Running In Circles || Nicholas Ruffilo

two

"It still slows me down," Vincent grumbled back.

"Gotta be booked to have anything slow you down in the first place," Davis shot back, making me choke on the pull I just took from my cigarette and Tyler to cover his mouth. "Would you want someone to basically spit on your feet when they're responsible for teaching you how to work on your craft?"

Vincent had a small fire in his eyes as he looked at Davis, whose smile has dropped for the first time today. Davis is a very happy go lucky person and it takes a lot to piss him off, but you could tell Vincent was striking a nerve.

"All I want is to be left alone while I'm working. I see your point, and I'm saying I'm not a good teacher," Vincent replied with a calm anger in his voice.

"Then just say that! Don't talk about her like she's a stray dog before you even know her. She's like a female you, to be honest, and God help me if she is," Davis said honestly, killing off his beer. He examined the table and stalked off to grab another round.

"What's got him in a twist?" Vincent mumbled.

"Just you," I said honestly, making him raise his eyebrows at me. "You've been extra grumpy lately and you haven't been showing up a lot, what's going on?"

"Just... family things." He left it at that, pulling out another cigarette and starting it. "I don't want to talk about it, but I am not doing great and I don't have a good drive to work right now."

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that, and if you need to bitch, I'm always here," I offered, putting a hand on his shoulder. "But when you show up, please try to be nicer." He nodded as Davis came back and sat down.

"I'm sorry, man," Vincent said to Davis.

"All good," Davis said shortly to him and started his beer.

We stayed out for hours, cutting out the tension and drinking way too many beers.

-

Today was my turn to grab coffee, and Goddamn, my head was pounding. I popped some Tylenol before heading out of the apartment, keeping my sunglasses in tow for as long as sensibly possible. 

I was fixing my sunglasses to slide on top of my head as I walked into the coffee shop when I ran straight into someone, sending their coffee all onto them. 

"I am so sorry," I blurted out after taking a step back to assess the situation, looking down at this person's new-looking Doc Martens.

"Watch where you're go-" she started, but stopped herself. I looked up and it was Cassidy. Of course it was Cassidy.

"I'm extra sorry," I emphasized, feeling like my eyes were probably the size of plates. She scoffed at me and walked away. 

"Tell them I'll be late," she yelled over her shoulder, clearly pissed off. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to calm down, still standing in the open doorway.

"I'll get that," the barista said from behind me, coming in with a mop.

"I'm so sorry about that," I apologized to them, who just shrugged. I walked up to the counter and ordered all of our usuals and asked them to make me whatever Cassidy had dropped. I tipped them an extra $10 as an apology for having to clean that up and headed the couple of blocks over to the shop, putting my sunglasses back on. The Tylenol had kicked in before that, but the headache was back now.

I walked in and realized that the others were in the same condition as me, all of them low energy and slumped over. I walked over to Davis's desk where he had his head laying down, scrolling through his phone. He muttered something that might have been a thanks. Vincent was diligently working on drawing something, not acknowledging my existence. Tyler was just tucked away, looking at me a little scared at the energy.