Two Years Later - 2015
Matt and I had been through a hurricane lately, and things weren't getting better. He had proposed to me last year, but after a fateful interview was uncovered, I wasn't so sure I wanted to marry him anymore. In recent weeks, I'd considered just cutting everything off. I needed a break.
In addition to all my issues with Matt, the store had me on my last straw. Thress's had become so popular, I'd opened a second location. Instead of a second Thress's, however, I'd name it Gerant Music. I was strung out running between the two, and there always seemed to be an issue that the managers and employees couldn't fix without my help.
I was at my wit's end.
Naturally, Matt was away at one of his meetings the night I couldn't take the pressure anymore. I didn't have any close friends in this city, and nearly no one I knew on a first name basis outside of my store. I needed a friend, someone I could talk to.
I went for a walk after closing up shop. I didn't take the dogs. Just started walking by myself, going who knows where. I walked all over the city that night. My path took me past dark alleyways and bars with flickering lights. I vaguely pondered stopping and allowing myself a drink, but decided against it. Eventually, I wandered into a nicer, familiar section of LA. The houses were on the larger, more mansion side. I walked towards the one I knew the best. It was Matt's old home, the one he hadn't sold when he moved in with me.
He'd given me a key to that big house-I still had no idea why-and told me I had free access to it. I didn't think anything of it at the time, but maybe now that was a hint at something more. Something that damned attractive blonde I'd fallen for had disclosed in that interview. Now, I stood with key in hand on the doorstep. I hadn't been here in several months. We only came here to throw parties, really. It was a bigger space, and one that befitted a business man of Matt's standing.
Before I could open the door, a figure stepped out from the house next to the one I was at. He had a shock of pink hair that was noticeable even in the dying sunlight. He shielded his eyes, and looked towards me. He must have been a new neighbor, I couldn't remember anyone living in that house for a long time. The man waved at me over the hedgerow. He shouted something, something that sounded like:
"Who are you?" I shook my head. He probably thought the house was abandoned, or foreclosed. It was starting to look a little shabby as well. I'd tell Matt about that soon enough. I walked over to the hedgerow, which reached up to my shoulders.
"Uh, I'm Aya. This is my fian-friend's house." I couldn't bring myself to say what Matt was to me. It didn't feel like we were anything more than acquaintances right now. The man with the pink hair walked towards me. I couldn't make out his features too well, due to the shadow the hedges and the houses cast. Once he came close enough, I was startled.
"We meet at the most random times, don't we." His voice was quieter now, sounding a little upset, but he was smiling. He was smiling that contagious smile. Josh was raising an eyebrow at me, and it nearly disappeared behind the pink curls that adorned his forehead. I couldn't help but smile back. That contagious smile always worked its wonder.
"I would say so. Did you recently move here? I haven't been here since the last party Matt threw." At the mention of Matt's name, Josh's face darkened slightly. He looked past me, an unreadable expression on his face. I frowned. Had I made a mistake by mention Matt?
"Yeah, a few months ago. Are you and Matt still together?" His voice was lower. I looked down, scuffing the ground below my feet with my toes. I didn't know how to respond. Tears were already pricking the back of my eyes, threatening to spill over. Was I in the wrong to say that Matt and I weren't together? Anymore, it felt like we lived on opposite sides of the earth.
"I-I'm not really sure, anymore." My voice broke, and I kept my head lowered. Furiously, I wiped at my cheeks, trying to soak up the few tears that had slipped out of my eyes. Why was I even crying? I had known this was coming for awhile now. Maybe I was just facing the reality for the first time. When I looked back up, Josh's face had softened. He looked like my familiar dark-haired boy. In that moment, I so desperately needed and wanted a hug, some form of comfort, that I didn't think. I walked to an opening in the hedgerow, and into Josh's front yard. I was met with a pair of warm, strong arms.
I let myself break down. Every bottled up emotion from nearly seven years ago came out then. I was incoherent, a mess of tangled hair and blurred eyes. I didn't sob, not like I had the times before. Tears just slipped out of my eyes and soaked my cheeks and Josh's shirt, and my mind became a muddled mess. I wished I hadn't declined myself the offer of going into one of those small bars with flickering lights and getting shit-faced. I tended to be a happy drunk, and the hangover would have been worth it. It would have beat the terror my head was in now.
At some point, Josh got me inside his house, and sitting on a couch. He laid me down, wrapped me in a blanket, and sat down at my feet. He was scared, uncertain, whether or not to touch me, I could tell. I didn't think, didn't care. All I wanted was the love and comfort I'd felt all those years ago once again. My mind and body had been denied of it for too long. Seven years without a real hug, without a real kiss. I craved it now. Craved it from the man I still loved. Craved it from my dark-haired boy with a contagious smile.
