Adrian was more than happy to leave the house the next day. Nick hadn’t been back and hadn’t even bothered to call him. That and the fact that the dream from last night kept haunting him, had him running from the house as fast as he could. There wasn’t much out in the world that he had going on. Unlike Nick, he didn’t have many friends. Nick had been his sole friend for the most of his childhood until all that existed was him and Nick. Nothing had seemed wrong about this arrangement when he was young and just happy that he had one friend to share his joy with. As the years went by, there wasn’t much of a change in this mentality. Nick seemed to be the best thing that had happened to him.
There weren’t many things that could get him down. Adrian loved a lot of things in life. Sweets, comedies, nature were just a few. But there were things that made him sad, unsure about himself. Models, hurt, discrimination. These things made him think about sad stories, where people didn’t get a happy ending and instead suffered their entire lives.
He never wanted to feel like this, like he could burst out crying at any second. Thinking about Nick and the way he’d stormed out last night was nothing compared to greater problems in the world. He was pitiful to think he had it worse than the unfortunate. So, he swallowed his fear and decided that it might be best to clear his head. This decision lead him outside where he wandered down the quiet streets.
At first, he had no idea where he planned to go. All he was thinking about was escaping the stuffy air in the apartment and the memory of waking up to that disturbing dream. He pushed the bad thoughts away as much as he could, repeating good memories in his head to drain them out. It worked somewhat, though an echo of the nightmare was still present.
He walked the streets, looking up once in a while at the sky, watching a few white clouds float by. This calmed him a bit, mesmerized by how fluffy and innocent they could look. He imagined they represented pureness or something about being good. It sounded cheesy at first, but the more he thought about it, the more he wished this was true. If the clouds were pure then the sky was humble and the trees were caring while the buildings were protective. These descriptions fit in Adrian’s mind, even if they were purely based on the look and feel of such objects and plants. It was only something to occupy his mind.
This game lasted until he was in front of a store he’d never seen before. It wasn’t all that strange to find a new shop when he wasn’t all that familiar with the city he lived in.
He and Nick had lived together for a while now, longer than his mother had thought. She never said anything about it, never voiced whether she had a problem with the relationship they had together. It didn’t hurt all that much when she ignored them or didn’t catch the way Adrian never introduced Nick as his boyfriend. Why would he do that when he’d been Adrian’s best friend for almost ten years?
But it hadn’t ever been enough to scare Adrian out of moving in with Nick. At the time it had been a brilliant idea. They would split the rent and have more to splurge on house hold items. That was the way things worked between them. They didn’t think about the future, they just did what was good at that moment.
How Adrian saw this now, it probably hadn’t been the best choice. He was too attached to Nick, too attached to this simple way of living. Mooching was what it was and it had to stop. Except—Nick was pretty set on keeping it this way. That was a great problem right there. How was he suppose to slide around him without being brought back in by temptation? Could he really refuse the one person that had kept him this compliant for years?
He wasn’t concerned about Nick being over dramatic. Out of the two, he was the sensible one. It was always Adrian that let his emotions take over in the less convenient times.
Looking at the unfamiliar shop, he was taken with how old fashion it looked. The outside was decorated to imitate what he thought was the 50s or 60s. He wasn’t really familiar with what was considered retro or not, but in his mind, this fit the description spot on. Inside, he could see dark purple booths and a jukebox. The interior was a sharp contrast to the exterior, taking inspiration from modern times. The counters and tables were clean, the metal catching sunlight when Adrian moved his head.
It was intriguing, so much that he couldn’t stop from taking a closer look.
He stepped inside. The aroma of baked goods hit him straight on. Pumpkin, cherry, and lemon fanned out in the room, not quite mixing but wafting together just slightly. He tried to focus on one so that he wouldn’t drive him mind crazy. While he did so, he looked out. At first he thought the shop was vacant. The first few tables were empty but as he looked further back he spotted a couple sipping from mugs and eating a shared pie.
They looked happy together, normal, untouched by the reality of the world and real relationships. Adrian squashed the unwanted feelings that came to him when he looked at their smiles. He didn’t know them. He had no idea who these people were and yet he couldn’t help but feel like they had just insulted him.
There wasn’t anything he could do but turn away and stand at the bar. He waited with his back to the couple. For a moment he thought they were staring at him, but it was only him being paranoid.
A girl with medium brown hair came from the back room. She did a little jump when she noticed Adrian waiting and blushed as she hurried to get behind the bar.
“Sorry about that. What can I get you?”
There was a laminated paper menu on the bar counter. He picked it up and scanned what was offered. “Um, a chocolate cupcake with strawberry icing. Whipped please. And...milk?”
The girl smiled. “Two-sixty with tax. I’ll be right back.”
Before she turned he noticed her name tag. Bethany.
The second that she turned, Adrian was pushed back into his mind. The walls and the bar counter in front of him changed. The lights went out and the ceiling opened as the moon rose above him. Bethany walked towards him holding a gun in her hand. She raised it up, pointed it at him but stopped with her finger hovering the trigger.
“I don’t want to do this.” Her voice was barely above a whisper. Tears streamed down her face and she gasped out.
“Don’t make me!”
The gun turned until it was under her chin.
Her finger twitched.
“Excuse me. Sir?”
The vision was gone and the Bethany standing in front of him wasn’t holding a gun, only a cupcake. She sat the plate down with a tall glass of milk in front of him. He handed her the money. His lips pressed together to keep his internal scream trapped inside. She couldn’t know what he’s seen, but the fear wouldn’t listen.
He swallowed the cupcake down like a dry pill. If he hadn’t been so weird he might have had a decent conversation with her instead of acting like some freak.
The cupcake was good though. He washed the last of it down with the milk and wiped his mouth off with a napkin. If he was home he would’ve used the back of his hand, but the couple were still here, holding hands and being sickly cute.
There is only so much he could take without throwing up. He waited for Bethany to come back out and slightly wondering why she keeps hiding back there. Hopefully, it had nothing to do with a gun.
The front door opened and cold air fanned over Adrian’s back.
He didn’t look, didn’t pay attention to whomever had just come in. But there was an insatiable itch. It was as if he had to look. It begged him to give in to this urge and satisfy his curiosity. This wasn’t a feeling he felt a lot. It was scary how fast it takes him over. One second he was too preoccupied and then the next, this person was demanding his attention.
There was no way he could explain it. It was a moment stolen from his world, captured into the hands of the man walking through the door. He was on the smaller side, shorter than Adrian anyway. His brown hair was swept to the side and his blue eyes glanced around the room as if he were looking for someone. Maybe he was; maybe he wasn’t. It wasn’t the same reason Adrian was here.
Their eyes caught for a second and while Adrian was quick to look away, the man smiled. Adrian didn’t have the time to move before the man was sliding onto the bar stool beside him.
“Hello,” he said, ignoring the unwelcoming atmosphere. “I’m Lucas.”
Comments (1)
See all