NEON

81. Clean Up

Kaplan.

"This was so much fun Kaplan!" Sunday said holding onto Viv's hand. She was holding on to her bulging stomach.

I almost want to hold a needle to her stomach just to test and see if she'll pop.

"Stay and help clean up," I hold up a black industrial size! garbage bag, "and tell me if its still fun." I smile and they awkwardly laugh.

"We'll see you tomorrow Lani," Sunday kisses the top of my head and Viv hugs me. It kind of hurt. Not just for me either.

"Alright," I sigh and look around. I sigh and walk to the back, hooking my phone into the speaker. A random song starts playing and I start cleaning the table around the speaker.

"Kaplan!" I jump up and look around the sparkly room. I see in the corner, on the other side of the room, Booker. I hold my breath and walk back to the speaker.

I pause the music and he walks. I walk. We meet each other about 3 feet away from each other.

"I forgot my phone here." He looks around. "I would've called but," I laugh just to dissolve some of the tension. I gesture to the tables and he goes searching.

I pick up some cups and more plates. I set the wine glasses on the tray to take to the kitchen. "Are you working alone?" He asks still looking for his phone.

I can see the outline of his phone in his front pocket so I nod. "Yeah just me. Gage went to hell and once I finish cleaning that's where I'm going." I don't know what I was doing. But some part of me didn't want to be alone.

"And they don't have like a cleaning staff or anything?" I laughed again dumped more plates into the bag.

"They have a kitchen crew but that's it." I shrug and he walks over towards me, not too close but not too far.

"I must have left it at home?" He taps on his thighs, trying to make a beat to cover up the fact that it's in his pocket.

I looked at him, like I did that first day we ever spent more than two minutes together, he somehow got closer and I reached into his front pocket and pulled out his phone.

"Dammit! Every time." He chuckles and I set it on the table. "When won't that get old for you?" He picks up plates and sets them in the garbage bag.

"What?" I do the same and somehow we finish a lot quicker. Without music. Just talking.

I didn't think after we stopped pretending we could just talk. Like normal talk. There was no intention behind it. He was helping me and I wasn't shutting him out. I wasn't hiding anything from him.

"I don't know. Doesn't knowing everything kind of get . . tiring? Like nothing new happens?" He sets a few glasses on the tray.

"I guess." I shrug. "I never realized I did that." Did I really do that? I just knew what was gonna happen. I guessed everything. I just ruined the surprise for everyone.

"It's not a bad thing. I wish I could do that. No seriously." He dumps the rest of the plates and picks up a steak knife. "Cause if there was ever a terrible movie I went to go see and it was about a dumb hero, I would know what he was going to do and learn the ways of his actions then suddenly do good." He held the knife out and did some heroic actions.

I laughed and covered my mouth with my hand. "Put the knife down." I said still laughing. I grabbed the knife from his icy cold hands and set it on the tray along with the other silverware.

"I could have just saved myself a few bucks and coulda bought a donut." We both laughed and kept throwing plates into the trash.

The room got quiet and I wanted to ask him so many questions about that girl he got from Montrose but I didn't want to turn serious. For once I had a pleasant conversation with Booker and I didn't want to change it.

For once I didn't want to be the one that made him upset. I don't ever want him to be upset because of me anymore.

"So Cyrus," I focused back on him and dragged the almost full garbage bag to the second to the last table that had to be cleaned. "She is doing better?" He didn't look up at me.

"Sort of. She got released from the hospital so in a health way- yeah she is doing better." I forget what we were doing and just watched him chuckle and slick his hair back.

I don't remember him slicking it back. He used to have it at the side. Or did I not pay enough attention. He looks up and started saying something but stopped when he noticed me stalking- I mean staring.

I felt my cheeks get hot and I knew it was over for me. I'm dead. It's over. Cuff me now and take me to the hanger. Tie a rope and drop the stool. Lay me on a bed and drop the blade. Swallow me hole.

I looked away and threw more plates into trash. "Sorry, I saw a bug." I said instead of asking him if he changed up his hair.

Cause we are broken up and broken up people don't care if the other persons hair is different because they have moved on and don't notice the little things about them.

"Oh."

I looked back up and his eyes were dim and I knew I had made him upset once again.

I shouldn't have agreed to date him. I should have told him to pretend with Macy or I should have told him to piss off because then I wasn't so weak. I wasn't so immune to him.

Back when we first started I didn't have heart ache because of a boy and now I'm here watching him clean up.

He didn't even have to clean up. He just came up with an excuse to walk in here.

I almost destroyed him.

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