest of Friday off, If you can…We can do lunch and I can take you to my favorite place to think…and write

I shook my head with a small smile and put the charger plug in the charger hole for the phone, which I placed on my bedside table. I slip away to the bathroom to take a quick shower. I soon return to my bedroom, my towel hugging my hips. I slide on my boxers then I walked downstairs and grabbed my bag. I went upstairs, placing my bag by the door, getting my laptop and the plug out. I plug it in. I lie down in bed. I type up in Netflix and pick a random movie to watch. Okay, that’s a lie. It’s my favorite movie. I used to watch it all the time but then I got into Uni and the band and I’ve been slacking on it. I watched it slowly drifting off.

*_FRIDAY_*
Waking up, doing my normal morning routine. 5:30 blinking on my alarm clock after I get done. I wake up early. I walk downstairs and starts breakfast. I eat a little as I cook other things. I just felt really hungry. I finish cooking finally and start eating the food. I walk upstairs, getting my bag together and my phone. I look at the time on my phone. 6:15. My eyes widen and I walk out the door quickly. I hustle to the bus stop. I look at the time 6:20. Oh God, let’s hope the bus hasn’t come yet. A few minutes go by and the bus pulls up. I smile and get on the bus. I sit down in my usual spot. I plug my headphones into my phone and sent Oli a text.

Hey…I..um…hi.

I I heard a sound of a phone buzzing, after I pressed send. I looked up in the direction of the buzzing and saw Oli on the bus. His eyes were already on me. I smiled and looked back at my phone. My phone buzzed a couple seconds later. Oli.

It’s too early to deal with your cuteness.

I felt my cheeks darken as I hit reply.

I’m cute? Ew since when?

I hit send and waited a minute and a half.

You’ve always been cute. Ever since the first time I saw you on the bus, you caught my eye.

I felt my cheeks darken even more. I was so flustered. I hit reply.

I…am so red….thanks. I just…..meep

I hit send and look over at Oli, seeing him move to sit down next to me. Huh, Max must have not woken up for the bus today. I slide my hand into Oli’s, hoping he doesn’t mind. In fact, he intertwines our fingers together. I get small butterflies. I question these butterflies; they could not be from Oli. I haven’t even had a first date with him. I keep my eyes low till we get to school finally. Oli and I walk off the bus, still hand in hand. I had one class today. That was Music Theory. It was going to be a breeze. I hope that Ms Williams got her voice back, or she’s well enough to talk today. I let go of Oli’s hand and he looked at me with a pout.

“I have to go to Music Theory,” I say to him.
“Fine,” Oli says.
“I’ll see you at work. “
“Bye.”

I walk to my Music Theory class and sit down in my usual spot.

“Hi Josh,” Miss Williams croaks.
“Ms. Williams you probably shouldn’t talk till you are better,” I reply.
“Teaching is hard without talking. I feel like you guys don’t learn anything.” Her voiced faded away as see said ‘anything’. I knew her voice was gone.

Class starts and all the bums roll in 10 minutes late like everything Friday morning. Ms Williams did exactly what she did yesterday. Silence filled the room. I took out my laptop and started typing the notes that she had on her power point slide. Once I was done I started right away with the pictures. They were short sweet paragraphs, one for each picture. We had to do 10 pictures. I turned mine in before most people. I guess Philosophical Josh got left at home. It was payday Friday so I guess I was excited about getting my paycheck. I went back to my seat. I put my stuff back into my bag and asked Ms. Williams if I could leave and she nodded yes. I walked out of the building and walked to the shop. I didn’t want to take the bus. I eventually got to the record store. I clocked in. I put my stuff in my “locker” and I checked the CDs and organized them. I yawned quietly.

“Joshua?” Mr. Sykes ask.
“Yes sir?” I say walking to his office.
“I’m leaving for a quick meeting with the record company. I need you to watch the store. Here’s your paycheck,” Mr. Sykes says and hands me the envelope.
“Okay…thank you,” I say quietly.
“If Oli comes in, tell him where I am,” Mr. Sykes says and slides on his nice sports coat.
“Yes sir,”
“Josh…?”
“Yes?”
“Have fun on your date.”
My cheeks deepens slightly, “I will try.”

He laughs slightly and leaves his office and out the door. I peek my head out and see him leave. I slide into the little recording booth in the back. I look around and arch my eyebrow. I slid out and walked to the front of the store where I saw someone looking at the stuff. I walked over to them.

“Can I help you?” I ask.
“Nah, I’m fine. Just waiting for Oliver to get here,” he says.
A bit of jealousy filled me, “He should be here soon I suppose.”
“Are you Josh?” He asks.
“Yeah…and you are?” I responded.
“Jordan, Jordan Fish,” Jordan answers.

Jordan went and looked at something else. I slid behind the counter. I leaned against the counter as my eyes closed slightly. I opened them back up after a minute and saw Jordan at the counter with a pile of stuff.

“Alright mate. I’m ready,” He says.
“Okay,” I say as I start scanning his items, “You’re getting a lot of band supplies.”
“Yeah, I’m the newbie in the band so,” He says, “just getting my equipment.”
“Oh…for which band?”
“Oliver’s”
“Oh.”
“Yeah…”
“50 quid.”
Jordan hands me the money and I give him his change and receipt.
“Have a wonderful day,” I say with a smile.
“Do you have to do that….?” Jordan starts.
“JORDAN!!!!” Oliver says as he bounces in and hugs his band member.
“Hey,” Jordan says as he hugs him back.

Name: Jordan Fish
Business: Student at Uni of London, keyboard player for Oliver’s band
Age: 20
Relationship: Single

Oli lets go of Jordan and hugs me tightly, he mumbled in my ear, “Hey dear.” He snuck a quick kiss on my cheek. I blushed a bit.
“Hi Oliver,” I say quietly and shyly.
“What’s up Jordan?” Oli asks.
“Just…wanted to know if you wanted to hang for lunch…” Jordan asks.
“I actually have plans man. We can do something, tomorrow.” Oli says.
“Sure!” Jordan says as he leaves.

I watch Jordan leaves, “I think…he likes you.”
“I think he’s kissing my ass,” Oli says with a laugh.
“He’s like a lost puppy,” I mumble.

Oli laughs again and gets behind the counter. I watch him then I walk into the back to see if anything needed to be unloaded, nothing, as always. I get back out the front and we had a swarm of teenagers looking at CDs and stuff. I looked over at Oli and pranced my way to him. I saw him looking at me as I did. I lean on the counter.

“What is with the teenager swarm?” I ask.
“I put flyers all around town about…” Oli starts before he gets cut off.

One of the teenagers asked me where a CD was located and I took her to it. She just smiled flirty like. I get a bit uncomfortable. I look up to see Oli working the cash register and the queue getting longer one person at a time. I looked at the flyer that was on the floor. I read it to myself. It was just about a 15% off this band’s CD. I help out the other kids and get the last few CDs from the back. I help Oli, using the other cash register. We got through the queue quicker that way. Finally the last person left and it was about lunchtime.

“Your dad is at a meeting,” I say as I lean against the counter.
“At the recording studio?” Oli asks.
“Yeah…why did you put those flyers?” I question.
“Well, I noticed we a huge supply of those CDs so I thought we could get them out of here quicker if we just put them on sale,” Oliver answers honestly.
“That’s really responsible and smart,” I mumble.
“Do you want to get out of here and like go get lunch now?”
“Hmm…. let’s wait to noon. It’s like 11:45.”
“Okay, love.”

I look at him with a small grin on my face. He smiles back at me and put his hand on mine. I blush slightly as I look at him. He pulls me close and tosses his arms around my waist. I laugh slightly as he brings me closer. I think I’m starting to like this boy. Oh shit, I don’t want to like this boy. I know he’s going to hurt…I HAVEN’T EVEN HAD ONE DATE WITH HIM YET! I look down at my hands, that weren’t even doing something interesting.

“Josh?” Oli’s sweet voice speaks as he tilts my head up.
“Yes?” I say in answering way.
“Are you alright?” He asks.
“Yeah, I’m just thinking too much,” I answer honestly.
“Don’t think too much. It leads you down a path you don’t want to go down, EVER. Trust me, I’ve been there. I’m still trying to come back from it, but I think I’ve found the light,” He says.
Shit, I knew he was talking about me, “I-I-I’ll try not to go down that path,” I mumble.

I checked my phone and it said 12:00. I looked at Oli and smiled.

“Shall we go?” I ask.
“Yes sir,” He mumbles his answer.

He walks to the door, flipping the sign to ‘Close’. I locked up the register. I walked to the door. We exited the building and Oli locked it up. He pulled down the gate and locked it. He took my hand. I intertwined our fingers together. He ran his thumb over my finger; it was comforting. He mostly lead and I followed. I had no idea where the hell we were going. He took me to Wagamamas. We both ordered our food to go. He held the bag with our food in his free hand, since our hands were intertwined together. He would squeeze my hand and I would squeeze back, so he’d know I was still with him. We got to this big empty field, dying grass. I stared in awe. It was beautiful. He sat down on the ground and I sat down next to him.

“It’s gorgeous here,” I mumble.
“This is where I spend my free time, thinking, writing. It all happens here. There is a crook over there,” He answers and points to the left side of him.
“I love it here. I can see why you come. It’s so peaceful. It’s far from the city so we don’t hear anything. It’s perfect,” I breathed.
“It really is,” Oli mumbles.

We sat there and ate our lunches slowly. It was a bit uncomfortable, silence wise, but it was comfortable. I finished my food before Oli. I looked over at Oli; he was scribbling in a notebook, occasionally shoving food into his mouth. I spread myself out on the cool ground. My head was propped slightly against Oli’s leg. I found myself humming some words of a song.

“Kiss and tell, everybody else and you're at your best, when I'm making, making baby steps.” I sung quietly.
Oli looks at me like he wants me to continue, “Is that a song you wrote?”
“Yeah,” I use my singsong voice but I am a bit nervous.
“What’s the story behind that one?” He questions.
“Just, umm, high school, really,” I answer in almost a whisper.
“It’s good, Joshua,” He says.
The weight of the world got lifted off my shoulders, “Cheers.”

I closed my eyes. I could smell Oli’s food still. I could feel his body shift slightly as he shoveled food into his mouth, the smell slowly going away with each bite he took. I found myself drifting off. I slowly tried to open my eyes but they wanted to stay shut. My eyes and I were having a horrible battle, they were winning. I didn’t want to fall asleep on Oli and ruin our date by sleeping. I was so comfortable and felt comfortable with Oli, even though I’ve only known him for two days. I sat up slowly, my eyes were opening as I did.

“Tired?” Oli asks.
“I woke up too damn early for one class and work,” I mumble, “Speaking of, we should really get back to work. Your dad isn’t paying me full time for only half the time work.”
“My dad isn’t paying me at all. In fact we are a joint partnership. I get some of his profit,” Oli answers, “I could always give you some money.”
“No, no, no, I don’t want your money. I want my own money, the money I earn,” I protest.
“Josh, it’s just money…,” He starts.
“Money I earn is important. The bit of pride that I have left in myself goes towards making money by myself,” Way to screw up this date, “I…Whatever different subject please.”
“I….I’m sorry,” Oli whispers.
“It’s fine. We should go back to the shop,” I say.
“Yeah, of course,” Oli says.

We both get up and get our trash. We made the long walk back to the store, Oli and myself humming the whole time. Our hands clasped so tight, our finger intertwined. My childish ways was me swinging our arms back and forth. He didn’t say anything. He just went with it, which made me happy. We get to the store and Oli unlocks it and we go in. I throw away the trash and Oliver flipped the sign to ‘Open’. Almost immediately someone comes into the store with a small child. The child looks so cute. It made me wish I could have a kid, but at last gay wins with the child card. She walks up to the counter where I am. Oli had disappeared in the back.

“Do you know if Mr. Sykes is in?” She asks.
“Um…No I don’t. Sorry,” I shot her an apologetic look, “Can I take a note?”
“Um, tell him Jenna stopped by,” She states.

I get out a piece of paper and write down the note. She takes a pen and writes her number on it for him. She leaves the shop and I see Oli come out of the back room.

“That’s my dad’s new client,” He mumbles.
“Really?” I say half amazed.
“Yeah, she sings amazingly,” Oli muses.
“Oh does she?” I say with a bit of jealousness in my voice.
“Yeah,” Oli says with a confident nod.
“Who was the kid?” I ask.
“Probably her sister or daughter,” Oli says with a shrug.
“I want a kid one day with someone being the surrogate of course. I want this kid to look like me and the one I love,” I say to myself really but loud enough for Oli to here.
“I don’t know how to do tour with a kid. I can’t imagine raising my little girl on the tour bus. I don’t want to be on of those absent dads though,” Oli says, answering my statement.

I just nod. Are we really talking about kids? Like does he want my kids? Maybe I should wait and see. I look over at him with a smile.

“Do you want to go to a concert with me?” I ask.
“Who’s playing,” He asks.
“Drag queens,” I say with a small hopeful smile.
“…..When?” He asks.
“Tomorrow. My friend Dan is going to be in it,” I answer.
“Sure…I should meet you at your house. We’ll take my car,” Oli says.
“Cool,” I mutter.

I take out my phone and text him my address. His phone chimes. I slide my phone back into my pocket. Oli gets behind the counter. I slide out from behind the counter. I walk to a stand and organize a CD rack. Mr. Sykes walks in.

“Pap, there’s a note here for you,” Oli says as he reaches the note towards his father.
“Thank you Olober,” His dad says as he takes the note, “How was the date?”
“It was good.” Oliver says with his face down and his cheeks redden.
“Sorry, I forgot that Josh was here,” Mr Sykes says as he disappears to his office.

I laugh quietly as I walk over to Oliver. I tilt his head up to see kind of red cheeks.

“My dad is embarrassing,” Oli mutters.
“All dads are. I’m sure that mine still would be embarrassing,” I say reassuring him.
“Why isn’t he still embarrassing?” Oliver asks.
“He died three years ago,” I whisper.
Oliver’s face fell and he leaned over the counter and hugged me tightly, “I’m sorry Josh.”
“It’s fine,” I mutter into his shoulder.

Oli let me go and we just kind of looked at each other. A small smile erupted on my lips and his. I got behind the counter and pulled him into a tight hug. He wrapped his tattooed perfect arms around me. I felt safe, for the first time in while. He’s perfect. I am never letting him go. He was strong feeling. He felt like a monster to me. I finally let him go and he let me go. I felt happy and content. I look at him, my eyes locking on his. His eyes must have done the same thing. I press my lips to his, in a soft embrace. He press his lips back to mine. We moved our lips in sync. It felt amazing. Fireworks and butterflies. He started to pull back and I let out a soft quiet whimper when he does. He laughs quietly and looks at me. I open my mouth to say something but a customer walks in. I slide out from behind the counter and walk to them. I sued my artificial greeting and my artificial smile. They completely ignored me.

“Slag…” I mutter under my breath as I walk over to the counter.

Oli was smiling as they walked to counter. I leaned against the counter as Oli checked them out.

“See you later Hannah,” Oli says sweetly.
“Bye Oli,” She says and she turns to walk away.
I felt a little jealously fill up, “Who was that?”
“Just a friend I met at uni and I slept with her like ten times,” Oli says in an almost bragging voice.
“I…thought you were gay?” I say a bit confused.
“I am. Well, like newly gay. We broke up like a few months ago. She ruined women for me,” Oli confesses.
“Oh…,” I say a bit embarrassed.
“How did you find out about like dick?” Oli says bluntly.

“OLIVER!” We hear from his dad’s office.
“SORRY!” Oli apologizes.

“Ummm, Abigail Halliday, the one in our Writing Skills class,” I say, “Like a year and half ago.”
“Dang, you banged her?” Oli asks.
“Yeah, like a lot. That’s the only reason she was interested in me. Apparently, I’m good in the sack,” I mumble.
“Oh well, I can’t wait to find out,” Oli says as he winks.
“I…,” I close my mouth and shake my head as look away from him.

“DAD, CAN WE LEAVE EARLY. EARLY LIKE RIGHT NOW?!” Oli asks.
“YES, GO!” His dad answers.

Oli looked at me as he takes my hand.

“Let’s go back to my secret place with more Wagamamas,” Oli suggests.
“Yes, please. It was so beautiful there,” I answer.

We walk outside and start headed towards Wagamamas. We get food, like a lot of food and head towards the field. I follow Oli as he walk. I just march behind him like a solider. I look at him as we arrive at the field. We walk for about 5 minutes before sitting down. I kind of lay down at first, placing my head in his lap.

“You haven’t had a relationship for a year and a half, but you haven’t had a date for a year?” Oli states with confusion in his voice.
“Well, yeah. I had pointless dates in the half a year. They were all only one dates and some were dates and one night stands,” I answer.
“Sounds like a tough 6 months,” Oli asks.
“It was in some fun ways and tough in other ways,” I state bluntly.
“Wow,” He says with a small laugh.

We exchange a quick kiss and I sat up quickly. We start to eat. I lean against him as I eat. We eat in a comfortable silence. I look at him when I am done. He was chewing his last bite. He swallows his bite. I smile as I close my eyes. I feel his lips press against my cheek and I smile. I feel the weight of his heads on mine. It feels perfect. He put all of our stuff in the bag. I opened my eyes just enough so I can shift myself to lie down. I look at him as he lay down next to me. I moved myself closer to him. I closed my eyes and yawned quietly. I feel one of his arms wrap around me. It feels so nice. This was the best date I have ever had. Dates with Abigail and all those other men, do not compare. I slowly fall asleep into a small slumber.