Save Me - Lex, relationship advice
1033 Words
When he looks in the mirror his gaze shoots over to me. You can see my naked profile reflected in the mirror. As he catches my eyes he drops his gaze and he hands me the towel and walks out the door without a word.
Score one to Lex.
I dry myself off and use the towel to wrap around my body before quickly checking to see where he is and then I dart across the hall to my bedroom. I get dressed in yoga pants and a race T-shirt with ankle socks.
I pad into the kitchen as he is spooning eggs onto our plates. He turns to grab the toast as I lean across the counter to grab a coffee mug from the strainer, our bodies stumble together. He grabs my waist to hold me upright. I look up into his eyes and as he looks down into mine, his grip tightens on my waist. I could so easily close the distance and let our lips meet and I think that he would let me. I have to keep reminding myself that he has a girlfriend. I also have to remember what it is like to be cheated on.
I take a small step back and he releases my waist.
I put a smile on and ask for a coffee mug.
“Sure, can you grab the toast?” He asks.
It’s better this way.
Really.
After we eat breakfast and clean up the table, he asks me what my plans are for the day. I tell him that I have to finish the strip. He doesn’t remember any of our conversations from last night when he was drunk, so I take him into my office and reveal again, who I am. He’s genuinely excited and shocked. He asks if I mind if he hangs out in the office to read while I draw. I shake my head no. He smiles and says that he’s going to run home and get his book. Once he leaves the room, I pad into the kitchen and grab more coffee. I know that I’ve only just met him, but I can’t help feeling some type of connection. But I also know that I can’t have him.
I’ve finished shading the streetlamp, writing the rest of the dialogue and have begun the finishing process for this strip when I hear my front door close. After a few minutes, he appears in my doorway in jeans and a polo shirt.
Nice look.” I smile, but my smile fades at the look on his face. “What’s wrong?” I put my pencil down.
He rubs his hand over his face, “I don’t know.”
“What don’t you know? Did something happen?”
“I was talking to Stacey.”
Please God, let him break up with her, I won’t ask for anything else…
“She’s going away for the weekend with her friends.”
Hunh.
“That doesn’t sound so bad. What’s the problem?”
“She told me that because I called in sick, and I never call in sick, that she doesn’t want to be around me and is going to Vegas with her friends. They are leaving tonight.”
“Vegas?” My eyes narrow. I bet she was already planning this behind his back and then waiting for the perfect moment to drop it on him. Vindictive…
I walk over to him and put a hand on his shoulder.
“She didn’t even offer to come over and see how I’m doing. I told her that I’m feeling better but she said that the plans are set now.”
“Did you guys have plans this weekend?”
“That’s not the point,” he says looking at me with a sad face.
“What is the point, Bry?”
“If she were sick, I would want to be there for her, not fly to Vegas with my friends.”
“Can I ask you a question?”
“Are you going to embarrass me again?” He looks down.
“No. Has she done this before?”
“Well, I don’t really get sick…,” he trails off.
“No. Makes plans with her friends and tell you later about it, like if something comes up for you to deal with, she’ll bail?”
He looks up and studies my face before answering. “She wouldn’t do something like that.”
“What? Be deceiving and selfish?”
“She’s not like that,” he says a little firmer.
“Well, you know her better than I do.”
“That’s right. I do.” He lifts his chin in defiance.
I remove my hand from his shoulder and walk back to my table. “It’s not my business. It’s your relationship. You can tell me to f**k off at any time.”
He winces, but then says, “I would never tell you to do that, Lex.”
“Right. We shall see.” I look into his eyes for a moment and then get back to work. “Are you going to hover in the doorway?”
“Do you want me to go?” I look up and he looks sad.
“No, why would you think that?”
“Because I got mad at you.”
“Bryan, friends fight. And that,” I gesture with my hand, “wasn’t even than that bad of a fight. That was nothing. We were just talking about your relationship. And no matter how one-sided that I feel that it is, it’s still your relationship. You make the decisions based on your feelings and assessment of your relationship, not me.”
“You think that it’s one-sided?”
I nod.
“Why?”
He steps over to my table.
I look up into his eyes and say, “Because Bry, if the man that I loved were sick; hangover or otherwise, I’d put my life on hold for him. I’d want to be there in any capacity. Whether it be cleaning up vomit, making tea, or taking a nap with him…whatever he needed from me.”
- Writer
