Philophobia

Let's Talk

so this may not seem like the other half of the chapter but it sorta is cause i was originally gonna combine them, then didn't bc it would be too long and i wanted to get content out. dont worry about it, the chapters here now.

-lyn

~+~+~+

The blinding sun shot into Mark's room through a crack in the curtains, lighting up his bed and shining directly into his eyes. Ignoring it, he rolled over, for once not in the mood to get up, and tried to go back to sleep. Not but seconds later, however, a blaring alarm went off, and the sleepy man angrily shut up his phone and lazily sat up.

Glancing to the right side of his bed, Mark didn't understand at first why the bed seemed so empty. After his thoughts came rushing back to him just seconds later, he struggled to clear his head of the memories flooding in. Standing up and striding over to the curtains, he yanked them open and let the sun blare onto his face. It did nothing to help him forget about the early mornings eating breakfast, hope filled dancing, the laughing, teasing, and laying together he had all shared with Jack. 

Rubbing his eyes and stretching deeply, Mark looked around at his room. It was a bit of a mess, and when he came home later he would definitely need to clean it. For now though, there seemed to be plenty of clothes on his floor that weren't dirty, and could be used for his run. Changing slowly into his workout clothes and brushing his teeth, he walked out to the kitchen to find food. After eating something quickly he made his way back to the bathroom mirror and spent an obnoxious amount of time fixing his hair, which was necessary to do since he was so egotistical. Puttering about his apartment for a bit, Mark finally called a taxi to arrive in five minutes and spent four of those minutes staring out his window and trying to find logic in his kaleidoscope mind. 

Mark eventually made his way down to the ground floor and out to his taxi, contemplating the entire way to the car. Ever since Jack had left, he had made sure to stay in contact with him. Jack had been distant though, making it clear to Mark that things couldn't be the same after their undeniable 'almost kissing' moment, and Jack moving out. Knowing this he couldn't be sure his decisions to proceed with Jack leaving were right. He didn't have time for things like relationships, he had to stay focused on finding the one who had caused him all this pain, trouble, and heartache, but that was a hard plan to stick to. After all, this was Jack he was talking about. 

Couldn't, if not just for him, there be an exception? 

 After Mark got in the car and settled in, he waited for the driver to ask him the usual. 

"Where to?" The driver with a large, bushy mustache asked. 

"Central Park," Mark stated, sinking back into his thoughts and looking out the window. The buildings blended past as the car moved along, and people throughout the city stayed focused on their own little worlds, talking on smartphones and carrying luggage or looking for places to buy something new. It was peculiar how so many people could maintain being so unaware of all the lives around them. Suddenly, after a few minutes of driving the hairy man began to talk. 

"See that picture?" Mark turned to the man abruptly, thrown out of his thoughts and surprised at the talking. "That's me and my soulmate. She's always bugging me a bunch, but we get along really well. Today was our 25th anniversary of being together. I pretended I forgot about it earlier this morning and apologized, but I actually sent a bunch of flowers to her office, when she saw them after storming to work unhappily, she called in tears and told me she was glad the universe gave her a good one." The driver finished, chuckling slightly. 

Mark smiled, touched slightly by the cuteness, and felt a pang of sadness deep in his chest. It didn't matter how many soulmates he'd met over how many years, he would always feel jealous.