AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Brooke, what the hell are you doing? It’s late, get to bed,” Hank yells from the bedroom. Get to bed, like I’m his damn child.
I don’t say anything, I just get up and take my phone outside with me. On the porch swing, I listen to the craziness on the other end of the phone. It makes me a bit curious as to what exactly is going on. I hear loud music, loud voices and lots of laughing. I wonder if she’s drinking. Is it a constant party every night? It makes me wonder if she sleeps all day, especially if she’s out all night. What does she do everyday? I’ve never ask.
“Sorry Brooklyn, yes of course I want to talk. I called you, didn’t I? So listen, you’ll get here at three o’clock my time, so I figured we would go get something to eat and then head back to my place. You can take a nap if you need it and then the band wanted to have a welcome party for you at the club where we hang out. They are going to surprise the place and do a few songs and then we’ll all hang out. What do you think?” Poppy asks and it shocks me.
I don’t exactly know what to say. I mean it is really nice of the band to want to throw a party just for me, but it’s just not something I usually do. They will all be drinking and who knows what else. I take a deep breath and look at the light as it flashes on and off. Hank is really starting to piss me off. “You know what, I think it sounds like a lot of fun. I’m really looking forward to getting the hell out of here.”
“Wow, this doesn’t sound like you at all. What’s wrong?” she asks and I want to kick myself for blurting it out like that.
“Oh nothing, just excited. Listen, I need to get to bed. I’ll call you during the week to finalize everything,” I say, trying to rush her off.
“I
don’t believe you for shit, but we’ll talk when you get here. Good night girl.”
We hang up and I go inside. I walk into the bedroom, expecting Hank to be asleep and he is sitting up, waiting for me. “Brooke, what is going on with you? First you come in here in that getup and then I find you sitting outside on the phone. It’s just not you.”
He’s right, it’s not me. I don’t know what I’m doing anymore. The only thing I know for sure, is he hurt me before. I’m not a confrontational person, at all. I avoid arguing with people, I’ll make myself miserable before I confront someone. This time though, I feel like I have no other choice. I take a deep breath and tug my bathrobe tighter. “You hurt me before. I came in here feeling good about myself and you totally rejected me and called me trash.”
“Brooke, I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. It’s just the girl that walked in here is not the girl that I love. You know our routine and that is definitely not part of it,” he says as he puts his book on the nightstand, removing his glasses as well and setting them on top of the book.
I climb into bed and tuck my legs under me. Leaning my arm against the headboard, I look at him. “Hank, haven’t you ever wanted to stray away from the routine, even just a tiny bit?” I hate asking him this stuff, mostly because I’m scared of his answer.
His eyes are closed as if he is trying to shut me out, and his long, pointy nose is sticking out, making me want to punch it. “Why would I want to stray away from the routine? It works,” he says and clicks off his lamp.
“Right, I’m not saying it doesn’t work. What I’m saying is, haven’t you ever wanted to do something different, you know, in here?” My face heats with embarrassment at my line of questioning.
“Brooke, I don’t know what the hell is going on with you. We’ve been together for almost a year, I don’t know what is bringing this all on. No, I don’t want something different in the bedroom. I think things are perfect the way they are. Now, let’s get some sleep otherwise tomorrow is going to be awful. We’ve already lost an hour,” he blurts out, rolling his lanky body over as I glance down at his boxers riding up his leg and a shiver runs through me. Disgust, I don’t know. I’m just finally realizing that Poppy may be right. Maybe there is more to life.
For the second time tonight, I feel like I could cry. Maybe I’m PMS’ing or something. I don’t bother getting out of bed to put pajamas on, I just roll onto my side and hope that sleep pulls me under soon.
**
The next day, is just like any other. The only difference is that I took off a week from work. Everyone, needless to say, was shocked I took time off. They almost fell over when I said it was to go to New York.
The rest of the week flew by. I’m not sure if it’s because I’m excited to see Poppy or to get a break from Hank. Since Sunday night, things have just been tense with us. He’s acting exactly the same and it pisses me off because he just doesn’t see what I was trying to do. I’m not trying to change him, I just tried to bring a little bit of, I don’t know, fun to our relationship. I think this trip to New York couldn’t have come at a better time.
I finish packing my stuff and bring it out to the living room. My flight is at noon and I need to get to the airport soon. I told Hank I would take a cab to the airport. Honestly, I just didn’t want him to give me any reason to stay home. I’m feeling a little excited and I want to keep that feeling. I call for the cab and double check that I have everything while I wait.
Before I know it the cab is here and I am on my way. It is going to be a long day and longer night, according to Poppy. I keep thinking about that as I go through airport security, on the long flight and when we finally land in New York. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous, because now that we are exiting the plane, my legs feel like jelly.
Standing next to the baggage claim, I find my boring black bags amidst the more unique luggage of all the experienced travelers and glance around the crowded airport to find Poppy.
“Brooklyn!” I hear Poppy yell and snap my eyes up. She runs at me and all of my nerves disappear when I see her smiling face. When she reaches me, she pulls me in for the tightest hug I’ve had in years. I squeeze her back just as hard, before we pull apart. “Holy shit, you look beautiful, tired as shit, but beautiful.”
I laugh and look down at my jeans and tank top. One second after seeing her, she tells me what I’ve been yearning to hear from Hank for months. “You are the one who looks beautiful.”
“Of course I do,” she says, laughing. “Come on, let’s get something to eat and we’ll bring it back to my place. We’ve got a busy night and I can tell you need to sleep for a while.”
We pick up a pizza on the way to her place, because she told me I need to try New York pizza. According to Poppy, there is no better pizza in the world, with the gooey cheese and tons of grease. We sit in the back of the cab while Poppy talks a mile a minute. I try to listen, but the view out the window has my complete attention. The city is alive, with the amount of people rushing about. The buildings are so tall they block out the sun’s rays making it appear darker in some places than it really is. The different buildings, some old, some new, some brick, some seem to have all windows, is just stunning. I turn my attention back to Poppy and smile. “It is so beautiful here. Crazy busy, but it’s really amazing. I can’t wait to explore.”
“We have a whole week, don’t worry we will see it all,” she says as we turn into a parking garage. The cab stops and she opens the door. “This is it. Come on.”
We carry everything to the elevator and she hits it for the tenth floor. Damn, I can’t wait to see what her view looks like. It must be amazing at night when all the lights of the city are shining. The elevator stops and I follow her to the apartment. My jaw nearly drops along her marble floors. The place is ginormous, bigger than any home I’ve ever been in. Even though it is huge, it doesn’t have that vibe. Poppy leads a different life, and her home reflects that. An acoustic guitar hangs in a glass case on the wall over her purple couch. Eclectic and all Poppy, I laugh at the picture of the
Beatles walking down Abbey road hanging in the dining room.
She leads me down a small hallway adorned with various pictures of what appear to be different rock bands. One thing that is prevalent in each photo is Poppy’s smiling face in the middle of the rock stars. Wow, to lead that kind of life I could never even imagine.
