Closing my eyes, I rubbed at my temples as I wished for time to pass so I could leave work and go home. It was just past 5 o'clock in the afternoon and I had a horrible day on campus. We always had tests on Mondays and they really drained me, I felt and probably looked like a real zombie.
I was completely sobered up since Saturday night, and I was still very much upset by what Roger had said. I couldn't believe him. He made me feel so cheap, and I definitely was not cheap. Freddie annoyed me too, laughing like what Roger had said was funny and okay.
It wasn't.
I expected John to come over to get his girlfriend something, but he never showed up. I suppose he heard about what happened and Roger probably forbid him from coming to the store. What an asshole.
"Clarissa." I snapped out of my angry thoughts as I felt Rose take my hand and remove it from my hair, I didn't even noticed that I was pulling at it.
"Hey." I stood up from my seat at the register and looked down at the small lady, tucking my hair behind my ear.
"Rough day?" She questioned carefully.
"I'm sorry, I've been in such a bad mood since Saturday." I mumbled, folding my arms as my eyes scanned the store.
We had no customers and I wished that we could just lock up and leave.
"Concert didn't go so well?"
I shook my head and sighed, but I didn't want to talk about it. I was embarrassed that Roger even thought that that was the reason why I went to watch them. It definitely wasn't about sex to me.
Clearly it was to him, though.
"Do you want to talk about it?" She put her hand on my shoulder and I smiled, shaking my head.
"No, I just wanna sleep." I laughed, "I'm being dramatic anyway, it wasn't a big deal or anything." I half lied. It was a big deal to me.
"Then go. Go home. The store has been quiet all day, I can manage on my own. I might even lock up early." She smiled mischievously and winked.
I wasn't going to try and be polite and offer to stay, because I really just needed a nap.
"I'll come in tomorrow morning to make up for the hours lost today." I offered and she nodded.
I was being paid per hour after all and I couldn't afford to lose three hours worth of pay.
"No class?" She asked as she handed me my coat which I immediately slipped into.
"Thankfully not. I'll see you tomorrow. Thank you for letting me slip off." I gave her a small hug and practically ran for the door.
For a brief moment I considered grabbing a taxi, but I decided against it. The eight minute walk home really wasn't that bad and maybe I just needed the fresh air.
I walked slowly and tried to clear my mind as I approached the green building. The streets were busy, since this was usually the time that people would go home after a long day of hard work. I never got to go home this early, unless I worked a morning shift.
When I got home I immediately face planted into my couch, curling up as I hugged a pillow to my stomach.
I honestly just wanted to be left alone for the next year. No uni, no work, no problematic band mates. Just me and this lovely little couch.
I had just gotten comfortable and I was half asleep when I heard a knock on my door. I decided to ignore it and placed a pillow over my head, groaning when the knocking continued.
I huffed and threw my pillow on the floor aggressively before stomping over to the door as the loud and obnoxious knocking only seemed to get worse.
I flung the door open and immediately tried to close it as soon as I saw Roger standing right outside my flat. He placed his foot in the way and winced when the door knocked into him. I simply stared at him as he tried to pretend that he wasnt in quite a bit of pain.
He looked at me, pushing the door open slightly as he took a step forward.
"Can I come in?" He mumbled.
I crossed my arms across my chest and stepped aside to allow him in. He better be here to apologize for what he said the other night.
I followed him to the couch and he didn't hesitate to sit down. I decided to sit opposite him, God knows I would strangle him if I got too close to him.
He stared at me as I looked down at my fidgeting hands, we stayed silent for a very long time and the tension became unbearable.
"Sooo." We both said at the same time, and I had to fight back a smile. I was beyond angry, especially since he rudely interrupted my nap.
I kept my mouth shut as I waited for him to say something first. He sat up and placed his hands on his knees, looking directly at me as I raised an eyebrow.
"So about what we did the other night-" He started.
"You mean about what you did?" My voice came out stern and I was shocked but also proud of it. He should know that I was beyond pissed.
He stayed silent for a few seconds, he must've been just as surprised at my tone as I was. His face twisted in confusion as his eyebrows furrowed together, "What I did? I hardly did anything wrong! You led me on!"
My mouth dropped open and I might've let out a tiny gasp at his words. Did he really think I was in the wrong?
"Uhm, excuse you. I'm not half as easy as you are and I did nothing that could've led you on!" My hands balled up into tight fists as I glared at Roger, he seemed to be just as angry as I was.
He shouldn't be. He should be sorry.
"Are you kidding me? You said that it was time for bed and did that thing with your eyes! You were practically begging me to go home with you!" He stood up, dramatically waving his hands in the air as he glared right back at me.
"What?" I stood up as well and placed my hands on my hips, sending him daggers as he waved his hand and started walking towards the door.
"I did not mean that in a suggestive manner! I told you that it was late and I wanted to go to bed! Alone!" He stopped in his tracks as I raised my voice, folding my arms across my chest. "I'm not the kind of person to just- just-" I threw my hands in the air as I search for the right words, "Go around sleeping with every pretty boy I meet and you should know that!"
My cheeks heated up when I realized that I called him pretty, but I soon forgot about it as he rolled his eyes, "Oh so now you're playing hard to get when you had your hands all up in my hair the other night." He muttered.
"You told me to!" My blood was boiling and I was throwing a Freddie-styled tantrum as I aggressively sat back down on my couch, turning away from him. "I never had any intention of even kissing you. You kissed me. You initiated everything and now you're pinning the blame on me because I said no."
"You made me look like an idiot, in front of Freddie." He walked towards the couch that I was sitting on and sat right next to me as I turned further away from him.
"You made me look like an idiot! You said I was only there because I wanted to go home with you when the only reason why I showed up was to support you and your band because I thought that's what you wanted!" I turned back to face him and I knew that my face was red. Mainly from anger but also because I was starting to cool down and he was sitting rather close to me.
"Wait- really?"
"Yes, Roger! Really!" I fumed and planted my face into my hands. "I like coming to your shows and hanging out with you and Brian and John afterwards. I thought we were going to become friends but now I know why you really invited me the first time and why you wanted me to stay for your writing session." I muttered.
I felt his hand gently tug at my arm as he attempted to get me to remove my face from my hands.
"That wasn't my plan, Rissa. I swear it. Maybe it was on Saturday, but not before that, I just thought, you know, I don't know what I thought. It just seemed like that was what we were getting to. I'm sorry."
I looked at him as he cupped one of my hands in both of his, his thumb gliding across my knuckles as he looked down at me. His glare from earlier was long gone and he almost looked a little fragile.
"I'm sorry too, if that was the message I was giving across. I'll try to dial it down a bit. I just get too comfortable when I drink. I'm sorry for yelling at you." I sighed.
He smiled slightly and put his arm around my shoulders as he pulled me into a side hug, "It's okay, and I know you're sorry for calling me easy too."
I rolled my eyes at him, laughing slightly as I shook my head, "I meant that part. Did you go home with Lacy?"
"Lucy." He corrected me, "And yeah, I guess I did."
I raised my eyebrows, shaking my head, "Mhm, I definitely meant it when I called you easy."
We sat in comfortable silence as he kept his arm around me, queezing me every now and again. I was rather shocked that our fight ended so soon and on such a good note.
"I'm sorry if I embarrassed you in front of Freddie." I mumbled, resting my head against his shoulder.
"Oh, you didn't. I just said that so you'd feel guilty."
i swatted at him, standing up as I made my way to the kitchen, "Tea?"
...
"I'm so sorry I'm late! I lost track of time, I'm so sorry Rose!" I rushed into the store, tossing my coat behind the counter as she held a cup of coffee out to me.
"You're all good. It's only ten minutes." She laughed as I panted lightly, leaning on the counter and taking the cup from her hand.
"I stayed up way past my bed time." I admitted, sipping on my warm drink.
She always had a cup of coffee ready for me when I worked morning shifts. God was feeling real generous the day he made Rose. I was so thankful that I had her.
"What kept you up so late?" She laughed.
I sat down and smiled as I remembered eating a lot of pizza with Roger while he insisted on keeping the tv on the music channel all night long. We just kind of hung out until around midnight. I nearly had a heart attack when I saw the time and begged him to leave so that I could get some sleep in. He was nice and smart. I was blown away by how much he knew about politics and all those boring things I didn't really care about, but hearing him talk about it made me slightly more interested.
"I was working on some things for uni." I lied.
I never really was one to share much about my life, especially when I felt like it wasn't necessary. Rose didn't need to know that I had that fight with Roger and that I spent the whole night wondering why he pricked my interests so much.
"Did you get to finish it off?" She cut my thoughts short.
"Uh- what?" My eyes widened.
"Did you get all your work done?" She rolled her eyes playfully.
"No but I'm sure I'll be finishing it off pretty soon. Hopefully." I raised my cup to my lips in an attempt to hide my smirk when I heard the little bell by the door ring and our first customer came strolling in.
The hours flew by, I guess yesterday only felt so long because I was in such a bad mood. I was really glad that Roger and I got to clear things up, though. Otherwise today would've been just as bad as yesterday.
I was busy putting some clothes away when I heard the bell ring again, but I chose to ignore it since Rose was closer to the entrance anyway. I hummed a little tune as I reached up to place a pair of black boots on one of the higher shelves when I suddenly felt extremely cold fingers press into the exposed skin of my back. I yelled as I jumped back, knocking into the person behind me before turning to face them.
"They're cold, huh?" Freddie grinned as John giggled from beside him.
"He was playing with the snow on our way here." John laughed.
My eyes widened at the sight of Freddie at the store. I knew John would be coming around, since Roger mentioned it last night when I asked him if John was upset with me too, but Freddie was a surprise.
"What are you doing here?" I mumbled. I hope that didn't sound rude.
"We're shopping, my God." Freddie rolled his eyes before turning around and walking to a shelf full of warm jerseys, leaving John and I alone.
"You're here to get something for your girlfriend?" I questioned as I led him to the women's section.
"Yeah. I'm thinking maybe like a nice pair of shoes or a warm coat. Something useful." He replied confidently as we approached a rack that was lined with all different kinds of boots and sneakers.
"I would kill for a nice pair of boots." I grinned, grabbing a pair from the rack before handing them over to him.
"These came in last week. They're really popular in the States this winter. I thought they were pretty cool." I shrugged.
He eyed them carefully, feeling the leather and he even sniffed at them, making me laugh, "They're real leather." He informed me.
"I know. I could have told you that. You didn't have to sniff them!" I laughed.
"Clara, I can't find the bloody trousers you were wearing on Saturday." Freddie approached us again, a couple of t-shirts in his left hand as his right hand rested on his hip.
I rolled my eyes as I looked at John, and he nodded, "You go help Fred. I'm going to see if I find anything else she might like." He seemed to stick with the boots as he tucked them under his arm, heading over to the scarves as I led Freddie in the opposite direction.
"You know they're women's trousers, right?" I smirked as I approached the stand they were hanging from.
"Oh darling, does this shirt look very manly to you?" He pointed at the floral top he was wearing, grabbing the pants from my hands as I held them out to him.
"Nope, but women's trousers don't have room for... well." I trailed off as a smirk tugged at the corners of his lips.
"That might be a problem, I do need a lot of room for that." He said, followed by a cheeky wink.
With that he turned around and headed right into the changing room as I clasped my hand over my mouth. I could feel my entire face heat up as I glanced over at John who was now standing with Rose as he paid for his things.
He came over to me when he was done, smiling, "Tell Fred I'll be right back, I just need to get something from next door." I nodded as I watched him leave.
I got to tidying up a rack of clothes before I heard my name being called from the changing rooms. I glanced over as Freddie poked his head out of the door, motioning for me to come closer.
"I need an opinion. Come in."
I hesitated and shook my head, taking a step back before he grabbed my arm, dragging me into the small room with him.
He wasn't wearing a shirt and I was trying my best to focus my eyes on anything but him. "What do you think? They weren't this tight on you the other night." He looked at himself in the mirror, smirking.
"That's because my ass isn't as big as yours." I spoke truthfully.
He looked at me in the mirror as I stood behind him before lowering his eyes back to his legs. "Now tell me what you think."
"They look good on you, but they'd look better on the hanger." I tried joking, earning an eye roll from him.
"My dear, if you want to see me naked, just say so." He began unbuttoning them and I immediately turned around, covering my eyes.
"I didn't mean you'd look better naked, I meant the trousers would look better if they weren't on you." I tried to correct myself but he ignored it.
"Well then since you don't want to see me naked, I suggest you leave right now."
He didn't have to tell me twice. As I was stepping out, I felt his hand grab my wrist. I was scared to turn around because I was quite sure he'd already taken the trousers off.
"I do hope Roger invited you to tomorrow night's band practice." He said softly. "We need someone to bring us our drinks and towels as we request them."
It was almost nice, until he added the very last sentence.