Pictures And Some Memories

Twenty Two: Open Eyes.

Silence.

It was what my once rambunctious home consisted of. Just earlier today, all of All Time Low, Carly, Cassadee (Rian's girlfriend) and Kate (Zack Merrick's girlfriend) were all laughing and running around my backyard, goofing off as they riffed on new possible songs and overall acclimating to the California sun. So much so that they decided on an impromptu trip to the beach, while I stayed behind to work on finishing touches for Zacky's line. They weren't anywhere close to being useful for the line, instead just a chance to show him all the styles and possibilities he had should he choose me to continue working with me.

I should have welcomed the peace and quiet. After all, Alex and Carly were staying in one guest room, while Jack was in the other. Meanwhile, Rian just commuted from his place in LA to come see me while Zack couch surfed between our two homes. But, despite the years of practice that the pair should of had, Alex and Carly weren't great at being quiet while in the throes of passion, and Jack was rarely around; if he wasn't with us, he was in the studio or with one of our several musician friends in LA. I was happy to have everyone in my home, and missed having everyone crammed into one place. Without them around, my mind didn't wander to the darker places, where pure rage sprouted at the thought of my now former boyfriend. But, now the peace had subsided, and all I could see was red.

Red for the limitations he had suddenly placed upon my career. His camp had received my petition all right, and despite his father's advice, Larkin didn't budge. Instead of just representing me for one last show and then calling it quits, he now wanted another five years worth of partnership. And considering how awful he was to me when we were dating, I wanted no part in that. I was worried, mostly because if he didn't budge soon, we would have to take it to court in New York, and despite missing that city more often than not, I didn't want to return under those circumstances.

Just as I'd started sharpening an outline for the graffiti-esque skull, my phone began to buzz, Zacky's contact photo lit up on the screen.

"Hello?" I answered quickly, balancing the phone between my ear and shoulder.

"I need a distraction," he spoke quickly, the sound of wind lapping at the microphone on his end. "I know I've been hard to reach recently and I'm sorry, but this month has been a fucking nightmare."

I placed the stylus onto the desk and hit Save on my iMac. "Tell me about it. Luckily, you've called the right woman. Got anything in mind?"

"Well, I don't have Nicholas at the moment, for reasons I'll disclose later, but I'm down for anything. Dinner. Getting shit faced drunk. You know, the usual."

"Are you okay?" I asked, my brow furrowing at the thought of him driving around in the mood he was in.

"Yeah. Just pissed off..."

"Well, here, I'll meet you at your place. I'll make you dinner and we could go over my designs, or we could go out for drinks or-- oh yeah, we're definitely doing that. Meet at your place?"

"Doing what?"

I grinned. "It's a surprise. I'll see you in fifteen minutes."

"I'm on the PCH so I may be a little late, but you have the codes from when you watched the dogs last week, right?"

"I do," I answered, "and I'll make myself at home until then if that's the case. See you soon."

"See you," he repeated before hanging up.

I quickly backed up my files to my external hard drive and cloud drive alike before whirling around and eagerly heading downstairs. Just as I slid my feet into my sneakers, I realized I was still clad in black Nike shorts and an old University of Texas T-shirt, and rolled my eyes as I dragged myself into my bedroom to get ready. I'm sure if I were still a teenager or in college, going out dressed like that would have been accepted, congratulated even. But, I was nearly 25, and I felt almost too old to dress like that anymore.