Disorder

Gerard took another deep swig of Corona Beer. He swished it around his mouth and smacked his lips after swallowing. The cubicle slid out of focus for a minute and then back in. The computer screen flashed at him.

It was one of his co-workers who he failed to identify by name. The message said that the “big boss” wanted to see him right now. That usually meant that he was in trouble.

Gerard shrugged at his computer and shut it off. He finished off his beer and put his feet on his desk. If the “big boss” really wanted to see him, then he would have leave his big-shot office and come get him. Gerard wasn’t afraid of being fired. They would give he good references just because they are afraid of him.

Sure enough, Big Boss came strutting into his cubicle with his fancy suit and obnoxious tie.

“Gerard. I think I asked to see you,” BB said sternly, trying to offend him with the casual use of his first name.

Gerard didn’t miss a beat, “Well, Carly, I didn’t feel like going to go see you,” his name was “Carl” but Gerard felt like being rude, “and really, I’m just so comfortable in my cozy cubicle. I didn’t want my chair to get cold.”

“Mr. Way, I hope you realize that you’ve done nothing since Mr. Sanders hired you 3 months ago. Every now and then you’ll turn in a comic, and we take it. But you never do as we ask and I’ve had quite a few complaints about how you treat your co-workers. I am going to ask that you stop his irresponsible behavior, buckle up and take this job seriously. If you fail to do this, then I will be forced to fire you,” BBCarl said quickly. He didn’t look directly into Gerard’s eyes, but rather flitted around his face and paused on his eyebrows.

“Carly, fire me. I honestly don’t care,” Gerard put his feet down and leaned forward, “It just might not be beneficial to your health if you do.” Gerard smiled cruelly at his boss and pulled another Corona out of his bag.

“Mr. Way!” Carly shrieked, either appalled by Gerard’s words or the beer in his hands. Perhaps both. Gerard hoped it was the first, though.

“Yes, Carly baby?” Gerard smirked at him and gulped at the beer. Carl frowned very deeply and left, mumbling under his breath.

Gerard chugged the remains of his beer and sat back in his chair. He was pretty bored at the moment, but didn’t feel like trudging all the way down stairs and to his car. Plus he was kind of drunk, and he didn’t really feel like getting into a car accident either.

“Gerard! I’m here to surprise you!” Kat shrieked and appeared in Gerard’s cubicle. She had cut all of her beautiful, black hair and cropped it very short. It looked good on her, though.

“Hey, baby,” Gerard got up from his chair, stumbled, hit his thigh on his desk and finally wrapped his arms around Kat.

She hugged him back and sniffed the air, “Whoa, has someone been drinking?” Her eyes found the three empty bottles of beer and she frowned in disapproval, just like Carl.

“It’s just a couple. To pass the time. It's pretty slow today,” Gerard lied, throwing his hand out to show her the bustling people and hectic office.

“Right. Uhm, Gee… weren’t you drinking when we went out last night?” Kat was still frowning, and she felt an intense paranoia sweep over her. Gerard wasn’t an alcoholic. He had just been drinking a little more than when they first met. He’s probably still freaked out about that panic attacks he’s been having. It’ll pass. Kat thought. She hugged Gerard tighter to her, despite the smell.

“Let's go out again. We can go see a movie or something. Then we can go back to your apartment so I can get a nice long look at your bedroom ceiling,” Gerard raised his eyebrows suggestively. He purposefully avoided Kat’s last question and held her all the more tighter. With her in his arms, boredom was almost laughable and he felt happy.

“Alright,” Kat got the joke and giggled a little. She sat on Gerard’s lap while he pretended to work. He drew a few cartoons of Kat as a super hero, saving children, kittens, packets of ketchup and once, Gerard.

For some reason, that struck something in Kat. Her breath shuddered and she snuggled into Gerard’s chest. She tried to keep her breathing even, for Gerard’s sake. She didn’t want to trouble him anymore than he already was. She knew she was good for Gerard. Kat noticed that he wasn’t so manipulative since they started being serious. He rarely ever turned on the full power of his eyes and Kat’s little sister wasn’t as terrified of Gerard.

“You alright, baby?” Gerard whispered, rubbing Kat’s back. He felt bad now, about drinking so much. He didn’t like when Kat saw him drunk and weak. He thought that her distress was caused over his drunkenness. He had only started drinking because he felt the now-familiar suffocation start to overwhelm him. He didn’t want to go through another panic attack…

“Yeah. I’m fine. And yeah, we should go out,” Kat got up from Gerard’s lap. She kissed his lips delicately and pulled away when she couldn’t bear the rancid taste of alcohol any longer.

“Cool. I think I should go home now, though. My boss’ll probably get mad if I’m drunk at work. Will you drive me home?”

Kat frowned. She wanted to leave Gerard at the moment, not prolong their visit. His drunken swagger reminded her of her ex-boyfriend, and she desperately wanted to get away from those memories, “Sure, Gerard.”

Gerard grinned and packed his things up. He was going to leave with out telling anyone and he left the beer bottles lined up in a neat little row on his desk.

Kat frowned at Gerard's obvious display of mockery. “I thought you didn’t want your boss to know you were drunk,” she cringed at the word.

“Eh, I just don’t want him to bitch at me this very moment. I’ll take it tomorrow,” Gerard looked forward to blasting his eyes up at Carly. He rarely ever got to do that anymore with Kat around. He was much too relaxed around Kat. He didn’t know whether to view that as a good thing, or an abysmal fact.

Kat grabbed his hand and led Gerard through the bright halls. Already Gerard could feel a bit of a hangover begin to develop. He wasn’t going to let that ruin his night though.

“Bye Gerard!” someone called out. It was Catherine, one of the girls that has… complained about Gerard’s behavior. Kat’s face tightened and she pulled Gerard faster. He grinned at her insecurity.

“It's alright. She’s nothing. A tease, if anything,” Gerard thought Kat would be assured by this news, but Kat threw him a vigorous glare and slammed the car door harder than necessary.

She drove quickly and dangerously. Gerard was pleased with the speed and didn’t speak once on the way back to his Mothers house.

“Thanks for driving me, baby,” he kissed Kat’s cheek.

“Yeah. Bye,” Kat replied curtly. She was just so angry about how stupid Gerard had been for drinking at work, how eager he seemed to start a fight with his boss, and how he scoffed at her worries.

This was bound to happen, Kat, she told herself, he cant be perfect forever.

((Really sorry for the space between chapters.))