The Make-Up Artist

Chapter Nineteen: Enough is Enough

The next thing you know, you are waking to the sun blinding you through the window in your bedroom. You sling your arm over your eyes to block it from your view, and try to figure out if you actually got any sleep. Endless waking dreams plagued your few hours of slumber, and you don't feel any better now than you did when your head hit the pillow only hours ago. Sighing heavily, you remove your arm and reach over to grab your phone from the night table, and are surprised to see a text from Taron waiting for you.

Taron: Can I come pick you up this morning? I need to talk...

Shit. Your heart-rate immediately picks up like it does every time you see Taron, talk to Taron, etc... You look at the time the text was sent, 6:45 am, fifteen minutes ago. You wonder briefly if he's gotten any rest himself before opening up the text to respond.

You: Yes that's fine. What time?

You see that he starts to type right away.

Taron: Thirty minutes.

That's all he types, and you simply respond with, "Ok."

No laying around in bed for you. Trying not to to dwell too much on what he wants to talk about, you get up out of bed, reluctantly remove his jacket, and set to work getting yourself ready. You've been so distracted by your "problems" that you have no idea what is even on the agenda for today.

Approximately thirty minutes later, you look out the window to see Taron's car sitting in the drive. You don't know how long he's been there; but you square your shoulders, take a deep breath, and head out the door to meet him.

He smiles politely at you as you enter the vehicle, and you can't help but notice that he looks as terrible as you feel. He has dark circles under his eyes, his face is red and splotchy and his hair is disheveled. Almost as if he's noticed your appraisal of him, he reaches into the back seat to grab a baseball cap, and pulls it down low over his head.

He pulls out of the driveway and starts the short drive to the studio. The silence in the car is deafening as both of you stare straight ahead. There's no music, nothing. You don't know if he's waiting for you to speak or if he's trying to work out what he wants to say. You wouldn't even begin to know where to start if you are supposed to go first.

Finally the silence is broken by Taron clearing his throat and saying your name tentatively.

"Yes Taron?" You answer and he glances over at you then back to the road.

"I need to know...what the fuck is going on here", he says abruptly and you are are little surprised by it.

"Wh-what do you mean exactly?" You know it's a dumb question, but you actually don't know what he means since there are about fifty different things "going on here". At least in your mind. He sighs as if he's annoyed at having to explain himself.

"Well, first of all, why did you kiss me the other night in my trailer?"

Wow, he's just really going for it isn't he? You consider his question for a moment, looking down at your hands.

"Well, technically, you kissed me first", you say hesitantly peeking over at him. He glares over at you with that damn eyebrow raised and lips pursed.

"You provoked me. I was angry", he responds, his voice low. You really can't tell what kind of mood he's in so you're not sure how to react.

"So that's why you kissed me? Because you were angry??" You say a little more harshly.

"That's partly why. And then you pushed me away, which I don't blame you for, but then you kissed me", he says like he really can't figure this part out.