Unbreak My Heart (18+, ManxMan)

Chapter 5 Breakdown

Chapter 5

Finn

I had been painting all day and despite how careful I usually am, somehow managed to be covered in paint. It was one of those days where I was so focused, so in the painting I didn't notice if I leaned against my palette or was holding a brush against my face why pondering my vision.

I took off my usual oversized raggedy painting shirt and hung it up to dry, but was in dire need of a shower and then I wanted to just zone out for a while.  I had been focused on my canvas for a good 6 or 7 hours straight with just a quick stop to grab a banana and granola bar.  The result is that I finished the painting, but I probably should have stopped and completed it the next day.  I was tired and a headache was forming.

I stopped in the kitchen to make a quick sandwich and saw a note from Benji that he and Ajax had gone out and wouldn’t be back for a few hours.  Perfect, sounded like quiet downtime was in the cards.  I made a turkey sandwich and drank a bottle of water while thumbing through a news magazine that I found on the counter. 

After I finished my sandwich I checked my phone which I had turned off while I was working.  I had a text from Chris just saying hey.  He and his boyfriend were planning a visit in August; I’d be settled in my new apartment by then so I wouldn’t feel rude having guests when I was a guest myself.  Chris and I were still really good friends, he was a great guy, we just weren’t meant to be a couple.  He was doing well; he had a new boyfriend, well, not so new anymore they’d been together about a year and a half now.  A great guy named Thomas who came to study Journalism in New York from North Africa.  Really smart guy; spoke several languages, very charismatic, kind, funny and very handsome.  Nice build, large brown eyes, short dark hair and as Chris loved to describe, skin a shade lighter than a caramel frappe (his favourite drink) and full lips that he could taste and nibble for hours.  He wasn't too in love.

Yeah, I was more than a little envious I chuckled to myself.  They were really happy and I could tell this was a serious thing.  I wouldn’t be surprised if sometime down the road I got a call to get a tux and get my ass back to New York for a wedding.  I sent him a quick text and told him all was good.

Standing up I stretched my back which was stiff from painting for so long.  ‘Off to the shower’ I thought as I tiredly walked down the hallway to the stairs.  As I passed Ajax’s home office I peeked inside.  The cherry wood furniture and masculine feel reminded me very much of…

It was a nice office.

Fuck. Was it going to be one of those days?

I found myself wandering in and running my fingers across the books on the large shelf.  Even his taste in books is similar.  The office had that reminiscent smell of old leather and wood.

I found a shelf of awards, soccer trophies and other sentimental memorabilia Ajax liked to keep close at hand.

And framed pictures.  Some of he and Benji and others...

I don’t know how long I stood staring at them.  Five minutes, ten minutes, twenty?  I was startled by the ringing of a telephone.  Ajax was one of the few people I knew who still liked to keep a landline in the house.  It still took me a few seconds, several rings before I could tear my eyes away from Ajax’s family pictures.