I woke up and my jaw was aching. I lifted my head, opening and closing my mouth in an attempt to relieve the stiffness. I opened my eyes, realizing my head was resting on Judah's chest. I was halfway on top of him, my leg over the top of his. His arm was probably going to hurt too, it was underneath me.
He inhaled sharply and groaned, I felt him stretching beneath me. I rubbed my eye and moved my leg off of him. Suddenly, my stomach started to feel a bit queasy.
"Hey," His deep, sleepy voice emerged.
"Morning," I yawned as I looked for my phone, mumbling to myself, "What time is it?" I grabbed my phone and saw a message from Francisco,
Dont forget lunch at 1 same
okave
It was 11:53. I sat up and looked over at Judah, setting my phone on my lap. He looked like he was falling back asleep. I was looking at his face with content, paying special attention to the details. My eyes scanned his forehead, his hair was all over the place. His eyebrows weren't too bushy but looked wild, as if he rubbed them in different directions. He had very light freckles across his cheeks and his nose. His lips were parted slightly, there were little cracks. He never wore chapstick or lip balm, I often told him it was disgusting. But, it wasn't like they were severely chapped or anything. His stubble was getting longer, he shaved often, so he would probably shave today. My stomach started to turn again as I analyzed all of his features over and over. His eyes fluttered open and he looked over at me.
"What are you smiling at, weirdo?" His eyebrows furrowed at me as he sat himself up.
"You look so innocent when you're sleeping," I replied sweetly.
He smiled at me and then rubbed his face repeatedly, I stood up and started walking around the bed, "Where are you going?" He reached out towards me as I passed by the side of the bed he was laying on.
I smacked his hand down, "To the bathroom, fuck off."
I went into the bathroom and did my morning routine, brushing my teeth and hair, washing my face. I wasn't planning on taking a shower this morning, so I did my hair too. I decided to do a simple half up half down style, leaving small strands to frame my face. I walked back into my bedroom and Judah was still sitting on my bed.
"Come here," He said, patting the bed, "Sit down."
"Why?" I said as I walked over to my dresser drawers, looking for something casual for lunch, "I've got to leave in less than an hour."
"Where you going?" He asked.
"Jean and Robert are in town. We're all going to lunch. Want to crash the party?" I looked back at him, smiling.
"Oh! That's right, you and Cisco were talking about that last night, huh?" He sighed, "I shouldn't, I just forgot. Never mind."
"What do you mean, never mind?" I turned back around and continued to plan an outfit.
"Don't worry about it," He stood up, "I won't be here when you get back."
"Okay," I said simply, "You coming back for dinner?"
His voice was farther, "I'll be here."
I continued to look for something to wear. I ended up wearing some black ripped jeans with a baggy white tee shirt. I tucked the front of the shirt into my pants and put on my air forces. I added some studs, a ring, and a couple of bracelets. I did my make up simply. I filled in my eyebrows and put on mascara, I concealed under my eyes and a few blemishes. Finishing the look with some highlight, I sprayed some body mist above my head, twirling as it fell onto me. I picked up my bag and cleaned it out quickly.
When I finished getting myself ready I walked into the living room to see Judah on the couch. He was watching Rick and Morty as he ate a bowl of cereal. I checked the time, it was already 12:28 and I had to leave in a few minutes. I put my phone in my bag and wrapped my arms around Judah's neck from behind the couch, "I'm leaving," I rested my chin on the top of his head. He reached his hand back and half way hugged my arm.
"Love you," He said with a mouth full of cereal.
I kissed the top of his head, "Love you too. Have a good day."
~
I walked into the restaurant and asked the host where my family was seated. She escorted me to the table and both of my parents stood up.
"Hello, dear," Jean smiled and walked towards me, her arms stretched wide for a hug.
"Sorry I'm late!" I apologized, wrapping my arms around her, "I had to come across from town and you know how traffic gets."
"Oh, come here," Robert said, opening his arms. I let go of my mom and hugged him too.
"So, what did I miss?" I asked as I finally sat down.
"Mom and Dad thought it would be a good idea to go to India next," Cisco said, cracking a smile.
"No way, when?" I asked, looking at them.
"We wanted to leave in a month or so, but that's going to be the peak of summer and tickets are cheaper now. So, we were just going to leave next week!" Robert exclaimed happily.
'Leaving a week after getting back, typical.' I smiled and looked over at my mom, "Exciting! Where did you just get back from again?"
"Oh, Dubai, honey," she said, then took a bite of her food, "It was absolutely wonderful. I was a little scared because, you know, Saudi Arabia. But, it was actually very nice! Shame on the stereo types."
"We're going to be in India for about a month," My father went on, "We're starting the trip in New Delhi, and we're gonna work our way all the way down to Mumbai."
My eyes widened as I picked up a menu, "Interesting, a month, huh?"
"Yeah, you know me and your mother were discussing taking a family trip after we get back!" Robert interjected.
I looked over at Cisco, "Really?" Then looked back at them, 'Hell no.' "Where to?"
"That's the thing, we wanted to discuss it with you two. Where would you like to go?" My mom asked, looking back and forth between me and Cisco.
"I, uh," Cisco stuttered a bit.
"I would need to get my passport," I interrupted him.
"We could do a trip to Hawaii!" Robert said enthusiastically. He was always very, very high energy. It was usually fun, usually.
"I could do Hawaii, only a week or so. Maybe 2," I said, "But I'd need to check with work, and the internship should be over by then. I can take a break before accepting any permanent positions."
Cisco looked at me wide eyed, as if I messed up, "Actually, I have something to tell everyone," he looked back at my parents, "I'm seeing someone."
'He's already serious about Millie?! Christ. I shouldn't be surprised. He does this with every girl.'
"Who is she?" My mother was excited.
"I met her through Kyleigh actually, they work together. Her name is Millie."
"Oh that's wonderful! How long have you been together?" She asked.
I smiled and looked at Cisco, "Yeah, how long Cisco?"
"It's still pretty new," He brushed it off, "But I'm willing to bet we will still be together. She's very special."
"Oh, that's just lovely. Why didn't you bring her today?" Jean asked again.
I laughed slightly, "Yeah, why didn't you invite her to meet Mom and Dad?"
He looked at me again with the same 'shut up' look on his face, "I didn't even think about it! Next time, maybe."
"We'll be in town for a bit," Mom went on, "Oh! Lets invite everyone to the house! Judah and this Millie! Does Judah have a girlfriend?"
"Something like that," I said.
"Well he is welcome to bring her too! I just miss you all so much!" She gushed, "I remember when you were all in school, you three would be together every day. I remember you guys sitting at the table in the backyard all summer, every day after school."
"Except when Cisco was at his girlfriend's house," I joked.
Robert laughed, "She meant just you and Judah."
"Oh, stop it you two. Leave my boy alone, he loves hard," She defended Cisco.
Dad looked at me and rolled his eyes subtly. I laughed with him and looked at Francisco, "Yeah, that he does."
The lunch went on with a similar vibe and we made official plans for an early dinner tomorrow. It was nice to hang out with my parents and catch up on everything. Even though they've only been my family for 9 years, it feels like I've known them forever.
~
I arrived back at home a little after 4 and decided to finally clean the house a bit. It was my day off after all. I went into the kitchen and poured myself a mixed drink with some apple crown and apple juice. I took a sip as I went into my room to turn on some music. I hit shuffle play on Spotify, "As It Was" by Harry Styles came on. I turned up the music and put it on the table, we never used the table. Probably because it was always completely covered, so I decided to clear it off first. There was a bunch of unopened mail, I set it on the counter and moved onto the countless random items: sweatshirts, books, a random screwdriver, and a few other papers. After putting everything in its respective place, I wiped it down.
Once I had finished with the table I moved on to the bathroom, putting all of my skin care into the medicine cabinet and under the sink. Judah didn't keep much of anything in the bathroom, except for his shower stuff. So, it was mostly always my mess. After the surfaces were clear of clutter, I wiped everything down with some disinfectant wipes.
I smiled at my progress, and finally walked into my room. I opened the window, letting fresh air in. Judah and I never had much time to maintain the apartment, our schedules were always so busy. Judah never cleaned much, anyway. So, it had always been up to me. He helps with the kitchen sometimes, which was nice.
I took another few sips of my drink and put all of my laundry into a basket, packing it tightly. I set the basket outside of my room as I gathered the rest of my dirty clothes into a pile. I grabbed a trash bag from the kitchen and stuffed it full of clothes. Once all of my laundry was together, I grabbed the laundry soap, my bag, and my keys. Then I made my way downstairs to the laundromat. I was putting everything into a washing machine when Isaiah came in with a basket of his own.
Isaiah was one of our countless neighbors. He was tall, probably 6'5 or something. He was light skinned with so many tattoos. His hair was dark and short, he had waves. I thought he was so hot, but I'd never even seen him look at me unless it was a glance. He never spoke to anyone, usually. So I didn't know a single thing about him.
I kept getting my laundry into the machine and added my soap. I put in my quarters and moved to the next machine to do a second load. I always needed to do 2 loads because I procrastinate on doing laundry every single time. Once I finished putting the clothes in, Isaiah left. I sighed, it almost killed me that he never paid any attention to me. It wouldn't suck if he wasn't so hot, not that I would do anything with him anyway. I just wasn't really used to that type of thing, and I really wanted to catch his attention. I always told myself that he was just a very loyal man and had a woman waiting in his apartment. But, he never had any women's clothes in his laundry. Not that I look at his laundry! Who am I kidding, yes I do. I added the soap and quarters and started my second load. I put the trash bag into the basket along with the laundry soap, my purse, keys and phone.
When I got back into the apartment, I set a timer to let me know when the laundry would be done. I finished my first drink and got another, being a little more generous than usual with the liquor. I brought the cup into my room and set it on my nightstand. I started off by organizing my makeup and putting away my jewelry. So basically everything off of my vanity and dresser was clean, I wiped both down. I made my bed and organized my night stand. Once my room looked acceptable, I took a small break. After I drank about half of my drink, I made my way to the living room. I set my drink on the freshly cleaned table and walked over to the front of the couch, grabbing my shoes and anything else left in that corner of the house. I put everything away and grabbed the wipes, wiping down the tv stand. Afterwards, my vibe was very positive. I felt very accomplished. I grabbed the broom and swept all of the rooms I cleaned so far, the only rooms I left were Judah's room and the kitchen. The entire apartment had hardwood flooring.
My timer went off and I grabbed my purse and keys, making my way downstairs again. Once I got into the laundry room, I just ran each wet load of laundry to an empty drier. Isaiah walked in mid waddle, my hands were full of laundry. He chuckled softly, 'So he does notice me? How embarrassing.' I thought to myself. I put quarters into both dryers and started them. I walked out afterwards, making a point to not even look at my neighbor.
Once I was back in the apartment I finished my drink, deciding to tackle the kitchen. It was around 7. I did all of the dishes and put them away. The counters had a ton of random shit on them, I put all of it away and threw some things in the trash. After that was taken care of, I wiped the counters down and swept the floor. I opened any mail that had my name on it, there wasn't anything important so I threw all of that away too.
I had pretty much finished cleaning the entire apartment, so I decided to go an extra mile and grabbed the glass cleaner. I cleaned the mirrors and decided to clean my window. My window was the only accessible window in the house. There was another window behind the tv but I didn't feel like trying to get to it. I lit a candle and put it on the table, also lighting one on my dresser. I took a deep breath and let it out, smiling. I made myself another drink and sat on the couch.
The way the apartment was laid out when you walked into the front door, the tv was directly to your right and the wall to my room was on your left. The couch was situated in front of it, behind the couch we had a table with 2 chairs on each side. In the far back was the kitchen, Judah's room was to the left of it. In between mine and Judah's room was the bathroom and the closet, our bedroom doors faced each other. It was a small apartment.
I turned off my music from my phone and turned on the tv, selecting Netflix. I turned on an episode of "Too Hot to Handle". It was season 2 and Carly and Chase had just split up. I had fully invested myself in the drama, sipping my drink. I watched an entire episode and then some before my alarm went off to grab my clothes. I put my keys in my basket and went down to the laundry room. Isaiah was already in there, grabbing his laundry. I went over to my dryers and put my clothes into my basket and bag.
"I never got your name before," He finally spoke.
'Yes, you have.' I was devastated, "It's Kyleigh."
"Isaiah," He replied.
I laughed, looking down at my laundry, "I know." I put my bag on top of my basket and walked towards the door.
"Shit, my fault," He replied.
"Don't worry about it, have a good night," I said and turned around to walk backwards through the door.
"Want some help?" He reached around my basket and stepped past me, opening the door.
"Thanks," I smiled at him and made my way back to the apartment.
I put all of my clothes away and cozied back up on the couch with my drink, pressing play again on my show. I took out my phone and noticed it was almost 9, 'Huh, I wonder where he is.'
I texted Judah, 'You okay?'
I watched the rest of the episode and decided to start making dinner by myself. I preheated the oven and started to boil some water. I was planning on making some chicken fettuccini alfredo. So I continued watching the show from the kitchen and took out the chicken, covering it in oil and seasoning it before throwing it in the oven. As I grabbed the noodles, the front door finally opened.
"I'm sorry I'm late," Judah said loudly, walking in the front door.
I put the noodles into the water, "It's fine, I started dinner."
"You cleaned?" He asked as he walked into the kitchen.
"Yeah," I looked at him and smiled.
"Looks great," He smiled.
"I kind of just threw your shit on your bed though, fair warning," I said and grabbed a can of premade alfredo sauce.
"That's fine, thank you," He leaned against the counter, "What am I supposed to do now?"
I laughed, "I don't know dude."
"I guess I could go clean up the shit you threw on my bed."
I shrugged as I threw away the box that the pasta came in, "How was your thing with Kelsey?"
"Fine," He said and walked out of the kitchen.
I grabbed my drink and finished it off before pouring myself another. I used the last of the apple juice and put it by the very full trash can, "Can you take the trash out, actually?"
"Yeah!" He shouted from his room, "Just give me a minute."
I set a timer for 5 minutes and sat on the couch, watching my show and sipping on my drink. Chase was gagged and Carly was basically screaming at him. This was an exercise where they were forced to listen to the other person speak their mind. Judah grabbed the trash and walked outside with it. My alarm went off, I checked the chicken and the noodles. They both needed a few more minutes, but I decided to just wait in the kitchen.
Judah came back inside and went to his room. I wondered what he was doing, but decided against asking. I leaned my forearms on the counter and focused on the tv. Carly was listening to Chase now. Judah eventually came out of his room, he had changed into some gray sweats and a white tee shirt.
"How was your day?" He grabbed some plates out of the cabinet, looking at the tv.
"Good, they're going to India next week," I replied plainly.
"Damn, they just got back yesterday, right?" He asked.
"Yeah," I said, "Oh, they want us all to go over to the house tomorrow for an early dinner at 4. Mom said to bring your girlfriend."
"I don't have a girlfriend," He laughed.
"I mean, I basically said you had something like a girlfriend, and she said for you to bring her," I explained, "Also, I suggest Jane. Millie is going."
"I'm not bringing anyone," He shook his head smiling.
"Why not?" I asked, "Mom just wants to feel included, she misses us."
"I'm going to go by myself, and spend time with them. By myself."
I sighed and turned around, checking a pasta noodle, "Whatever," it was done, "Grab the strainer."
He handed it to me, "If I brought Jane she might get the wrong idea, I have a feeling she already thinks we're getting more serious. I don't want that."
"They both know, right?" I asked him as I strained the noodles into the sink, "Like about each other?"
"I mean they don't know that I basically only alternate between the two of them, but they know I see other women," He explained.
"I thought so," I put the sauce into the pot with the noodles and added some minced garlic, Italian seasoning, paprika and salt before tasting it.
"Plus, it would be weird if you were the only one who didn't bring someone," He laughed.
"Not really. They know I don't do serious relationships."
"You'd be the 7th wheel. Why do that when you and I can be alone together?" He joked.
"Yeah, I'm used to being an extra," I smiled, "I was the 5th last night."
"Is that why you left without saying anything?" He asked.
I took out the chicken, "Yeah, I guess so."
He put pasta onto his plate and threw a piece of chicken on top. I rolled my eyes and cut my chicken into strips before making my plate, "You guess?" He asked me.
I shrugged as I grabbed our forks, "Yeah."
I put my plate on the table and grabbed the remote, turning off the show and looking at movies for us to watch, "How about we just skip the movie for now, lets talk," Judah said.
'Oh, god.'