Never Let Go

Thursday came, and Lindsey was still ignoring Gerard. Gerard knew he was firmly stuck in the dog house. He also knew it was his own fault; his intoxicated brain had thought it was a great idea to brag about his unconventional sex life in front of Lindsey’s friends, like the stupid idiot he could be at times. Now he was suffering the consequences, and he didn’t like it one bit. He didn’t take well to feeling like an asshole, even though he knew he was an asshole a lot of the time. His family had accepted his domineering, slightly selfish and narcissistic ways. He took it for granted that Lindsey had accepted it too by now, and would let his little occasional run-of-his-mouth and sarcastic commentary slide, like water off a duck’s back. Normally, she would roll her eyes, but keep her mouth shut, or just make a sarcastic comment back that would put an end to Gerard’s behaviour. Gerard had used all his tricks by this stage. Which, in reality, meant he had left cute little notes for her, repeatedly told her how much he loved her, sent flowers and chocolates to her work, and ordered her favourite food every night, which were all but ignored. He wondered how long it would take before one of them broke. In all honesty, he was rather surprised that Lindsey was holding onto her anger for so long; it wasn’t like her, and he wondered if it meant that the honeymoon period was gone, after just one year of living together. Maybe she didn’t find his little quirks so amusing anymore, or maybe she was just PMS-ing. The reason didn’t really matter- he was still being ignored and glared at, and it made it uncomfortable to come home every night. Of course, maybe if he just said sorry, things would be okay, but that was a route he refused to go down. Once you've apologised for small things, it eventually loses its meaning and affect when it's used for the major things. Anyways, he just made one (although very stupid) mistake. It was something that wasn’t even worth an argument over, let alone actually apologising for it. Well, at least in his opinion. Lindsey obviously begged to differ. She was late coming home from work, probably due to end of quarter reports or some shit that had to get done. Gerard slouched on the couch, comfortably relaxing in front of the TV, and trying not to think too much about the mood Lindsey would be in when she got home. It was seven thirty before Gerard heard the front door open and slam shut, followed by a very loud sigh from Lindsey. It took all of his willpower not to groan out loud, anticipating Lindsey’s passive aggressive manner again. He watched her come into the sitting room, her expression weary and a little annoyed. She flopped down on the couch beside him, kicked her shoes off, and cuddled up against him without a word.
“Work sucked.” She groaned, snuggling her face into his collar bone and inhaling his familiar scent. She didn’t see the smug smirk that settled on his face, his eyes lit up in silent victory. He kept his voice casual when he replied, though, his ego not stupid enough to make his glee known. Lindsey had made the first move, and it wasn’t necessary for him to rub it in.
“Tough day?”
“Fucking Nancy called in sick for the next week- she has the flu or something. Anyway, now I’m stuck finishing her reports, as well as my own, ‘cause apparently I’m a fucking robot, who can magically do my work, on top of all her shit, before tomorrow’s deadline.”
Gerard tightened his arms around Lindsey, giving her much needed comfort. She half sighed, half whined, into his shoulder.
“Just do what you can, baby. Focus on your own stuff first. If it doesn’t get done, it’s their fault for putting too much on your plate. They should have spread it out amongst everybody, not just landing it on you.”
“Nobody else has a clue about the accounts, though. We both do the Asian markets, hence why I’m stuck with it. They could at least have given me someone for a couple of hours who could take a little bit of the pressure off, ya’know?”
Gerard kissed the top of her head, quickly deciding that a distraction was the best way to cheer her up.
“How about I order us some Thai food?”
“That would be amazing” Lindsey said.
“Your wish is my command,” Gerard grinned, pleased that her misery at work had successfully gotten him off the hook.
“By the way, we’re meeting Jamia and Frank in the mall tomorrow after work. If I hear one complaint out of you, your ass is back on the couch, all right?”
No wonder she had so willingly let it go. She had found a punishment fit for the crime. He didn’t bother to argue with her, though. Frank had proven himself to be of similar mind to Gerard, so more fool Lindsey if she thought Gerard saw it as a torturous exercise.
******
“Is that mushroom soup I smell?”
Frank was just in the door, home late yet again this week, when the delicious smell infiltrated his nose, and made his mouth instantly water. It was the only dish he allowed Jamia to make, and only because she followed his mother’s recipe down to a tee. He was more than making up for the easy day he had on Monday with the overtime since then. He lost count of the amount of strings the band had broke over the last few days, not to mention the drummer coming in drunk the day before, and delaying everything for two hours, while the bassist tried to sober him up. He couldn’t wait for the next day to come, where he could just relax for the weekend,and not move a muscle. Although he wasn’t entirely too sure if he was supposed to be giving Gerard another guitar lesson on Saturday or not. Even if he did, it would only be for an hour, anyway.Plus, it was done in the comfort of his own home, so at least he was able to stay indoors.
“Yup,” Jamia called out from the kitchen “it’s just about ready.”
“Did I ever tell you just how much I love you?” Frank came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her tiny waist.
“Not in the last ten hours,” Jamia giggled, giving him a quick peck on the cheek, “there’s some rolls in the oven too.Can you get them out for me?”
“Sure thing.”
Frank grabbed the pink oven mitten on the counter and opened the oven door, quickly jumping out of the way when the heat came rushing out, hitting him full blast on the face.
“Motherfucker,” he muttered, eyeing the oven with an evil, narrowed glare.
“You never learn,” Jamia giggled, grabbing two bowls and plates for their dinner. She scooped the soup out from the pot, while Frank buttered the rolls. When they finally got to sit down, they got right into their food, both too hungry and too comfortable with each other to force needless polite conversation. When they were done, Frank took the dirty cutlery back into the kitchen, getting stuck straight into cleaning. He didn’t even bother to make a comment about the mess Jamia left behind while making the soup, which was the main reason he hated other people cooking. He firmly believed in cleaning as you went along; all it took was a couple of minutes to clean a pot before you sat down to eat. Jamia was normally quite good at cleaning up after herself, though; he had distracted her, so he supposed it was his fault really. He was too absorbed in cleaning to notice Jamia coming onto the kitchen, nearly jumping out of his skin when she wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her cheek on his back.
“So, Lindsey and I organised for the four of us to meet in the mall tomorrow.”
Frank stalled in the middle of cleaning a bowl, craning his neck to look at her with a raised eyebrow.
“Did you now? I suppose that explains the cooking.”
“Yup. I thought it’d be nice for all of us to hang out again. You like Gerard, right?”
“Would it matter if I didn’t?”
“Not really. We’re going.”
Frank sighed, knowing he would only be fighting a losing battle if he argued.
“Fine, but only because I’m too tired, and too full, to argue right now.”
“And my evil plan works. A full Frank is an agreeable Frank. Works every time.”
****************
Just like the last ‘double date’, Frank and Jamia were waiting in the food court for Lindsey and Gerard to turn up. They had milkshakes in front of them, to waste the time with something other than just conversation. Jamia was talking about a co-worker who just found out her husband was having an affair with one of the receptionists (Eva) he’d met at the Christmas party last year. Frank had to admit, the story was as hilarious as it was heartbreaking. Apparently, the husband had been stupid enough to have naked pictures of the receptionist on his phone, which the unfortunate wife was unlucky enough to find, when one of their kids had comeacross it, when playing a game on his phone. The ensuing fall out in the office was spectacular, with the betrayed wife emailing the pictures to everybody in the office.
“My brain is forever traumatised. We’re talking, like, proper xxx porn stuff here. The poor kid who saw it too. Anyway, I think Eva is going to hand in her notice any day now. I feel a bit sorry for her, actually; she made a mistake, and now everyone in the office is treating her like dirt. Management are worse, though.They won’t do anything about the harassment.”
“They probably just don’t want to get involved. If they’re seen taking sides, they’ll get more slack from all of you.”
“That’s the manager’s job, though. It’s their job to take the heat, and fix internal problems. It’s why they get paid more money.”
“Hey, guys,” Lindsey’s cheerful voice interrupted Frank’s attempt to reply. He turned around to see a beaming Lindsey and a slightly less than happy Gerard. Frank waved, while Jamia stood up to Lindsey. Gerard took a seat opposite Frank, while Lindsey sat beside Jamia, immediately taking all of her attention.
“Hey,” Gerard smirked.
“What’s up?” Frank replied, sounding unenthused.
“Not much. We still on for the lesson tomorrow?”
“Sure. Same time?”
“Sounds good. You get the new ‘Doom’ issue yet?”
“Not yet, haven’t been to the comic book store. Is it any good?”
“I haven’t read it yet,” Gerard sighed “Wanna go down to the store? The girls were only going to drag us shopping anyway. Lindsey’s only trying to punish me for Saturday night by dragging me into every store they can think of. If we run now, we can escape before they notice.”
“Sounds better than shopping,” Frank shrugged.
They stood up in unison.
“Where are you guys going?” Lindsey questioned, eyes narrowed.
“Comic book store. I need the new Doom. We won’t be long,” Frank supplied, unfazed.
The girls just glared at the smug men as theybriskly walked away.
“I suppose we shouldn’t have expected anything else,” Jamia sighed, taking a sip of milkshake.

Notes

Hey guys,

Are you guys still enjoying this? There hasn't been much (almost none) feedback on the last couple of updates, which obviously makes me wonder if people are still reading. Any feedback is helpful, and it lets me know if you guys are still interested.

Lyra