Friends With Benefits | A Doah Story

Wrong Side of the Bed

Saturday, May 3, 8:30 AM

Dixie

Dixie groaned as her blaring ringtone woke her up from her peaceful slumber. She cursed herself under her breath for forgetting to put her phone on silent before falling asleep last night. Her boyfriend Tayler was going to be furious she was waking him up this early on a Saturday with her carelessness. They had just moved in together and she was desperate to avoid any arguments this soon.

He was very strict about getting a full 8 hours of sleep to recharge his chakras or some other LA wellness bullshit she didn't understand. They were the definition of opposites attract – she was a born and raised New York City girl and he was a stereotypical Los Angeles transplant to the Big Apple. 

Dixie drank coffee like it was water while Tayler once had a yoga teacher tell him that that a cup of caffeine took 20 seconds off of your life, so he hadn't touched the stuff in years. Dixie walked faster than he did with his 6'2" frame. He drove her crazy with the way he took his sweet old time with everything while she moved a mile a minute. 

Tayler was constantly telling Dixie she had to appreciate every moment and put out the energy she wished to receive in the world. Dixie was skeptical that positive vibes and no caffeine would be what helped her secure the promotion she had been angling for at work. She thought after six years in the city he'd adapt to some of her East Coast ways, but he remained as West Coast as ever. She loved Tayler despite all of his hipster tendencies, however. They balanced each other out perfectly; he always said she was the yin to his yang. 

That's why they had been together for five years and were finally moved in together. Dixie could see the diamond on her left ring finger already. Tayler was always trying to get her to attempt manifestation, but imagining him on one knee was about as close as she was ever going to get to it. She couldn't wait to start the life she had so meticulously planned out for them.

Dixie rolled to her side and reached over the edge of their bed, searching for the nightstand she had left her phone on. She shoved her hand out and was met with nothing but the air. She groaned in confusion as she reached herself out farther from under the covers and again was met with empty space. 

She couldn't decide through her morning haze if she was more confused about her missing nightstand or the fact that Tayler hadn't yet complained about the disruption she was causing.

More disoriented than ever, she pulled herself up with her eyes half-opened and leaned herself over the edge of the bed expecting to finally reach the wooden structure, but instead she was met with the abyss of nothing and a loss of balance.

Before she knew it, Dixie found herself tumbling off the bed and ended with a hard thud on the wooden floor below. She fully opened her eyes for the first time that morning and saw her phone laying on the ground attached to its charger. 

She sat herself up as the fever dream she had woken up in disintegrated to the reality of the empty room that surrounded her. Instead of moving in with her, Tayler had dumped her two weeks ago and she was now on the floor of her empty new apartment she still had yet to furnish - alone. 

At least, the dumping was what she had to assume, it's not like he ever actually said the words "I'm breaking up with you." Up until fourteen days ago she was under the impression that they were moving into his apartment together, per his suggestion. 

She didn't re-sign the lease of the Lower East Side apartment she had shared with her two best friends since graduating college. She had packed up all her belongings and, after a major disagreement, got rid of the furniture Tayler didn't approve of bringing into their shared space.