How To Stop Smoking

To stop me smoking, or whatever

Chapter Nineteen

Rob

A month later, Olympia and I are sat watching TV in her living room, I sit in the middle of the sofa as she has her legs over my lap. Olympia flicks uninterestedly through a book for biology revision and sighs.

"I can't believe we've been doing this smoking thing for just over four months."

I agree half-heartedly but something in what she's said stands out, "four months, really?"

Olympia nods, "Yeah can you believe it?"

"No." I tell her, and I can't believe it, four months means we only have two months left together. Two more months of our little agreement, and I haven't smoked since that slip up in the first week.

"You know," I begin, catching Olympia's attention, "you have yet to prove to me that love can be addictive."

Olympia snorts, "I'd forgotten all about it quite frankly, and I don't know how to prove it, you'll have to just fall in love, then you'll see."

"Can you at least describe to me how it can be addictive, you've been in love right?"

She visibly swallows and puts her book down next to her, "I guess I loved Chris, but I don't know if it counts as 'in love' when the other person doesn't feel the same."

I shrugged, "Well I have zero experience of this whole 'love' thing, you're the only relationship I've ever had, and it's not even real."

"Well my grandma used to tell me that you knew you were in love when you looked at someone and saw their flaws but it didn't change how you felt about them, you could see them at their best and their worst, and you missed them as soon as they left, that's why it's an addiction." 

After her speech Olympia picked up her book again, the pages were full of very odd looking diagrams and long words, I turn to watch the TV again. After another half an hour of watching Big Bang Theory, I remember what I was supposed to be asking Olympia when I came over.

"Are you doing anything Friday night?"

Olympia looks up from her book briefly and shrugs, "Don't think so, you want to do something?"

"It's my mum's birthday, we're having a party."

Olympia closes her book, "Oh cool, what did you get her?"

I shrug, "I haven't got her anything yet, I'll probably get her some flowers."

Olympia raised an eyebrow at me, giving me the look that I knew meant she wasn't impressed, "You're going to buy flowers for the birthday of the woman who raised you? Just flowers?"

"What's wrong with flowers? All women like flowers!" I justify, my mum's been perfectly content with flowers every other year.

Olympia groaned and shook her head, "You need to get her something more personal, something from the heart."

I shot her an incredulous look, "From the heart? Really?"

Olympia nodded, "Yeah, you could like, make her something."

"Or I could like, buy her flowers." I imitated and she slapped my arm.

"I'm serious, have you ever bought her anything other than flowers?"

I considered it, "I bought her a vase once, you know for her flowers," Olympia rolled her eyes, "but then me and Joey broke it playing football in the house."