If We Were Perfect (herophine)

Chapter Thirty-One: When We Were Free

Josephine

If you told me that it would take two months for me to feel normal again, I wouldn't have believed you. I would've said you're full of absolute shit. Well, two months have gone by since then, and I'm starting to feel what real love and happiness feel like again. My life's been hell this past year. Mom. Dad. Baby.

One by one, I lost them all.

I don't know if I'll ever be able to give up what I experienced, and I hope no one expects me to.

I park my car and twist the keys, pulling them out of the ignition. I look both ways, then step out of the car. I rush across the street to avoid being hit by a car, then enter the brick building. It was on a block of buildings across there street from a lake. I had the perfect desk in front of the window, it overlooked the lake. It was nice watching small sail boats go by or watching the sun slowly set.

Hero would visit me during my lunch hour every Thursday and Friday. He changed his major almost three times before school started, settling on Engineering as his major and sports medicine as his minor.

I was working in a small call center in Windsor, the town where both Hero and I worked. He worked as a fitness trainer on Monday's and Friday's.

It was always nice coming home and cleaning up his mess. Not really, It actually pissed me off having to pick up his sweaty clothes off the floor. Thank god on Tuesday through Thursday, I got home before him because I don't want to take care of his baseball equipment. Ever since we started our classes, he's had to practice. It's not even baseball season

To tell the truth, I felt distant from him. As if we weren't spending enough time together. I work Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, but on Saturday's I'm a manager. There's only ten of us here. Two college aged kids: me and a boy who was interning, three older women, and five men.

Hero hated the fact I worked with someone our age. Someone who was also kind of attractive. Jackson. His name was Jackson. Tall with blonde hair and dark blue eyes that were brighter than the ocean in Hawaii. I told Hero not to worry. That's not the kind of person I am. I don't cheat and I'm not going to leave him. Plus Jackson has a picture of a boy on his desk so I'm pretty sure he's Gay.

I boot up my computer and turn on my headset. As I begin to pull papers out of my bag, I remember how I neglected to work on my monthly report last night. Shit!

I pull a pen out of my drawer and write down my notes, then turn on my line.

My first call comes in immediately and I answer, "L&L Media . How may we assist you?"

The woman, a frequent of ours, explains how the quality of one of her CD's was not good enough for her, and she wanted it replaced. She's called multiple times before and we always send her a replacement, but every call, she gets bitchier and bitchier. I'm about done with her bullshit.

L&L Media was a small publishing company which put out books, DVDs, and CD/Digital Albums. I strictly worked in the customer service office, helping unhappy customers. I did it to draw myself away from my own internal pain and focus on helping others.

The day goes by slowly with only a few calls, most of which have to be forwarded to the main office in New York.

When lunch rolls around, I pull out my PB&J and bag of chips and eat at my desk instead of in the break room. I work on my English paper due Friday. I have four more days to complete it, two of which I don't work and strictly have classes. I have about four pages done.

Jackson approaches, leaning against the small wall surrounding my desk, "JoJo! Why aren't you eating with the rest of us?"

"Jack, don't call me that, and I'm not with you guys because I'm working on my paper and I find it less distracting out here. I don't want to listen to a forty year old man tell sex jokes." I reply sternly. He was cute, but I wasn't in the mood for this bullshit today.

"Come'on, Dave's jokes are funny." He replied with a chuckle. I roll my eyes.

"He's old enough to be our father, think about that next time he's talking about dicks." God, it still hurts to bring up the topic of father's. I mean, I gave my birth father a gun to shoot himself. I let my birth father kill himself.

Jackson and I stare at each other in silence, then I turn back to my paper, completely ignoring him. After a second, he takes s hint and walks away.

I finish a page and save the document, then clean up my desk. Once I finish cleaning up my lunch, I return to answering calls.
***
I arrive home to see Hero's clothes scattered across the floor. I groan, dropping my bag and going to our room to grab a laundry basket. I follow the trail of clothes, starting with his sweaty tank top, and ending with his socks. I hate picking up his clothed. They're always so sweaty, they're almost wet.

I settle down, kicking off my own shoes and sliding them into a shoe rack, then go to the kitchen to make dinner. I put a microwave macaroni and cheese in for myself, figuring he can make his own dinner if and when he wants to:

The minute the microwave beeps, the shower stops and I grab a fork, sitting down on the small couch and turning on the TV.

It was where I left it last night. On the cooking network.

Hero enters the room a minute later, wearing only sweatpants. He sits down next to me, saying nothing, and rest his head in my lap. He closes his eyes as I play with his damp hair. These are the moments that brought me back to a simpler time. One where all we had to worry about was our grades. One where we were free from adult worried and duties. Where our parents fed us and took cared of us. When we were free.

BOOK 2! Yay!!!!

I decided to remove Hero cheating as mentioned in the announcement for reasons I explain later but I hope you enjoyed this chapter, please comment and vote if you want another fast update and I'll see y'all next time!