The Beauty of One

Chapter 8

I woke up to my alarm and did my usual morning stuff. Once I was ready i headed out the door to work.

Once I stepped outside I began walking to the staircase but was stopped when I saw someone with their head between their hands, sitting in front of my next door neighbor's door. Which for some reason i had forgotten was the blonde chick's apartment. I tried remembering her name but was distraught again by the sight of...him.

I sit down next to him and tap his shoulder
He looks up, His eyes are red and his hair is matted onto his forehead. And I realize who it is. It's Tony.
I furrow my brows and begin to speak to him,
"Hey, what's wrong?"
Part of me was convinced he was drunk but another part of me felt sympathy towards him. The guilt would eat me alive if I were to just walk right by him without a single glance in his direction.

He opens his mouth to speak but instead lets out a sob. "Emma I.." He finally begins saying.
I felt my ears get warm. He remembered my name.

"Emma, Jasmine, she...she fucking cheated on me"
he chokes out and continues sobbing.

I feel guilt rise up my throat as I recall the nickname I had given him before.

My heart began to ache at the sight of the tears spilling down his cheeks.
I wasn't shocked at the news. Jasmine seemed like the type to do such a thing.
I was more shocked Seeing such a tough looking guy like Tony cry.

He continues speaking,
"I walked in last night and he was in the bed with her. He had his arms wrapped around her. Her hands were tangled in his hair..." He drops his head into his hands again and I can't help but feel for him.

"Tony, I'm so sorry" I had no idea what to say. My mind went blank.

"Give me a minute" I say as I get up and pull out my phone to text Alex.

* I'll be getting there a little late. Sorry for the inconvenience ): *

I lock my phone and start to speak again
"Hey Tony...do you want to umm...walk around? To get your mind off of things?"

He looks up and his big brown reddened eyes meet mine. He nods and begins to stand.

-------------------------

His laughter fills my ears and I can't remember the last time that I've heard such a lovely sound.

I can't help but notice at the way he throws his head down and squeezes his eyes when he laughs.

We've been walking around downtown for an hour and the thought of work had escaped my mind.

We had left the apartments and he wouldn't even speak.
I was never one to have a way with words so I decided that I could try to make him feel better by telling him a list of corny jokes that I had gathered from Jennifer at one point.

He laughed at my terrible jokes and seeing him laugh made me smile.
It even made me consider taking the whole "asshole" thing  back.

"So where do you work?"
Was the question he asked me that brought me back and made me remember that I had a job at the CD store with Alex and I was one hour late.

We ran to the CD store laughing at the thought of how stupid we probably looked.

I stepped inside and my eyes went to Alex who was standing by the cash register and talking on the phone.

I gave him an apologetic look and I heard Tony step behind me.
He was gazing around the store and he seemed intrigued by every detail inside.

Alex hung up the phone and walked towards me
"You're late! What happened?"
He asked with a worried look, then he looked up and noticed Tony, who was way taller and much more intimidating when compared to him.

I quickly came up with an excuse
"I'm sorry Alex, umm, well, I was walking around downtown showing my um..." -I think for a minute trying to come up with a word to describe Tony- "...my Friend around, and I guess I lost track of time"

He nods and gives me a small smile.

He forgets that Tony is still here but He quickly changes the subject and begins to tell me,
"So a new stock of CDs arrived. So more music! And We also got a new box of Vinyls so i'm excited. Hopefully they sell better than last time"

Tony is awkwardly standing there and whispers to me "I think I should get going. I don't want you to get in trouble"

It's obvious that Alex heard him because he
turns to Tony and He quickly introduces himself  "Oh sorry, I didn't even introduce myself, I'm Alex, Emma's manager."

Tony gives him a nod and a shy smile and introduces himself with a simple "Tony" while waving his hand.

I don't want Tony to leave. I don't know where he'll go or what he will do and I wouldn't want him to return to his previous state in which I found him in, in the hallway.

He had told me earlier that he lived with a roommate in the outer part of downtown.

I tell Tony to wait by the door while I go talk to Alex. He seemed hesitant at first but he agrees.

"So who's your friend?"
Alex says with a slight smirk.
"He's just a friend, but nevermind that" I try to quickly change the subject. "We need to pass out fliers to promote our shop so I was wondering if Tony could come with me... More fliers will get passed out, and we'll finish faster"
He looks at me for a bit and then stares at Tony who is still awkwardly standing there.
"Fine Emma, but I can't pay him."

I thank him and tell him not to worry about that and I grab some stacks of fliers.

I do a little job towards Tony and I hand him a small stack and smile up at him, "let's go!"

Author's note: Jesus it's been 3 years hahahaha, sorry guys !!!!! I forgot about this story but I'll try to continue it (-: