Grabbing his off oatmeal from the kitchen counter, Hayden crossed the open expanse of the living room and sat heavily down on the other end of the beige sofa sectional. "You know, it doesn't matter how many times you keep looking over there, she isn't coming down."
Joel took another bite of his cereal and forced himself to look back at the TV. He lasted for two minutes. The occasional sound of spoons clinking against ceramic and the muted talking of the people on the TV seemed to punctuate each tick of the second hand as he tried to maintain his focus. It was useless.
Glancing at the empty staircase, he let out a sigh of frustration. "What is she even doing up there?" He sat his now empty cereal bowl on the couch and looked at his watch. It was a little past noon. "She's been up there all morning."
Turning his head slightly, Hayden's long dark hair shifted at the movement. "Not all morning," he said. "I heard her getting something from the kitchen earlier this morning,"
Joel hadn't heard anything. No creak of the steps and no movement above him, nothing. Though he wasn't surprised, Hayden heard something. The man was such a light sleeper Joel was surprised he couldn't hear birds farting outside. That and his room was much closer to the stairwell and kitchen than his was.
"What is she even eating?" Joel continued.
The silent girl was perplexing. She offered no information about herself, meaning everything had to be gleaned from watching her like a creeper, which didn't help at all. Because though she hadn't said anything, he knew she was paranoid about them being just that.
Joel remembered how she stiffened under his touch in the café. He could practically feel her tension radiate off her soft shoulders. Her reaction had bothered him for the rest of the night. Was she leery of them and just being cautious? Or was there something more? Something that answered why her beautiful face seemed frozen in ice. It was damn infuriating.
"It can’t be just those TV dinners she brought back from her room at the motel," he continued. "I even figured I would take her grocery shopping today," Joel explained. He had even gone so far as to plan out his argument with her in case the prideful girl fought him on the subject. Which he was sure she would. She was stubborn. If that permanent little stuck-up expression she always wore didn't tell him as much, her insistence to go back to the motel despite their warnings did.
"Not sure," Hayden shrugged and sat down his now empty bowl of oatmeal. "Whatever she did, she cleaned and dried her dishes before she left and was back up to her room before we were up."
Joel made a sound under his breath. Her staying in her room all day was not something he had planned on.
Standing up, Hayden stretched his arms over his head, and Joel winced at the popping sound his back made. Snatching his bowl off the table, Hayden walked over to the windows behind the TV stand as he tilted his neck from side to side, trying to work out more kinks. He stood there looking out the window, and Joel contemplated texting Sapphire. She could've gone back to sleep, he thought as he stared doubtfully at his phone.
"I'm going to the gym," Hayden's words broke through his thoughts, and Joel looked up to see him looking at him expectantly. "You coming?"
Looking back to the empty stairs once more, Joel let out a heavy sigh. "Yeah."
In the gym, Joel let all of his thoughts about Sapphire disappear as he braced himself under the barbell. Focusing on his breathing, he lifted the heavy bar. Three hundred and twenty-five pounds balanced on his shoulder as he took one step out away from the rack. Joel widened his stance and began to squat in time to the clanking sound of the leg press machine Hayden was using. Sunlight leached in through the ancient newspapers covering the windows of the building. Despite their demolition attempts, remnants of the previous tax office still remained here and there throughout the building. It was just one more thing that kept adding to the ever-growing list of things to do between all of their business ventures, he thought.
But it was worth it. Joel would take this life filled with never-ending chores and obligations over their life five years ago. Unwanted memories flashed in his mind, and Joel closed his eyes. Pushing through the pain in his muscles, he let out a groan as he pushed the heavy bar up once more and the unbidden thoughts out.
That life was over. They had gotten out with their lives. Joel repeated the words in his head. He had to focus on the present and stop remembering the past. Setting the heavy bar back onto the hooks, Joel swiped his water bottle hanging on the nearby hook and drank. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he watched as Hayden finished up his set. He was breathing hard, too, reaching for his own water bottle. Joel could feel his thoughts shifting back toward the darkness of the past when he had watched his friend and brother take cover with him behind a house as bullets flew past them.
Joel closed his eyes and let his head hang back. He had to stop. He had to focus. Focus on anything other than his memories: chores, shit at the café, their next game down at the bar, anything to occupy his idle thoughts.
Using the barebones showers they installed in the back room, a room they intended to be the locker rooms, they dressed in silence. For whatever reason, Joel felt that the building's emptiness seemed especially pronounced today.
"Fuck, I'm ready to get out of here," he said in a huff of air as he stuffed his dirty clothes into his gym bag.
Doing the same with his clothes, Hayden threw the strap of his bag over his shoulder and chest and stuffed his hands into his sweat pockets. "Yeah, yeah. You just want to see if she has come downstairs yet."
Joel didn't bother replying to that because it was true. He waited for Hayden to lock up the building and turned to stare at their place across the street. Today was Sunday, the only day the café was closed, and the first of the two days the bar was closed. He tried looking through the windows of the second floor, but it was useless. From the street level, you only see the top of someone's head standing near the window. They really needed to get some curtains or something now that she was living with them. The idea of someone passing by being able to see up into the windows at night didn't sit well with him.
A thought struck Joel, and he turned to Hayden, who was now stepping away from the locked door. "You think she's still there?"
"Where could she go?"
Joel considered that. He had a point. There wasn't much for a girl like her in this town. No fashionable places to shop and no trendy restaurants. "I don't know, out." He shrugged. "Hanging out or something."
Joel watched Hayden's eyes narrow at that, and he wondered if his mind went to Sapphire hanging out with some kid from her high school too.
Hayden shook his head before crossing the empty street. "I get the feeling she's not going to be hanging out with any of the kids around here."
Joel could see that. She was technically older than the kids in her class, and he couldn't imagine her warm and welcoming personality impressing anyone. He couldn't help but laugh under his breath at that.
"Besides," Hayden continued, his naturally stern voice pragmatic as usual. "I have yet to see her today to give her the spare key. So, if she leaves, she wouldn't be able to lock anything, nor would she have any guarantee of getting back in if we weren't there."
Joel could just picture her too. Sitting in that room half-filled with boxes as she just sat on her bed playing on her phone or something. "Fuck it," he growled, snatching his phone from his pocket. "I'm calling her."
