Bring Me Back to You

VII

Pj's POV:

"... guide you through the darkest of your days.
If a great wave shall fall, and fall upon us all, well then I hope there's someone out there who can bring me back to you.
If I could, then I would, I'll go wherever you will go..."

The music blasts through my headphones, trying to provide a comforting thought to me, but it doesn't. That was the friendship that I though Chris and I had. But I guess not, I gave up on him.

"To guide you through the darkest of your days." I didn't do that, I sent him away, to a stupid rehab center, and now there's no way for us to even see each other. Or to "bring me to back to you..."

These words to me are like knives cutting through my chest, killing me slowly. Quickly, I pull the earbuds out of my ears and slam them down, along with my phone, on the nightstand next to me. And then I let my thoughts go wild.

Why did I give up on my best friend? He was sick, something was wrong with him. I could have helped him myself, but instead I ruined everything. I'm sorry, Chris. I regret it. You should have just told me how you were feeling....

God, I'm talking about him like he's dead. He's not dead, I just am not allowed to see or talk to him... What if he does die while he's there? I've read all of those horror stories about drug addicts weakening immune systems as they start their detox. They can catch a simple cold and die. But he's in a rehab center, a hospital. They wouldn't let that happen, right?

But if somehow it did, would they even notify me? I wouldn't just have to spend my whole life wondering how he's doing to no avail, right?

Suddenly, the air starts to thin. I can feel it as I struggle breathe, and moving around gets harder too. Soon, I'm frozen, not even breathing.

That's when a strong pair of arms wraps around me. I don't even look back to see who it is.

"It's okay, Peej. You're having a panic attack. Just breathe," The voice whispers, trying to sooth me. That voice. I would know it anywhere. Chris. I don't say anything, ask questions, turn around or anything. Just focus on my breathing. Slow and steady, in, out, in, out. He rubs calming circles in my back until the air starts to circulate back into the room, and then he's gone.

I collapse down on my bed, from the sitting position I was in, and slowly fall into a restless sleep.

••

I wake up at around 11:30 to three missed calls. My heart skips a beat, who would call me this early on a Saturday? I look at the numbers, and don't recognize any of them. That's strange. They all left voicemails, so I decide to listen to them.

The first one says this:

"Hi, Pj. My name is Jack Trenton, and I need an apartment. I saw your ad in the paper this morning and was wondering if I could come look," The guy says. He then leaves his number and asks me to call him back ASAP. So I do.

"Hello?" A guy says, most likely Jack.

"Hi, this is Pj Liguori, you called about renting a room in my apartment?" I ask.

"Yeah... I think I already found another place, but if your place is cheaper, that would be cool," He says.

"Well, how much can you offer?" I ask him.

"Couple hundred pounds?" He suggests. I almost laugh.

"Rent here is £2000 per month." Silence on the other line, other than his breathing.

"...Thanks anyways, dude." And then he hung up. So far, this is just great.

I play the next message and a guy with a deep accent says, "Hey, dude. My name's Jess Higgots. I just graduated from college and I'm looking for an apartment. I have a full time job and can afford... Maybe about £1,000 a month, maybe a bit more, depending on how much you need. Um... Call me back if you get a chance. Thanks. Bye," He says. That sounds friendly enough. A recent college graduate that can pay half of the rent. Immediately, I call him back.

"Hey, Jess. This is Pj, the owner of the flat you called about. You still interested?" He gasps.

"Yeah, definitely.  I didn't expect you to call back so soon. Do you have an address and time or something we can plan?" He asks me.

"Yeah. Would you be able to come over in an hour?" I ask him. 

"Uh.. Sure," He says. Must have had to check the time.

"Address?" I give it to him, he writes it down, and we say our goodbyes. Now for the last caller. It's a girl.

"Hi, Pj. My name is Sophie Newton. I just broke up with my boyfriend last week, and he kicked me out of the apartment that the two of us shared... I've been with my parents all of this week, but I can't stay there much longer. I need a place. I have a full time job, so I could pay whatever you need me to, I just don't like living alone... So I decided to call you. If you want to call me back that would be great. I'm open any time for an interview," She says. Begrudgingly, unsure of if I want a female roommate, I click the call back button for her.

"Hi, Sophie? This is Pj Liguori. You called about the room in my flat?" I ask as soon as she answers.

"Oh, Pj! Great to hear from you," She says, as if we've known each other for years.

"Yeah... Do you want to come over in a few hours to look at the room, and so I can ask you a few questions?" I ask her.

"I would love to. What time?" She asks me. I look over at the clock, 12:00, Jess would be here in a little while, less than an hour.

"Is 4:00 alright?" I ask.

"4? Sure. What's your address?" She asks. I give it to her, and I can hear the cheerful smile in her voice as she says, "Great! I'll see you soon," and hangs up.

Quickly, I run around the apartment tidying up, my room and the living room surprisingly looks pretty good.

But as soon as I get to Chris's old room, I notice how messy it is. Some things that he left behind are scattered on the floor, his bed is unmade. Suddenly, I hear the doorbell ring, so I quickly kick the things into the closet and pull the comforter up nicely, not even having the chance to look around at my old friends room. Not having a chance to picture what it looked like while he was in there. Not even having a chance to....

And then the doorbell rings again. I run to get it, hoping that Jess is nice, and that we'll be even close to as good of friends as Chris and I were.