OSCAR WOKE UP GROGGY, RUBBING HIS EYES AS HE TRIED TO SIT UPRIGHT. The blaring alarm clock stationed on his left reminded him of last night's abnormal amount of alcohol intake was starting to take it's toll on him, starting with the infamous hangover, which would later proceed to turn into pure exhaust. It was his birthday last night, and he had intended to go big, and as usual, he hadn't thought of the repercussions. From beside him, his girlfriend groaned in annoyance before shifting her position facing away from him and pulling the blanket with her. She offered him a tiny smile as he kissed her forehead and wrapped his arms around her for two or so seconds then moved to get ready.
"Morning, babe." He whispered gruffly as moved himself to the edge, letting his legs hover over the cotton cushioning he took pride in purchasing.
He stood up, stretching his arms in a melodramatic manner.
It was going to happen one way or another anyway, plus, both had completed their girlfriend and boyfriend duties at the crack of dawn this morning, continually sneaking kisses at one another as their laughter, three pitches higher than usual echoed in their spacious apartment.
Oscar's footsteps thudded heavily as he dragged himself off the much too relaxing environment that him up in the clouds. Talk about nostalgia.
"Shh," she grimaced, hands covering her ears, "Five minutes. Give me five more minutes."
"You can have the whole day," he looked over to her with sympathy, before making his way to the bathroom, "Michael must be stupid to think that you'd come to work the day after your boyfriend's birthday."
As he glanced at his distraught, fuzzy morning appearance, a smile dared to play on his lips. He was a man now. One with all the responsibilities that only a serious person would be lucky enough to have the opportunity to call his. One of which, was his more frequent use of the word 'Oscar', no longer the whiplash high school musical rip off renamed after an animated character from Disney's Lion King.
Through the years, Oscar believed that he had matured, even if it was a mild maturity session, he had still matured, hence the new and evolutionized name, Oscar. No one called him Scar anymore, the name in this age was unheard of, and he was more than happy to shed his outcast persona as soon as life paved a path for him. Heck-he even had a girlfriend, a dashing beauty that he had fallen madly in love with back in college. The two would go traipsing around to everyone's dorm rooms hailing the students to attend.
Good times, he reminisced.
He could practically feel Natalie, his girlfriend rolling her eyes from where she lay, "Usually, the girlfriend skips the day on her boyfriend's birthday. Better yet, she doesn't even skip the day, she just drinks a fuck ton after work."
Oscar laughed as she chucked a pillow in his direction, she continued, "But who am I to turn down a perfect excuse to skip work. Oh, how I wish it was your birthday every day."
"Well, Nat," he teased, "Since you're feeling better -"
"No!" she cut off. "I'm dying. Please help me, I don't think I'll survive. It's an emergency, Ossie!" He only smiled at her creative use of the newly created nickname while shaking his head playfully.
He had work today. Oscar had started with his face, making sure that his daily shave and freshener were completed before gelling his hair into place. Generally, he didn't enjoy dollopping a glob on his jet-black hair, but today was different. Today, he dressed to impress.
Slipping into a semi-tight long sleeved apparel that had just come out this season while grabbing his most presentable blazer, a dark green color in contrast to his almost light green-orange eyes for today's ever-so-important meeting. As the general manager, it was practically his job to lead the discussion let alone be present, so no matter how much he and Natalie wanted him to stay, he eventually had to slip through the door, grabbing the maroon-rimmed key on his way out.
"I'll see you tonight, babe." She kissed him, wrapping her tender fingers around his next, although intended as a quick peck, it was as passionate as ever, he hated to break it off, but caressed her cheek as a form of temporary goodbye, "Bye, Oscar."
"Nat." he nodded, the door clicking shut behind him.
Like every other day, he had begun to take a routinely detour to the coffeeshop down fifth
avenue, almost rushing to the moderately sized store as soon as he managed to slip out of the elevator. Oscar had begun to tuck himself further into his hood as the morning wind breezed by as he slipped through a familiar set of glass doors.
Isaac, the bartender had an eye for regulars, and gave Oscar a subtle nod as he approached, "Rough night?" he asked, already working on his order. A large mug of Americano, "Your usual?"
"Please." He groaned, rubbing his eyes one more time. "Birthday last night. Nat and I went crazy."
The bartender, who nearly matched his age merely offered a small smile before passing out his order, "Good luck at work today, bro. From the looks of it, you'll need it."
He nodded, sliding over to one of the couches at the back of the store. If there was one thing he needed now, it was peace. After all, he had a lot on his plate today. Foreign guests were a rare occasion, and he had been appointed to cruise them through their day.
The city buzz enclosed him, as he, a typical Wall Street (not really, he's only twenty-four!) businessman ran out to hail a cab before the feeling of disastrous traffic sunk in. He spared a glance at the clock, he wouldn't be late.
Oscar missed the good old days, and by that, he meant college. High school. School. Anything. When his hands first touched the elegant feel of his diploma, he felt nothing but pride, but now, he suddenly wished if said diploma could be dumped in the bin and he could redo everything.
He hadn't kept in contact with the others, and to this day, his lack of effort was his biggest regret. They had chosen to go their separate paths, but yet, he knew that he secretly missed the ever-so-radiant and annoying group that the five had completed.
The four of the latter repeated their senior year, Jess, taking a jump to college with her passable GPA, but the different high schools hadn't kept them apart, the four meeting up on a daily basis, sometimes joined by Jess on a phone call, but soon enough, the year had passed and when everyone had gone to college, they had separated in an instant.
Oscar used to think that it was simply meant to be, but he knew, deep inside that it wasn't.
He regretted it, but he knew that there was nothing he could do to change it. They had all simply drifted apart, and to him, only time could fix something like that. And time was something they didn't have.
"Oscar." His boss nodded in his direction as he smoothed down his tie one last time. He had clocked in his shift just over five minutes ago via a fingerprint scanner and now the two were waiting outside the grand building complex for their guests who were no doubt just around the corner.
He nodded, offering a confident smile. It was one thing to be nervous, and another to be so nervous that pretending to not appear nervous was making you nervous. Life was wonderful, wasn't it?
Soon enough the familiar look of the company limousine had just pulled up and the guests begun to file out, shaking the hands of him and his boss in the most systematic manner in mankind, the amount of etiquette it took to proceed to the second hour of the day was unbelievably overwhelming, and it was getting really boring. Oscar wanted to be any place but here.
Any.
Fast forward to the first meeting of the day, the hour which Scar had dreaded the most, boring, at this moment was something he was wishing for, at least it was better than publicly humiliating himself in front of the most powerful people in regards to his job.
Jessica and he were rehearsing their lines, going over the fundamentals of their general scheme of work. It had taken months to draw a definite conclusion, but it had definitely paid off, and he had to be ready, just like he had to be ready to leave Covia despite desperately wanting to stay and avoid all other arising problems.
In short, it had to be done.
But, ten minutes before the two were scheduled to make the reveal of the season and talk with highly flowery, complicated and artistic words that would leave the audience without any opposition, his phone, stationed in his pocket had begun to buzz. At first, he thought it was Natalie, excusing himself to deliver a short message that he was busy, but it had appeared to be an unknown number.
A closer look upon which would reveal that it was a familiar number, a very familiar one. Jess. And she wasn't just calling him. She was calling everyone.
Your past and present will always collide, his mother's words echoed in his head. You can't escape it.
His breath hitched, and against his better judgment, he joined the call, feeling a sharp thrust of nostalgia as he did such.
"Hey," her voice echoed, and her voice took him back. To the good old days.