You wrote "Don't Forget"

Chapter 3- The World is gonna Roll Me

The iced coffee had been more than enough to get my brain working. I walked back to my apartment, throwing the empty cup in a garbage can.

Turning my key in the lock, I entered the house which would never-ever have been the home of my dreams - it was all I could afford at the moment. The place would have looked better in the hands of any other tenant, I am sure.

I was just not a very tidy guy.

As soon as I entered my home-sweet-home, I was greeted by a whiff of garlic and onion. The takeout from last night was still on the coffee table, I had forgotten to clean it up. Well, not exactly, I had just avoided the heinous act of picking up leftovers and throwing them away. Like I said, I was not particularly enamoured with the act of cleaning.

I was a couch potato everyday until I had had my coffee and after I had had it, I was more like a chair potato, which according to me was a notable and significant improvement.

Every once in a while, like a bolt of lightning, the wish to have the place clean striked me. The act of cleaning the place didn't remain just that, it became therapy. As if I was cleaning my own mind as I was cleaning the place. The dirtier the place was, the more tired and satisfied I felt afterwards; good thing about being tired was that your thoughts took the backseat and lethargy rode shotgun.

Today was not one of those days.

Quite reluctantly, motivated only by the nauseating odour, I cleared the takeout. After that I slumped down on my couch, eyeing the leaning tower of files in front of me.

I sighed.

Today was going to be a long day.

After approximately fifteen minutes which felt like fifteen hours, I felt like Prometheus having something claw at my insides. It was probably just heartburn or maybe it was fear and dread and anger at having left this thing for so long and oh my god how was I ever going to be able to do it. PANIC AHHH!

Thankfully, my phone chose that exact moment to burst into a chorus of "Baby Shark du du du du". I happened to really like the song for a few reasons - the simplicity, the fact that there were only two words to remember and that I couldn't possibly sing off-key to "Du du du du" had made it my jam.

It was Jane.

Of course it was Jane.

If you have ever wondered what my mom would be like if she was my age, cool and a punk rocker, you should meet Jane. Jane had been my best friend since high school, one of the first people I came out to.

She was not only understanding but also funny, the perfect combo for a best friend. Sometimes I felt like I didn't deserve her but I knew that if I ever said that aloud she would kill me, resurrect me and kill me again - until I told her that I was wrong. I was not fond of being stuck in endless death loops so I kept this one thought to myself.

Other than that, I kept almost nothing from her.

"Hey, Tetris. Sup?" She said, her voice as cool as mint.

Back in high school, I was obsessed with competitive tetris to a point that I was on a permanent tetris effect high everyday. Just putting the right shapes in, whenever I closed my eyes. It was later that I realized, even though I liked it, I sucked at it and soon after that, my love of tetris faded. The thought of seeing those shapes again made me nauseous, remembering the neverending shapes flickering before my eyes. However, that didn't stop Jane from referring to me as 'Tetris' for the rest of my life.

"Nothing. Ruth dumped a crapload of work on me."

"Did she dump it on you or did you not do it on time and ended up in a landfill of files?"

Shucks, she knew me too well.

"The devil is in the details, Jane. Potato, Potahto. Who cares?" I said, dismissively.

"Of course, of course. Whatcha up to tonight?"

"Hmm, besides trying my best not to drown in an ocean of files. Well, sleeping."

"Come on, Tetris. At this point, your bed will become so attached to you that you will carry it around like an extra limb. God knows you spend a lot of time on it. I am ninety percent sure that you will die on that bed. Live a little, you haven't been to the club for a month."

"Yeah. My bones do not wish to go, they'd rather sleep."

"I swear, Tetris, cut it out or I will take you to an orthopedic doctor. You are not freaking thousand years old, quit acting like it."

I sighed. Once Jane had her mind set on something, nothing could deter her. It didn't matter how much I would miss the other side of my pillow and my comfortable blankets, I had to go out and hang out in the midst of alcohol, loud music and hot guys.

Deep down I knew why I had been avoiding going out to parties. Jane knew it too. For someone who was famous for his keg stands I hadn't been near a keg for a long time.

This was for the best.

I had to try again.

I couldn't become a hermit, that would involve not going to work and god knows I needed that money to keep my Netflix account running.

"Okay. Okay. You win."

"Great, meet me at Destiny at 10 PM, wear something hot and you better finish your files. I am not responsible for whatever Ruth says to you when you go to work on Monday."

With that, she hung up. I sighed.

It was Saturday, if I worked for the entire day I could get half of the files done. A bit would be left and I could cover them up the next day.

Without further protest, I put All -Star by Smashmouth on repeat and went to work.

*******************

Ten hours later when I emerged from my couch, I looked like a mess. My hair was floppy and all over my face, looking like something which resembled a bale of hay. My eyes were watering and my body had decided to cramp and ache all over.

I stretched my legs, realizing that they had fallen asleep and so had my butt. Cautiously I dragged myself to my feet, holding onto a nearby wall and made my way into the bathroom.

After a good, long, hot shower I felt like me again. I had little time to contemplate my existence because I had only two things on my mind: Jane killing me for not showing up and my stomach grumbling because I hadn't eaten anything today.

I decided to kill two birds with one stone. I grabbed a black button-up shirt and some dark jeans in a hurry and walked over to the kitchen. With a towel draped around my middle, I tossed the clothes on the counter and got to work.

After breaking a few eggs and putting them in a pan, I performed the critical maneuver of trying to flip an egg while putting on jeans. I succeeded, having burnt only the edges whether the edges were of the jeans or eggs, I leave that to your imagination.

I quickly put on the shirt and without buttoning it, gobbled down my eggs looking at the wall clock from the corner of my eyes.

Faster. Faster. Faster.

Jane was a very punctual person. Even in dark dingy, cryptic, devil's places like clubs she still believed in being on time. I assure you, being on the receiving end of one of her "Time is Money" speeches was worse than experiencing eternal damnation in hell.

I quickly managed to dress and feed myself while putting on some cologne.

Then, I rushed out the door, locking it at lightning speed, running to my car and driving off to Destiny.