Together We Lie

Alex had still not returned home by the time I got out of my bath. I had lain under the water, lungs burning, begging for air as an internal monologue chastised how I handled Alex. Had what he said bore any truth? Would I be able to complete the assignment the longer I spent time with Jake? Is that why I acted like a grade-A asshole and snapped at him whenever he tried to look out for me?

I screamed into the water, exasperated, and gasped when my head broke the surface, soap suds spilling over the sides onto the tiled floor. Reaching for the towel, I wrapped the fluffy yellow cotton around my body and moped off to my bedroom.

Alex would be safe wherever he had stormed off to. As much as Rocky might be a big pansy, the sheer size of him had people backing off. Add on the sheer size of Alex too and they were unstoppable.

Standing at the door of my wardrobe, I idly filtered through my clothes, trying to find something suitable for tomorrow, but my heart wasn’t in it. I hated fighting with Alex; he was my best friend, my person. But he had encroached on the boundary of our partnership. Although it was a rare occurrence, and tomorrow, we would be back to normal, I still hated this feeling, nonetheless.

I pulled out a beige dress with autumn leaves decorating the silk. My Zimmermann dress had only been worn twice, and I loved it. It had three quarter length sleeves, and the waistline was a drawstring which gave the sheer bodice a floaty effect, the layered ruffles along the skirt elongating my sun-kissed legs. On the hanger, the dress looked like something a milkmaid would have worn back when that was still a thing, but when I had it on, it looked spectacular. Coupled up with my tan cowboy boots, I’d look shit hot.

Checking the alarm clock for the tenth time in ten minutes, the red lights flashed twelve forty-five. With a sigh, I closed my bedroom door, turned off the light, and slipped into bed for a night of restless sleep.