Heaven // Ryan Tedder

Chapter Nineteen; Lift Me Up

As Joshua ate his pesto, he glanced over at his girlfriend, who was now completely out, snoring quietly. He quickly set his plate on the coffee table, taking this as the perfect opportunity to look through her phone, which was over on the kitchen counter.

He stood up, tip-toeing into the kitchen and picking up her phone from the counter. He then made a mad dash for the bathroom, closing the door quietly before locking it. He made his way over to the bathtub, where he sat on the edge, looking at the phone in his hands.

He typed in her passcode easily and quickly, as they had told each other their passcodes when he moved into the apartment.

As it went onto the home screen, Joshua realised that there was a new message. He tapped the notification, biting his lip as he read it.

Goodnight, Janelle! Hope you made it home safely!

Joshua looked at the contact, a slight smirk growing on his face.

Ryan Tedder.

He scrolled through, finding another text from this afternoon.

Daily coffee delivery on its way :)

It was all coming together. The initials on the coffee cup, Janelle getting coffee every day. This Ryan guy was getting all friendly with her, and who knows what else?

Joshua's mind immediately went to the worst.

Janelle was cheating, wasn't she? He wasn't going to just let her get away with this. He felt rage surge through his body, but he kept his composure.

He'd make her pay. She wouldn't get away with cheating on him.

The next morning, Janelle woke up on the couch, still in her clothes from yesterday. She sat up quickly, looking around the apartment groggily. Joshua's shoes were gone, so he had most likely already left for work.

Thankfully, Janelle didn't have the lunch shift today, so until dinner, she could lounge around and relax until she had to leave.

The first thing she decided to do was shower, so she went into her bedroom, opening up one of the drawers of her dresser, quickly picking out another plain black T-shirt and a pair of black skinny jeans.

Afterwords, she made her way into the bathroom, quickly undressing and turning on the shower. She stepped in, sighing a little as the hot water ran over her body, which was a bit chilled since she had just woken up.

She ran her hands through her slightly oily hair as she opened her mouth to let out a small yawn, bringing her hands back down to rub her eyes a little. Maybe she'd take a nap before she had to go to work. It was only around eleven-thirty, and she didn't have to head to the restaurant until around four.

Which reminded her, she should text Ryan and tell him she wouldn't be there this afternoon. She'd hate for him to go to all the trouble of getting her coffee to show up and have her not be there.

She picked up the bottle of shampoo, squeezing the bottle and squirting some out into the palm of her hand, before running it through her hair, lathering it up as she scrubbed her scalp. Afterwords, she quickly soaped down with some body wash, deciding not to use conditioner in her hair today, just to save some time.

After she was all rinsed, she stepped out of the shower, reaching over and grabbing a towel from the rack beside the sink. She wrapped the slightly worn towel around herself, before using her hand to wipe off the condensation on the mirror.

She looked at herself a little, before sighing. She even looked tired. Her eyes were dark underneath, and her lips were slightly chapped. It seemed as though no matter how much sleep she got at night, she just couldn't quite catch up. She was exhausted, and she wished it would just end already.

The sad thing was, that there was really no end in sight. She was nowhere close to having enough money to quit, and she'd hate for Joshua to be the only one supporting the two of them. She'd have to be stuck in this waitressing job, seemingly for the rest of her life. There was no reason in having hope that she could ever become a photographer; her finances were terrible, and that job could never make enough. Besides, she wasn't that good at it, anyway. She'd probably just fail like she had at everything else, and then be stuck with no job.

She sighed a little, shaking her head. She was too tired to be thinking about this.

Once she fully dried herself off, she hung up her towel before changing into the outfit that she had picked out. She brushed her hair quickly before leaving the bathroom, making her way out to the kitchen.

She decided to grab a bowl of cereal, but first, she wanted to text Ryan. She picked up her phone from the counter where she had left it last night, typing in her passcode. She went into her texts, realising that she had gotten a message from Ryan last night. She smiled a bit as she read it, before beginning to type her message.

I won't be at the restaurant this afternoon, I only have the dinner shift. Just Thought I'd let you know :)

She hit send, shut off the screen, and set her phone back on the counter, before She turned around, opening up the pantry and pulling out a box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch. She set it on the counter, before going over and grabbing a bowl from one of the other cupboards.

She set it on the counter, then opened up the box of cereal, pouring it into the bowl. She closed it up, leaving it on the counter as she went over to the fridge, bending down to look inside for a gallon of milk.

She heard her phone ding as she looked, so when she finally spotted it, she pulled it out, closing the fridge. She picked up her phone, looking at the text she had just gotten from none other than Ryan.

Good to know. I was gonna bring you more coffee.

She smiled a little, texting him back quickly.

That's kind of what I guessed.

She set her phone back down, pouring some of the milk from the gallon she was still holding into her cereal bowl. She put the milk back in the fridge, before going back to her bowl.

She leaned down to eat some, but then realised that she didn't have a spoon yet.

"Ugh.." she sighed, turning around and opening one of the drawers and pulling out the first spoon she saw.

She heard her phone ding again, so she picked it up, reading the new message.

Would you like me to drive you to work tonight?

She took a bite of her cereal, thinking about it for a moment. That was rather kind of him to ask. That way, she wouldn't have to walk all the way to the restaurant by herself, and she wouldn't have to pay for a taxi. Plus, she'd get to talk to Ryan for a bit, which would be nice, too.

She took another bite of her cereal with her free hand as she texted back a reply to him.

You'd do that?

It was only a few seconds before he answered.

Of course. What time?

Janelle smiled a little as she typed again.

Around four this afternoon?

Perfect. See you then?

She bit her lower lip a little as she texted him back.

See you then. Thank you, Ryan.

No problem :)