hard | daniel seavey

chapter two

   The new girl behind the counter ran around frantically as she tried to keep up with the orders. People groaned impatiently in line while some mumbled under their breath. The man in front of me tapped his foot and crossed his arms like a child.

   "This seriously can't take any longer," He said far too loudly. He turned towards me and laughed. "Does she not understand people have things to do?"

     "And do you understand that she's new and trying her best? There's a 100 coffee shops in Los Angeles, go somewhere else if you really can't wait." I snapped at him. I hated the way people talked down on those just trying to do their job. The man's face dropped and he turnt back the other way. He ordered a simple black coffee and made his way out. I was the last person left in line, so I stepped up as the girl came back over.

    "Hi, just a caramel macchiato and a vanilla bean latte," I smiled at the girl politely. She made our drinks quickly and placed them on the counter. I handed her back a 20.

     "Thank you for saying something to that guy earlier. It's only my third day and the guy that was supposed to be here with me is late," She sounded tired, which I assumed was from working so much for it only being 9 o clock.

     "Don't worry about it, that guy was an ass." I laughed as she handed me back my change. I read her name tag, Stacey. She had natural red hair with slight freckles that covered the bridge of her nose and cheeks. She looked to be about my age, if not a year younger. "My boyfriend and I just moved here so I know things can get overwhelming."

   "I was born here and Los Angeles never seems to get less overwhelming," She laughed and leaned against the other counter. We continued to talk as the other employee came in, saying that he had woken up late. Stacey sighed and turned towards me. "Well I have to get back to work, it was really nice meeting you?"

  "Madison," I hesitated for a moment before reaching for my phone. "This might be weird, but could I possibly get your number? I really have no friends other than my boyfriend and it would be nice to hang out sometime."
 
   "Of course! If I'm gonna be honest, I never had many friends outside of school and you seem really cool." She typed in her number and slid the phone back over to me. We said our goodbyes and I made my way back home.

    When I walked in, Aaron sat atthe dinning room table with his laptop open. Aaron decided to take online classes for some business school, so most of his mornings were captivated by that. I handed him his drink as he placed a small kiss on my cheek. Even though we've been going through it the past couple of months, it were these small moments that reminded me why I loved him so much.

   "What are your plans for the day?" He asked, his words slightly slurred. I looked at him once more, this time looking into his eyes. They were tinted pink. Next to him sat a tiny orange bottle. Jesus.

     "Really, Aaron?" I huffed and walked towards the living room.

      "I was just stressed with school, I needed something to take my mind off of it." He argued, following closely behind me.

  "So your only resort is to get high? Especially after what happened last time?" I turned towards him and crossed my arms. My eyes welled with tears at the remembrance of that night.

   "This is nothing like that!" His voice was raised and I could tell he was starting to get angrier. If this were to be like any other argument, he would end up leaving. But I was tired of letting him walk all over me.
 
     "Whatever, Aaron. You can do whatever you please, like usual. I'm leaving." I pushed past him and grabbed my bag. He began to say something, but I was out the door before I could hear anything.

     Once I got into my car, I let myself go completely. I loved Aaron, but I hated this side of him, the side that didn't see that what he was doing was wrong. We had been together for almost 4 years, why was this aggressive side coming out so suddenly? I sighed, wiping my eyes and tried to think of what to do. As much as I wanted to go back upstairs and apologize, I knew I shouldn't.  My eyes trailed to my phone and something in myself pushed the urge to text Zach. It had been a week since I seen him, and he texted me once to make sure I was okay, but other than that we hadn't really talked. I texted him a quick hey before turning on my car and driving down the street. Within a minute, Zach had responded with an address.

   Zach: I'm assuming there's a storm brewing in paradise, come to the studio :)

   I smiled to myself, thankful for Zach and how he was so quick to understand. I put the address in and followed the directions. It only took about 15 minutes before I seen the small kid with chains for necklaces standing outside the building.

    "Hey Madison," Zach smiled at me once I had reached him. He was dressed in the same white Nikes, but this time with a pair of jeans and a t-shirt that said Why Don't We. "Everything okay?"

     "Yea," I tried to keep calm, but my voice couldn't help but shake. Zach gave me a concerned look, and that was all it took for me to let some tears slip.

     "Hey hey hey, don't cry." Zach pulled me in for a hug and rubbed my back. It was weird, seeming this was only the second time seeing him, but it felt nice to have someone there to comfort me. "What happened? You can tell me, or not. Whatever you're comfortable with."

      "It's just a lot. I feel like he just doesn't care anymore." I wiped my eyes as we pulled away from the hug.

      "Well maybe the stars just don't align any more. Your happiness is more important than driving yourself crazy trying to think about what went wrong, when clearly it isn't on your part," He was right. Maybe it was time for Aaron and I to go our separate ways. But deep down inside of me, the thought of leaving him made me sick. We had been together for so long, I couldn't imagine my life without him. I stayed silent, missing my head slightly in response.

    "Now c'mon. Come listen to our new song, I'm sure that'll make you feel better. Plus the guys are dying to meet you." He opened the door and held it opened for me.

      "I haven't even listened to your other songs." I laughed and walked through the doors of the building.

     "Then you're in one for it, this one's soo good."