Words & Whiskey

EDITED VERSION: Chapter One

"This is the last of the boxes," the mover said, placing the last box at my feet.

I gave him a smile. "Thank you so much, have a good day."
After arching his eyebrows in an expectant look and left hand held out.

"Oh, right!" I jumped, quickly digging into my absurdly large Guess purse. I pulled out a wad of cash and placed it in his callous-ridden hand. Without saying a word, he tipped his Toronto Maple Leafs baseball cap and walked out of my new apartment.
This was the moment I've been dreading. Being alone, in my big empty apartment. I did not like being alone all that much. My mind always wanders into dark and twisty thoughts, which can be hard to snap out of sometimes. Although, most of the time when my mind goes array, I just think of terribly embarrassing experiences I may have lived throughout various moments of my life. I shudder as I get a sudden thought of when I was twelve and had to cut my hair after getting an abnormally large wad of gum stuck in it after blowing a giant bubble in front of all my friends at recess.

Sighing at that unfortunate mishap that still haunts me to this day, I started to get to work. I hoped I could at least get the living room area and my bedroom situated before my roommate moves in tomorrow. The last thing I wanted was for him to see the number of boxes I have and automatically assume I'm a hoarder when really the majority of the boxes are filled to the brim with books. Taking out my iPhone, I clicked on my favourite Spotify playlist and I started organizing my books.

After a few hours, I was finally settled. My room was relatively complete as my novels were neatly on the shelves and my clothes were in a decently organized manner in my closet. The living room was neat with a limited amount of my things - which was essentially a baby blue velvet couch, a chair to match, and flat-screen television with a stand. I made a mental note that lamps would probably be beneficial.

Grabbing both my phone and the television remote, I planned to order some pizza and binge Grey's Anatomy until I fell asleep. Just as I dialled the number to the closest pizzeria, the apartment door jiggled and eventually opened.

"What he-" I started to say, turning to whoever was standing at my door. My fingers no longer dialling for pizza, but rather 9-1-1.

A guy around my age, therefore late teens or early twenties, was standing there, looking fairly disgruntled. He had blond messy hair underneath his knitted beanie and his blue eyes stared at me as if assessing every little detail on my body. He set both of his beat-up duffle bags that he was carrying on the ground and with a hesitant smile, said, "Hey, I'm Darian West. You're Audrey Holland I'm assuming?"

"Uh, yeah," I blinked blankly. I looked down at my phone, feeling absolutely stupid for not remembering I had let the landlord give Darian his keys before me in case he wanted to drop by. Pressing the back button to erase the potential 9-1-1 call, I began retyping the pizzeria's number. "I'm about to order some pizza, is that good with you?"

Darian smiled, his pearly whites were prominent. "Pizza sounds great," he started to walk around the apartment, "Sorry if I spooked you, I just figured I'd move in a day early. My old place kind of sucked."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," I said, not knowing how to respond.

Darian shrugged, looking distraught. "It only sucked because my boyfriend and I broke up."
"Boyfriend?" I questioned, not realizing it came out as loudly as I intended. Oh God I'm such an idiot. Mentally, I added this moment to the list of embarrassing experiences I think about when I'm alone.

Darian sat down on the couch, rested his hands on his knees casually and then chuckled. "Yes, I'm gay."

"I'm sorry if I offended you, that was probably a reaction you were not expecting. I swear I'm not some narrow-minded as-" I rambled.

"It's okay, no offence taken," my roommate said kindly holding up his hand in an effort to silence me. "I'd be tired too if I set up this whole apartment myself."

I sat on the couch beside Darian and loosed a breath. "Yeah, I'm not a fan of being alone, so setting up the apartment was my way of distraction. I also just wanted to make sure my boxes weren't in the way."

Darian looked around and nodded his head in approval. "I like the couch, it's really soft."

I barked out a laugh, out of everything, he comments on the texture of the couch. "Thanks, my sister picked it out before I moved from Alberta."

"I approve of your sister's taste. Whereabouts Alberta are you from?"

"Good to know," I laughed softly and then waved off his question, "Nowhere notable, just this teeny tiny town called Trillium Creek. Barely anyone knows it. Anyway, what kind of pizza would you like?"

Talking to Darian was a sure way to let time slip by without even realizing it. Once the pizza came, we talked about everything under the sun. From his ex to our future in university, to our families, even to who would win in a fight - Batman or Superman. Darian wasn't pleased when I had said it was obviously Superman.

***

Now, it was nearly midnight and I was officially beat. Groaning in slight pain because unpacking was tiresome, I fell backwards onto my bed. Taking a few deep breaths, I decided I should Skype my boyfriend Kieran to let him know I was settled and safe.

Fumbling around my new room, I located my laptop and powered up Skype. In a few minutes, Kieran finally answered, "Audrey? Are you okay?"

I rolled my eyes playfully. "I'm fine, Kieran, I just finished unpacking. What have you been up to?"

"Nothing, just been waiting to hear from you," Kieran whined, giving me a puppy dog pout, his brown eyes big and innocent.

"Well, you're hearing from me now," I chuckled.

"I miss you," my boyfriend said after a moment of silence.

Hearing his vulnerable voice made my stomach drop. It was going to be hard being away from him for so long. Kieran has been my boyfriend all throughout high school, being far from him for only a day was hurting my heart.

Fighting back tears that desperately wanted to escape, I said, "I miss you too."

"Hey, it's okay, love," Kieran said softly, leaning forward so I could see his face more clearly. 

"You're chasing your dreams. You are going to be the best damn writer the world has ever seen. Practically the next Rick Riordan but like, the chick version."

A laugh erupted from my slight sob. "No one can surpass Rick Riordan but thank you."

"Well, I guess that's a goal you can work towards, something to keep you distracted from missing your super awesome boyfriend," he suggested, adding a wink at the end of his sentence.

I rolled my eyes as I dabbed the tears away with the sleeve of my hoodie. "Nice one, babe."

"I know. Anyway, did you meet your roomie yet?"

I nodded my head and bit my lip hesitantly. "Yeah, he's nice. His name is Darian."

"He?" Kieran said through his teeth.

I shifted uncomfortably on my bed, trying to figure out the most appropriate way to go about this. "Kieran, it's fine. Darian is gay. Even if he wasn't, there wouldn't be anything to worry about. I love you and only you."

Kieran nodded, but his jaw was noticeably clenched. "You should get some rest, Audrey. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

Before I could even respond, the screen went dark and I sighed. I knew he wasn't going to react well, but I hadn't expected him to hang up on me without warning. Anxiety was starting to arise as began to think about what this move would mean for our relationship. In the beginning, he was so supportive, but lately, he was more and more distant, both figuratively and now physically.

Deep down, I couldn't help to think that for Kieran and me, it was the beginning of the end. But when it came to me and my life, I began to think that, for once, this was the start of something... good.