Constant Headache

Monday came faster than I anticipated. The incident that had happened on Friday night and early Saturday morning was now pushed to the very back burner of my mind. I replaced my thoughts of the brunette that helped me stay alive with homework and studying. I was doing well with focusing on the jumbles of words in my textbooks, but every so often when my mind would get tired of reading it would drift for a few seconds letting the smell of his cologne tickle my brain.

“I have a date tonight, Ry.” Aidan announced as he emerged from his room in a button up flannel and a pair of jeans. His face was clean-shaven, his hair was parted and jelled back, and his cologne was strong enough to hit my senses as soon as he walked into the room. It was a little overbearing, but hopefully whomever he was trying to impress appreciated the effort. Inhaling nervously, he walked over to the other side of the coffee table and opened his arms. “How do I look?”

Ripping my eyes from my textbook, I traced up the dark blue jeans and flannel shirt. When my eyes finally reached his eyes, I gave him a small smile and a nod of approval. “You look like a grade A douche, I’m sure it’ll be great”, I snickered as I watched his eyes widen and his lips part in shock.

“No, stop it!” Aidan said quickly running out of the living room and back into the bathroom. “I look normal! Ryder I’m serious right now, I really like this girl! Do I really-“

“Fuck Aidan, you look great!” I rolled my eyes as I pressed the tip of my pencil into the paper with enough pressure to make the tip break off and fly across the room. When it hit the wall, I felt an amused smile light on my face. Sometimes after hours of studying after hours of schooling and working, it was the little things that could brighten the mood. And for me right now, it was the destruction of my pencil.

After about five minutes, and three more pointed pieces of graphite propelled across the room, Aidan walked back in and snatched his things off the table before sending me a glare and walking over to the front door. “I’ll be home late.” He sent me a wink before swinging the door open and walking out of it, calling back to me that he loved me and would let me know if he wasn’t coming home at all.

Wishing him good luck, I listened as the front door slammed shut and gave me the final signal that I had the apartment to myself for most likely the whole night. Usually when Aidan took dates this seriously, it meant that the girl really did like him. Because of his good lucks, deep voice, and deep blue eyes, he usually got what he wanted on the first date. A good connection, a lot of laughs, and sex.

I didn’t approve of his notion of having sex on the first date, but I gave him a pass for being a great guy in every other aspect of his life.

“Seven already?” I grumbled to myself as I dropped my eyes down from my text book and onto my stomach. The last thing I had eaten was around twelve in the afternoon when everyone at work ordered lunch from the Diner near by. Right after work I headed to school with a large coffee, and since then I endured three classes and two hours of studying without a bite to eat. With so many things to do, I usually ended up starving myself during the day and then eating an unhealthy mound of food around eleven o’clock at night. It was a fucking miracle my metabolism hasn’t slowed down yet, and I was honestly dreading the day it would.

I managed to go through another two pages with my highlighter before a loud grumble echoed from my stomach. Scrunching up my face, I slowly unfolded my body from the ground, doing my best to avoid stretching awkwardly and bothering my ribs, and walked into the kitchen, my eyes set on the cabinet that held the sugary cereal that I usually ate for breakfast. Due to the fact I woke up extra late this Monday morning, I skipped breakfast in order to make it to work on time.

Eating twice as much of it now was simply making up for my lost meals.

Reaching up with my left hand, I pulled the cabinet open and went to reach for the box of cereal when my hand slapped against the bottom of the cabinet. Eyes widening, I took a few steps back and looked up. Peering into the cabinet, I felt my stomach knot and catch fire. The cereal I had constantly kept a close eye on was gone, and there was only one person that could have eaten it.

Without a second thought, I grabbed my phone from my sweatshirt pocket and dialed his number. Within seconds, he answered. “Yeah?”

“You ate my fucking cereal, you asshole!” I screamed, the vein in my forehead pulsing as I listened the boy on the other end laugh at my anger. “It’s not fucking funny. I’m in my goddamn pajamas and now I have to go all the way to the store and-“

“It’s literally two blocks away.”

“I’m in my pajamas, Aidan!” I wanted to reach into the phone and tear his face off.

“I’ll give you the ten dollars back, I have to go, bye sweetness.” He cooed before hanging up on me. As the fire in my stomach grew, I went to call him back when my stomach rumbled in protest and reminded me that there were more important things than fighting over the loss of my cereal.

After letting out an aggravated scream, I walked back into the living room and quickly snatched my wallet and keys from my book bag. Shoving my phone into my wallet, I adjusted the sloppy bun on the top of my head, checked to make sure the make-up was still holding up in it’s job to conceal my black eye, and then slipped into my moccasins and swung the front door open, trying to keep the scowl off of my face as I slammed it shut behind me and headed down stairs.

The second I walked into the cool air of the night, I reached around my body to grab my cigarettes. When I patted my hand down against my yoga pants, I felt a wave of heat rush over me. “I’m going to murder this kid.” I whispered to myself as I continued walking down the street, my eyes wild with anger as I crossed my arms against my chest and gritted my teeth. It wasn’t the walk that bothered me or the fact that I had to go to the store to get the cereal, it was the fact that Aidan didn’t tell me he ate all of my cereal on me. If he would have just told me before hand, I would have stopped on the way home from school, instead of getting super comfortable at home only to be thrust back into the real world in my pajamas and without my cigarettes.

Besides my overbearing need for a cigarette, the walk to the store was comforting. A light breeze rustled the crumpled papers that lined the busy streets. The slight chill in the air kept the annoying urge to sweat at bay, and the slight overcast skies were a nice alternative to the usual blinding sunlight.

With the feeling of the fall running up and down my spine, I walked through the parking lot of the local grocery store and paused for a moment as I reached the front door. After a quick check to make sure I had my debit card in my wallet, I walked under the censor and watched as the large doors slid open letting a gust of warm air hit my face.

Not bothering to grab one of the hand-held baskets, I made my way down the first aisle I saw and then slowly started to walk down the back of the store. Normally I drove out a little further and went to the huge supermarket on the high way to do all of our shopping, so I had the slightest idea where anything was.

Eyes focused on the large signs hanging over each aisle, I sucked in a deep breath, ignoring the small jolt of pain running through my stomach. As I read them off in my head, I watched as aisle seven came into view, and the first thing on the long list was cereal.

Smile on my face, I went to turn into an aisle when my body collided with another. At first I thought that I had walked into a display that was bolted into the floor because as I hit whatever was in front of me, my body instantly bounced off of it and flew back onto the floor, my back colliding with the cold tiles. As I listened to my wallet and cell phone crash against the floor, I grinded my teeth together and slowly opened my eyes to see the florescent lights blaring above.

Groaning, I sat up, gasping from my broken ribs. Eyes opening wider, I went to pick myself up when I noticed someone kneeling down in front of me. As I let the vein in my forehead come back into view, I went to snap at whoever ran into me when my eyes landed on his.

Inhaling sharply, the smell of his cologne filled my head and sent my brain into frenzy. I couldn’t believe out of everyone in the whole goddamn city, I had bumped into him. Why, why the fuck did I have to bump into him?

“I’m sorry, miss.” I felt my eyes widen as his cheeks tinted pink and he quickly stood up and offered me his hand. “I didn’t see you there.” He continued, rubbing the back of his neck. As he lifted his arm, my eyes drifted to the large tattoo that was on view.

I wanted to speak, but all I could do was stare at him, right into his big eyes and shake my head a little. He didn’t recognize me. Or maybe I was losing it. Maybe I had really never met him; maybe I just hit my head into the pavement so many times that I hallucinated him there the whole time. Maybe it just looked like him, maybe I was just crazy. That had to be it. I was just crazy.

“Yeah, sure.” I breathed as I glanced over at my wallet and cell phone lying face down on the floor. Huffing, I went to grab my cell phone when I watched the boy quickly snatch up my wallet and right as I went to pull my cell phone in with my bad hand, so I could peel it off the floor with my good one, I watched as his large hand landed right on mine.

As soon as he touched the gauze that held my fingers together, it was like every memory from that night rushed him at once. A horrible silence followed by an even worse wave of tension crashed over us as he grabbed my cell phone and stood straight up, staring at me like I was a ghost.

“Ryder?” His voice was soft as his eyes barreled into mine. “You-“

“I’m alive, surprising, right?” I rolled my eyes.

“Yeah… Well no, I… I just-“

“The last time you saw me I was covered in blood.” I stated shrugging a little. “It’s amazing what a bath and some make-up can do, huh?”

“How’s your-“

“Don’t ask if you don’t care.” I stated and watched as his eyebrows lowered a little and his eyes brightened. Just as I was about to turn away from him to go find the almond milk, I heard him chuckle.

“Glad to know you haven’t lost your sparkling personality.” He hummed and then turned away from me and headed back up the cereal aisle.

Without thinking, I turned down the aisle after him and carefully followed him until I found the section they had of Captain Crunch cereal flavors. As I stopped and turned to face the shelves, I started to chew on the inside of my cheek as I remembered what I wanted to say to the man, what I wanted to tell him if by some strange act of God I ever ran into him again.

Clenching my jaw, I grabbed two boxes of Captain Crunch and then turned to the man that was standing a few feet down from me, his eyes examining the ingredients on the side of the Cheerios Protein box. Swallowing hard, I furrowed my eyebrows and inhaled. “Hey, thanks.”

The brunette slowly lifted his head up and turned to me, his eyes wide as they landed on mine. After a moment, a small smile surfaced on his lips when he noticed just how awkward I looked. I guess he realized that thank you’s were extremely out of character for me. “I… I probably would have died if you didn’t help me out.” I started to feel stupid as he kept staring at me with the same dumbfound expression. “I said if I ever saw you again I would say thanks, and I did.” His face didn’t change. “So that’s that, I’m going to go buy some milk, alright have a nice life.” My cheeks were a deep red as I sent the man a small wave and then rushed out of the aisle, hugging my two boxes of cereal against my chest as I felt my heart beat accelerate.

That was so stupid, so fucking stupid. Why the fuck did I keep talking? How did I suddenly get word vomit because that stupid fuck and his huge eyes were staring at me. Why was I nervous? Nervous for what? So what if he had a few tattoos and the bodily structure of a greek god. So what if he was a solid piece of muscle with tender eyes, a cute smile, and the best smelling cologne on the face of the planet?

I wanted to scream as I felt more and more blood accumulate under my cheeks as my thoughts progressed.

“What a fuc-“ My angry mumbling was cut short.

“Ryder, hey, wait up.” I wanted to drop dead against the floor as I paused and turned a little to see the man jog over to me, a few strands of hair falling to the side of his face as he stopped in front of me, a box of cereal under one arm and a pack of protein shakes under the other. “Do you want to grab dinner together?”

“I have to study for school.”

“School?” He questioned, his eyebrows rose in question.

“Did I stutter?” I snapped. As he smiled at my harsh comeback, I felt my mind enter a new state of confused chaos. “I have things to study and cereal to eat.” I held up a box and shook it in his face. As he laughed and pushed the box to the side, he nodded.

“I like Captain Crunch.”

“I eat it with Almond Milk.” I stated, hoping that he would be against that idea and try to reschedule this for another time, which I could easily blow off.

“Vanilla? I love Vanilla Almond Milk.” His eyes sparkled in the hospital-esque lights hanging from the ceiling.

You’ve got to be shitting me. I internally groaned.

“I’m going to watch old shitty Disney movies in the background.” I eyed him as he made a face and nodded a little.

“I’ll judge pretty harshly if Mulan is considered shitty to you.” My heart fluttered. That was my all-time favorite Disney movie.

“What the fuck is your deal.” I snapped. “Why do you like Almond Milk and Mulan?” I sounded so stupid, but I didn’t care. I had never met a man that appreciated my snide remarks, childish television choices, and strange eating habits.

Jamie tilted his head and gave me a slight shrug. “A guy can’t like Mulan?”

I was aggravated, and by the little smirk playing on his lips, he knew it.

“I have to study.”

“Maybe I can help?”

“I’m a Biomedical Engineering major, I doubt you can help.” I rolled my eyes and then looked back at him to see the most shocked and pleasantly surprised look I had ever witnessed on a man’s face. It made me feel good that he was so impressed with that, but I quickly tried to focus on something else. “I need to get milk and cigarettes, can-“

“I’m guessing dinner is a no?” A hint of sadness appeared in his large eyes, and the second I caught onto it, I felt guilty again, the kind of guilt that this man somehow managed to pull out of me. I didn’t know how or why he made me act so strange, but he did and I fucking hated it.

Shaking my head, I walked a few feet over to the fridge that held all of the cartons of milk and grabbed two Vanilla Almond Milks and piled them into my arm. As I walked back over to Jamie, I went to speak but silenced myself as he grabbed the two cartons and sent me a warm smile. As soon as he made a comment about keeping my hand from getting crushed, I dropped my eyes down to my moccasins and sighed in defeat.

“We’re having Captain Crunch for dinner, end of story.” I stated and watched as Jamie sent me a huge smile.

“Whatever you say, Chef.” He commented making a small smile appear on my lips as I followed him up the nearest aisle and back to the front of the store. As he walked me over to the front desk to get a pack of cigarettes, I went to order them when he turned to me and lifted his eyebrows. “What kind?”

My mouth hung open as he stared at me. The way he lifted his eyebrows in question forced me to believe that he didn’t even realize how nice he was. No one would do that for someone. No one would just order someone else cigarettes like it was nothing. No one would like Mulan or be okay with Captain Crunch for dinner.

It just wasn’t possible.

Mumbling Newport Lights, I watched as he nodded and then turned to the man and nonchalantly asked for two packs of Newport Lights and a lighter. When the boy behind the counter grabbed them and handed them to the brunette, he offered to ring up our stuff there.

Shrugging, Jamie set the four things down in his arms and then picked the two boxes of cereal out of my arms and set them down on the counter. Shaking my head, I quickly fumbled with my wallet to get it open. Once I did, I went to hand the boy my credit card when I watched Jamie’s hand whip out a fifty and then hand it to the boy with a smile, not once looking over at me. He didn’t even give me the ‘well you should pay’ look. He just paid without missing a single beat, without taking a single second to think about what was going on. It was like he just paid for people’s food and bought them cigarettes every day of his life.

I was numb from confusion as he grabbed the two bags they had shoved everything in and then sent me a warm smile. Opening the one bag, he handed me the brand new pack of cigarettes and lighter.

Taking them out of his large warm hand, I pounded the box against the palm of my hand as I quietly followed him out of the store and back into the chilly air. “So-“

“I live two blocks that way”, I jerked my thumb in the direction of my apartment as I peeled the plastic off of the box and shoved it into the pocket on my sweatshirt. “I walked so-“

“So I’ll give you a ride.”

“I don’t want to smoke in your car.” I said quickly shaking my head. “That’s disgusting, I would never do that to someone.” Jamie laughed at this.

“Coming from the girl who knocked some man’s teeth out?” He was amused, and I liked the way the emotion played out on his face. “Come on, just keep it out of the window, I’m hungry.” He pouted.

“I’ll just wait until we get there.” I announced and quietly walked the rest of the way to Jamies’ car and stopped at the passenger’s side door. Placing my hand on the handle, I let the memories of that night where I first met him rush through my head. I thought about the way he saw me cry, the way he heard me scream, and the horrible condition he saw me in. It was no wonder why he didn’t recognize me at first.

Once we were both in the car and Jamie had placed the two bags in the back seat, he shoved the key into the ignition and turned the car on. As the engine revved and the car started to head in the direction of the exit, I pressed myself into the chair and took a deep inhale, letting the smell of his cologne fill my head as the car made a right turn and headed down the street toward my building.

“You shouldn’t be wasting your time with me”, I whispered as I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. I pointed to the large apartment building on the left and then dropped my eyes to my fingers. “You’re too good of a person to be associated with a scumbag like myself.” I shrugged a little as Jamie pulled up along the curb on the opposite side of the street and killed the engine.

“You are kind of a scumbag, but I really like Captain Crunch.” Jamie sent me a smile as he turned around in the seat, grabbed the bags, and then quickly got out of the car just before another whizzed by. Rounding the SUV, he walked up to my door, pulled it open, and then moved the bags to one hand.

Grabbing my good hand, he helped me out of the car and then slammed the door shut behind me. Walking around the front of the car, we checked for cars and then quickly made it across the strip of asphalt and over to the front door. As I punched in the code, Jamie grabbed the door and let me walk through it.

Walking in, I mumbled a thank you and then headed over to the elevator and hit the up arrow. Watching the numbers start to drop down from seven, I glanced over at the taller brunette standing next to me and listened as my heart skipped a beat in my chest as he looked over at me and sent me a playful eye roll and then a wink followed by a bright smile.

I couldn’t help but let a little part of me fall for him.