Symbol☀️Mike Nesmith

Chapter Three

"Bye, Michael" The smile on my face fades to a thin line, the best I could do without frowning. I find my way back to Tyler and take a seat next to him.

"Damn, An." I blush and shake my head, My brown curls bobbing as I did so.

"Maybe he was attractive- but even so-" Tyler cuts me off

"Yes, yes-" He changes his voice an octave higher to mock mine. "I have Matthew! The abusive, inconsiderate dick." I sigh and look down at my yellow painted nails.

"Stop it. That's not true and you know it, Tyler."

"It is true!" Tyler folds his arms and leans back slightly, almost falling off the barstool.

"He's stable, and my soulmate, I really can't ignore that, Ty." Tyler scoffs in response to me and picks up what must be his third drink, sipping it thoughtfully.

"You see that guy? He's an adventure, a risk. He's nothing like Matthew, love. Nothing and you've never had anything like him- just consider-" He goes on, as if he knows everything about him. I shake my head again and slump onto the bar.

"I think I'm ready to go, Tyler." I scowl and turn to where Tyler is staring, back at Michael. Tyler winks at him, and I scoff.

"Unbelieveible. I cant believe you're flirting with him."

"Hey, If you dont want him..."

"Oh, I'm so sorry that I'm happy with my 'Abusive, dick of a boyfriend'" I cant help but to roll my eyes at Tyler, he doesn't exactly understand what it's like.

"Look, Anna, I didn't mean to-" a worried look crosses his expression, something that was rare for Tyler. Everything seemed to come easy for him.

"I said, I want to go home." Tyler nods his head solemly, fully aware that I'm rather ticked off at him. He downs the rest of his drink and hops off the barstool, I follow his lead and we walk to the home that Matthew and I share in silence.

The first thing I do when I get home is slip my awful dress off and wash off the makeup. When I'm finally  out of my evening wear. When I'm out of my dress I find Matthews white t-shirt. I pull it over my head and climb into bed, bringing the sheets up to my chin.

I've never doubted anything with Matthew before, so why start now?

-

The next morning came far too early then I would have liked. It started with a call from Matthew, who wanted to make sure I actually stayed in last night. While I'm definitely not the best liar, I managed to avoid answering the questions he gave me, in fear that he would get angry.

After the phone call from Mathew I have a cup of tea, scrambled eggs and scan over the newspaper, looking for events that I should report back to Matthew. It didn't take me long to finish my breakfast, and straight after that I had to get ready for school. I'm studying nursing at San Antonio community college, I'm hoping to finish up my degree, but Matthew wants kids, so I doubt I'll have time for myself.

Normally I would just show up to classes with my messenger bag and whatever I had worn the previous day, but for whatever reason I decided to put a bit of effort in. I picked out a yellow knit sweater-dress that Matthews mother had given me and a new pair of black leggings. It goes with the gold studs I'm wearing, also a gift from Matthews mother, and the lipstick and mascara I applied earlier. After that, I'm out the door, messenger bag thrown over my shoulder.

I head out the door and stand at the bus stop for fifteen minuets, wondering if I had missed my bus. Matthew bought  me a car a year ago- a brand new, shiny yellow car- He always made me take it to school. It had been awhile since I had even gotten to stand by the bus stop. I prefer the bus, I like to people watch- to create stories for each person as I ride to school.

Just as I start to walk back to the house for my car, the bus shows up. I climb on the bus and follow my usual school route from there.

My day after that was, to put it bluntly, awful. I was late for my first two classes and had completely forgotten to do the assigned reading for the other three. My brain was completely fried, and  I was miserable the whole day

I have quite a few classes on Mondays, more then I should have if you asked me. Because of the late classes, I got off late, which meant I had to take the late bus, which was filled with perverts and drug addicts. I regret not taking my car.

I take my usual seat in the back of the bus, next to someone who is either intoxicated or hungover- but reeks of alcohol all the same, and sit with my messenger bag in my lap. The bus was so empty that I could put in the seat next to mine but it had become a habit to keep it in my lap.

I focus on the bus window and watch the blinking house lights go by. They lull me into a trance, and I continue to stare out at them until the bus stops. Its the club that Tyler and I went to last night.

Suddenly Mikes words flash in my ears. He's playing tonight. I could see him again.

Oh, but Matthew would kill me if he found out. He would practically beat me senseless.

Despite the cons, I hop off the bus. I'm not sure what compels me to do so. Maybe Tyler was right. Maybe I need an adventure.

-

I find my way inside the club and take a seat at the bar. The same people are here from the night before, with a few more younger people mixed in. It was less crowded, but still enough to put me on edge.

Its not as cold as it was last night, or at least it didn't feel as cold. I can already feel heat rising to my cheeks. Its probably that I'm wearing the sweater, but I don't feel the same cold bite as I did before.

I turn to the bartender and ask for a beer in the loudest voice I could muster up at the time. I don't usually drink beer, or whisky, for that matter, but they didn't have much of an alternative. I pay for my drink and take a sip while I wait, holding my breath as to not smell it. My nose crinkles up at the flavor.

Only a few minutes later Mike is on stage with the same acoustic guitar as before, but he has a new partner with him. I think this is the friend he spoke about the night before, and they do well together. They're set is flawless and the execute it in the same way. I don't hear this type of music much, as Matthew only allows me the occasional Buddy Holly album- anything other then that is classical, so I hum along to the songs, singing the occasional chorus.

They wrap up their set at the end for the night, so I leave my unfinished beer on the bar and leave a tip pinned underneath the bottle before hopping off my barstool and making my way to the door that I saw the two walk into when they finished their set.

I knock softly a few times, and just when I was afraid they hadn't heard I hear a short 'Come in' giving me permission, so I do as the voice says and push the door open to reveal the two men I saw earlier on stage lounging on a few couches.

"Mike? You probably don't remember me- I'm uh.. I'm Anna. I'm sorry to be a bother, but I really liked the show you put on" I can feel the bright red blush spread across my face, so I look down at my shoes, trying to hide it. Mikes friend laughs.

"'Course I remember you, Anna." He smiles at me and gestures to a couch. "Would you like to take a seat? I promise John doesn't bite."

"I should be going soon- but thank you for the offer.

"Stay a bit longer, doll. I insist." I look up to meet his eyes, they were just a brown color- something that I would normally find... well, normal. But they flashed like he house lights did as the bus drove past him.

"Yeah, ok." I nod my head and take a seat next to john. The two men continue chatting every once in awhile asking my opinion, since I wasn't truly paying attention to anything but Mikes eyes I just nod my head and mumble a 'Yeah' here and there.

Some sentences stick out to me like 'What about Phyllis?" or "I hear in California..." But I don't pay it too much attention.

I avert my eyes from Mikes, and stare at my shoes for a few minuets, then back up at Mike, only to find out that he's looking at me instead.