A Slave to Broken Hearts (A Slave to Love Sequel)

Chapter 42: Sweet in Theory

"How about this?" Mick said, holding up a sample of vivid red tones.

"Pass. My room back home was red and it's a bit too aggressive for me now," I said, eyes scanning the wall of paint samples.

To say it was overwhelming would be an understatement. We had been at the hardware store for almost thirty minutes already and I was lost in a sea of different colors and so many similar looking shades that it was frustrating; there were too many choices and I was beginning to regret undertaking this painting project when I was the furthest thing from a room designer.

Even as a kid playing The Sims, decorating the houses wasn't nearly as fun as causing havoc with my Sims was, at least for the three days I played nonstop before I abandoned the game for six months, only to binge it again and dump it and repeat the cycle endlessly. I always cheated to get the biggest house and then furnished it with the bare minimum required which left ninety per cent of the house empty like a mausoleum--which was fitting given how many times Sims died while I played--therefore I was woefully unprepared for the real life version of it.

"You said blues or greens, right?" Katie said, drawing me closer to that section again where she had a handful of samples spread in her hands like trading cards. I'd gone up and down the paint sample section, too overwhelmed by the wide range to really focus on any one color or what I wanted to do anymore so Katie and Mick were the ones doing most of the actual looking.

"Hey, that's the color of your eyes, Katie," Mick said, touching a fingertip with chipped black nail polish to one very pretty shade of light olive green. 

"That's a pretty nice color actually," I said, taking the card. It wasn't too bright to be obnoxiously cheerful or hard on the eyes, and it wasn't too dark or dull to be muddy and depressing and swamp-like, but rather toed the line of a warm tinted green that was sure to look quite beautiful when the sun flooded my room.

"Do we have a winner?" Mick asked, sifting through the color cards Katie had selected. "As much fun as this is for me and Katie, you seem like you're less than happy to be here."

Katie and Mick had spent quite a while imagining different rooms that would go with different colors, down to trim and furnishings, all while I stood there at a loss. They had already picked out various color schemes for all the rooms in all their future houses and the houses of our friends and I was still stuck on choosing one simple paint color for my bedroom. 

I peeked over at the ones he was looking at, and they were all pretty good which was unsurprising since Katie had a pretty good eye for this, but had to admit, the one that matched her eyes was doing it for me. And I was really not looking forward to staring at a bunch of very similar colors all day.

"Yup. It's perfect," I said, clutching the sample. They cheered. 

"Katie you should take that as the highest compliment; she thinks your eyes are so beautiful she wants to stare at them all day and night,"  Mick said, squeezing her around the shoulders. 

"I think she's more tired of staring at paint samples than anything else," she said, replacing the ones she had in her hand. "Shall we get the paint already? Noah said he has everything else to paint at home, leftovers from doing my room and his parents house that they're not using, and he'll bring them by tomorrow."

"Um..." I stared down at the sample, a flicker of panic lighting inside me. It was just paint, but it felt so...permanent. It felt like giving up...only it wasn't really, because giving up implied I had something to fight for and I didn't. It was letting go. 

"Kiana?" she prodded. 

"Yeah. Yes. Let's get it," I said, pushing my lips to form a smile. I had to start somewhere after all and I knew if I didn't start now, I'd only lose my nerve and keep putting it off.

She looped her arm through mine, Mick doing the same on my other side, and we headed for the counter to get it mixed. Katie and Mick kept up a steady stream of conversation up until we were about to head out and I spotted a stand of planters by the cash register; some 'grow your own herbs and spices' type packs. 

One benefit to Blade's greenhouse had been the steady supply of fresh fruits, vegetables, herbs and spices, and while I definitely didn't know jack shit about plant care, maybe I could try one of these starter packs and get fresh basil for cooking. It came with instructions plus I had spent all that time in the greenhouse with Blade so if I couldn't keep this one measly plant alive then clearly I hadn't been paying that much attention. 

Which, to be fair, I was pretty distracted when we hung out there together, but still.

Mick raised an eyebrow at me when I grabbed one. 

"Since when do you have a green thumb?" he asked. 

"It can't hurt to try," I said, "What's wrong with growing fresh spices? And a cute plant might brighten up my room too."

"It might not hurt you, but it'll kill them. You know they need like...water and sun and care right?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, one hand on my hip, planter in the other. 

"Nothing, just...you're very busy, that's all," he said, grinning bright as he swung he paint can around. "And you're like the last person I pictured taking care of plants."

"How hard can it be? It's even got instructions, look," I said, showing him the package. "If I can follow a recipe, I can follow this."

"Whatever you say, cutie," Mick said, strolling off ahead with a laugh. 

"Ignore him," Katie said, following him to the register. "He's just bitter because he's never been able to keep a plant alive. Or even a goldfish."

"Mazey's lasted this long, hasn't she? I'd say she's more high maintenance than a plant," I replied, our conversation hitting pause as I paid for the two items, then we continued outside to the bus stop. 

"A plant wont sit on your face screaming at 3 am because it's thirsty," Mick pointed out. "Mazey might be more work, but she demands any attention she lacks, or thinks she lacks. Plants will quietly pass away without you even realizing. You should just set it free in the wild, let it have a real chance at life."

"I am going to keep this plant alive so long it'll outlive you."

"I'll take that bet, cutie," Mick said, not believing me for a minute. "Guaranteed, it'll be dead by fall. Assuming you can even grow it from a seed at all."

"Poor basil is caught in the middle of a crossfire and it isn't even born yet," Katie said with a sigh as we took a seat on the bus bench.

"We'll keep the fighting to a minimum so basil will grow up to only see healthy relationships," I promised. 

"Oh yes, we wouldn't want the poor defenseless plant to pick up any bad habits," Mick said. 

"No, we wouldn't. So bets about his survival rate will be our little secret."

"Just add to the list," he said. "Is Ace going to join us at the park?" A pause. "Or Lexi?" he added, as an after thought.

"Nice save," I said and he grinned sheepishly. "And no, they're both busy."

In truth, I hadn't bothered to ask. It was a blindingly sunny day even though there was a nice breeze to keep it from being too hot and I knew it wouldn't be comfortable for either of them to sit outside for any length of time. Sure, they wouldn't spontaneously combust and it would take some time before it really made them ill, but I wasn't about to bother. Besides, it gave me time to hang out with my human friends, get some sun, and have a normal day for once.

We chatted amongst ourselves till the bus came and took it back to our apartment to drop the paint and planter off, say 'hi' to Mazey and give her scratches and pets, then grab some water bottles and snackage before heading off to the park to meet the others.

There were already some families by the jungle gym area, kids screaming and laughing and crying while the parents stood around in clusters, watching them  anxiously or completely ignoring them in favor of some much needed grown-up conversation. A few younger groups of people were stretched across the field, either playing frisbee or kicking a ball around or having picnics in the grass. Everyone was enjoying the beautiful summer weekend.

As soon as Mick spotted our group on the side of the field near the chain link fence, he took off running to meet them while Katie and I ambled more slowly, content to get there in our own time.

"So...who was that Todd guy?" I asked Katie while Mick was off ahead. I had meant to ask her after we finished up the laundry, since I couldn't ask while he was standing there talking to us and doing his own laundry, then promptly forgot. But her blushing on his arrival had been interesting and she seemed shyer than usual around him while we chatted, so something was up for sure.