Jovie & Bash

Fourteen || Obsequious

|CHAPTER FOURTEEN|

On the day Bash was returning to Ashwood Creek from L.A. I went to his apartment to meet him. I found the extra key in the snow dusted hanging pot where a leafy plant had been that summer and let myself in.

He hadn't called, hadn't returned my calls. It scared me how concerned I became that my piece of grey had just disappeared. It was like being allowed to peak into heaven but never getting to live there. Frustrated with my own attachment, and angry that he let me believe he was in love, I locked myself in my bedroom to wallow in my foolishness for the remainder of my break. But, now that frustration had slow-burned its way to anger and I felt this nagging urge to confront him.

He wasn't there. When I stepped through the door, Greg scuttled out of the kitchen to find, to his disappointment, his roommates girlfriend standing where his roommate should be. Recognizing me, his expectant expression fell flat and he turned back into the kitchen.

"He's not here, yet," he called out to me in a deadpan voice.

Groaning, I stepped out of my snowy shoes and pulled off my coat and scarf. "When is he supposed to get back?" I yelled across the home.

"Now," Greg answered.

"Have you tried to get ahold of him?" I asked critically.

Greg sauntered out of the kitchen again with a reheated plate of Chinese food and sat down on the living room couch, nodding. "Three times. The library called...and there was a small fire here at the house..."

My eyebrows hiked up my forehead and I glanced around the room.

"Settle down, Sherlock. The Cigarette Graveyard sort of went up in flames. I took care of it-nothing got damaged. But, anyway, he hasn't been in contact. I'm a bit worried, but..." He shrugged. "His parents would have called if something happened."

My shoulders sunk and I let out a deep breath. Maybe it wasn't me. He hadn't been in contact with Greg, either. But, it didn't matter. His lack of contact was taking its toll. And, I couldn't bear it, anymore. This wasn't Bash. And, this annoying buzz in the back of my mind was making me feel more and more terrible by the second. I hated that feeling more than anything. It wasn't a feeling I was used to and it wasn't welcome.

I sat with Greg in silence for what felt like forever before a taxicab pulled up before the apartment and Bash was dragging a suitcase through the door, looking drained and miserable. Both Greg and I stood.

He seemed so very far away from where he were, and didn't notice us right away.

"Bash?" I asked so quietly one might have thought I was reaching out to a skittish baby deer. All the anger I had stormed to his house with had extinguished with a single glance at the pain he evidently carried with his suitcase.

His dull blue eyes lifted and he plastered on a smile for me. "Jovial, I wasn't expecting you. How was your Thanksgiving?"

Greg and I shared a questioning glance.

"Same as always...I missed you," I replied carefully.

His smile twitched and a small scowl replaced the comically high brows he wore only a moment before. His fingers fussed with the hem of his coat and he glanced down at his shoes a bit uncomfortably. I felt myself tense.

"I saw you called-but I had turned my phone off for most of my visit...and I apologize for my negligence. I feel awful about it, but...I had a surprise waiting for me when I got to L.A."

"It's fine," Greg and I said simultaneously. I pursed my lips in annoyance at Greg jumping in, but I kept my mouth clamped shut since he too had been ignored the entire week by the person who shared rent with him.