Regarding Love

You've got to be Kidding me.

January 2, 2015 10PM

I roll out of bed and stretch. I don't have work today or a ride for that matter. I guess today will be a day of cleaning. The insurance company is sending someone to get my car today at some time. Thankfully, I won't have to pay for my tires to be replaced since this is my first time.

I slide some shorts and an old shirt on. There isn't much to clean but it's got to be done regardless. Dust is mainly my issue.

I run a sink of bleach water and set all my silverwear in. 15 minutes and I'll take those out and rinse them, dry them, and put them away. Which gives me time to sweep the living room floor and maybe start the bathroom.

I start sweeping the living room and of course the doorbell rings. I set the broom against the wall and hurry to the door. I open the door and see my landlord person.

"Hey Mr. Thomas. Is something wrong?" I ask.

"Can I come in?" He asks.

"Sure." I say and hold the door open for him.

"Were you cleaning?" He asks as he sits on the couch.

"Well I don't work today and my car has to be worked on so I figured why not." I shrug and sit at the other end of the couch.

I wasn't close with Mr. Thomas but I know he has a daughter my age. He's a sweet man too. But he rarely comes to visit me.

"I have some bad news." He says and looks at me.

"Well lay it on me." I say with a hopeful smile.

"The rents going up." He says and my world almost shatters. "It's gonna be $600 starting this month."

"Mr. Thomas, I already have a hard enough time paying now." I complain.

"I'm sorry dear but that's just the way it has to be for a while." He says with a frown.

"It's okay. I'll figure something out." I say with a feeble smile before looking down. I'm never gonna be able to swing that.

"Okay. I'll be out of your hair. The place looks great Alice. Your a sweet girl." He says and walks out. He didn't need me to show him the door thankfully.

$600 a month? For that kind of money I could rent a small house! I don't know what I'm gonna do. Especially since rent has to be paid on the 4th of every month. Maybe I could get Mr. Thomas to move it to a later date so I would have more time.

I run for my cellphone and call him.

"Hey Alice." He answers.

"Could we move my rent date to later in the month?" I ask nervous.

"I can move it to the 15th. No later though. I'm sorry." He says.

"Okay well the 15th is better. I should get paid that day." I tell him.

"Okay dear. Bye." He says and hangs up.

Well that's sorta taken care of now. I have to finish cleaning and I should have my car back soon. Until then, they're giving me a rental car.

I mark the new dates on my calendar and frown. I'm not getting married anymore. I don't even know if I'm in a relationship anymore. I haven't even tried to call him though.

Maybe I should call him. He deserves a chance to explain. Although, there isn't much to explain that I don't already know. I don't know what to do about him. Part of me wants to listen to his mom but the other half of me is holding out for the guy I fell in love with.

Maybe he could help me. Probably not since I can't even trust him to talk to me everyday. I think I deserve that much at least. I'm not a needy woman but I do need to talk to the man I'm suppose to marry everyday. Or was suppose to marry. When did my life get so complicated?

I grab the broom and finish sweeping the living room. I grab the dust pan and sweep it up before throwing it away. I rinse my silverware and let them sit out to dry. Plates are next.

I straighten up the living room and finish the bathroom before rinsing the plates and setting them out to dry.

I give up. I have no motivation to do this anymore. I grab my phone and sit on the couch. I play games for a while before my phone flashes it's at 20%. I plug it up and lay on the be bored. Maybe I should finish cleaning.

I just wanna be lazy. I need rest. No, I need distraction. I pick my phone up and scroll through my short list of contacts. My family are too busy, I can't drive anywhere, and I'm not really talking to Leo. He would only want sex anyways.

Then I remember that Jared called me the other day. I call the number and wait.

"Hello." He answers.

"Hey Jared. It's Alice." I say with a small smile.

"I know." He says and laughs. It warms my heart.

"So I was wondering what you were up to." I say slowly.

"Well, I was gonna play this game." He says like a kid.

"What game?" I ask. If he's playing my game, I'm gonna flip.

"Kingdom hearts." He says challenging.

"If I had my car Id come whoop your butt." I say confident.

"Hey don't threaten me. I could come get you if you'd like to play?" He says like a question.

I think for a moment. Leo would be mad. I shouldn't drag Jared into this.

"You're doing that thing with your eyebrows again." Jared says, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"Jared you can't even see me." I say with a shocked giggle.

"I ain't got to. You're over thinking again. I'm on my way over." He says and hangs up.

I stare at my phone shocked. He's coming over to get me? Why do I feel like a love sick giddy teenager about to go on her first date? Wait! He's coming to get me!

I jump out of bed and run around my room trying to grab clothes. What am I gonna wear? If I dress up hell get the wrong idea. If I go like I'm dressed now he'll get the wrong idea. I pull out a pair of jogging pants and pull them on. I throw on a white shirt and look in the mirror. I look prepared to play video games.

I slide my socks on and then some sneakers. Okay now I look sporty. I take the sneakers off and slide some shoes on that look like house shoes. Okay. Screw it.

I pull a jacket on as the doorbell rings. I rush to the door and open it casually.

"Hi." I say with a nervous smile. I look him over and notice that he looks as comfy as I do.

"Come on." He says excited.

"Let me grab my phone." I say and turn away. Jared grabs my arm softly.

"You won't need it." He says.

I think it over and realize he's right. No ones gonna call me. I grab my purse and lock the door before we hurry down the stairs and to his truck.

The ride is short and spent mainly with us singing very bad. Jared opens my door for me and we go inside his small, cozy house.

We sit down on his couch and we play kingdom hearts. We take turns since its only single player. I eventually just stop playing and let him play.

We make small talk and argue about the game. We catch up about everything and I notice how he carefully avoids the Leo topic.

He takes me home at 6 and I crawl into bed. I don't care about my phone. I don't care about Leo. I don't feel sad or confused. I feel okay. I've had a better day than I thought it was going to be. It's good to have a friend that's there for you.