Ocean State of Mind

Finally Gone

It's weird.

One day you think you're in the picture-perfect relationship, not knowing how you could ever live without the one person who was always by your side, and then in the blink of a second- it's gone.

And yet, somehow, I've never been more relieved.  I've never felt so at peace.

I opened my eyes and squinted at the bright sun peaking through the shades, groaning the minute I remembered why I hadn't woken up in the comfort of my own bed. I figured the breakup was gonna be nasty, but never in a million years did I think Ej was capable of being physical. Especially with me. I shook my head and walked into the guest bathroom and combed out my hair before putting it a messy bun. I walked back into the guest bedroom to grab my phone and realized my shift started 30 minutes ago.

"Oh shit! Nononono!" I exclaimed, running down the stairs, gracefully missing the last step and face planting on the floor. Smooth one, Sal-Robs. "Nini?!" Ricky yelled running over to me. "Ricky! Um, hey!" I said, getting up, trying to play off the fact that I just gave the floor a high five with my face. "You okay? I mean, I know you're clumsy so you should be used to it and all..." the man joked as I whacked his arm. "Hey now! I was the one who got in a fight with your ex-boyfriend! I think I've been hit enough!" He said.

"Oh my god, Ricky I'm so sorry! Are you okay? I mean, I didn't mean to hit you that hard and-" I rambled before Ricky cut me off. "I was kidding, Neens. Don't worry! Here, I made you some breakfast!" He told me, walking back towards the kitchen. I knit my eyebrows but followed him anyways even though I really needed to get to work. Maybe if I told Lynne I was with Ricky, she'd cut me some slack. I gasped when we entered the small kitchen. On the table was a full pitcher of coffee along with some pancakes that looked and smelled amazing. There were also fruits and different things to top the pancakes with. "Ricky-" I began, suddenly speechless, "this is- you really didn't have to do all of this, and I'm already so late for work..." I said, sitting down and pointing to the clock which, now read 9am. "I know I didn't have to, but that doesn't mean that I didn't want to. Don't even worry about it. Also, forget about work. Gina came at seven saying you were fast asleep and my mom said it would be fine for you to take a day off because of what you went through. I didn't want you to wake up to a an empty house, so I came over." Ricky said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Thanks, Ricky." I smiled softly before we dug in. I was worried that things would be awkward because of what happened, but we talked like we normally do, which was a breath of fresh air.

The conversation eventually lulled though, and I could see on his face that he wanted to talk about the elephant in the room- even if he wasn't gonna be the one to bring it up.

So I sighed.

"What?" Ricky asked.

"Just ask." I said.

"Ask what?" He said, confused. I rolled my eyes and cleared my throat. "What my plans are. Go ahead and ask." I said. Ricky glanced around the kitchen before eventually sighing.

"Are you, um... are you going back to the house?" He questioned, softly. "I don't really have a choice." I said, eating a piece of pancake. "Right, but what if Ej is still there? Or worse, what if he shows up when you're there?" He asked me. "Truthfully, he's so focused on work that I doubt he'll show up and if he does then I'll deal with him. I spent six years of my life with him. I have to face him at some point." I said, clearing our dishes. As I walked over to the sink, Ricky followed. "You shouldn't have to deal with him, though. At least not by yourself. Let me come with you." He said. "You don't have to do that. I don't want you to miss your lessons." I said.

"You know I can always cancel those!" Ricky told me as we finished drying the dishes. "Oh, you have a little something..." I said to Ricky, pointing to my cheek so he could see where I was talking about. He started rubbing his cheek and looked at me with furrowed eyebrows when he didn't feel anything on his face. "What? Where?" He asked. I smirked and sprayed him with the sink hose. "Oh, you are so going to pay for that, Sal-Robs!" He exclaimed trying to grab me, but I laughed and ran out the back door. "You'll never catch me!" I called out as I ran along the side of the Gina and Red's pool.