Things To Say Before I Go

Chapter 30: Nate

I heard a knock on my door in the first couple of hours of the morning. Without any response, the door opens and there stood Richard, wearing only a towel. I sat up suddenly, scared almost half to death. 

"Whoa, sorry to scare you there, but do we by chance have any more TP? My girl says we're all out." 

I cursed multiple obscenities under my breath and ended up driving to the 24 hour pharmacy for a couple rolls of TP at 5 am, which, by the way, was Richard's job to get. The cashier stared at me with a strange look on her face as I stood before her in my sleep shirt and possibly the world's rattiest pair of sweatpants. 

By the time her eyes made it from the sweatpants and back up to my eyes, I was shaking my head and said, "I don't want to fucking talk about it." 

When I finally made it back home, I heard a screeching noise. I didn't recognize what it was until I made it closer to the bathroom. It was Richard's girlfriend attempting to sing. I left the pharmacy bag outside the bathroom door and went back into the kitchen to get some breakfast before I went to work.

I made myself two pieces of toast and went to go pour myself a bowl of cereal when I noticed we were out of both cereal and milk. I slammed the refrigerator door shut, causing Richard to rush into the kitchen. 

"What the hell?" 

"Did you go grocery shopping like you were supposed to?" I shouted. 

I could hear the shower turn off. "Nah, man, I forgot. My girl and I, we went mini golfing." He said it with a chuckle, which just angered me even further. 

He could see me getting red in the face. Imagine that if this were a cartoon, smoke would be coming out of my ears. 

"Richard, I have HAD IT! Ever since I moved in here, I have cleaned up after you, shopped for groceries that you would eat, but never replace, and put up with your merry-go-round of women that don't last longer than a week and that keep me up at night with their yelling." He started to chuckle again. "That was not a compliment, asshole!" 

"Well, Jesus," he said. "And you must be fucking perfect, huh?" I took a bite of my toast and almost choked when he said that. I saw a blonde haired woman walk into the doorway behind Richard. 

"Is this a bad time?" she asked quietly. 

"Which one is this one?" I asked incredulously. Richard came at me and pointed a finger in my face. "Hey, that's my girl, you asshole," he said, trying to sound threatening. 

"Oh, fuck off, Dick," I spat, pushing past him and going into the bathroom to take a shower before going to work. 

By the time I had gotten out of the shower and was starting to get dressed, Richard's friend had left and he was locked in his room. Just the way I liked it. Peace and quiet.

*********************** 

I walked proudly to Dave's office, form in hand. I completed my transfer form so that I could officially move to the financial offices. I wanted a chance to try something new, and seeing as I still didn't know exactly what I wanted to do, I figured trying a bunch of stuff out through trial and error is the best way to find out. 

Dave was sitting behind his desk, laughing hysterically at what sounded like a cat on his computer screen. He jumped a little and closed the window on his computer when I came in. I felt like Richard's girlfriend this morning, walking in on something. That was an image I didn't want. 

"Is this a bad time?" I asked, cringing as I said it. 

"Um, not really," Dave said, shuffling some papers around on his desk in an attempt to look busy. "Come on in."