the girl on the bench

Chapter 13

I wake up at 7am like clockwork. Immediately my thoughts turn to the memories of last night. The date, the conversations, and the sex. I look over to see G sleeping on her front next to me. I watch her sleep. She put her hair up in a loose bun over night and I can see all of her. Her face is directed towards me and it's squished against the pillow. Her mouth is slightly open and the sight of her next to me makes me smile. I slip out from underneath the sheets, slide on some clean underwear and a t-shirt and slink out of the room to the bathroom. I want to brush my teeth and make myself look normal again. I survey myself in the mirror and cringe at the sight of me. I'm usually getting ready to go for a walk at this time but today it doesn't seem as important as other days. I told myself, and Alex, that I shouldn't be getting in to another relationship and then I meet a girl and we sleep together a couple weeks later. Maybe I'm so messed up from my past relationships that I don't know what a normal relationship looks like. All I know is that last night was mind-blowing and I would do it all over again if I could. I finish up in the bathroom, take one last look in the mirror and sneak back into bed. G stirs as I lift the sheets and slid back into bed next to her. She rolls over to face away from me and pulls the pillow towards her.

"Hmm?" She purrs as I move my arms over the sheets to hold her from behind. "Is everything good?" She asks me into the pillow. "Yeah, I just went to the bathroom" I say into her hair. "You smell like toothpaste" she says and I laugh. I hear something buzzing. I move away from her and she groans. There's no new notifications on my phone. I hear the buzzing sound again. "Your phones going off" I say to her and with that she lifts her head and reaches for her phone. "Do you want your glasses?" I ask her. "Yeah, seeing as I can't see who the fuck is messaging me" I lean over her and find her glasses on the floor. She pulls me so I'm straddling her. "I could get used to this" she says. I smile and lean down to kiss her. I hand her her glasses and a black graphic t-shirt. "Thanks, beautiful" she says with bleary eyes and a smile. She's always smiling. She puts her glasses on and checks her phone as I slide off her and sit back in bed. She puts the t-shirt I gave her on and resumes checking her phone. "Why is it so early?" She asks me. "It's not even that early" I say to her. She looks at me and says, "I guess we did go to sleep pretty late last night" which makes us both smile. "Come here" she says and she puts her arm out so I can cuddle into her. She silently checks her phone while I relax into her with my eyes closed. I hear her calling someone and she strokes my shoulder with her free hand. "Hey" G says to the other person. I can only slightly make out what the person on the other side is saying. "Yeah, yeah. Don't get used to it" G says. I hear mumbling, silence and then "Georgia!" on the other end of the phone. She laughs softly, "Anyway, what did you want to do?" she asks. Mumbling and then "Oh man, way to ruin my buzz, Char" and she laughs again. "Ahh" she says and looks at her phone, "An hour?... I'll see, OK?". She finishes the call and puts her phone under her pillow. She rolls over and hugs me and we breathe each other in. "Do you have to go?" I ask her. "Mmhm" she mumbles "But not for a while". We end up falling back asleep wrapped in each other.

We both wake to the buzzing of her phone under the pillow. She looks to see Charlotte is calling her and she realises that she was supposed to be home by now. "Whoops" she says as she gets out of the bed and answers the call. "Sorry, I'm leaving now" she tells Charlotte. She begins picking up her clothes from last night on the floor. She puts her underwear and pants on while I admire from the bed. "Yeah, OK. See you soon" She says and hangs up the phone. "She's at my house and not happy with me. Said I had to bring her a coffee or she'd be pissed off" she says making me laugh. I let her take my t-shirt home. It looks better on her anyway. I walk her to the front door and when we're out the front, she kisses my cheek goodbye before she heads to her car. I wave her off from my front door and she blows me a kiss.

——

I spend the day in my t-shirt and underwear working on a commission piece for a new client. They have requested a colourful portrait of a female face and since I've already done the face outline, I just need to colour her in. When I'm finished, she looks too good to sell. Alas, I can only take a photo. Some work is harder to sell than others. The song changes to the now familiar tunes of G's voice. Her song 'Morning' plays and I pretend she's singing to me. 'Ain't nobody else that I want in the morning, ain't nobody else that I want right now'. Unfortunately, it's about someone else that she loved once upon a time. Maybe she still does.

The song ends and another song I hadn't heard before plays. The chorus is what gets me; 'Why don't you just speak your mind? Always saying that you're fucking fine. But I know you're not fucking fine. I just wanna be notified'. This really does explain why she seems to cower whenever I say 'I'm fine'. It's almost as if her ex has scarred her and she has PTSD from hearing the word. I feel like her songs are a chest guide to her. I make a mental note to try not to say 'I'm fine' to her. Coincidentally, she texts me:

G - What are you up to?

I smile and decide to take a photo of the painting I just finished and send it to her.

Not much (Attachment 1678.jpg) - Me

G - Did you do that?

Yep, finished it today - Me

G - And I didn't think you could get any better! That's amazing Soph

You're not too bad yourself 😏 - Me

G - Wanna hang out tonight?

I thought you would be sick of me by now - Me

G - After last night? No fucking chance!

Well too bad for you, this irresistible body has to work - Me

G - Gah! What time do you get off?

My shift's 5-10 - Me

G - I'll see you at 10 😘