Vacancy

10. Smoke.

"Hey guys! Jordan! Brandon! Hi, I wasn't expecting this many of you, come in." Gina smiled and hugged us all tightly as we entered the Brooks' house.

It was still strange being here without the boys, even after this amount of time.

Gina lead us all into the kitchen, and Lala came racing in from the garden, jumping straight up at me.

"Hey baby!" I cooed as I tickled her behind her ears and she growled in content.

"Coffee? Tea?" Gina asked, Brandon, Gina and I had coffee, Jordan had tea and Ari asked for a glass of cold water.

We all chatted away excitedly, before entering the dining room. Jordan lifted the heavy boxes of merch from the floor onto the table and Gina handed Ari and I a handful of order forms.

There were 347 orders in total, many of them were small items, but a few were orders of every item they sold.

Brandon and Jordan were left to group up the packets of wrist bands and beanies, Gina and I sorted through the different t-shirts and Ari folded the hoodies neatly.

It took an hour just to sort through all the merch and organise it according to design and item type. "What time is it?" Jordan asked, for the fifth time this morning.

"12:08, you have over an hour." I replied. "Gina, you don't mind if I get some fresh air do you?" I asked, staring to feel dizzy, the heat of the room was making me stuffy and although the heat outside wasn't much cooler, I just needed air.

"Of course not babe, we're fine in here." She smiled, as I stood up and walked towards the kitchen. I lifted the latch on the door and immediately felt refreshed as the wind blew a slight breeze in my direction.

"Mind if I join you?" A voice came from behind me.

I turned to see Brandon standing with a cigarette in his mouth. "Want one?"

I'd smoked before, but not regularly like Brandon. He made it look beautiful somehow and I nodded my head.

He opened up the packet, offering it to me and I slipped one between my fingers, shielding it with my other hand allowing Brandon to light it for me.

The first drag I took felt like a huge weight lifting off my shoulders, I felt calm. Suddenly the past few days, Jai and I arguing, falling out, disappeared.

"Feel better?" Brandon whispered, "I can tell when there's so egging wrong Jess, even now, after all this time."

"I'm fine." I whispered back, letting the smoke escape my lips and float into the air, curling and I lowered my cigarette.

"Jessy?!" Came Ari's voice through the kitchen and the back door opened up. "Ugh, smoking. You know those kill you right?" She muttered, unamused.

"Yes." I replied and continued to suck on the stick of nicotine.

"Selfie!" She yelled and pulled her phone out, positioning herself next to Brandon.

He slid his free arm around my waist and I smiled, for the camera of course..

"Jess, you look amazing!" Ari gasped as she looked back at the picture, she started tapping away, probably editing and instantly uploading to her socials. The phone buzzed, confirming my theory.

The light from the sun hit me at an angle that made my eyes glisten brightly and my hair shine golden brown. "Meh." I shrugged and flicked my cigarette into the garden next door.

"Back to work then I guess." Brandon said, standing up and leading the way.

I grabbed his hand, I don't know why, but it felt right. He squeezed my hand lightly and I could tell he was smiling.

I was in Jai's house, holding my ex boyfriends hand, but the worst part was, Jai barely entered by thoughts.