Ash

Day 4 - Part 1

Sunlight passing through the useless drapes pulled him from his sleep. Ash stretched out his arms and let out a yawn; he was exhausted. He’d hardly slept last night. 

After wiping the sleep from his eyes, he crawled out from under his blanket.  Shivers from the cold air immediately ran down his body, and he wrapped his arms around himself; the bed sheets were soaked in sweat.

Brr…Maybe he’ll be at the bar today.  

His chest sank at the thought that AJ could be avoiding him. He really wanted to see him, not just to apologize, but to ask if AJ had seen his pen. The pen was nowhere to be found; he searched all of his pockets at least a dozen times. He bought the bright yellow pen ages ago; the color made it rather hard to miss.

But by asking about his pen, he would be inviting AJ to ask about the notebook.

Ahh, my drawings are so terrible!

It was an odd feeling, knowing that someone else might have seen his work.

His stomach grumbled.

A single bottle of ketchup, a half-empty jug of expired milk, and an empty egg carton greeted him when he opened the fridge door.

After a quick sniff of the milk, he settled on some sugar, cheerios, and milk. That should hold him over for the day, giving him ample time to go and pick up some real food for tomorrow.

Despite working in a restaurant, he was relatively thin. Employee meals were available once a day, but the empty plates would already be waiting for him in the dish bin by the time he got to it. 

There was too much work, so he couldn’t stop what he was doing to take his share of the food. Thankfully, he’s never had that much of an appetite anyway. 

Two college students worked in his place on his days off. It was great that he had two days off a week, but it was also terrible because a mountain of work would await him whenever he came back. A literal tower of pots and pans, stacked as high as physics would allow, would be sitting on the workspace next to the sink. 

It was a high-stakes game of Jenga every time that he pulled out a dish or a pan. The kids would also leave behind carts full of dishes from the night before, and it was a nightmare to scrape the dried-up sauce and food. 

Once at the grocery store, he grabbed some spicy instant ramen, eggs, chicken, and frozen vegetables. He rubbed his temples while thinking of what else he needed from the store.

His head ached—

A grin appeared on his face, and his eyes flickered. He skipped his way to the pharmacy aisle and picked out a small bottle of painkillers for AJ.  

It’s not loitering when you bring medicine to someone after accidentally injuring them. 

After checking his wallet, he picked up a roll of gauze for himself, a bottle of painkillers, and then returned the chicken he had grabbed earlier before heading towards the checkout. He hated it when customers left refrigerated food in random aisles back when he worked in retail. They had to toss out whatever was left behind due to safety concerns.

Watching this was painful for someone who’s lived paycheck to paycheck his whole life.

While he dug in his coin purse for the exact change, a burst of infectious laughter sounded from the register next door. His heart skipped a beat at every word uttered by the voice, and he couldn’t help but search for the source. 

There he was, with a pair of aviator sunglasses that could neither hide his good looks nor his two black eyes. Ash would not have recognized him if it wasn’t for his distinct voice; AJ wore a T-shirt, a pair of worn grey jeans, and his hair down today. 

When Ash stood back and waited for AJ, his own smile vanished. The pretty cashier openly flirted with AJ with a wink and a teasing giggle. And he returned her advances with a closed-lipped smile.