True Romance

Well, this is a story I started a long time ago and I have been working on it on and off. I don't know if I can say that it is my best, however I do hope that you guys enjoy it. Or at least, what I have so far. Constructive critisism is greatly appreciated.

P.S. The words in italics are lyrics from the song True Romance by Silverstein. It was also the inspiration for the story.



Skye sat at the kitchen table staring at the clock that seemed to never move, drumming her fingers absently on the smooth tabletop, a heavy sigh escaping her lips. It was almost time. Gracefully standing up from her chair, she made her way to the large winding staircase that seemed to drag on forever as she made her ascent towards her room. She went to the master bathroom and proceeded to take a nice long, hot shower. As the hot water cascaded over her body she started to think a bit. Even after 6 and a half months of doing this, she still wondered why she went to these secret meetings. ‘It doesn’t matter now,’ she thought. ‘He deserves it.’

After she was done, Skye stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around herself, shivering slightly from the exposure to the slightly chilly air after being in a hot shower, and made her way to the bedroom. She opened the massive closet and started looking at her large assortment of expensive designer clothes. She didn’t know why, but she felt obligated to wear something nice every time she went to see him. Skye couldn’t really think of a good reason as to why she would, she didn’t end up wearing it that long anyway. She just decided to wear a simple dark dress with a pair of nice shoes, nothing too fancy. Skye then fixed her long dark brown hair until it was poker straight and smooth, just the way she liked it. She didn’t put on any makeup; she was convinced she didn’t need it. Skye then made her way downstairs, her heels making a click click click sound that seemed accentuated by the emptiness of the large house, picked up her purse and got into her Cadillac Escalade. She paused before starting the car however. ‘Am I ever going to break this off?’ she wondered. She never really thought about it. She knew it had to end sometime; she just didn’t know when. There never really was a good time to bring it up.

Skye pushed the thought out of her head and jammed the keys into the ignition. The car rumbled to life and she gazed at the mansion she lived in with her ‘husband’. As if she could call him that. He was never home and he was always obsessed with his work. When he did feel like coming home he would lock himself in his office and come out at some crazy hour in the morning. ‘I think he prefers his work over me,’ she said to herself bitterly. Skye then pulled out of the driveway and started towards the motel. It wasn’t far from where she lived; only a few streets down. When she arrived there, she made her way over to room number three, her high heels making that soft clicking sound in the night, and knocked a couple of times. She heard a loud grunt on the other side of the door so she slowly went in. Standing in the doorway, Skye saw the man she met on a regular basis sitting on the bed smoking a cigarette and looking very irritated, a large amount of smoke encircling his head. His semi-long graying hair looked ruffled with most of the natural sheen in it gone, and his eyes had that constant hard look to them, which appeared to be just as dull as his hair. His skin was pale and started forming lines around his mouth, eyes, and forehead and there was that ever present frown on his face. Even though he was 30 he looked much older than that and even more tired. He threw his cigarette to the ground and stepped on it, seeming to take out some frustration while doing so. He looked at her then with those cold, grey eyes.

“You’re late,” he said in his usual flat tone of voice with a scowl on his face. Skye was surprised to hear this, but got over it quickly and narrowed her eyes. He couldn’t get a girl worth his life, especially with the way he acted and looked. And now he was complaining that she was late! He was lucky she even looked at him. If it wasn’t for her, he wouldn’t be getting any action at all. Not to mention he was just plain disgusting. It made her wonder why she even started having an affair with him of all people.

“Excuse me? You’re complaining that I’m late? First of all, I took my time getting ready because I wanted to look nice for you. Second of all, I’m only 5 minutes late. And third, you should be glad we’re even meeting like this Rick. I’m only doing this because Lance doesn’t pay any attention to me; he’s always at work, and he treats me just like every other object in our house when he’s at home. So either you shut it, or I’m just going to leave.” That stunned him for a minute and Skye gave a satisfied smirk. Rick just stared at her for a few moments and said, “Leave then. I don’t care. I have more important things to do than screw around with a whore like you.” And with that Rick grabbed his jacket and walked out the door without looking back. Skye stood there, shocked. She knew Rick was rude and conceited, but she didn’t know that he was a downright bastard. ‘Fine, I don’t need him. Besides, he was bad in bed anyways. I don’t need this anymore.’ And with that, Skye turned on her heel and left.

‘I may not always be perfect but I’ll always try.’

--

Lance stole a glance at the clock. ’It’s already 11:45?’ He shook his head and looked at the pile of work on his desk, a deep frown evident on his face. ‘No matter how long I stay here, I’ll never get all of this work done.’ He yawned loudly, stretching as he did so, and picked up his coat and briefcase and walked out of the office quite sluggishly with his shoulders slumped. Lance was the only one that bothered to stay this late anymore. The rest of his employees knew it was pointless to stay any longer than they had to. No matter how much work they got done that day, there would be a pile just as big the next day as if they had accomplished nothing.

Lance sighed and realized what a terrible husband he must be. He was never home but was instead at the office, working for nothing and when he was home, he treated Skye like dirt when he wasn’t holed up in his home office. It became so bad that she told him to sleep in one of the guest bedrooms because she didn’t want to sleep next to a “rude, work-obsessed pig.” Lance knew he was better than that. He was just tired and agitated. He didn’t want to deal with a moody wife when he got home. He loved Skye, but sometimes…he wondered if marrying her was the best choice. It was sudden he had to admit, but he really did care for her. At the time it seemed that she did too. But now, there was this distance between them that was just getting bigger and he didn’t know if it would start getting smaller anytime soon.

Lance got to his car and started to drive home. It was a two hour commute with the traffic, but since there was no one on the road it took only half the time. On the way home, Lance started to lose his cool a bit. Things had gotten bad with the economy and Lance was starting to lose everything. The world went into a recession and no one was spending or making any money, especially with all of the job cuts. Soon he would have to lay off employees. That meant more work for him and he still wouldn’t be making anything. He knew that he would suffer the most. Reason being he was the president of the company and he had everything riding on this job. Lance knew that if everything crashed then he would have to sell everything. He didn’t care if he lost the house or the nice cars; that was all for Skye. He was just worried at how she would take it.

Lance then had a sudden burst of energy. His eyes flashed and his hand balled into a tight fist. In a fit of rage he slammed down hard on the dashboard and yelled, “Dammit!” The car started to swerve a bit, so Lance calmed himself down and drove the rest of the way home, trying to not think about anything the whole way.

When Lance got in, he all but threw his briefcase and coat on the couch. He tried to be quiet about it because he knew Skye would be asleep; she didn’t stay up too long. Lance went up the long, winding staircase to the master bedroom, his shoulders slumped. There he saw her, asleep with the covers pulled all the way up and looking as beautiful as ever. He got undressed and put on his black boxers without making any noise. Lance didn’t want to disturb Skye so he decided to sleep in the guest room tonight. Before he left, he gave her a look with tender, loving eyes. His blue-grey eyes became a little glossy so he pulled himself together. He bent over and kissed her forehead and went to his room.
Thoughts of his work and what would happen if the stock market completely failed filled his head. It kept him up for a bit, but soon sleep took him. He woke up a little while later wondering what time it was. He looked around and the clock said 5:30 AM.

“Well, might as well get up while I’m still awake,” he mumbled to no one in particular. Lance made his way to the bathroom and he began brushing his teeth. He was still half asleep so he didn’t notice the stranger looking back at him at first. When he was done and he looked in the mirror, he gasped. ‘This isn’t me,’ he thought. The man staring back at Lance was certainly Lance, but he was different. His normally neat and shiny sandy-brown hair was starting to turn white at the roots, and it was longer and a lot messier than usual because he didn’t take care of it anymore. His eyes lost the brightness they had before and were now dull and bloodshot. He also had dark rings around them that made him look half dead. Lance also noticed he didn’t smile a lot anymore. He basically frowned now and his skin was looking pale because he didn’t get out much these days. He tore his eyes away because he couldn’t look at that over-worked, self-absorbed, tired jerk. He got dressed and gazed at Skye once more. She was still asleep and looked at peace.

“Bye Skye,” he said softly as to not wake her. “Hope you have a nice day.” He kissed her on the cheek and left. He made his way down the stairs and picked up his briefcase and coat and went out the door. Another thing Lance noticed; he didn’t really eat anything either. He sighed and knew that this job was killing him, but it was all that he had. He got into his Porsche and drove off.



Skye woke up at around 9:00 that morning and for a second didn’t remember where she was. Then it hit her and it hit hard. ‘That’s right. I’m married to Lance, we’re rich, and I just ended the affair I was having with his brother Rick. Jeez, what a life,’ she thought to herself. ‘And what a bitch I am.’

She sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes, yawning and looking around her room. With a sigh she dragged herself out of bed and started her normal routine. Have a poorly made breakfast, take a shower and go shopping. Talk about a bland day. But she didn’t feel like shopping today. Instead Skye decided to take a nice drive through the area. She didn’t exactly know where she was going, but she did know that she needed to get out. Besides, it seemed like a good opportunity to explore where she lived. After about half an hour of driving, she spotted a small coffee shop and decided to stop there. She wasn’t much of a coffee drinker, but she did want something to eat seeing as she skipped her morning nutrition (as if what she made was actually good for her). When she entered the coffee shop she noticed it was almost full. There was mostly old people having coffee and reading the newspaper by themselves. You’d see the occasional couple but that was about it. She went up to counter, asked for a sandwich and some juice, paid and went to sit down.

Skye started eating her lunch when she noticed a pair of brilliant blue eyes staring at her. There wasn’t anything menacing about them, but those eyes looked at her with such intensity it made her feel self-conscious so she looked away. After a few moments, when she was sure he wasn’t looking, Skye snuck a peek at the man who was staring at her. There was nothing special about him apart from those eyes. He had a mop of black hair that went down over his eyes a bit but didn’t obscure them from view. It looked like he attempted to keep it neat but it would still be messy. His face was clean shaven and he didn’t look the least bit tired. He caught her staring but this time Skye didn’t look away; she was too entranced. Then he gave her a smile. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw it. He had the whitest teeth she had ever seen so it made his smile all the more beautiful.

“Hey. I’m Jason,” he said in a friendly tone. He pulled up his chair so he was sitting right next to her. Normally she would have been a snob and said something like ‘get lost loser’ or ‘I’m way out of your league’ but something was different about this guy, Jason. So she smiled back and said “Hi. I’m Skye.”

“Well, it’s nice to meet you Skye.” He smiled again and she felt her cheeks get a little warm. She was afraid she would start babbling so she just smiled again.

“So, do you come here often?” he asked. Skye just realized she’d never been in here before. She shook her head.

“I do, but it’s not a very good place. The coffee sucks but the food isn’t bad.” He sighed and looked out the window. Skye just watched him, not really knowing what to say. He looked so relaxed, just sitting there lost in his thoughts, a lazy smile adorning his features. ‘Say something,’ she told herself.

“So…” she started. He looked over at her curiously, a glint of amusement present in his stunning blue eyes. “What do you like to do for fun around here?” she questioned. It didn’t seem like a bad question to ask. She didn’t really have the greatest social life, so talking to someone was a little difficult. The only person she really trusted was Lance but…

“Nothing really. I hang out with my buddies and I sometimes come here… I just wander really. I’m also in a band with my friends. We’re nothing special, but everyone in our neighbourhood likes our music so we keep making it.” Jason smiled and Skye smiled back.

“That sounds interesting,” she said.

“Well what do you like to do?” he asked. Skye thought for a moment and realized she didn’t really do much of anything. She would get up in the morning, have breakfast, take a shower, go shopping or sit at home (depending on what mood she was in), see Rick if she felt like it (ugh), and go to bed.

“I don’t really do much. I like to go shopping, but even that gets boring after a while.” She chuckled at the last part, but it was true. If you had everything you wanted, how could you enjoy shopping?

“Well that’s not very interesting,” he said with a laugh. If Skye didn’t know how boring her life really was, she would’ve snapped at him. But she didn’t to her relief. As they started talking, Skye was slowly coming out of her shell. She wasn’t nervous about making a fool of herself by saying something stupid, and she even found herself smiling some more. Jason made her want to talk and be friendly. It was then that Skye realized she didn’t really have any friends. This was the first time in a long while that Skye was talking to someone about anything, and it made her realize just how lonely she was. She didn’t want Jason to leave. She liked talking to him. “Hey Jason,” she started.

“Yes Skye?”

“Do you want to get out of here? We could drive around or something.” There, she said it. She wasn’t too good at talking to people so she just said it straight out. Jason didn’t seem at all phased by this so he replied with, “Sure. Let’s get out of here.” He gave her that heart-warming smile and Skye blushed a little bit. Jason didn’t seem to notice. “Do you have a car or something?” she asked him. He shook his head.

“Nah, I just walked here. I don’t live very far away, just a couple of blocks down actually. Want to take a walk through my neighbourhood? You could meet my all of my friends.” He said it innocently enough with just a little bit of hopefulness. Skye didn’t notice but she replied, “I’d like that.” He gave her a huge grin and she had to laugh because he looked kind of silly. They exited the coffee shop with Jason opening the door for Skye as a gentleman should, and walked through the parking lot to the sidewalk. From there they made their way to Jason’s house. They talked even more and they got to know each other better. Jason loved making music and his friends were actually his band mates. He was the lead vocals and the songwriter. Jason also played the guitar. “You should play for me sometime Jason,” Skye said playfully. His face turned a little red and he replied, “Yeah, I guess I could.” Jason was also into mechanics and he was pretty good. “I can fix any car or bike, and I can even fix some household appliances,” he told her proudly. Skye giggled and he blushed.

“What about you Skye. Do you have a hobby or something?” he asked. She looked at the ground and shook her head.

“I don’t really do much so I haven’t really found anything I like doing,” Skye told him. They didn’t say anything for a few minutes.

“Well, we’re almost at my house so you can meet my friends,” Jason said cheerfully. Skye gave him a weak smile and they continued on their way. As they neared Jason’s house, he started pointing things out to Skye. “That’s the park that my friends and I used to play at. It’s kind of run down now since no one’s gone to fix it in a while,” he laughed. He pointed to a small white house and said, “And that’s where Dr. Krystal Swarovsky lives. We’ve known her forever. She’s actually the doctor around here. And her friend Dr. Brycen Weaver comes here a lot too. But no one really knows if he’s coming or going,” he finished with a chuckle.

Skye looked around her and saw all these quaint little houses. They looked nice on the outside and there were even some kids playing around. Jason noticed her watching them and he had a sour face on. “Those are the three little brats that live on our street,” he told her. “They’re nothing but trouble and ever since they moved here, they’ve been pranking everyone on the block.”

Skye didn’t think they looked like trouble makers. They were actually quite cute. The oldest one had brown hair and dark eyes and he was chasing the other two. The only girl had messy blonde hair and wore a cute little dress. The second boy appeared to be the youngest and he had black curly hair and a wide grin on his face. They were all laughing and having a good time.

“The one with brown hair is Blake, the girl is Cindy, and the youngest one is Grady,” Jason explained. Skye smiled and Jason just rolled his eyes. When they were right in front of Jason’s house, an elderly man sitting on his front porch drinking tea noticed them and called out, “Why hello there Jason. Who’s your young lady friend?”

“Oh, hi Bill. This is Skye.” He motioned to her with his hand. Skye smiled sweetly and waved.

“Would you two like some tea?” he asked politely.

“Sorry Bill, not now. But maybe I’ll come by later,” Jason said to him.

“Well see you then Jason,” said the old man. Then he turned back to drinking his tea.
Jason looked at Skye. “Want to come in?”

“I’d love to,” she said with a smile. Jason opened the door for her and they stepped inside. It was a cozy little house with some old furniture and a TV. There was also a stereo and some pictures of four guys having fun. Skye recognized one of them as Jason. Jason then motioned for her to follow him to the basement. As they were going down the creaky stairs, a blaring TV was heard with tons of laughter. When they got downstairs, they saw three guys were talking and laughing. One of them nudged the other two and pointed in Jason and Skye’s direction.

“Well look at what the cat dragged in!” yelled one with the brown afro.

“Yeah, it’s Jason…and a girl!” exclaimed the one with blonde hair and blue hat.

“Well what are you standing there for Jason? Are you going to introduce us or what?” asked the third guy with dark hair and piercing grey eyes.

“All right guys, enough of that. This is my friend Skye. We met at the coffee shop earlier today,” Jason explained.

“Hi guys,” Skye said shyly.

“Hey Skye,” they said in unison. They were staring at her, but they were being polite about it.

“Well I’m going to get us some drinks,” Jason said. “Why don’t guys get to know each other better? I’ll be right back.” And with that, Jason disappeared up the stairs. Skye then took a seat next to the blonde guy.

“Hey there, I’m James,” he said and stuck out his hand. She shook his hand and then another one was in front of her face.

“I’m Matthew. Pleased to meet ya,” the afro guy said with a grin. Skye shook his hand as well. Then she turned to the other guy. He stuck out his hand and introduced himself as Dominic.

“So what do you think of our place? It’s cool eh?” asked James.

“Yes. It’s nice,” Skye replied. “So do you guys come here a lot?” Skye questioned. The three guys looked at each other and burst out laughing. Skye wondered what was so funny when Matthew enlightened her.

“The four of us live together actually,” he told her with a smile. Skye’s face turned red out of embarrassment and she looked at the floor.

“It’s nothing to be embarrassed about Skye,” Dominic reassured her. “You didn’t know. The four of us have been friends since high school so we’ve stuck together since.” Skye smiled and just then Jason came downstairs with some drinks.

“Hey Jason, buddy!” exclaimed Matthew.

“You guys didn’t do anything stupid while I was gone did you?” he joked.

“Oh come off it Jason!” said James. “We were just trying to get to know Skye seeing as how you’re real friendly with her already,” he said with a sly smile and wiggling his eyebrows. Jason looked away, a mad blush forming on his face. Dominic and Matthew snickered at that last comment. Skye didn’t seem to hear it.

“So,” Jason started, “How are things going with your girlfriends?” he challenged. To his dismay, they all grinned and answered with confident voices.

“Well, Annette and I are doing really good,” James answered.

“Same with Jill and me,” Matthew replied proudly. They all looked at Dominic.

“Me and Andrea are starting to get serious,” he said nervously. He didn’t really want to tell them about his love life even if they were his friends. Matthew then looked at Jason with a mischievous look in his eye.

“What about you Jason? You’re the only one here without a girlfriend,” he asked.

“Yeah man, where’s your girl?” Dominic pressed. Jason’s face turned hot as he noticed James looking expectantly at Skye.

“What is wrong with you guys?” he muttered. Then they all started laughing like a bunch of hyenas, including Skye considering she was oblivious of the fact they were asking Jason about her. To get some of the heat off of him, Jason turned to Skye and questioned, “What about you Skye? Do you have a boyfriend yet?” Skye’s smile disappeared and was replaced with a small frown. She looked at the floor because she couldn’t look at them straight on. “No, I don’t have a boyfriend… I’m married,” she looked up and saw their surprised faces looking back at her. James whispered to Dominic, “Didn’t see that coming.” Matthew looked like he wanted to say something but thought better of it. The only one to actually say something was Jason.

“You’re married…? Well…um…that’s great,” he managed to say with a nervous laugh as he mentally kicked himself for not noticing her ring. Skye just looked at him confused.

“Yeah…great.” That was all she could say. It was followed by a very awkward silence. Skye was looking at her fidgety hands folded in her lap while the four guys were stealing glances at each other wondering what to do. Finally, Jason spoke up.

“Hey guys. I told Skye that we’re a band and I want to show her what can do with our instruments. You coming?” he said with a grin. Matthew, James, and Dominic looked at each other then at Jason.

“I’m in,” said Dominic.

“Same here,” replied James.

“Sure. I’m game,” added Matthew. Jason then beckoned Skye to follow him up the stairs. Matthew, James, and Dominic followed. They then headed to the garage where there was a door that led to a different part of the basement. When they got down there, Skye saw a nice set of drums, a bass, two expensive looking guitars, a microphone, and speakers.

“If all of this is in the basement, then why did we go all the way through the garage to come down here?” Skye questioned.

“This is actually another room in the basement and there’s no way to get here besides the garage. This room is soundproof so if one of us needs to practice or something, you won’t hear a thing,” Jason chuckled. “Also, the neighbours were complaining. They don’t mind our music, but if we keep playing one song over and over again, it gets kind of irritating, you know?” He smiled at her. She felt her face warming so she turned away and asked, “So what kind of music do you play?”

“We play rock, but sometimes we like to do different stuff,” Matthew replied, “Just for some variety. You get me?” Skye nodded.

“Do you guys perform in front of people?” she asked.

“Sometimes. If we have a few new songs we go to the small bar near here and we play for all the locals,” Dominic explained. James then looked at his watch and said, “Jeez, it’s getting late guys. It’s almost 6:00.”

“Wow, we sure lost track of the time,” Jason stated. He looked at Skye and he saw that she had an emotionless face that made it impossible to tell what she was thinking.

“I guess I should be going now,” she said quietly. Then she started up the stairs. The four guys looked at each other and they all shrugged except for Jason. He just made his way up the stairs to find Skye. When Jason got up there, he saw her standing on his driveway. The other three came up behind him and they walked towards her.

“Well it was nice having you over Skye,” Jason said to her. She looked up and tried to smile, but her lips just twitched.

“Yeah, it was great meeting you,” James added.

“We hope to see you again sometime Skye,” Dominic said with a smile.

“And you can come over anytime,” Matthew told her.

“Thanks guys. Today was…nice,” Skye said. She meant it, but she didn’t think it sounded sincere.

“How about I walk you to your car?” Jason offered. He didn’t want her walking by herself even it was just a couple of blocks.

“Oh. Ok Jason. Bye Matthew, James, Dominic.” They all waved and Jason and Skye started walking. The three guys stood there staring and Dominic sighed, “Poor guy. She looks like his type.”

“I know what you mean buddy, I know what you mean,” Matthew replied as he laid a hand on his shoulder.

Don’t worry guys, I’m sure Jason will find his girl,” said James confidently. Meanwhile, Jason and Skye were almost at her car so Jason thought that he should apologize. He wasn’t too good at it so he hoped it would sound alright.

“Um, Skye?” he started.

“Yes,” she said.

“I just wanted to apologize for what happened earlier. I shouldn’t have asked like that. It was rude so I’m sorry.” Skye looked at him with wide eyes. What was he apologizing for? He didn’t even do anything. He just asked a question, Jason didn’t know. It was actually Skye’s fault. She shouldn’t have acted like that. “It’s ok Jason. You didn’t know.” She gave him a smile and he gave her that dazzling smile of his in return. Next thing they knew, they were in the parking lot of the coffee shop.

“Well I guess I’ll see you around Skye,” Jason said.

“Yeah you will,” she laughed and so did Jason. It wasn’t even funny but she wanted to. When she had calmed down she said bye and climbed into her Escalade. She waved and drove off. Jason then turned around and started walking home.

On the drive home, Skye was thinking about her day. She thought it was going to be a boring day, but it turned out great. She made some new friends, and laughed for the first time in a while. "And to think, I was going to waste today on shopping or something," she said to herself.

When she got home, she went to the fridge to see what she could find. ‘Nothing, as usual.’ She didn’t know what else to do so she went up to her room. Skye looked at all the clothes and shoes she had in her closet. ‘Why do I even have all of this stuff? I don’t even wear half of it,’ she asked herself. She sighed and sat on her bed. She thought about what she was going to do about Lance as she often did. She wondered why she even married him in the first place. ‘That’s easy. Lance is all I have.’ Ever since they were little the only person she talked to or even trusted was Lance. He was always looking out for her and acted like a big brother to her for a while. Then as they got older she started to notice that he acted different around her, and word got out that he had a mad crush on her. Skye remembered Lance always being there for her. She eventually found herself falling in love with him and after some months of official dating he proposed. For a couple of years it was nice, but then Lance got that job. More money came in sure, but she never saw Lance anymore. She sighed. Then she started to think about her day and how much she enjoyed it. ‘No, that’s not right. Lance isn’t all I have. I have friends now,’ she told herself. Satisfied with herself, she put on her pyjamas and went to sleep, wondering about what she was going to do tomorrow.


When Jason got back to his house, he noticed Bill was still outside drinking tea.

“Hi Bill,” he said glumly. Bill looked over and greeted, “Well hello again Jason.” He noticed how gloomy Jason looked. “How was that visit with your friend Skye?” he asked politely. Jason thought for a moment and sighed. “Can I have tea with you?” The old man nodded. Jason walked up to where Bill was sitting and took a seat in an old wicker chair.

“What’s troubling you Jason?” the old man asked. He had a kind face that always seemed to have a small smile present with a bushy grey moustache that matched his short hair. His pale green eyes always had a twinkle in them and Jason felt that he could tell old man Bill everything.

“You know Skye? When I first saw her in the coffee shop I thought ‘Ok Jason, this is your chance. Don’t screw it up.’ I thought I was doing well. When I brought her here she seemed happy and stuff. Then my idiot friends got to the topic of girlfriends so I asked her if she had a boyfriend,” he paused and took a breath, staring at his solemn expression in his tea. “She said she didn’t have a boyfriend though… It turns out…she’s married.” Jason hung his head and took a sip of his tea. He looked at Bill and he could see he was thinking. Finally the old man spoke.

“Well Jason, it looks like it just wasn’t your day. You thought you could finally get a girlfriend but it turned out she’s already taken. But it wasn’t all bad was it?” he asked. Jason looked confused. “What do you mean Bill?”

“You made a friend today didn’t you?” Jason nodded. “So the way I see it is if you play your cards right, you could build a strong friendship with this girl,” he finished. Jason pondered that statement and a bright smile formed on his face.

“You’re right Bill! She might be married, but maybe what she wants right now is a friend. And hell, I could be that friend. Thanks for the tea!” And with that Jason bounded down the front steps and hopped the fence to his house where he practically jumped up the steps and disappeared through the front door.

‘He’s a good kid,’ Bill thought. ‘I hope he finds the right girl.’



Lance was working late again that night. He was sitting at his large desk looking over some papers when he started to nod off.

“Wait-what?” he asked to no one in particular. He lifted his head and looked around at his empty and eerily quiet office. He realized then just how late it was. “I need to get out of here,” he muttered as he sighed, shaking his head. Lance grabbed his stuff and walked out the door only to bump into someone.

“Oof. Sorry about that, I didn’t mean to-” he stopped when he noticed a pair of large, hazel eyes staring back at him. Lance would have been lying if he said he wasn’t surprised to see someone here this late. He was usually the last one to leave the office for everyone gave up earlier on in the day. As he looked at her, he realized that he didn’t even recognize this woman.

“Oh yeah? Well watch where you’re going next time,” the woman snapped. She started picking up the files she was carrying and Lance helped her.

“Well you don’t have to be so rude about it,” he grumbled as he handed her some files. Her head snapped up and she glared at him. The intensity of the glare scared him a bit, but he also found it made her attractive.

“Are you new here?” he questioned. “I haven’t seen you around before.” She looked at him and her eyes went wide.

“You’re the boss aren’t you?” she asked, finally realizing just who it was that she was speaking to. Lance raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah, that’s me. Why?” He looked at her curiously and she just shrugged.

“I was just wondering,” she replied. She put the files on someone’s desk and began heading for the exit. Lance shook his head and quickly followed her.

“Hey! Hold on a second,” he yelled. She turned around and waited for him.

“Yes?” She sounded irritated.

“I didn’t get your name,” he said. She sighed. “Tracy Marler,” she told him.

“Lance Brawn,” he answered back. “Can I walk you to your car?” he asked politely expecting to be rejected. She looked at him curiously and finally said, “I guess so…” They started walking down the hall towards the elevator, their footsteps echoing through the empty corridor. One came and they stepped in and Lance pressed the L button. It was a long way down so Lance attempted to make some conversation but he was too tired. After a couple of minutes Tracy said something.

“Maybe the reason why you didn’t notice me was because you were locked in your office all day. I’ve been working here for two weeks now.” Lance looked over at her with a raised eyebrow. He couldn’t believe how rude she was. Usually his employees treated him like royalty for fear of being fired, but she treated him like he was nothing special.

She was fiddling with her raven-black hair and he noticed she was wearing a low cut top that effectively showed some cleavage and a skirt that was too high for an office. All in all, it wasn’t exactly appropriate attire for an office. Lance guessed she was just trying to show off. ‘Well she’s doing a good job of it,’ he thought to himself. He didn’t dare voice his thoughts though. She noticed him staring and her eyes narrowed a bit.

“Do you have something you want to say to me?” she questioned with a hint of annoyance in her voice. Lance flinched slightly. He wasn’t expecting that.

“Uh…do you usually stay this late?” he asked her, scrambling to come up with something. She shrugged and replied, “Only if I have to. I had to get rid of some extra stuff on my desk.” The elevator stopped and she stepped out followed by Lance. They exited the main lobby and went to the parking lot.

“Well I guess I’ll see you tomorrow Tracy,” Lance said. She climbed into her car and started the engine.

“Maybe,” she said without looking at him. He had a confused look on his face and when she saw this she laughed. “If you ever come out of that office of yours that is,” she finished. She gave a small wave and drove off. Lance ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “What a weird chick,” he muttered while shaking his head. ‘She is pretty cute though… Wait, what am I thinking?’ He shook his head to clear it of all thoughts and he walked to his car. He leaned his head against the steering wheel and sniffed.

“What am I going to do…? What am I going TO DO?!” he yelled at the top of his lungs. He slammed the steering wheel until the horn started to go off. ‘I’ve lost everything. Every time I try to think of something other than work and what I’m losing, it all comes back and it hits hard. I have to tell Skye…but she’ll leave me for sure. What am I going to do?’



Skye woke up that day with a smile on her face. It surprised her a bit because she wouldn’t normally do that, but she shook that thought away and went downstairs with a small spring in her step. She went to the fridge and looked at what was inside. ‘Nothing…I guess I’ll have to buy stuff today,’ she said to herself. But she didn’t want to go shopping today. No, she wanted to do something fun.
“I wonder… would Jason be at the coffee shop today?” Skye wondered out loud. She knew she only knew him for a day, but she was curious. After all, he did make her smile, and it was rare for anyone to do that. So Skye headed upstairs and slipped into the shower. When she was done, she put on a pair of nice designer jeans, a clean white blouse, and she fixed her hair the way she wanted it. Satisfied with her appearance, she headed downstairs and out the door. Skye thought for a minute. ‘Should I be doing this?’ She pushed that thought out of her head and decided she should. ‘What the hell? They’re my friends aren’t they?’ She chuckled and headed towards the coffee shop. When she got there she was happy to see Jason sitting at the spot he sat at yesterday. She walked towards him and with a smile on her face said, “Hi Jason.” He looked surprised to see her, but it quickly turned into a friendly smile.

“Hey Skye, why don’t you have a seat?” He motioned to the chair next to him and she sat down.

“What brings you here?” he asked her.

“Oh nothing. I just wanted to hang out, that’s all,” she replied. “I don’t really know a lot of people so talking to you and your friends yesterday was a nice change.” Skye glanced at him and Jason just smiled. She did too; she couldn’t help it. Seeing him smile made her smile as well.

“Well, what were you planning on doing for today?” Jason asked.

“I’m not really sure,” Skye said, resting her head in her hand. “I just want to do something fun for a change,” she finished brightly. Jason chuckled. “Do you have anything in mind?” Skye thought for a moment and her then her face lit up.

“Hey, why don’t we go to a movie? There’s a new one that came out and I’ve wanted to see it for a while,” she suggested. Jason blinked a couple of times and a shy smile formed on his handsome face. “Uh, sure Skye, what movie did you want to see?” She then explained that there was this comedy that just came out and since those were her favourite kind of movies she thought it would be fun to go see it.

“And I think it’s better to go see those kinds of movies with someone else instead of by yourself so I was wondering if you wanted to come with me?” She looked so hopeful that Jason just couldn’t say no. Not that he wanted to of course. So he nodded and together they got up and left. Then Jason asked, “Hey, you know where the theatre is right?” Skye stopped and thought for a second and gave a hesitant, “yes” as they got into her car. However, this proved to be false because after about 10 minutes of driving, Jason noticed that they were nowhere near the theatre. Skye had gotten them lost so he had to direct her towards it. She was pouting the entire way and Jason found it irresistibly cute. When they arrived, they found the theatre crowded with people but they managed to get tickets to the movie.

“Wow, it’s packed in here! I hope we manage to get good seats,” Skye said. All Jason did was nod. He had butterflies in his stomach because this felt too much like a date. But he remembered what Bill had told him the previous night and knew that all he could be was a friend. He let out a sigh but kept up his cheery smile. Besides, even if nothing more could come of this, it would still be great to have her as a friend.


Lance was at his desk preparing for an upcoming meeting when he heard a loud knock on his door. He grumbled to himself and told whoever it was to come in. He was slightly surprised to see it was the woman he met last night, Tracy Marler.

“Hey Lance,” she said casually. He raised an eyebrow at how informally she addressed him, but merely shrugged it off and asked what it was that she wanted.

“Well, I just wanted to let you know that Gary isn’t going to be going to the meeting that was scheduled for today even though he’s supposed to be there,” she informed him, and he noted that she seemed quite annoyed. It probably meant more work for her. “Oh, and the meeting has been postponed until tomorrow. Apparently the client needs some more time to discuss things with some other group before they can see us.” She finished her little report and leaned against his door waiting for him to reply. Lance sat down in his chair and sighed. All the work he put into preparing for this important meeting made him worried and even more tired and he rushed it for nothing.

“So what’s the plan now?” he asked her.

“Well, I learned about this from an urgent e-mail I got this morning at around six o’clock,” she said irritably, “So I informed everyone of the changes and made sure to book the meeting room for tomorrow,” she said. “And because I had some extra time, I looked over the report we were about to give and found a mess of errors that had to be fixed so that’s been done as well.” Lance looked at her, impressed, and noted that it was a good idea to replace their previous admin with her. Tracy knew what she doing and got things done. He got up from his chair and stood next to her.

“Thanks a lot Tracy. I knew it was a good idea to hire you.” Lance meant it and she smiled appreciatively. Then he just happened to glance down and get a nice peek at her partially exposed chest. He blinked a couple of times and looked away.

“And um, I just wanted to point out that you should uh…cover up a bit more when you come to work. Your clothes are a little revealing and can cause…distractions,” Lance mumbled. Tracy smirked and crossed her arms just below her breasts, puffing her chest out slightly as well.

“Aw, is this really that distracting, boss,” she asked mischievously. Lance started sputtering for a few moments, unsure of what to say. ‘Is she hitting on me?’ he wondered to himself. Then out of nowhere, she grabbed his tie and pulled his face mere inches away from her own. He couldn’t believe that he was this close to her and he swallowed hard. But he couldn’t help but think to himself that a very attractive woman was getting this close to him. Skye hadn’t done this in a while…

“Uh, isn’t this a bit sudden…?” he asked hesitantly. As soon as the words left his mouth she laughed and let him go, leaving Lance a little flustered.

“Sorry if I gave the wrong impression. I guess I’ll have to cover up from now on,” she said dramatically, even giving out a long sigh.

”Fine, you don’t have to change,” Lance grumbled. Then Tracy’s face immediately lit up as she said, “That’s great! Now I can get back to work!” She turned to leave but before she went through the door she turned her head to the side and called out, “Thanks Lance!” She winked at him and he looked away, clearing his throat and straightening his tie, obviously embarrassed.

”Yeah yeah,” he muttered. He smoothed out his hair and sat back in his chair, putting his feet on his desk and leaning back with his hands behind his head. ‘How did I end up hiring someone like her? Oh well, at least things won’t be so dull around here,’ Lance thought to himself with a smile.




“Hey guys, I’m home!” Jason called out. After the movie was over, he and Skye decided to stay out a little more and talk about the movie they just saw. It was actually pretty funny and they both enjoyed it. Jason also noticed how Skye’s face lit up when she talked about something that interested her, and he found it a little difficult to concentrate on what she was saying. But once again, he reminded himself that they couldn’t be anything more than just friends.

“Yo buddy, what’s up?” Jason heard Matthew calling from the kitchen and went to go see him. There he found James and Dominic at the kitchen table, playing a game of cards, with James losing badly. Just then he called out, “Hey Jason! How was the date?” He was grinning like a fox and Jason got embarrassed about it.

”You idiot it wasn’t a date. We just went out,” he said in an annoyed tone as he threw an oven mitt at his friend. Dominic laughed and asked, “But isn’t that the same thing?”

“Yeah man, you gotta admit that you two would make a great pair,” Matthew chipped in. Jason knew that they thought he and Skye would look good together and that Jason had a mad crush on her as soon as he laid eyes on her. He scratched the back of his head and sighed.

”Come on guys, just because a guy and a girl go out for some fun it doesn’t mean that they’re dating,” he said in an attempt to defend himself. “Besides, two guys or two girls go out and no one says anything about that.”

His three friends laughed at his reasoning and James said, “Of course people would say stuff! Guys have “Bromances” and girls have “Female Crushes.” It’s a known fact,” he said as he grinned.

“Oh, I get it. You guys are totally crushing on me right now, am I right?” Jason teased as he went along with James’ “fact.” Dominic started laughing so hard he was tearing up and Matthew slapped Jason on the back as he said, “Sorry man. No matter how you look at it, you two are a pair, an item, whatever you want to call it.”

“We’re not anything you morons,” he grumbled. “Is it so hard to just be friends?” Matthew, James, and Dominic all looked at each other and sighed. Then Dominic spoke up.

“It’s kind of hard to ignore the fact that you’ve been looking for a girl of your own for a while. So of course every time you meet someone new we’ll be pushing for you two to hook up. We just don’t like seeing you single while the rest of us have girlfriends.” Dominic had a serious expression on his face as he said this, as did Matthew and James. They weren’t kidding around, and Jason realized that they just wanted him happy like they were. He took a deep breath to compose himself and even smiled a bit at his friends’ sincerity.

“You guys are the best, you know that?” he asked. The serious atmosphere was broken as they all grinned like fools and Matthew said, “Damn straight we’re the best!” He slung his arm around Jason’s shoulders and messed up his hair.

“And don’t you forget it either!” James added with a laugh.

“Hey, what do you say we get somethin’ to eat? I’m starved!” Dominic stated. The rest of them agreed and they all got ready to go out.


A tall man in casual clothes walked through the door to the office of the private investigator that he hired. The receptionist started yelling at him if he had an appointment, but thinking that he was too important for trivial matters like that, he simply strode past the desk and straight to the man’s office. He didn’t even bother knocking as he stepped in and saw the detective sitting as his desk and reading over some files. The detective looked up at the sudden intrusion with a bored expression.

“Mr. Brawn, please stop showing up un-announced. My receptionist keeps nagging me about my clients and how rude they are,” Detective Steve Lorn said. He didn’t care whether his client came without any notice of a visit; he had gotten used to his antics. “Anyway,” he continued, “What can I do for you today?”

“Detective I need to know if you’ve found out anything on my brother,” the man said in a deep, gruff voice.

Detective Lorn leaned back in his chair as he replied, “You know Mr. Brawn, you haven’t paid me in a while for my service. I can’t work properly without getting my money.” He said it casually enough as he looked out the window in his office. He heard a heavy sigh and saw a small bag get thrown onto his desk. He quickly grabbed it and inspected its contents. It was full of money, and there was quite a lot of it.

“Ah, you know I think I just might have something for you today,” the detective said, a bit more enthusiastic now that he was given a large sum of money. He manoeuvred his chair around to grab a folder with a bunch of papers in it and grabbed a couple.

“I recently found out that things haven’t been going so well for your brother. He’s having a lot of money trouble and hasn’t been making payments on his house and things like that. If he doesn’t pay up soon, the bank’s going to take his house and everything in it.” The detective was quite proud of his work and his client smiled evilly.

“Well well, I think this will be of use. Thank you Detective. You’ve been a great help.” The man turned to leave but before he did, he had one last request. “Oh, and I want you to start following Skye, the one I told you about. I have a feeling things will turn out perfectly in the end.” And with that, he walked out the door, not bothering to close it behind him. ‘Oh yes, things will turn out just fine.’

Hi.

I've yet to start reading your story, but would you be interested in having your very own story board?

That would be really cool Kristy. I mean, I do have a few other things I would like to show everyone, but I don't know what people would say. I think I would like to wait and see what everyone thinks of my stories before getting my own section. It would be a waste if no one reads what I write.

And you don't need to sound so formal. We can get to know each other better. =)

Hehe, okay. I'll read this and see what I think of it sometime. ^^

*Cries* IT's....so Beautiful. xD

Good story, really. But not that good that makes ME cry.