7days7authors

Wednesday - Morning Person - Brandon

        “Promise you’ll be here forever? No matter what happens?” she whispered to him. They were next to each other in bed and the lights had been switched off for over five minutes. She was on her side facing him. He was on his back, staring straight ahead towards the ceiling.
        “I can’t do that. It can’t be ‘no matter what’. If you do something wrong, I won’t be here forever.”
        “You’re not supposed to say that.” She leaned closer, placed her hand on his chest, and spoke in her normal volume, “You make things so difficult.”
        He turned his head in her direction so that they were face to face. She puckered her lips requesting a kiss. He saw the wrinkles around her mouth. The simplest path was to grant her wish. After all, she was good to him and she genuinely loved him. He knew this. The easy road would be to press his lips against hers, rest his hand on her hand, look her in the eyes and tell her that he loved her. She was right, he made things difficult, and this moment was no exception to the rule.
        “I don’t make things difficult,” he said and faced the ceiling once again. Her lips fell and she pulled her hand away from the beat of his heart. He continued, “I’m only telling you the truth.”
        “Does telling me the truth include acting like an asshole?” she asked, flipping her body so that her back presented a wall to any answer he could give. She tugged some blanket away from him, leaving an inch of his thigh uncovered.
        He yelled threw his teeth, “What the fuck!” and yanked the covers back. He grasped at the fluffy white comforter over and over again, pulling until her curled naked body had no protection.
        “I’m trying to go to sleep,” he lamented, under a mound of cotton and duck feathers. “And you have to start shit! I have work tomorrow. It’s two o’clock in the fucking morning!”
        She jumped off the bed’s edge, clawed a t-shirt from the floor, and threw it on. “Is that necessary?” she demanded. “Why do you always need to take things to the next level?”
        He ignored her from underneath his blanket shell. Annoyed, he twitched and sighed loud enough for her to hear.
        She stormed over to his side of the bed and spoke sternly above his cocoon, “Hello?! Why do you need to take things to the next level? Answer me.”
        “I’m sleeping,” he murmured. “Go. To. Sleep.”
        By now, she had her hands on her hips and spoke clearly, “Are you going to apologize?”
        “Apologize? I didn’t do anything. Come on!”
        “Look at me,” she said and flicked on the light. In one swift move, he tossed the blanket to the floor and sat up.
        “I can’t believe you’re doing this!” he pleaded. His exhaustion bubbled to the surface. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry for taking all the blankets after you pulled them away from me! Okay?!”
        He assumed it was over and reached down for the covers, but she shook her head slowly and waited for more.
        “What?” he asked.
        “That’s not what this is about,” she told him. “And don’t try to say you don’t know what it’s about. You do.”
        “Are you for real right now?” His hand gripped the blanket on the side of the bed.
        “I was being loving and you were a jerk.”
        “Wow. I can’t even do this anymore.” He let the blanket go, stood up in his boxers, and pushed passed her.
        He put on a pair of jeans and went on, “We need to end this. I can’t be with someone who constantly freaks out and fights with me. This is crazy! I have to sleep. Do I need to sleep in the fucking car?”
        “I think you’re the one freaking out,” she offered. “I’m not going to let you ignore the fact that you were a dick. If that’s freaking out, then g o sleep in the car. It’s unbelievable that you can’t own up to your shit.”
        He weighed the moment and said, “Leslie - I’m sorry for being a dick. Okay?”
        “Don’t say my name like that.”
        “How did I say..,” He started calmly enough, but within a matter of seconds was in full attack mode, “You know what, this is exactly what I was talking about. This is why I won’t be here forever! Because you keep doing this crazy fucking shit! You don’t just do crazy shit, you are fucking crazy. Get help. Honestly, please, please figure out your issues. We’re through. I’m dead serious this time. We’ll figure out this apartment situation tomorrow - I can’t do it anymore.”
        He wrangled his keys from atop the dresser and went for the bedroom door, but she stood guard and pushed it closed.
        She matched his intensity; “See! This is what I’m talking about. Always taking things to the next level. Did you need to call me crazy? You’re the one with issues. I asked for a kiss goodnight and you couldn’t give it to me! That’s what’s nuts! I never know if this is real. One day you’re into us, then the next you’re not. You constantly break up with me. You don’t reassure me that we’ll be together and then you can’t even kiss me goodnight. I don’t have issues. I have one major Issue, You! So fine, break up with me, but this is it. We are done.”
        With that, she stepped aside, giving him free access to the door.
        He took the door handle in his palm. “I just wanted to sleep,” he replied, and walked out, slamming the door behind him.
        She cried herself to sleep in their bed and he did his best to sleep comfortably in the front seat of an Accord.

        The next morning, hints of the sun’s rays were taken hold by the Los Angeles smog and stretched thinly over the city. This, coupled with chirping birds, woke him much earlier than needed. He cricked his neck and cranked the car seat back to its regular position.
        She didn’t notice as he crawled back into bed. He carefully pulled some blanket his way. A dagger of morning sun had crept in through the blinds. He got into a spooning position and put his arms around her.

        The cell phone alarm went off a few hours later. He woke up tired and shuffled to the bathroom. He showered, brushed his teeth and dressed. From the bathroom window he could tell it was a sunny day. He felt bad about the night before and knelt at the bed’s edge where Leslie was sleeping.
        “Hey,” he whispered and smiled, “I’m sorry about last night.”
        She stirred a bit and mumbled something in her sleep, so he poked her and said, “Hey. Lezzie, I’m sorry. I was so tired.”
        Her eyes became slits, and upon seeing him, narrowed with anger. He smiled and joked around, “Baby, I love you. Don’t be mad, okay?”
        She withdrew her half asleep face from his and with a groggy voice said, “Get away from me.”
        He responded playfully, “Oh stop it. I love you.” He paused, poked her nose, and resumed with a higher pitch, as if talking to a five year old, “I’ll always be here for you.”
        “No you won’t,” she said. “And I don’t care.”
        He sighed and smiled, “Have a great day, lover.”
        “Get away from me.”
        She flipped over and away from him, pulling the blanket over her head. He stood up and headed out to work.

        Later at the office, he finished lunch and faced his computer’s screen. He was working on a report when an instant message popped up.

LesBear26: are you there?
oarfan: hiiiiii!
LesBear26: sorry about this morning
oarfan: nononono, I’m sorry about last nite
LesBear26: you know i’m not a morning person hehe
oarfan: hahaha yah, and I guess i’m not a nite time person. i love u
LesBear26: i know ☺ i luv u 2. i miss u! when will u be home?
oarfan: prob about 7ish, wanna go out for dinner?
LesBear26: yah!!! how bout sushi?
oarfan: sounds good! yayayayay!
LesBear26: yayayayayay!
……… -written for 7days7authors.com
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