Meant to Be

Chapter 1 - One Sad, Lonely, and Gay Man

September 18th, 2019

The time is 7:23 AM. The glimmer of the morning light peaks its way through the curtain of the shoe box apartment, and nails Angelo directly in the eye, which causes him to stir. He laid there in nothing but his plaid pajama pants and slim fitted white tee shirt. Opening his eyes, only slowly as to keep his retina intact, he looks around at his mess of a room. Along the wall to his left, is his dresser he bought at a flea market near his hometown, with ornate drawer handles and water stains. It is littered with an assortment of items, from old bills to a succulent planted in a jam jar. Across his bed, is an empty beige wall, which once housed a mirror, but was sadly broken due to the blaring of metal music and stomping on the floor from the upstairs neighbors, the Cunningham's or as they like to call themselves "The Lord and Lady of Darkness". They were a strange couple. Both never seemed to outgrow their emo-twenty-one-pilots phase from high school, usually dressed in all black attire, with heavy eyeshadow and eyeliner. He is more or less pleasant with them, only out of sheer fear that they might shave his head while he sleeps.

To the right of his bed is the window, which has a glorious view of the newly built apartment building. It was somewhat of a nuisance and an annoyance to Angelo. Before that, it was only a basketball court lined with fencing, with a wide view of the park situated near his building. He would look out and find a most spectacular view of the lively park and the cityscape behind it. Now all he gets to look at is shiny glass and concrete. The worst part is that the building has been practically vacant for almost three months now because the rent prices are astronomically high. He decides to stuff his hatred for the building in and start his day. Groggily, he rises from the bed and shuffles his way through the clothes that clutter his floor in mountains, towards the kitchen where hushed voices can be heard.

"Babe, I don't know why you won't believe me" Phoebe says sitting at the small oval table they had also purchased at the flea market. "I swear that rat was the size of a football"

"Well I for one don't buy it" replies Ashlyn, scrambling eggs and frying bacon at the stove. "It was probably a raccoon or just a really fat squirrel".

The bickering couple had still not noticed his presence in the doorway.

"Now Ashlyn we've seen plenty of big rats in our day" Angelo chimes in.

"Thank you!" Phoebe exclaims out of spite, "See? Angelo believes me!"

Ignoring her celebratory girlfriend's I told you so eyes, Ashlyn turns her attention to Angelo who is barely keeping his eyes open.

"Sleep alright last night?' she asked in her motherly tone. He has always had sleeping problems, ever since he was a hormonal angsty teen. The insomnia set in at about fifteen years old and has carried into his adult years. For the Cunningham's it's their emo-ness, for Angelo it's insomnia.

"What do you think?" he asks half-heartedly

She gives him that look. The look people give you when they want to act like they feel bad but actually don't give a shit.

"Awww, I'm sorry sweetheart" she replies stifling a laugh. He ignores her antics and heads to the coffee pot to pour himself the necessary caffeine to make it through the day. With coffee in his thrift store mug with Winnie the Pooh painted on the side of it, he trudges back to his hidey-hole of a bedroom to prepare himself for the day.

__________

The time is 8:17 AM. When Angelo returns to the kitchen-living room combo, he is dressed in his traditional navy blue scrubs with his hospital issued name badge pinned right above his heart. His shoes are fitted with a Sketcher's memory foam insert for "maximum comfort". Ashlyn is waiting on their living room couch, dressed the same as Angelo, looking awake and ready to face the day.