Status: DISCONTINUED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE
Master of Sardonic Wit
3.
January 12 1994
Still surprised on how quick Christmas and New Year had passed, James immensly enjoyed the videos Kayleigh had bought him. Mark kept saying his present would be better but being two weeks in the new year already, James often joked that Mark was a bad giftgiver and wondered if he was on time with other things.
Kayleigh was as happy as she could be with the two teddybears she had received, one from Mark and James (who told Mark to buy one for him). She was often found with them whenever she came over to the hospital to visit James, claiming she didn't want to leave them alone.
On the other side, James' recovery was surely progressing and he was ready to finally leave the hospital. He still walked with a cane, limping from time to time but only when he had done something that required a great effort and he had forgotten to stretch or anything like that but otherwise the man was alright.
Or at least, well enough to get out of there for that matter. Kayleigh was now busy packing up all the clothes Mark had brought James and returned the books to the library. James kept protesting against the girl packing but he had lost the fight when she had simply glared at him.
Mark safely kept his mouth shut during the small verbal fights between James and Kayleigh, often joking afterwards that they fought like an old married couple, always receiving a glare from the girl in response to that. Which was enough to shut him up again.
“Are you sure everything is alright at the apartment?” Kayleigh asked again, making James (who was just buttoning up his shirt) and Mark roll their eyes. The girl had asked the same question for the last hour and it was slowly starting to annoy the two men. Noticing the reactions, Kayleigh chuckled a little and rubbed the back of her neck uncomfortable.
“Everything is alright, now hurry up packing, the guy is waiting for us to arrive there so he's sure that we're not backing out,” Mark said, tapping his foot on the floor impatiently. Kayleigh nodded in a hurry and quickly closed the bag after packing the last shirt.
Handing James his coat, Mark grabbed the bag from the bed before Kayleigh could and swung it over his shoulder. This of course got him a small glare from the girl before she realized that it would be better if she helped James instead of struggling to carry the bag. Swinging his cane around a little and then resting it on his shoulder so it was pointed up to the ceiling, James smirked and walked out of the room behind Kayleigh and James, closing the door behind him with his free hand.
The doctor had come by to check in on him earlier, not forgetting to wish him luck before signing the release papers and telling him to come in for a regular check up every year just in case. Mark patted James on the shoulder before winking at his brother and walking down the hallway with Kayleigh and James following suit.
“James? You alright?” Kayleigh asked worried as the man halted just after walking outside. Kayleigh placed her hand on his lower back, causing him to jump up slightly before letting out a deep sigh.
“Don't scare me like that,” James muttered before shooting Kayleigh an assuring smile.
“It's alright to be jumpy you know,” Kayleigh assured him but James didn't say anything back. Instead, he walked to the car where Mark was waiting for them and got in. Kayleigh watched him and sighed, shaking her head slightly and pursing her lips together before running towards the car herself.
The trip towards the appartment itself was calm, the radio in the car was softly playing and Mark kept his eyes on the road while Kayleigh and James whispered some things to each other before giggling slightly, looking like two school girls gossiping about the latest fashion in Mark's eyes, the thought alone made him smile and shake his head slightly. When they finally arrived there, James was helped out of the car by Kayleigh even though he protested against it, the girl still locked arms with him to be certain.
“I'm taking the stairs,” James said, looking at the flight of stairs next to the elevator for which they were waiting. Kayleigh and Mark looked at him like he was crazy and wondered if he was joking or not until they saw him move towards the stairs. Kayleigh quickly moved and stopped him, standing in front of him and raising an eyebrow at him while tapping her foot slightly on the floor.
“What?” James asked, looking as innocent as he could while neither of the two others believed it.
“The doctor said that you should take it easy, taking the stairs to the penthouse up there doesn't count as taking it easy so you beter get in that elevator before I hurt you myself,” Kayleigh threatened, pointing at James who held up his hands, one holding his cane and one safely in front of his body to protect him against Kayleigh's glare.
“Don't get your panties in a bunch darling,” James muttered before realizing that it would be better if he didn't cross the girl right now and limped slowly towards the elevator, forgettign that he was holding a cane. Mark pursed his lips together and cleared his throat, looking down and not making eye contact with his brother and letting him see that he found this whole situation rather humorous.
“Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned,” Mark muttered slightly, feeling that the line would fit the mood but probably not the situation, James eyed him with a frown on his face before mumbling some incoherent words under his breath.
February 7 1994
Panting slightly, James opened the door with the key and entered the appartment, glad to be back before he chose to fall down on the couch in the wide living room and try to catch his breath. Hearing some noise in the kitchen, he smiled a little to himself and lifted his tired body from the couch before stumbling towards the kitchen.
“James? Have you seen the eggs?” Kayleigh's muffled voice came as she had burried her head in the fridge in search for the eggs.
“No, give me a bottle of water will you?” he said, sitting down at the kitchen table and grabbing the bottle Kayleigh gave him without looking away from the contents of the fridge.
“Have you looked in the cupboard above the fridge?” James asked after taking a long sip from his water and sighing in relief as the cool water refreshed him.
“...Not yet,” Kayleigh muttered, standing up and closing the fridge before reaching for the cupboard above it and grinning when she found the eggs. Mumbling a soft 'thanks' under her breath, the girl went back to the counter and added the necessary amount of eggs to whatever she was preparing.
“What are you making?” James inquired, looking at Kayleigh's back.
“Cake, now you need a shower mister,” Kayleigh alerted him, looking over her shoulder at him before pointing at his forehead where sweat was slightly visible, he chuckled and then walked over her before planting a kiss on her cheek and moving out of the kitchen towards one of the two bathrooms of the appartment.
After seeing that the appartment was big enough for at least two people, James proposed that Kayleigh came to live with him, the girl had accepted the offer, makig it clear that in the mean time she would look for her own appartment and a good paying job. James waved it all off, telling the girl she could stay as long as she wanted.
None of them had a job right now, except Mark, who came to visit as often as he could between writing his new book of course. James checked his bank account every day and realized that he still had plenty of money left from before he fell in a coma so he was assured for the next few months for sure. One of the three bedrooms was now transformed into a small recording studio, on James' will as he liked messing around with noises and trying to find a new sound. Anything that kept him busy.
Kayleigh often noted that he was a good singer and that he should try singing on some of his synthesized tracks but James kept refusing, not really believing the girl when she said he could sing. His voice was too heavy for that, yet sometimes it could turn out lighter, he didn't really know where to place his voice but it certainly wasn't in the category of 'singing' in his opinion.
Still, the girl insisted that he would try it from time to time, for now, James still hasn't tried it, angering Kayleigh slightly as she kept telling him to do so. Whenever she joined him in the studio, he noticed that she would try to give him hints to make him sing by saying things like 'some vocals would really sound good here,' or something among those lines before James would just sigh and shake his head.
The only place where he sang, in a certain amount even, was in the shower, which was where Kayleigh had first heard him sing and started pestering him about it. He rolled his eyes slightly and let the water of the shower run while humming a song under his breath.
“It's...Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious,” James muttered under his breath with a smirk before stepping under the water, “even though the sound of it is something quite atrocious,” he started to sing slightly, enjoying the cool water running over his worn out body.
“Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!”
It wasn't a long shower, James wasn't one to stand under the water for almost half an hour until his fingers started to slightly wrinkle before getting out and spending another half hour trying to dry his hair or anything. He quickly washed his hair, washed his body and got out again, wrapping the towel around his waist before walking through the empty hall towards the bedroom he occupied in the appartment.
Looking in the mirror hanging on his wall just above his dresser, James' hazel eyes stared back at him and for a brief second, a smirk played on his lips before he went through the dresser and disappeared in the small walk-in closet.
Deciding that he probably wouldn't go outside again anyway (unless Kayleigh had a good reason of sending him outside) James chose to wear a loose shirt, not knowing where it came from or how it even end up in his closet. It was too big for him anyway. Not that he minded, it made him feel comfortable so he wore it whenever he felt like it. Some skinny jeans would do the trick on making him seem thinner then.
“I want the left-overs!” James yelled from his room as he pulled the shirt over his head. While putting a simple black leather belt through and making sure it fitted good around his waist, James walked out of the room and made his way towards the kitchen. Kayleigh was clearly still working on the cake and stood safely before the bowl, trying to keep it away from James' prying hands.
“I thought I told you to stay out of the kitchen when I'm working,” Kayleigh complained when James suddenly stood behind her, his wet hair still dripping in his neck. Because of his height, he was easily towering over her and trying to grab the bowl so he could taste from whatever was in it even though Kayleigh protested against it.
“Aaw, come on! Let me have a taste,” James whined, trying to wrap his arms around Kayleight and still try to get the bowl in his hands at the same time. Kayleigh sighed and shook her head, smiling a little while looking up and wondering how she got in this situation at the first place.
“Don't you have some playing to do on your old-fashioned Atari?” the young girl asked annoyed, pouting a little and still protecting the bowl with her body. James sighed and gave up the fight, crossing his arms in front of his chest and sitting down at the kitchen table.
“You're no fun,” he muttered under his breath, making Kayleigh smirk a little and look at him, clearly enjoying the fact that she had won the fight.
February 14 1994
“And still I don't get what's so special about today,” James said under his breath as Kayleigh dragged him through several different flower shops and giftshops, searching for a gift, yet she refused to reveal who she was buying it for. So James kept pestering her about it with a smirk, letting her know that he didn't really care about it yet didn't want to stop teasing her since it amused the hell out of him.
“It's a special day okay? Especially for those in love, it's like, international love day or something,” Kayleigh explained again, rolling her eyes and looking through the different little gifts in the shop.
“Yeah, that's what I'm not understanding about it all, why would you celebrate this day? I mean, we're both two losers that have no dating life and yet you insist we spend money on gifts, how does that work out?”
“You're hopeless,” Kayleigh sighed, shaking her head and ignoring him as he threw his arms in the air and kept rambling about the same thing over and over again. She had a small smile on her lips while her eyes lingered on a certain teddybear sitting between several others.
“I'm not buying it for you,” James noted, pouting and looking away from Kayleigh's big eyes pleading at him.
“Please,” Kayleigh whined, looking at him and trying to look as innocent as possible as she pushed out her arms before her and showing James the teddy in her hands.
“Oh hell no,” James said, refusing to even look at the teddybear held in front of him. Kayleigh sighed and looked down, letting her arms hang in front of her, still holding the teddy loosely between her hands. Faking a sniff, James looked at her with a raised eyebrow, wondering if she was trying to pull something or if she was really crying.
“Alright, fine, I'll buy you the damn teddy,” James sighed, making Kayleigh look up with a huge grin on her lips before she swung her arms around his neck and gave his cheek a kiss. James shook his head and started to ask himself why he had fallen for the most used trick known to man kind and followed a half-dancing Kayleigh to the front of the store, already getting out his wallet.
“Aaw, you must be the first man to buy his girlfriend a teddy today,” the young girl at the counter looked at the both of them with a loving smile, “you two are so cute together, how long have you been dating?”
“We're not dating...” James said quickly, coincidentally in unison with Kayleigh and freaking out the girl with their answer.
“Oh I'm sorry,” the girl quickly looked away to hide her blush at her misconception and quickly said the price of the teddy. James shook it away with a chuckle before taking the teddybear back from the girl and gave it to Kayleigh the moment they walked out of the store, the girl smiled brightly and quickly stood on the top of her toes to reach out and give his cheek a kiss, clutching the teddybear loving against her chest.
“And don't look at me like that, can't I give you a friendly kiss on the cheek anymore?” Kayleigh pouted when James frowned at her.
“That girl thought we were dating...” James started, pointing back to the store and wondering if that was a normal thing or not, after all, he was still a little lost on the things that were normal amongst people since he didn't go out that often, he relied on Kayleigh for that, knowing that she was better at doing groceries anyway since she was in the kitchen the most.
“Is that a bad thing?”
“We aren't are we?” James asked quickly, wondering if he should even be asking this to the girl or not. Kayleigh looked at him and raised both of her eyebrows before chuckling and shaking her head, putting the key in the lock, opening the door to the appartment they were so familiar with.
“We're not, don't mind her alright?” Kayleigh placed her hand on James' shoulder and patting it slightly. Moving towards the part of the appartment where their rooms and the adjointed bathrooms were, James didn't think about following her. Instead, he made his way towards the couch and sat down, thinking about what had happened in the store.
“Stop worrying, seriously,” Kayleigh said, walking back in the room after half an hour, still drying her hair with a light grey towel. James looked over his shoulder at Kayleigh, jumping up slightly and realizing that he had been sitting on the same spot for the past half hour or so. He smiled at her and nodded, letting her know he wasn't worrying but still not convincing her with the small smile gracing his lips.
“Now how about ... french fries for dinner?” Kayleigh smiled, throwing her towel of the couch and leaving leaning on her elbows while placing her head in his hands, looking at James with a smile and hoping he would say yes. After all, she had been craving for some french fries since earlier today.
March 5 1994
“I come in peace with ... noodles, now let me in!”
“How about no?” James said, leaning against the door and obviously enjoying to tease his brother that was standing outside with some bags of groceries, including fresh noodles.
“How about you move your boney ass and let me the hell in?” Mark said back, leaning against the wall with one shoulder while waiting for his brother to open the door so he could put everything away since Kayleigh was in school and James still refused to do groceries for a stupid reason beyond everyone.
“Did you bring the icecream?” James asked sly.
Mark's eyes widened and then quickly went through one of the bags, “well, I brought icecream but now its just starting to look like a puddle.”
“Damn it!” James sighed heavily behind the door and opened it, sticking out his head and looking at Mark with his mouth slightly open, “you were supposed to keep the icecream safe, you know, until it was in the freezer?!”
“Well I can hardly put it in the freezer if your ass is blocking my way to the freezer can I?”
“Oh yeah...”
Mark rolled his eyes slightly and grabbed the bags, walking towards the kitchen in his normal pace and putting the icecream in the freezer before getting out the other groceries. James took the packs of water still standing at the door and carried them towards the usual cupboard, getting the bottles all out of the plastic and putting them away, not forgetting to put several of them in the fridge.
“When are you going to start doing groceries?” Mark asked randomly, putting away the fruit in the scale on the table in the living room.
“When dogs take over the world,” James yelled from the kitchen, his head burried in the fridge, putting away the meat Mark had brought. The older one of the the two brothers sighed and shook his head before walking back into the kitchen.
“In other words, never. What do you got against groceries anyway?”
“Nothing, I just hate doing them,” James shrugged, taking one of the already cold bottles that he had put in the fridge earlier before opening it and taking a sip. Teasing his brother earlier had made him thirsty.
“So, did you think of what you want to do or not? You can't just stay here in the appartment and mess around on your Atari.”
“Me and my Atari work fine together thank you very much,” James said, “besides, I don't want to get a job right now, I got some more money left on my bankaccount.”
“Yeah but seriously, you can't just stay here in that soundproof room of yours, go out more,” Mark rolled his eyes, crossing his arms in front of his chest.
“Maybe.”
“Now,” Mark pulled James away from the table by his wrist and pushed him towards the door, opening it and practically shoving James out of his own appartment.
“And don't come back until you had some fresh air and did something except running around in circles in the park,” Mark noted, smirking at James and then closing the door when the younger man tried to get back into the house.
James sighed, shaking his head before putting his hands deep in the pockets of his tight black jeans and walking towards the elevator. He might as well make best of it.
Still surprised on how quick Christmas and New Year had passed, James immensly enjoyed the videos Kayleigh had bought him. Mark kept saying his present would be better but being two weeks in the new year already, James often joked that Mark was a bad giftgiver and wondered if he was on time with other things.
Kayleigh was as happy as she could be with the two teddybears she had received, one from Mark and James (who told Mark to buy one for him). She was often found with them whenever she came over to the hospital to visit James, claiming she didn't want to leave them alone.
On the other side, James' recovery was surely progressing and he was ready to finally leave the hospital. He still walked with a cane, limping from time to time but only when he had done something that required a great effort and he had forgotten to stretch or anything like that but otherwise the man was alright.
Or at least, well enough to get out of there for that matter. Kayleigh was now busy packing up all the clothes Mark had brought James and returned the books to the library. James kept protesting against the girl packing but he had lost the fight when she had simply glared at him.
Mark safely kept his mouth shut during the small verbal fights between James and Kayleigh, often joking afterwards that they fought like an old married couple, always receiving a glare from the girl in response to that. Which was enough to shut him up again.
“Are you sure everything is alright at the apartment?” Kayleigh asked again, making James (who was just buttoning up his shirt) and Mark roll their eyes. The girl had asked the same question for the last hour and it was slowly starting to annoy the two men. Noticing the reactions, Kayleigh chuckled a little and rubbed the back of her neck uncomfortable.
“Everything is alright, now hurry up packing, the guy is waiting for us to arrive there so he's sure that we're not backing out,” Mark said, tapping his foot on the floor impatiently. Kayleigh nodded in a hurry and quickly closed the bag after packing the last shirt.
Handing James his coat, Mark grabbed the bag from the bed before Kayleigh could and swung it over his shoulder. This of course got him a small glare from the girl before she realized that it would be better if she helped James instead of struggling to carry the bag. Swinging his cane around a little and then resting it on his shoulder so it was pointed up to the ceiling, James smirked and walked out of the room behind Kayleigh and James, closing the door behind him with his free hand.
The doctor had come by to check in on him earlier, not forgetting to wish him luck before signing the release papers and telling him to come in for a regular check up every year just in case. Mark patted James on the shoulder before winking at his brother and walking down the hallway with Kayleigh and James following suit.
“James? You alright?” Kayleigh asked worried as the man halted just after walking outside. Kayleigh placed her hand on his lower back, causing him to jump up slightly before letting out a deep sigh.
“Don't scare me like that,” James muttered before shooting Kayleigh an assuring smile.
“It's alright to be jumpy you know,” Kayleigh assured him but James didn't say anything back. Instead, he walked to the car where Mark was waiting for them and got in. Kayleigh watched him and sighed, shaking her head slightly and pursing her lips together before running towards the car herself.
The trip towards the appartment itself was calm, the radio in the car was softly playing and Mark kept his eyes on the road while Kayleigh and James whispered some things to each other before giggling slightly, looking like two school girls gossiping about the latest fashion in Mark's eyes, the thought alone made him smile and shake his head slightly. When they finally arrived there, James was helped out of the car by Kayleigh even though he protested against it, the girl still locked arms with him to be certain.
“I'm taking the stairs,” James said, looking at the flight of stairs next to the elevator for which they were waiting. Kayleigh and Mark looked at him like he was crazy and wondered if he was joking or not until they saw him move towards the stairs. Kayleigh quickly moved and stopped him, standing in front of him and raising an eyebrow at him while tapping her foot slightly on the floor.
“What?” James asked, looking as innocent as he could while neither of the two others believed it.
“The doctor said that you should take it easy, taking the stairs to the penthouse up there doesn't count as taking it easy so you beter get in that elevator before I hurt you myself,” Kayleigh threatened, pointing at James who held up his hands, one holding his cane and one safely in front of his body to protect him against Kayleigh's glare.
“Don't get your panties in a bunch darling,” James muttered before realizing that it would be better if he didn't cross the girl right now and limped slowly towards the elevator, forgettign that he was holding a cane. Mark pursed his lips together and cleared his throat, looking down and not making eye contact with his brother and letting him see that he found this whole situation rather humorous.
“Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned,” Mark muttered slightly, feeling that the line would fit the mood but probably not the situation, James eyed him with a frown on his face before mumbling some incoherent words under his breath.
February 7 1994
Panting slightly, James opened the door with the key and entered the appartment, glad to be back before he chose to fall down on the couch in the wide living room and try to catch his breath. Hearing some noise in the kitchen, he smiled a little to himself and lifted his tired body from the couch before stumbling towards the kitchen.
“James? Have you seen the eggs?” Kayleigh's muffled voice came as she had burried her head in the fridge in search for the eggs.
“No, give me a bottle of water will you?” he said, sitting down at the kitchen table and grabbing the bottle Kayleigh gave him without looking away from the contents of the fridge.
“Have you looked in the cupboard above the fridge?” James asked after taking a long sip from his water and sighing in relief as the cool water refreshed him.
“...Not yet,” Kayleigh muttered, standing up and closing the fridge before reaching for the cupboard above it and grinning when she found the eggs. Mumbling a soft 'thanks' under her breath, the girl went back to the counter and added the necessary amount of eggs to whatever she was preparing.
“What are you making?” James inquired, looking at Kayleigh's back.
“Cake, now you need a shower mister,” Kayleigh alerted him, looking over her shoulder at him before pointing at his forehead where sweat was slightly visible, he chuckled and then walked over her before planting a kiss on her cheek and moving out of the kitchen towards one of the two bathrooms of the appartment.
After seeing that the appartment was big enough for at least two people, James proposed that Kayleigh came to live with him, the girl had accepted the offer, makig it clear that in the mean time she would look for her own appartment and a good paying job. James waved it all off, telling the girl she could stay as long as she wanted.
None of them had a job right now, except Mark, who came to visit as often as he could between writing his new book of course. James checked his bank account every day and realized that he still had plenty of money left from before he fell in a coma so he was assured for the next few months for sure. One of the three bedrooms was now transformed into a small recording studio, on James' will as he liked messing around with noises and trying to find a new sound. Anything that kept him busy.
Kayleigh often noted that he was a good singer and that he should try singing on some of his synthesized tracks but James kept refusing, not really believing the girl when she said he could sing. His voice was too heavy for that, yet sometimes it could turn out lighter, he didn't really know where to place his voice but it certainly wasn't in the category of 'singing' in his opinion.
Still, the girl insisted that he would try it from time to time, for now, James still hasn't tried it, angering Kayleigh slightly as she kept telling him to do so. Whenever she joined him in the studio, he noticed that she would try to give him hints to make him sing by saying things like 'some vocals would really sound good here,' or something among those lines before James would just sigh and shake his head.
The only place where he sang, in a certain amount even, was in the shower, which was where Kayleigh had first heard him sing and started pestering him about it. He rolled his eyes slightly and let the water of the shower run while humming a song under his breath.
“It's...Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious,” James muttered under his breath with a smirk before stepping under the water, “even though the sound of it is something quite atrocious,” he started to sing slightly, enjoying the cool water running over his worn out body.
“Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!”
It wasn't a long shower, James wasn't one to stand under the water for almost half an hour until his fingers started to slightly wrinkle before getting out and spending another half hour trying to dry his hair or anything. He quickly washed his hair, washed his body and got out again, wrapping the towel around his waist before walking through the empty hall towards the bedroom he occupied in the appartment.
Looking in the mirror hanging on his wall just above his dresser, James' hazel eyes stared back at him and for a brief second, a smirk played on his lips before he went through the dresser and disappeared in the small walk-in closet.
Deciding that he probably wouldn't go outside again anyway (unless Kayleigh had a good reason of sending him outside) James chose to wear a loose shirt, not knowing where it came from or how it even end up in his closet. It was too big for him anyway. Not that he minded, it made him feel comfortable so he wore it whenever he felt like it. Some skinny jeans would do the trick on making him seem thinner then.
“I want the left-overs!” James yelled from his room as he pulled the shirt over his head. While putting a simple black leather belt through and making sure it fitted good around his waist, James walked out of the room and made his way towards the kitchen. Kayleigh was clearly still working on the cake and stood safely before the bowl, trying to keep it away from James' prying hands.
“I thought I told you to stay out of the kitchen when I'm working,” Kayleigh complained when James suddenly stood behind her, his wet hair still dripping in his neck. Because of his height, he was easily towering over her and trying to grab the bowl so he could taste from whatever was in it even though Kayleigh protested against it.
“Aaw, come on! Let me have a taste,” James whined, trying to wrap his arms around Kayleight and still try to get the bowl in his hands at the same time. Kayleigh sighed and shook her head, smiling a little while looking up and wondering how she got in this situation at the first place.
“Don't you have some playing to do on your old-fashioned Atari?” the young girl asked annoyed, pouting a little and still protecting the bowl with her body. James sighed and gave up the fight, crossing his arms in front of his chest and sitting down at the kitchen table.
“You're no fun,” he muttered under his breath, making Kayleigh smirk a little and look at him, clearly enjoying the fact that she had won the fight.
February 14 1994
“And still I don't get what's so special about today,” James said under his breath as Kayleigh dragged him through several different flower shops and giftshops, searching for a gift, yet she refused to reveal who she was buying it for. So James kept pestering her about it with a smirk, letting her know that he didn't really care about it yet didn't want to stop teasing her since it amused the hell out of him.
“It's a special day okay? Especially for those in love, it's like, international love day or something,” Kayleigh explained again, rolling her eyes and looking through the different little gifts in the shop.
“Yeah, that's what I'm not understanding about it all, why would you celebrate this day? I mean, we're both two losers that have no dating life and yet you insist we spend money on gifts, how does that work out?”
“You're hopeless,” Kayleigh sighed, shaking her head and ignoring him as he threw his arms in the air and kept rambling about the same thing over and over again. She had a small smile on her lips while her eyes lingered on a certain teddybear sitting between several others.
“I'm not buying it for you,” James noted, pouting and looking away from Kayleigh's big eyes pleading at him.
“Please,” Kayleigh whined, looking at him and trying to look as innocent as possible as she pushed out her arms before her and showing James the teddy in her hands.
“Oh hell no,” James said, refusing to even look at the teddybear held in front of him. Kayleigh sighed and looked down, letting her arms hang in front of her, still holding the teddy loosely between her hands. Faking a sniff, James looked at her with a raised eyebrow, wondering if she was trying to pull something or if she was really crying.
“Alright, fine, I'll buy you the damn teddy,” James sighed, making Kayleigh look up with a huge grin on her lips before she swung her arms around his neck and gave his cheek a kiss. James shook his head and started to ask himself why he had fallen for the most used trick known to man kind and followed a half-dancing Kayleigh to the front of the store, already getting out his wallet.
“Aaw, you must be the first man to buy his girlfriend a teddy today,” the young girl at the counter looked at the both of them with a loving smile, “you two are so cute together, how long have you been dating?”
“We're not dating...” James said quickly, coincidentally in unison with Kayleigh and freaking out the girl with their answer.
“Oh I'm sorry,” the girl quickly looked away to hide her blush at her misconception and quickly said the price of the teddy. James shook it away with a chuckle before taking the teddybear back from the girl and gave it to Kayleigh the moment they walked out of the store, the girl smiled brightly and quickly stood on the top of her toes to reach out and give his cheek a kiss, clutching the teddybear loving against her chest.
“And don't look at me like that, can't I give you a friendly kiss on the cheek anymore?” Kayleigh pouted when James frowned at her.
“That girl thought we were dating...” James started, pointing back to the store and wondering if that was a normal thing or not, after all, he was still a little lost on the things that were normal amongst people since he didn't go out that often, he relied on Kayleigh for that, knowing that she was better at doing groceries anyway since she was in the kitchen the most.
“Is that a bad thing?”
“We aren't are we?” James asked quickly, wondering if he should even be asking this to the girl or not. Kayleigh looked at him and raised both of her eyebrows before chuckling and shaking her head, putting the key in the lock, opening the door to the appartment they were so familiar with.
“We're not, don't mind her alright?” Kayleigh placed her hand on James' shoulder and patting it slightly. Moving towards the part of the appartment where their rooms and the adjointed bathrooms were, James didn't think about following her. Instead, he made his way towards the couch and sat down, thinking about what had happened in the store.
“Stop worrying, seriously,” Kayleigh said, walking back in the room after half an hour, still drying her hair with a light grey towel. James looked over his shoulder at Kayleigh, jumping up slightly and realizing that he had been sitting on the same spot for the past half hour or so. He smiled at her and nodded, letting her know he wasn't worrying but still not convincing her with the small smile gracing his lips.
“Now how about ... french fries for dinner?” Kayleigh smiled, throwing her towel of the couch and leaving leaning on her elbows while placing her head in his hands, looking at James with a smile and hoping he would say yes. After all, she had been craving for some french fries since earlier today.
March 5 1994
“I come in peace with ... noodles, now let me in!”
“How about no?” James said, leaning against the door and obviously enjoying to tease his brother that was standing outside with some bags of groceries, including fresh noodles.
“How about you move your boney ass and let me the hell in?” Mark said back, leaning against the wall with one shoulder while waiting for his brother to open the door so he could put everything away since Kayleigh was in school and James still refused to do groceries for a stupid reason beyond everyone.
“Did you bring the icecream?” James asked sly.
Mark's eyes widened and then quickly went through one of the bags, “well, I brought icecream but now its just starting to look like a puddle.”
“Damn it!” James sighed heavily behind the door and opened it, sticking out his head and looking at Mark with his mouth slightly open, “you were supposed to keep the icecream safe, you know, until it was in the freezer?!”
“Well I can hardly put it in the freezer if your ass is blocking my way to the freezer can I?”
“Oh yeah...”
Mark rolled his eyes slightly and grabbed the bags, walking towards the kitchen in his normal pace and putting the icecream in the freezer before getting out the other groceries. James took the packs of water still standing at the door and carried them towards the usual cupboard, getting the bottles all out of the plastic and putting them away, not forgetting to put several of them in the fridge.
“When are you going to start doing groceries?” Mark asked randomly, putting away the fruit in the scale on the table in the living room.
“When dogs take over the world,” James yelled from the kitchen, his head burried in the fridge, putting away the meat Mark had brought. The older one of the the two brothers sighed and shook his head before walking back into the kitchen.
“In other words, never. What do you got against groceries anyway?”
“Nothing, I just hate doing them,” James shrugged, taking one of the already cold bottles that he had put in the fridge earlier before opening it and taking a sip. Teasing his brother earlier had made him thirsty.
“So, did you think of what you want to do or not? You can't just stay here in the appartment and mess around on your Atari.”
“Me and my Atari work fine together thank you very much,” James said, “besides, I don't want to get a job right now, I got some more money left on my bankaccount.”
“Yeah but seriously, you can't just stay here in that soundproof room of yours, go out more,” Mark rolled his eyes, crossing his arms in front of his chest.
“Maybe.”
“Now,” Mark pulled James away from the table by his wrist and pushed him towards the door, opening it and practically shoving James out of his own appartment.
“And don't come back until you had some fresh air and did something except running around in circles in the park,” Mark noted, smirking at James and then closing the door when the younger man tried to get back into the house.
James sighed, shaking his head before putting his hands deep in the pockets of his tight black jeans and walking towards the elevator. He might as well make best of it.