I Have Been Chosen

Cody 3

Friday 9th January

Whilst they were waiting to be served, Cody noticed the occasional glances Darren gave him. Finally, Cody let out a long sigh. "What is it?"

"You sure you don't want to switch to another setlist?" asked Darren. "To something less... stressing on your voice?"

"I've been doing this for how long now?" Cody raised an eyebrow. "And you think my voice can't-"

"I think you're pushing yourself a bit more because of the... topic."

"We made that setlist for a reason, which was to release some pent-up emotions-"

"And that's what I'm worried about."

Cody looked away from his friend, chewing the inside of his cheek. "I'm doing fine."

"You're destroying your voice back there. Good thing we have a backup singer."

"And I won't push myself in the second half."

Darren rolled his eyes. "Have you given yourself some time, or have you just been constantly working and fucking?"

Cody stiffened. "Yeah, I've-"

Darren glared at him, and Cody shrunk away.

"Have you had a day off, or have you just been picking up extra shifts to tire yourself out?" Darren pressed.

Cody bit his lip guiltily.

"And have you been fucking a random stranger every night?" Darren asked.

"Not every night, thank you! There is nothing wrong with-"

"It makes you codependent, Cody!" Darren motioned over to Cody's phone. "Give me. I'm deleting all those hookup apps-"

"They're dating apps-"

"Not the way you're using them."

Reluctantly, Cody handed his phone over, watching as Darren deleted them, though he supposed he could easily install them again and continue his whoring.

"You're going to spend one month to be just by yourself, okay?" said Darren like he was a strict school teacher. "You're going to go through this breakup maturely, not in the sluttish self-destructive way you usually do, okay?"

Cody scowled at him, snatching back his phone.

"You want a serious relationship, right?" asked Darren, though his voice was softer this time.

Cody glanced at the ground, nodding slightly.

"Then you need patience and to stop throwing yourself at the first person you find." Darren sighed. "You can reinstall those 'dating' apps after a month, and you're only going to sleep with someone after ten dates-"

"Ten!" Cody shook his head in disbelief. Wasn't the rule three dates?

"Yes, ten," Darren said slowly. "You want a serious relationship; you'll know that the other person wants it to be serious if they're still interested after ten dates."

"Sounds impossible."

"Hey, Sasha and I only slept together for the first time after half a year."

Cody made a repulsed expression.

Darren put a hand on Cody's shoulder. "You promise?"

"I think you're just slutshaming me. There's nothing wrong with casual sex."

"No, I agree," said Darren. "But it only works if both people feel the same way, and that's where you and Colene didn't work because that long-term friends-with-benefits relationship you had got complicated for you because you wanted it to turn into a serious relationship. So, if you want a serious relationship, start it as one and not hope a fuck buddy turns into one."

Cody remained silent. He glanced at the phone at habit, expecting when his phone lit up that it was a message from a match, but it was just a spam email. He imagined having to spend tonight in an empty bed and then the next day and the next—a whole month on a cold mattress with just him in it. Cody was tempted to redownload the dating app right now in front of Darren, risking his wrath, but he maintained control and put his phone away as a bartender took his order.

With drinks in hand, Cody exited the door whilst effortlessly juggling the three glasses, a skill he had learned from his bartending days before he got his chef job. He spotted Kara and... what was the guy's name again? Oliver? The two were sitting on a bench overlooking the river.

"Got your drinks," he chimed, then frowned as he saw cigarettes in their hands. "Since when did you smoke, Kara?"

"I only smoke with Oliver," Kara answered, shrugging, then she cooed at Oliver, "you're a bad influence."

"The worst," said Oliver after taking a long drag from his cig, a slow jet of smoke billowing out of his mouth.

"Well, here's your whiskey and apple juice," said Cody handing over the glass to Kara and then giving a glass to Oliver. "And your lime and soda. Gotta say that's the cheapest drink I've ever had to buy someone; it's only 50 pence."

Oliver gave a nod of appreciation as he took the glass. "Thanks."

"You could have gotten something a bit more exciting," said Kara. "Even if you don't want to drink, it's how you wanted to be paid, remember?"

Oliver shrugged. "I wanted to see you perform anyway. Better than just sitting there alone for two hours."

"You could hang out with Zeke and his friends," Cody suggested. "Well, I'm going back inside where it isn't so bloody cold. Cheers!" He raised his drink and clinked his beer with Kara and Oliver. "Be back on in fifteen."

Cody left the two alone, not wanting to intrude on their conversation for too long, and he was still huffy about Oliver wasting so much time taping bloody cables that they started late, not to mention the comment about arriving earlier, was that a jab at him for arriving late? In reality, Cody wasn't truly mad at it, but it brought back the fear of something else in life that he cared about disappearing. Colene had left him, and now Cody had little apart from his job and band. Of course, being a few minutes late in playing wouldn't cause his band not to be hired again, especially not in this pub as he used to work here with the general manager, yet any mistake or setback unsettled Cody. What Oliver did, whilst mildly annoying, was with good intentions, and Cody, at this moment, just needed something to blame for this feeling of fear of losing something, someone to blame. The best thing to do was to avoid Oliver whilst he was in this mood in case he said something unjustified. So, Cody returned inside, regaining his usual chirpy demeanour as he joined Zeke and Rheanna and was approached by a few customers, complementing his performance and asking for song requests.

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Patience by Guns N' Roses

Cody can't whistle, even with Darren trying to teach him. So Darren does the whistling at the start of the song, as much as he dislikes too much attention on him.