Sleeping Positions

Prolouge

     There they lay on their bed: side by side, staring at the ceiling, surrounded by silence. They did not talk. They did not dare fall asleep. They did not fall asleep for in fear that the other would get up from the confines of their bed and leave. For him, it was the fear that she would disappear at any moment. For her, she simply could not trust him. In an outside point of view, the couple seemed dead. With their bodies locked in place and eyes unblinking, the only tell that they were alive was the rhythm of their steady breathing. 

    Their bodies sets with the the sun as their mind prepares to enter a differnt world. It's been a couple of months, six months to be exact, that their sleeping positions have been like that for every night. The clock kept ticking, tocking, and ticking. Each hour went by slowly, as if time decided to become a sadist and inflict pain with every stroke of the hand. With each second passing by, the couple remained still and accepted the beating. It was their fate. When they felt sleep creeping up towards them, the images of the past would relay on the back of their eye lids. It was torture and there was only one thing that could put them out of it. 

     And just like that, the alarm clock finally erupted to end their trance.  

     "Good morning Sophia," he said to her.  

     The woman finally moved and turned her head towards him. "Morning Chase," she whispered softly to him.  

     With a sigh, the two of them got up from their spots and stretched for a bit. Sophia quickly escaped to the comfort of their en-suite bathroom, but Chase had to run down the hall to use the other washroom.  

     Leaning on the bathroom door, Sophia rested her eyes for a few minutes. She didn't know how much more she could take. For heaven's sake, they couldn't even share a bathroom together. It wasn't always this tense between them, but she couldn't remember the time where things such as sharing a morning shower together was normal.  

     After an hour, the sweet yet bitter scent of coffee wafted through the air. Sophia followed the smell and sat down across Chase. After several cups of joe, they were ready to start of the day. The two consumed coffee as much as they breath. It was the only thing that got them going the day and through their sleepless nights.  

   Glancing at the time, they realized that it was now time for them to get to work. Every single weekday it was Chase's job to drive to work. The woman refused to drive. She didn't have any choice but to hitch a ride with her... boyfriend. The only reason why he agreed to this arrangement? His rationalizing thoughts of going green and sparing the air.  

     On the way there the radio blasting through the speakers happened to be the only source of noise between them. Gladly for the two of them, the trip to the flower store was short. Once Chase pulled up to the front, Sophia leaned over to lightly peck his cheek. In response he nodded and grunted. With a sigh, Sophia opened the door and slid out of the car. She barely closed the door when he stepped on the gas pedal, leaving her there standing with a solemn look on her face. 

     The moment she stepped through the green door of her shop, Sophia relaxed her shoulders and plastered on a small smile. This was her haven. Her baby. She invested all her money and time to this store with her best friend. Everything about this boutique put her at ease. The aroma of the flowers instantly brightened up her mood and she happily welcomed them with open arms.  

     Walking to the backside of the shop, Sophia decided to visit her small garden of flowers. Suddenly, she dropped the watering can in her hands when a pair of muscular arms snaked their way around her thin waist. The person let out his breath slowly against her neck and chuckled. "Sophia, did you miss me?" 

     Immeditately she perked up at the sound of the familiar husky voice. She turned around and wrapped her arms around his neck. Sophia kissed both of his checks before giving him a chaste kiss on the lips. "Lucas," she smiled brightly for the first time this morning. "It's been quite awhile. Do you know how much I missed you?"  

     Lucas pushed Sophia's head away and rubbed his mouth with the back of his hand. "Ugh, you need to stop kissing me," he grunted. "You look like shit."  

     "Oh gee, thanks so much. I try my best to look like this every day," Sophia replied, not holding back the sarcasm nor the eye roll. 

     "You should go to the back and get some sleep." Lucas frowned at his best friend and nudged her to go inside. "What do you even do at night to make you look like this?" He quirked an eyebrow at her, hoping that she would dish in the details of her late nights.  

     Sophia shrugged, not really wanting to tell Lucas about her sleeping arrangements with Chase. Lucas should already know the answer to that, but she didn't want to tell him that things have gotten worse since he left. "I'm fine. I'm not even tired," she lied. Of course she was tired as hell. Anyone from a two hundred mile radius could tell that she needed to rest.  

     "Don't lie to me," Lucas chided, "I see those bags underneath your eyes. They weren't that bad a couple months ago. I'm pretty sure that you didn't decide to magically age your face to twenty years from now." Of course he would be able to pin point the difference in her appearance. Lucas was practically gone for a few months and decided to pop out of nowhere, making it easy to observe and contract the difference between then and now.  

     "You know how it is. Chase and I just stay up a lot. Don't worry about it."  

     Lucas sighed and draped his arm over his best friend's shoulders. "I'm surprised that you didn't leave him yet. He's scum. I was hoping that you two would be over by the time I got back from my trip to Europe."  

     Sophia flinched as his comment about leaving Chase. That was the whole reason why the two were in the mess in the first place. There was one thing that she promised herself not to do--leave Chase. Just the thought of being separated from him didn't sit well with her, but a small thought always chided her to leave him for the better. "No, I still love Chase. I won't leave him."  

     Her best friend studied her face. His green eyes scanning over how nervous and tense she looked. "When's the last times you two went out on an actual date?"  

     It took a few seconds for Sophia to reply; "I don't know, but that shouldn't matter! We've been too busy to go out on a date. Wehave dinner together all the time and that should count as date night. Anyway, I think Chase and I are past the point of going on measly dates." 

     "And I think that you two are past the point of even being in a relationship," Lucas huffed. "You could do so much better than him." 

     Sophia didn't even bother replying to her best friend anymore. He didn't know anything. No one knew anything. And that's how things are going to remain.  

     She walked away and headed towards the back to get some rest. Lucas was right, she needed some rest and she was going to get some. Talking about her situation with Chase always seemed to drain her out. She didn't need Lucas to drill in the idea of her leaving Chase. She couldn't leave him. She wouldn't leave him. Why? That was a question she has yet to answer. With all those thoughts floating around all Sophia wanted was them for them to away. Shutting the world around her, Sophia fell asleep on the couch inside of the employee's lounge.

~*~*~*~*~*~

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Warning. Long author's note to those who care.

Hi there! So I changed a few things from the original post. Quite a lot of things actually. I took out a few parts because they're going to be added to the next part.

The reason why I'm rewriting the story? I started out the story out on a whim without know where the story was going to be heading towards. So when I finally came up with this brilliant story plot, I felt that it was to late to really incorporate the elements it needed to make the story work. It's been almost a year. For the people who know my age, a year can do a lot. I learned a lot from the classes I was taken and from the stuff that I've read. 

I'll actually try with this story. It's summer and I have some time to update. The next chapter will be pretty much different from what I posted before so be prepared :0