Chapter 8 Tobias #2
The man drops his cigarette on the ground as soon as I get to the door. I suck in a breath as he stalks towards me.
Swinging the door open and rushing inside, I barely see someone walking out at the same time. Crashing my body against them and the next thing I see is their drink fly out of their hand and spill a brown liquid all over the floor.
Dammit.
I look down at the mess and then back up at the person. Relief hits first, then guilt, the moment I realize the unfortunate soul is Gabe.
“Oh shit! Gabe, I’m so sorry.” I apologize. Tanya, my favorite barista, thankfully sees the chaos happen and comes running over with a stack of paper towels.
I quickly take them from her hands insisting that I clean it up myself.
“Dude, it’s okay! It happens.” Gabe laughs cheerfully, crouching down to help me soak up the sticky mess.
“Two caramel macchiatos coming up!” Tanya shouts my order out as she returns around the counter.
“Yeah, and a–” I look at Gabe waiting for him to tell me his order. His eyebrows arches. “Wait, you ordered a caramel macchiato?” I squint.
“What? You own the drink or something?” Gabe chuckles lightly. “You seem surprised.”
“Yeah, I kind of do.” I laugh. “Nah, it’s just that they’re just sweet and you don’t strike me as a sweet type of guy.” I admit, standing up. The mess is cleaned up now and I take my pile of soiled paper towels over to the trash can beside the door.
“Wow, ouch.”
My cheeks heat up as I try and rearrange the words in my head. “No, I didn’t mean—”
A smile creeps up on his face. “I’m joking, I’m joking.” He pats me on the shoulder. “Nah, I have a crazy sweet tooth. If it has sugar, I’m eating it up.” He shrugs, hands in his dark jeans pockets.
I nod my head, understanding. “Elijah’s like that too. He loves sweets.”
“Doesn’t surprise me in the slightest.” He nudges my shoulder playfully.
We both walk up to the counter and grab our freshly made hot beverages. I pay for both, tipping Tanya graciously after all of that fiasco.
“You didn’t have to pay for me.” Gabe shakes his head, giving his drink a sip.
I shrug. “Least I can after pouring your drink all over you. Now we can both have our caffeine before work.” I lift my cup in a cheers.
He nods. “Well, I guess I’ll see you at work in a few.” Giving me a salute.
I stand there for a moment as he walks away. “Yeah…” I mutter. My eyes dart over to where that sedan was before. Now, empty. My skin prickles. Maybe I imagined it. Maybe I didn’t.
“Hey, you okay?” Gabe asks, pulling me out of my head.
I look at him. “Uh…yeah.” I swallow deeply, my throat suddenly tight and hoarse.
He gives me a look over but nods his head all the same. “We don’t start for a little while. Would you want to hang out or something?”
I scratch the back of my neck. “Well, there’s something I have to do before my shift starts.”
Something I’ve been dreading more than anything.
“Errands suck.” He nods. “But they suck less when you have company.” He tilts his head and gives me a quick shrug.
Company. Hm.
Honestly, that sounds pretty nice.
Maybe he’ll talk. And talking means I won’t have to think.
“Okay…sure. But, if you can keep it between you and I, that’d be great.” I don’t need anyone finding out about my personal life.
He salutes. “Secret. Got it.”
I squint my eyes. “And it’s a little depressing.”
The corner of his mouth quirks up. “Depressing is my middle name.”
***
Honestly, I’m glad I took him up on his offer to join me. After the phone call yesterday from Derrick, being alone feels…heavy.
I’ve been actively avoiding my childhood house since I left a year ago.
“So, this is your old stomping ground eh?” Gabe asks, walking in behind me.
“I guess you can call it that.” I mumble, throwing my keys down on the entry way table.
The air is thick and stale. It’s still clean in here since Derrick always insisted on keeping everything neat.
Or else.
Only I know the memories that lie here. Every corner, every square inch of this place, is rotted by the mess he left behind. I carry that with me every day.
I scratch the back of my neck. “I, uh, just need to grab a few things…then we can leave and head to work.”
Gabe nods. “Yeah, man. Whatever you need, take your time.” He gives me a warm, genuine smile.
“Oh, I’ll be fast.”
I head up the stairs, and make a beeline for Derrick’s room. Opening it up, I try not to think about the way it smells. Old. Loveless and empty. It’s what I’d imagine a morgue smells like. The scent of him makes me want to cry and punch a wall, all at once.
I hate that he’ll always have an effect on me. I wish I could grab a metaphoric pair of scissors and snip the tie.
I grab a bag from his closet, and bury a bunch of random clothes in it. I don’t care about picking anything out specifically. He gets what he gets.
My eyes drift to the corner of the room. There’s Derricks perfectly made bed. Stretched and flattened to every degree of precision.
How perfect something could be.
But it’s wrong.
I swallow deeply. Tears coming to my eyes. I need to get out of here.
“Dude, you’ve got a copy of Watchmen!? This is so cool.” I hear coming from my room as I make my way down the hallway.
I pop into my old bedroom, seeing Gabe flipping through my comic.
I barely was able to keep anything I actually enjoyed. Nothing that meant anything to me.
But thankfully, I kept a few of those.
“Sorry. I got bored.” Gabe smiles shyly, looking at my face.
“No, I…I don’t mind,” I say softly, watching over his shoulder as he flips through some of the pages.
So many old memories flood through me. It was only a couple years ago I was held up in this room. Thinking I had nowhere out.
“Where’d you find this?” I smile.
Gabe looks behind me at my bed. “Under there. I swear, I just saw the corner peaking out. I knew right away what it was. A comic nerd like myself, I had to check it out.” He laughs.
I nod my head, following where he said.
Curious to see what else I have under there, I make my way over, looking under my box spring.
Other than a few dust bunnies and old pairs of socks, there really isn’t anything under here. Nothing worth keeping. Just like this old house.
I don’t care if it burns down tomorrow. It can take my dad down with it, if it could—
Suddenly, something catches my attention.
A little white piece of paper, flat on the wooden floor, calls out to me. I slip my hand under, and reach with all my might.
“You need help? My arms are a little smaller than yours.” Gabe laughs, tapping me on the back.
“Yeah, okay.” I sigh, slipping out. “I want that little piece of paper.”
Gabe gets to work, sliding his arm under the bed and sure enough, he’s right. Without all my muscle, he’s a lot slimmer than me so he grabs hold of it easily.
“Aw, is this you and Elijah?” He smiles down at what he found.
I see now that it’s a picture. Taking it from his hand, my heart swells as soon as I see what’s printed on it.
It was an old picture of Elijah and I. His lips pressed against my cheek as I laughed. I look so happy in the photo. Young and unknowingly in love. Right before high school when he was my whole world. The only peace in this unforgiving house.
“You thought you lost it?” Gabe asks.
I nod my head, trying to keep the tears at bay. “I thought my dad ripped it up along with the others. Must’ve missed this one.”
Gabe’s eyes widen. “Oh…shit. I’m sorry.”
I shake my head. “No, this is good. Really good.” I stuff the picture in my pocket. I’ll cherish it forever.
“You guys looked really happy.” Gabe smiles, following me out of the room.
“We were.” I answer, remembering all the memories that came after it. Even after everything, he remained everything to me. “Anyways, I got what I needed. Now let’s get out of here. ”
“I’m guessing this isn’t your favorite place to be,” he says behind me as we make our way down the staircase.
I smile softly, opening the door and leaving this toxic place behind. “My favorite place is on his way back to me as we speak.”