Heavy Heart

Chapter 11

Jackie was already in one of the spare bedrooms of her mom's house packing up the knick-knacks and fabrics by the time I got there. Her mom was watching T.V. in the living room. I found my way to Jackie and announced my arrival.

"Did you bring the Javex?" she asked. I nodded and showed her the grocery bag. We didn't chat much, she put me straight to work in the basement. I was sent to pack up her mom's sewing room. There were already a bunch of collapsed banker's boxes against the wall. Jackie said her mom couldn't sew anymore, it was too difficult for her hands and her mind so everything had to go. I opened a large floor length closet to find piles and piles of fabric folded neatly. It looked like thousands of dollars worth of material in one space.

The sewing room took me about two hours to completely pack up before I even got to the cleaning part. Jackie came down to check my progress, she brought me a cold beer for my efforts. She looked around the room and smiled, "Great work, Layla. I wish I could just hire you." I chuckled and shook my head.

We sat down on the carpet and drank our beers. Jackie was thrilled she had finally talked her mom into moving in with her, "It will be so much easier. We can sell this house and that will give us a nice cushion for her care." I nodded in agreement.

"So, how was the bar last night? I wish I could have gone." she asked. I shrugged, "It was alright. We drank way too much. Lisa got us Blowjob shots, so that was a hoot." We laughed out loud and sipped our beers.

Jackie looked at me with serious eyes, "So, Hannah texted me this morning..." I rolled my eyes, "Don't start, Jackie. I don't want to hear it." She sighed and nodded. Jackie knew me better than anyone. She knew I didn't want a relationship and she was fully aware of my desire to keep a distance from Zack. She'd been there every single time I cried from the bullying. Jackie knew all about my casual relationships since highschool, that I didn't let guys get too close to me. She never judged me.

"I remember Zack. He was a jerk to you in highschool." she muttered. I nodded, "Yeah he was. He's matured though." Jackie smiled at me, "Well that's good. Do you think he's mature enough to handle a casual hook-up situation?" I shrugged, "He didn't take it very well this morning when I told him we weren't starting something. I'm not sure honestly."

She nodded and took another sip of her beer, "Hey at least you are getting some. I haven't been with anyone in over two years. I'm starting to find the old guy in the meat department sexy. I think he's got to be sixty-five." I laughed along with Jackie. I smiled and suggested, "Well you could try a dating app. You might get lucky." She shook her head, "No, not right now. I'm not in a place where dating is really an option. Maybe someday."

I left shortly after we finished our beer. My body was sore from the packing and cleaning, I decided I wanted to take a bath when I got home. Mr. Fuzz was sitting in the window waiting for me as I pulled into the driveway. I ate a quick meal of microwave ravioli and filled up my bathtub with scented bubbles. I let a couple candles and let myself float away. I was almost in a complete state of zen when my phone went off. I chose to ignore it and let the bubbles do the heavy lifting.

Before I went to bed I checked my phone. It was a text from Sarah inviting me out that night to the bar. I didn't bother replying, I had no interest in going out two nights in a row. I crawled into bed and let the softness of my pillow take me away to dreamland, while I tried to ignore the delicious smell of Zack's shampoo on my pillows.