When you wake, she's gone.
You rub your eyes in the harsh morning sun and sit up. Your steady procession of women has dwindled in the last month and a half.
You know it's because of the girl, no woman, you can hear singing a Kiss song in the kitchen across the hall.
You pull on a pair of dark grey sweats and head towards the kitchen, for your morning coffee, and Lydia's usual interrogation about the night before.
"I, wanna rock and roll all night, and party every day." She sings, as she closed the oven door. You smile to yourself as you watch her dance to the fridge, lifting out a carton of milk. She turns and stops when she sees you from your spot at the door.
"Hey." She smiles, as she places the milk on the kitchen table. "Jenni left about thirty minutes ago. She had a family emergency." She grinned as she places bacon under the grill.
"You talked to her?"
"Yeah. She seemed...nice."
You groan and run your hand through your hair.
"Here." She places a cup of coffee in front of you which you gratefully accept. "Can you make pancakes?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Well, here." She hands you a bowl of batter. "Make pancakes. I'm working on waffles."
"Why are you mak-"
"Don't ask questions, just do it." She points her index finger at you, before pouring batter into the waffle maker. You pour some of your own batter into the preheated pan, and glance about the kitchen. There are muffins on the table, and a fresh pot of coffee and tea, as well as a jug of orange juice.
"Hey, Jess? Can I ask you something?"
You look her in the eye, and don't answer her verbally but give her a small shrug of affirmation.
"Why do you it?"
"Do what?"
"The one night stand thing. I'm not judging or anything. I just wanna know. You don't strike me as the man whore type. You know, Mathew." She smiles.
"No." You shake your head.
"Thought so. So it's the same reason as me? A girl."
You raise one eyebrow and she rolls her eyes, swatting your arm. "Well, obviously mine was a boy. But same general premise. Heartbreak, right?"
"Yeah."
"Well, I'm here to tell you it gets easier."
"It does?"
"Sure." She grins, nodding her head once for emphasis.
You laugh, shaking your head. "I can't picture you as a one night stand kind of girl."
"I'm not really. But, as I said, heartbreak. Does funny things to a person."
"What happened?" You regret asking. She'll inevitable ask you what happened, and you know you're not ready to talk. You can't even bring yourself to write about it.
"My boyfriend, Seth, died. He asked me to be his girlfriend when we were eight. We were inseparable. And three days before our high school graduation, he died. Blood clot in his lung. I was...devastated. I didn't leave the house all summer. We were supposed to spend a few weeks in Venice Beach, then head to Europe. I stayed in my room the whole time. And then I started college, and I had to leave my room. So I coped with the grief by, well doing what you're doing. I slept with a professor and everything. I was a mess. But eventually, after about a year, I realised that it wasn't helping. And I slowly started to move on. Been single ever since though. A few dates here and there, but nothing major. I'd never been single, it was nice."
She lets out a breath and then smiles at you. "Sorry, I tend to ramble. But, I promise, your heart will mend. God, that was cheesy." She screws her face up in disgust. She stands and checks the bacon.
You flip your last pancake into the dish. "Done."
"Breakfast!" She calls into the hall, to Mathew and Chris.
"Do I smell bacon?" Mathew wanders into the kitchen a few minutes later, closely followed by Chris.
"And frittata." Lydia smiles, taking the dish out of the oven.
"What's the occasion?" Mathew pours himself coffee.
"A thank you."
"For what?" You ask, taking a bite of bacon.
"For putting up with me. My apartment's ready. I'm leaving today."
"Leaving?" You sound shocked.
"Yeah," She smiles, adding milk to her tea. "I can't crash here forever. My grandma did buy me that apartment to live in."
"It's been great having you, Lyds, but it'll be good to get my bed back." Mathew laughs as he cut the frittata into slices.
"I forgot how good your waffles were!" Chris tells her.
"Thank you." She smiles as she sits down beside you, waving off more compliments from your roommates.
"You're awfully quiet." She nudges your arm.
"Just thinking."
"About...?" She asks.
About how'll you miss her. How you've gotten used to her coffee in the morning. Her singing. Her insipid TV shows she always has on.
"How quiet it'll be without you singing all the time." You smirk and she rolls her eyes. "So, how far away is your new place?"
"Twenty minute walk. You'll see me all the time."
"That's what I'm worried about!" You grin.
"Oh shut up and have a muffin." She holds out the plate to you.
"These aren't store bought?" You had assumed they were.
"Nope, made them myself."
"What time did you get up at?"
She squints at the clock on the wall and then sighs. "Five thirty."
"To make breakfast?"
"Yeah." She nods, her bottom lip caught in her teeth.
You shake your head and take a bite of the muffin. It's good. Really good. "You're crazy."
"I wanted to say thanks. And breakfast is the only thing I'm good at." She shrugs one shoulder and pops a blueberry into her mouth. "Now, eat your breakfast."
You cut into the waffle sitting in front of you and watch her from the corner of your eye, as she stands up and moves to the oven and lifting out a tray of scones.
You think that she may be good at breakfast, but it's definitely not the only thing she's good at.
