Friends, Lovers, or Nothing

Chapter Seven - Perfectly Lonely

I wake up in a subtle state of confusion the next morning until I remember that I stayed the night at Makenzie's apartment and slept on her couch. I was blessed to not be nursing a hangover, something that my friends probably couldn't relate to.

I find my cellphone on the coffee table next to me and press the home button. 10:17 AM.

Deciding to let Kenz and Layla sleep in, I start gathering my things together, preparing to just let myself out. Finding a pad of paper in the kitchen, I leave the girls a note saying I went home and was safe and place it on the counter next to a bottle of ibuprofen I had found in the bathroom. Then I grab my phone to order an Uber.

In the Uber home, I couldn't help but wonder what I was about to walk into. After I had walked in on Jaxon and Shauna making out at the party last night, I ran back towards the girls and didn't see either of them for the rest of the night. And thank god for that.

It was awkward enough seeing them there together, but at least they didn't catch me looking. That would have been humiliating.

I wonder if Jaxon will be home when I get back to the apartment. It was still pretty early and I had no idea what time he had left the party last night. Unless he had left with Shauna just after I saw them together.

Or what if he was at the apartment but Shauna was with him, what do I do then? Oh, god, there would be no way I could pretend I hadn't seen them together.

As I step out of the Uber, hastily thanking the driver for the ride, my stomach churns and I can't decipher if its because I'm hungry or nervous. I take out my key, my hand slightly shaking as I place it into the keyhole. What was wrong with me? I don't know why I was acting like this, Jaxon suddenly having some kind of bizarre effect on me that I couldn't comprehend.

I still didn't quite understand what had happened last night, starting with the fact that he was set out looking for me and ending with him seeing me with Hudson and getting, seemingly, upset. None of it made sense, but I wasn't too sure how to bring it up to him without sounding neurotic.

Pushing the door open, I'm met with an eerie silence. I let my eyes move over the living area and kitchen before turning to the hallway to discover Jaxon's bedroom door wide open, no Jaxon in sight. He wasn't here.

...

After briefly falling back asleep in my own bed, I finally woke up and got myself showered and ready for work. Today would be my first day working at Pavement without Makenzie at my beck and call whenever I forgot how to work the register or make an upsidedown cappuccino. It was exciting, no doubt, but I couldn't help but feel nervous for my first official day working alone.

When I walk through the door of Pavement it's already packed with people, even in the early afternoon. I had quickly learned that in the world of coffee there were no lulls during the day, especially working in a busy city like Boston.

I make my way to the backroom to grab my apron and visor and I'm off to work. Today I would be alternating between back up register to Sarah, a girl who had been working here for over a year and running orders to people who were dining in.

After two hours of nonstop movement, I was granted a 15-minute break. Making myself an iced coffee and removing myself from the front counter, I decide to go sit at one of our outside tables to quickly debrief. Only three more hours and then I could go home.

After finding a table and sitting down, I remove the phone that had been untouched in my pocket for the last two hours and flick it on. 2 new messages, my screen reads. I click the first one.