Messy Love(44)

Three doors opened and closed, and I stood there with my hands on my thighs, puke at my feet, but thankfully I wasn’t too wasted that I couldn't avoid myself.

“Gross,’’ Sophie muttered. “I better get in the car before I start redecorating the street too.’’

“At least now I’m sure I won’t have to clean your bathroom,’’ Ralph noted and patted my back as I straightened up again and found Marissa’s eyes already on me from the other side of the car.

“Fuck off,’’ I mumbled and covered my face. The scruff prickled my palms.

“Such a grouch.’’ He then turned around and waved at Marissa. “Okay girlie, I think you’ve seen enough for one night, uh? ‘night.’’

“Good night, Ralph,’’ she said quietly and opened the passenger car door, ready to climb in and leave. Again.

“Wait,’’ I said before I could think of what to say. All I knew was that I needed to stop her before she left. Her eyes went back to me, closed off and distant. There wasn’t even anger there anymore. “I’m sorry. I’m just…sorry.’’

This time, I turned around before she could leave and fished my keys from my pocket.





MARISSA


I cleaned the station and coughed when the chemical smell of the antibacterial product hit my nostrils. My eyes watered and I cursed myself for not breathing through my mouth. I was very sensitive to chemical smells and knew better than to go and take a good sniff of that product, but my mind was stuck on last night. More precisely, on Wyatt’s parting words.

It was one thing to antagonize someone and conjure them up in your mind as an evil creature after they’ve hurt your feelings so bad you didn’t know what to do with yourself and how to deal with the new turns your life took. But when that same “evil’’ creature apologized in that broken way he had of opening up… It was a game changer, and somehow that same person haunted you even more than they had previously.

“I think it’s perfectly clean now,’’ Sophie butted in, leaning above the tattoo machine with an amused smile on her mouth. Her eyes sparkled behind her glasses, emphasizing how she found my confusion so very entertaining.

I grunted and gripped the cleaning supplies tighter in my hands. I went to the supply closet in the farthest corner and deposited everything without a care before closing the door with enough strength to attract Jade and Kam’s attention. And the radio played louder than usual.

“You okay?’’ Jade asked. My eyes latched onto her bright blonde dreadlocks in a bun on top of her head. Her elfin like face conveyed her curiosity, something that had been following me ever since they’ve all discovered that I had met my biological mother thanks to Sophie who was in a sharing mood one night when Jade invited us all for a few drinks at her new place.

“Yeah, yeah,’’ I mumbled and ignored Kam's inquisitive look, knowing that he kept a closer eye on me than anybody else since I was the one more likely to mess up a tatt since I hadn't finished my apprenticeship yet. Ha, as if I’d mess up a tatt. I pushed everything else away once I had a tattoo machine between my hands. The sound and buzzing sensation always helped.

“I didn’t mean to piss you off,’’ Sophie whispered once I joined her at the front desk and leaned against the counter while she fixed the laptop screen as if it held all the answers in the universe.

“You didn’t, Soph,’’ I said and glanced over my shoulder to make sure Kam and Jade were back at work. Then, I smiled ruefully at my friend who was now watching me. She pushed her glasses up her small nose. “I’m tired. I barely slept last night because of… him.’’

She rolled her chair closer to the desk and sat straighter. “No wonder. Wyatt is something alright.’’

“He’s an ass, and he has that thing…’’ I trailed off and shook my head. “Anyway, he apologized. It’s over now.’’

She snorted and reached over to pat my hand on top of the counter next to flyers advertising local gigs and a club opening. “This is far from over. Come on, Mar. You can’t tell me that last look he gave you when he apologized didn’t do something to you. You looked like you were ready to follow after him!’’

“I didn’t.’’ My denial came out so fast it ended up sounding everything but truthful.

“Right,’’ she singsonged, grating my nerves so much I balled one of the flyers without noticing until she pried my fingers open and took the ball of paper to throw it in the bin under her desk. “Don’t get me wrong. To me, Wyatt is still an asshole who doesn’t deserve a smidgen of your attention, but he’s in your head. Between him and everything else you have going on, you have to make a choice.’’

“Make a choice?’’ I laughed humorlessly and pushed back from the counter. “The choice is all made, Soph. Wyatt needs to stay out of my life.’’

“Okay, but he won’t be out of your life unless he’s out of your head. That’s all I’m saying.’’

On that, the door opened on a pint-sized college girl who looked everything like the kind who would pick something straight from one of our catalogs without asking much or any alterations at all. I bet the tatt was the result of a bad breakup or a dare with someone. At least she didn’t look drunk.