As I pulled my suitcases out of the taxi trunk, I heard my name being yelled. I glanced up to see Jacob walking down his driveway, a smile on his face, "Hey man, how's it going?" His words came out in a jovial manor, and as he came to stand next to me, I cocked an eyebrow at him.
Instantly the smile that had been plastered on his face faded and he nodded, "Yeah, I suppose I should already know the answer to that." He raised his arms in the air for a quick hug. He slapped his hand a couple times on my back before backing off, "Well, at least you can relax now dude. Get away from all the shit, you know?"
I nodded slowly, rest was what I needed. The past couple of weeks had been so chaotic, that I had lost track of time. Time that I could have spent being productive were lost to the same repeated fights. A lot of things suffered because of the break up- my job, my social life, and to a lesser extent my health. For the most part, if I wasn't arguing with Anna, I was sitting down with a bottle and a shot glass.
"At the very least being out of New York will be enough." I tacked on. While moving to the big city had been a boon for my professional life, it was hard to say that I thrived in the environment. All the noise, people and constant hustle were maddening.
Here, out in the country air, everything was calming. You could hear the wind over the buzz of voices. It allowed you to think, instead of screaming at things to shut up over and over again.
Jacob nodded and beckoned toward the large house behind him, "I guess you haven't been here since the new place was completed?" Jacob had been my friend for a very long time, so his sudden shift of topic wasn't carelessness, it was a carefully planned move.
I turned and glanced at the structure in front of us. Jacob had been doing fairly well for himself. The home he had built only served to show that. It stood two stories, but what I could see was limited by the thick brush that hid the rest from view. From what Jacob had described though, it was a mansion compared to anything either of us had lived in as children. And clearly dwarfed my single room apartment back in the city.
"Impressive." The word came out dry, but I slapped him on the shoulder and gave a small smile to let him know I wasn't being droll entirely on purpose.
He nodded and headed back up the driveway, motioning for me to follow him up to the house. Jacob was only a couple inches shorter than my six even feet. His mop of brown hair was well kept, gelled in a conservative fashion, but just enough to not look like an old man. He was a bit on the pasty side, which pronounced his bright blue eyes to an odd level.
I followed and continued to examine the house as we walked toward it, and placed a hand against my forehead to shade my eyes from the twelve o'clock sun. It really was an impressive home. If anyone deserved it, it was Jacob.
A flutter of a curtain near the front door caught my eye, but I only saw a hand retreat, "Got someone else over, dude?"
Jacob stopped in his tracks, one foot planted on the bottom of the steps that would take us to the front door, "I don't live alone. I've told you that, right?" He turned on me, a quizzical expression on his face.
As far as I had ever been aware, he had been living alone for a long time. Jake was a good guy, but he had always had difficulties with finding a girl that would stick around. They would hover around for a month or two, before taking off.
"You neglect to tell me something?" I asked, passing him one of the two large bags to carry up the steps.
He shook his head, "Yeah, I guess I never told you. Which is fucking weird since I've been with this one for just over a year now."
He said the number, and instinctively I reached up and gave him a light tap on the back of the head, "You have someone in your life for that long, and you don't tell one your best friends?" The words come out as a scold. More often than not, I would hear about a girl a few days in. Had we really been that busy?
He hefted the bag up and began to make his way up the steps, "Well, she's awesome dude, I think you'll get along great."
Without adding to the conversation, I began to make my own way up and enter through the front door. Inside, I was blasted by a wave of cool air, which is a blessing compared to the dry heat outside of the house.
I took in my surroundings as I closed the door and nodded slowly, "Did I already say impressive?" I asked, dropping the handle of my bag and stepping next to Jake, "Like seriously dude, this place had to have cost a fortune."
Jake shrugged a bit, "Enough to keep me in the banks pocket for a long time." He chuckled at the thought, with a slow shake of his head, "Well, I know you're probably a bit exhausted. So let me show you to the guest room so you can take some time to yourself." He led me up the stairs to the room where I would be spending the next few weeks and left me to my own devices, telling me that he would be in the kitchen if I needed anything.
With a slap on the shoulder, Jake was gone and for the first time in a very long time, I was alone. I pulled my suit cases into the room and closed the door, dropping on to the bed and letting out a deep breath.
I had been with Anna for nearly six years. For the most part, it was a good relationship. Anna had been very supportive of my career. She was intelligent, and beautiful. Somehow though, something went wrong. I was working a lot- ten or sometime twelve hours a day. My career was taking a priority as I entered the second half of my twenties. I was trying to make something of myself.
While I was attempting to do that, I ended up neglecting Anna in the long run. That is where I played my part in the break up. She ended up telling me she wanted to leave, and began getting vile. She would blame me for where she was in her own life, saying that instead of focusing on herself, she focused on me. That of course, was not true.
Anna had wanted many different things. She wanted to act, or sing, or one of any number of jobs. She hardly ever pursued any of them. She lacked drive, and it was obvious. Now, many times I offered to help her pay to go to school. Other times, I told her that if she just wanted to stay home, I could easily support us both. Yet somehow, it was all my fault she was where she was.
Regardless, it was one slanderous remark after another, and it turned in to an avalanche of arguments. It had taken a toll on me, and I began to drink a lot. When Anna finally moved out. It was all I really did. I would work with a bottle perched on my desk. And when I was done, I would polish it off and order another. All in all, it was destructive. I knew I needed to get away, readjust, and just take some time for myself. Between the job and trying to keep things afloat with Anna, I had not spent a minute for myself in a very long time.
I ran my hands across my face and let out another deep breath. Being back home made it feel like I could actually breathe again. It had been at least three years since I have made time for a visit. I had almost forgotten how calm things could be outside of the city. How quiet it was without a car zipping by every half second. Or how clean everything was for that matter.
As I cleared my head of my past few weeks' ordeals, I heard voices coming through the ventilation, "So, how's he doing?" A female voice cut through first, while it was the furthest from being familiar, she had a cutesy tone to her.
"Like someone dropped him in a ball of shit." Jake cut in second, and from what I could tell, there was a trace of concern in his voice. I couldn't blame him for that. Until I called Jake, I had been quiet about the entire ordeal. He was the first person outside of the city that I had spoken to about it.
When I had told him that I was drinking too much, and how difficult it all had been, he had told me to fly out almost immediately. We had been friends for ages, and he didn't want to see me go through all of that. So, I had taken as much leave from work as I could allow myself, and had my ticket in hand a few hours later.
I stood from the queen sized bed and moved my way in to the attached bathroom. I braced my hands on the counter top. I stared at myself for a minute. Jake was right, I looked like shit. My dark brown hair had not had attention in a while, and even though I had not slept, it looked I had been in bed for a day straight.
The subtle beard I kept was disheveled and untrimmed, random hairs spurting underneath my normal cut and down my neck.
I turned the faucet on and splashed some water on my face. I stared at myself again, taking note of the heavy bags underneath my eyes. I groaned at myself, trying to express my disdain for my current state. I was stronger than this, at least I thought.
I glanced back at the bedroom at the cozy looking bed. I should have tried to get some sleep. I had not had a good rest in quite a few days. Of course, it was daylight out, and I had a hard enough time sleeping when the moon was actually out.
Deciding that sleep would not happen even if I tried, I retrieved one of my cases and dug out my hygiene products. A lot of people run with the theory that if you look good, you'll feel good too. I was here to try and feel better, so wallowing would have to stop. I cleaned up my facial hair, brushed my teeth, and slopped some product into the mess of hair atop my head. When I was done, I looked a bit better. The bags were still present, but that would have to wait.
[--]
I left the room and headed downstairs, the echoes of Jake and his girl's voices allowed me to locate the kitchen without a problem. As I entered, I saw Jake sitting at a marble countertop in the middle of the room. He had a bowl in front him, and was flipping through a magazine.
He looked up as I did and nodded in my direction, "I figured you'd be asleep." He said, flipping the magazine shut and sliding it away from himself, "Hungry?"
While I probably could have used a bite to eat that wasn't airline food, I shook my head, "Just don't really feel like sleeping."
"Fair enough," before saying anything else, he motioned to the corner of the kitchen just out of my sight.
I glanced around the corner as I properly entered the kitchen, "Garret, this is Cassie," he motioned to me, "and Cassie, this is Garret. Who I have known since the beginning of time."
