Kiss and say goodbye

Chapter 24 - Sleep

“So where are we going?” Sarah said taking another bite of her smoked fish. Josh looked wasn’t prepared for being Sarah’s tour guide. “How long are you here?” he asked keeping back his glass of water.

“For about a month or so maybe.” She said giving him a stare and making it clear she wasn’t taking no for an answer. Josh gulped down bits left of his sandwich. “So where are we going now?” He said smiling at Sarah. “Anywhere you say.” She smiled back at him which made his heart skip a beat.

“Southport has none of this.” She said rubbernecking skyscrapers which wised passed them as they drove by. Southport had something much more special that you don’t find in this concrete jungle Josh thought to him. “True that.” He said looking at her who was now wearing her sunglasses and a pretty white dress. “Why do you work so hard anyway? I mean I would kill to live here and explore the city.” She said with her gaze fixed on him. He couldn’t answer for a while, he didn’t have an answer. “Well we have different priorities, I guess.” She chucked at his reply “You will die in that cubical one day.” She said again diverting her attention to the amazing city Josh lived in but never appreciated.

They travelled to a few places Josh could think of, which he had first seen when he first came to L.A. “This is it for today.” Josh said as he drove. Sarah frowned. “No, I want to see more.” She said sulking which reminded him of Bella, he missed her. “We have two weeks.” He said being obvious. She crossed her arms and looked outside the window, just like a child. “Oh can I see your apartment?” She said with her eyes sparkling. “It’s nothing fancy.” He said hoping this idea would just vanish from her brain entirely. It didn’t. “I want to, I want to!” She said jumping up and down the seat. Josh could see she really wanted to but it was too late already. “What about tomorrow?” He said finding it hard to concentrate on driving, with her commotion. “My decision is final and it’s TODAY!” She said nodding her head reminding Josh of his ruler welding head mistress who never escaped a chance of practicing her ruler skill’s on innocent boys. Josh gave it. He was way too easy he thought. “Fine, let’s go.” He said rolling his eyes and backing the car.

Dim lit corridors, green carpet, poor lighting and dirt making it appear black, and his apartment’s big brown door. She followed Josh very closely; everything about this didn’t seem right to her. “How can you stay here?” She asked now holding his arm. “I told you it wasn’t fancy, but you insisted.” Josh said fighting with the lock and keys. Click, he had won again. The room was a mess with clothes lying everywhere, sofa, T.V, table and even on the kitchen counter. Sarah’s mouth fell open. How could only one person generate this amount to filth? She thought. Josh kept the keys on the table with a vase with no flower and a painting above it, whose frame was under many layers of dirt and dust. “Sorry it’s a little dirty here.” He said collecting his clothes. “A little? Don’t you think your underestimating it?” She said still standing near the door, unable to find the strength to go and sit on the cloth covered sofa. “Just give… me a … bit.” He said as he bends over and got a few clothes from the floor.

She sat on the sofa when she could finally see it. “Why don’t you get a maid?”

“Why don’t you come and do the work for me?” Josh said winking at her.

“In your dreams Mr” She said returning the wink. She got up, scared to get on more germs than she already had and decide to explore while Josh made futile attempts to clean. The whole apartment was dull, with the smell of sweat. She entered the room which was comparatively cleaner and sat on the bed, looking around like an alien. A grand bed with table beside stacked with books and files.  A huge wardrope, bigger than her she noticed. She stared agian at the table and nocticed something other than files and books. She leaned over and pulled out a photo frame squashed between files and books. Josh was standing in the picture, his white teeth shining in the sun, and holding his hand was sweet, innocent Bella. Sarah smiled and lay on the bed still holding the picture and think about the heart of the man in the picture. She closed her eyes.

Josh took a sigh of relief, when he almost cleaned the place. He looked around. No Sarah. He found the bedroom door ajar. She was sleeping peacefully. He thought of waking her up, asking her to move her butt to the sofa but he couldn’t get over the sight of her sleeping. Her chest slowly moving up and down, her hair coming on her face, half hiding it, and her amber eyes closed. He sat on the chair and looked at her for a while. He leaned over and placed a starnd of her hair behind her ears and adored her a bit more. He thought of her and the without any warning his thought diverted to Mary. Would she be sleeping right now? or thinking of him, the same way he was thinking of her? He again looked at Sarah and decieded to sleep. He couldn't torture himself this way.  He took the frame from her hands, pulled the blanket over her, took a pillow and made his way to his only dear – The sofa.