"Don't you ever get bored?"
I blinked in surprise, the unexpected question rousing me from my contemplative trance. Turning away from my computer, I glanced over my shoulder. My body followed the motion as my chair swiveled slowly to complete the action. Facing the open door to my study, I cocked my head to the side, quirking my eyebrows curiously at my bestie.
Annalise stood in the entrance, leaning against the doorway in her black tank top and red short shorts. One hand perched against the curve of her waist, her other arm was hidden behind the wall. Short and svelte, her body language and demeanor told me that my redheaded housemate was bored and looking for conversation.
"Of what?" I asked innocently. She pouted at me, snorting a short harrumph'd breath of annoyance through her nostrils as she frowned. The action was almost childlike but it somehow suited Annalise. I'd always thought she was cute.
"You know what I'm talking about." Moving fully into the doorframe now, I saw that she held an apple in her hand.
"Of writing?" I knew it wasn't the answer she was looking for, but she was fun to tease. I shrugged, "Nah, I have too many stories to write to ever get bored of it. Plus, if I stopped, I wouldn't be able to afford rent." I flashed her a sassy grin. "And that'd be just tragic."
She bit into her apple, rolling her eyes at me as she crunched away. "Not of writing," she said with her mouth full, chewing between syllables. "Not that you do very much of it anyway," she scoffed. "Half the time I see you, you're just staring off into space."
It was my turn to roll my eyes at her. Leaning back into my chair, I gestured as if my finger were a pointing stick, wagging it to punctuate each word. "Thinking happens before writing," I replied matter-of-factly.
"Pshh," she rolled her eyes back at me, this time more dramatically. We had silly competitions sometimes. Doesn't everyone? Seemed like today's theme was going to be eye rolling. I made a mental note to one up her later. "Anyway, that's not what I meant."
"Then what did you mean?" I knew what she meant. We'd talked about it plenty of times already. It was an uncommonly common topic that often popped up when we were drunk or high. Or rather, only ever popped up during those times. Until recently, in the last few months...
"I meant, don't you ever get bored of...y'know!" She gestured at me at my desk, sitting in front of my computer's double monitors. I stared blankly back at her, my expression a careful display of silent bemusement. Exasperated, she finally blurted out "Daydreaming!"
I clapped my hand over my heart dramatically, my body language a show of mock offense. "How dare you. I don't daydream. I build worlds! I create stories! I -"
"Constantly daydream about sex yet never get laid," she cut in sarcastically.
Ouch. She'd gone straight for it this time, poking right into the heart of things.
It was my turn to pout at her, though it was tinged with a slight scowl. I let my chair swivel back slightly so that my side was facing towards her as I turned slowly, each inch bringing me closer to facing my monitors again. "Well, if you have nothing nice to say to me then I guess this conversation is over." I waved her off dismissively. "I have a lot of work to do."
Annalise took this as an invitation to get comfortable. Still munching away, making steady progress snacking on her apple, she plopped herself onto the window seat across from me. Noticing this, I resigned myself to her company and turned so that I was once again staring at my current work-in-progress - a blank page. From the corner of my eye, I could see her pulling her legs up to sit cross-legged on the window seat.
"I mean it!" she continued where she'd left off, as if unaware of my response. She waved her half-eaten apple at me, gesturing with it as she spoke. "Don't you ever get bored of just writing about it? Like, seriously Cassidy. When's the last time you got laid?"
"Just last night," I replied dryly, still staring determinedly at my monitor as if words would suddenly start appearing across it. Masturbating counts as sex, right? It wasn't technically a lie.
"With an actual dick."
"Yep." That's what I call my vibrator, I thought to myself, sniggering silently at my own silliness. Actual Dick.
"Your vibrator does not count," she replied flatly, showing that she knew me far too well.
I made a face at her, it was time to admit defeat. But she wasn't done yet.
"See?!" The apple rose and fell as she waved her arm around in exasperation. "You can't even remember the last time you fucked someone!" I blew out my cheeks, pouting sullenly at my blank monitor. There was no stopping Annalise once she got started. She was honestly starting to sound like my mother.
"When was the last time you went on a date then?" She didn't even wait for me to reply. "You don't fucking know. It's been so long that you probably can't even remember the last time you got dressed for a night out."
I glanced down at myself quizzically. What was wrong with the clothes I was wearing? Sure, I perpetually wore baggy t-shirts as pajamas. Yes, I worked from home and usually rolled out of bed before plopping straight into my chair after my morning routine but...Okay, so I may have been wearing the same thing 24/7 for the past two weeks now but that's...that's normal for people who work from home, right?
Fine. Maybe Annalise had a valid point.