A Story to Tell Your Friends

I had stuck to my resolution for the day and had shifted my focus. Jack and I had gone out for breakfast early in the morning and I had gotten into work a little late (9:30, sue me), and now I was sat at home with one of only two files I had brought home with me for the night, waiting for Tammy. I was taking it slow tonight, as promised, sitting with my feet up, the TV on as I flipped half-heartedly through Waterparks’ itinerary.
“Hey, you’re home!” I called brightly as Tammy made her way through the door. It felt like I hadn’t seen her in weeks. We seemed to pass by each other, me staying at Jack’s often and her staying with Chris just as often. It was like we were purely home on opposing nights and I felt like we just never saw each other anymore. This had been our great adventure together, and now, less than a year in, we weren’t doing it together anymore.
“Yeah, I’m staying home tonight,” she told me, nodding as she kicked off her shoes and sat down next to me on the sofa, putting up her feet on the coffee table to match me. “Is Jack here?” She snagged my mug from me, taking a drink of my tea before passing it back.
“He’s practicing with the guys. They’re fully gearing up for tour. All day band practice plus late night boozing. He’ll be drunk dialling me at 3am.”
“Shit, they’re all here? Did Lisa come?”
“Nope. Still in Baltimore. Apparently, she has loads of stuff going on right now and needs to finish it before they leave so she can fly out to see Alex.” Tammy looked a little disappointed, which I understood. As soon as Lisa told me Alex was flying out, I almost begged her to come with. I hadn’t seen her in over a month and I was just missing her. She understood what it was like around the guys and I’d continued to confide in her a lot. “Oh, but speaking of the guys going on tour, I have some news for you.” I grinned brightly, knowing she’d be excited for me. We’d always discussed travelling, so she’d understand how happy I was that I was finally going to see another country. I’d visited plenty of states, but this was going to be the first time I was leaving the country. I’d manage to sort everything for a trip to Mexico once, passport and all, but Tammy and I had had to cancel last minute. I’d been thoroughly disappointed, but it had made this trip a little easier.
“Um, I have news too. Can I go first?” I nodded, taking a large drink from my cup and allowing her to share her news. “Well, Chris and I have been talking, and things are going so well right now, that we thought it was time to take the next step.” I nodded again, this time slowly, waiting for her to explain just what she meant by ‘the next step’. “He asked me to move in with him, and I agreed.”
I didn’t say anything for a few seconds, taking in just what she’d said to me. I couldn’t afford this place (or, indeed, any place in LA) without a roommate. She was expecting me to be happy for her, and, on some level, I was, but she was abandoning me, without a second thought for how I was going to get by.
“Well, uh, congratulations, I guess. But what am I supposed to do?” I wanted her to know that I wasn’t just thinking of myself and I did understand that this was a big step and that she was happy, but Jack and I hadn’t even discussed the idea of it yet and I wasn’t about to bring it up to him as a matter of convenience. It was the kind of thing we should do because we were ready, not because we had to.
“I don’t know. What about Jack? Or you could get another roommate. This isn’t that out of the blue, Clara. I’ve been there most of the week, every week, for about two months. It makes sense.”
“It makes sense for you,” I snapped. “But it puts me in a shitty position. I can’t afford to stay here for a week by myself. That’s not enough time to get a roommate.”
“Why are you being so shitty about this? You knew this was going to happen at some point.”
“Of course I did, but I didn’t think you’d just come in one day and tell me you were leaving.”
“It’s not going to be right away. A couple of weeks.”
“Great,” I replied, sarcastically. “Well, fabulous for you. I’m going to England for a month, so I won’t have a home to come back to.”
“You’re what?”
“It doesn’t even matter. I’m going to Jack’s,” I snapped, standing up abruptly and shoving my shoes on. I grabbed the file I’d been working on before storming out of the apartment and going down to my car. I turned on the ignition, turning the volume on my stereo up as loud as I could bear and screaming in frustration. Of course something had to fuck up. Everything was going so well, and I had this shit thrown at me? Absolutely, I was being overdramatic. Obviously, I was being a shit friend. But I was going to be selfish. I had that right. This was the worst time she could possibly have told me this. I couldn’t exactly back out of this trip with work considering it was two days away, and there was no way I’d be able to arrange something in the next two days that I could rely on to come back to.
I was screwed.
I could stay here and effectively lose my job, eventually having to go home because I was broke, or I could go to England and have to quit when I come home because I’d have nowhere to live.
I pulled into Jack’s building, turning off my ignition and making my way up to his apartment, letting myself in and throwing myself on his couch. The entire place was a mess, most of his possessions thrown around in various places ready to be packed or put back away, as well as a number of files I had left in a pile on the coffee table and strewn around in various places. I sighed, realising I was going to have to spend all of tomorrow packing while Tammy was in work.
“Clara, Clara, tell me you love me?” Jack sang to the tune of The Summer Set’s Chelsea when I picked up the phone a couple of hours later. I chuckled lightly, allowing him to distract me from my annoyance without argument and turning down his TV. I had made myself just as at home as I had been in my own apartment, but had broken my promise and had ended up doing yet more work.
“Are you drunk already?”
“Maybe.” I could picture the innocent grin on his face and I couldn’t help but smile into the handset.
“Are you listening to The Summer Set?”
“Definitely.”
“You only listen to The Summer Set to either irritate Brian or if you’re drinking cocktails with Alex. Which is it?” I heard a group of guys laughing in the background and knew what the answer to my questions was.
“Um, both, actually.” I laughed again, Jack shushing the rest of the guys obnoxiously. It was 8pm. He was way too drunk for this time of the night, but it was always hilarious. “What are you up to, cutie?”
“Binging on Netflix, drinking all the good coffee and just generally trashing your apartment.”
“Are you being a slob in my apartment? I thought you were staying home tonight.”
“I didn’t feel like it,” I shrugged. “So, I turned creeper again and let myself in.”
“I’m way excited to come home.” I could hear the pout in his voice and knew he was on the verge of coming home. It was adorable, but he deserved a night out with the guys, so I was going to do my best to convince him to stay out. I kept him to myself more than I would like to admit, and I was already going to be the interloper on his tour, so this night was more than deserved. Just because I’d gotten myself into a foul mood didn’t mean I was going to ruin it for him.
“Don’t be. I’m just being a slob in my PJs and debating ordering myself takeout, since we cleared your fridge out yesterday.”
“But your PJs are cute. You’re making me want to come home just to see you in your cute PJs.”
“Even my awful sweatpants?”
“Even your awful sweatpants. You put your hair up and your glasses on and your awful sweatpants and you just look… sexy. You’re like everything I was told my perfect girlfriend would be, including absolutely gorgeous when you just wake up, so the sweatpants are beyond cute, trust me.” I felt my cheeks warming as everyone in the background made gagging noises behind Jack. I pushed my glasses up my nose, Jack having described what I was wearing exactly. I wore this way too often in front of him and I supposed I needed to bring more clothes over so I wasn’t so predictable. I held back a sigh as my current dilemma played on my mind, something telling me I’d be better off just clearing out the small selection I already had here ready to take back home.
“Stop grossing out your friends.”
“But grossing them out makes you happy.”
“Yeah, but I’ve gotta tour with half of the people you’re with tonight, so I don’t want them going into that hating me.”
“But I don’t hate Lisa and Alex is way grosser than me.” I heard Alex protesting through the phone and chuckled again. I suppose that was true. They were disgustingly cute a lot of the time. “Shut up, Alex, I’ve got a gorgeous woman waiting in my apartment. I’m trying to convince her to stay.”
“Okay, okay, go talk to your friends. I’m ordering Chinese food. Don’t get too drunk, because I’ll still be binging Netflix when you get home.”
“Fine,” Jack said, forcing out an overdramatic sigh. “Save me some Kung Pao chicken and don’t fall asleep on me!”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.” I sighed a little, my previous worries returning as soon as I knew he was going. “I love you.”
“I love you too, cutie. I’ll see you soon.”
“Not too soon.”
“Not too soon,” he agreed. I heard a chorus of goodbyes from his friends and laughed, saying goodbye to them before hanging up the phone.