Death Or Glory

Missed Call

a lil bit of a filler but are you guys enjoying this story so far? I hope so.

I woke up and went through the usual "where am I?" morning confusion. Noticing Joe next to me I felt at home. Physically I felt awful, everything just feels worse in the morning, sicknesses, bills, heartaches, everything.

He dragged me to see a doctor, who said I had an infection of some sort, an easy thing to fix with antibiotics. The ugly part came when he prescribed them to me in the form of injections, so I'd get better quickly.

"Stop being a wimp, its only four." Says Joe as we head back to the hotel.
"Only four" I repeat sarcastically "and who's gonna do it?"
"I can"
"hmm I don't trust you like that"
"What? Candy you once asked me to wipe you after you took a piss because your nail polish wasn't dry."
"So? its not like you hadn't touched there before. I mean like, you could kill me."
"If I wanted to I would've by now."

As we walked into the lobby one of the clerks called me over, she said someone called and left their number. By the area code I knew who it was.
Once in the room I anxiously dialed the numbers and then she picked up,
"Ma? It's Candy, you called?"
"I must've called 10 times but like always you never pickup"
"How did you know where I was?"
"It's all over the news! Which is why I called, why didn't you tell me you were coming?! I'm dying to see you!"
"What? News about what? And well because New York is like two thousand miles away."
"So? I've already arranged our plane tickets! Your dad will be so happy when I tell him!"
"Wait, slow down, what?"
"We're going to visit you! We'll be there tomorrow afternoon!"
I'm glad she couldn't see my face because on it was an expression that mouthed "fuck me over." All these years I've visited them, making up excuses about Joe being too busy to come with.
I don't hate my parents, I really love them, but I don't want them anywhere near this part of my life. I just know they'll hate it, it'll make them worry and be upset, because they'll see right through everything. They'll know about the misdemeanors, the drugs, the cheating, the bad habits. Yeah. fuck me over.
"That's great mum! I can't wait for you to meet Joe at last." I hate lying.
***
He pinched me thereafter, I whimpered but it worked because I actually felt better, except for my bum. Then he asked who called.

"About that, I need a favor...it was my parents, they plan on visiting tomorrow, and if you could just act like everything's normal, I would appreciate it."
"What do you mean?" He asks.
"Well, I didn't mention we are separated, or about our future divorce. I don't want them to worry, so can we pretend that we're still, in love or whatever."
He gave me a look of contempt then just nodded. I felt guilty about my choice of words. Why do I blurt things without thought? Surely he knows me better than that?
Or not, we didn't speak for the rest of the day.