I look out of the big glass windows of our apartment that were from the top of the ceiling to the bottom of the floor. I cup my hands around my hot coffee I had poured not too long ago and watch as the rain fell down on the city. Even when it rained around here it was beautiful. The lights of all the buildings were on when it rained, due to the clouds blocking out the sunlight. Our house was positioned perfectly to see the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the city around us. I sip my coffee and continue looking as I recall Andrew’s wedding in my mind.
It was beautiful. Even though I disliked Anna West immensely before, she was really nice. It seems that leaving school changed her. Well I’m not sure if she was being nice because I was a friend of Andrew’s, but I didn’t mind as long as Andrew was happy. She wore a beautiful white wedding dress with a white bouquet of lilies, her favourite flower. Her long blonde hair was in a bun and all tied back off her porcelain skin, her complexion brought out her bright green eyes beautifully and she wore red lipstick which made her skin seem even lighter. Andrew wore a plain black tuxedo and combed his jet-black hair back. I wasn’t a brides maid, of course not, but Anna West had not chosen any of her friends from school, none of them, all the girls she had chosen were completely opposite to the girls she hung out with back then. They were nice, normal and very intelligent girls. Andrew’s Best man was of course Jared. The wedding didn’t run into any problems and was one of the nicest I had seen or been to. Andrew and Anna went to Paris for their honeymoon and had gotten back a month ago. They had a great time, and now were planning to move to Queensland and were hoping they could move very soon.
Anna had called Mel two weeks ago with some special news. When Mel got off the phone she was delighted and couldn’t stop smiling, Tahlia got her to spill the beans. Anna was three months pregnant. I was so happy for the couple, their life was going so great. But two days ago we got another phone call but from Andrew I was the only one home so I had to take the call. Andrew had told me that Anna had a fall at work and it caused the baby to die in Anna’s stomach. Andrew could hardly hold himself together on the phone, he was crying and then coughing because he was crying so much. He had told me that since he had found out he hadn’t been able to sleep and spent most the time crying and feeling bad that he wasn’t able to help Anna. Anna was at her mother’s because she couldn’t stand being in the house were they lived, too many memories I guess. Andrew said now he would try even harder getting a place in Queensland so they could start anew. When Melissa got home I had to tell her the news. Her face went very pale and she began to cry, I had too look after her till Tahlia got home then I told Tahlia. Tahlia was a quite tough person, and I could tell she was upset but she knew if she cried she would make Mel worse so Tahlia began to look after Mel and I had to go get ready for work.
I now worked as a secretary for a solicitor’s office. I didn’t enjoy this job that much, but it was better then my other jobs. Tahlia and Mel worked in a music shop in the heart of the city, they got international music most of which I had never heard of but a lot of it was good. Their job to me was way better then mine and much easier, but both of them reassured me it was still quite difficult.
“Jacquie, its Saturday, you should be sleeping” a sleepy Mel says behind me.
“I don’t feel like sleeping” I reply.
“Okay, would you like me to cook you some breakfast?” she asks.
“I have a coffee” I reply.
“That’s not breakfast, that’s a drink,” she says.
“It’s breakfast for me” I reply.
“Okay, well I’m cooking breakfast for me and Tahlia, if you want some ask now” she says shuffling into the kitchen.
“Do you mind if I go see your brother?” I ask.
“You can if you want, but be aware he is in a bad state,” she says.
“I know” I say finishing my coffee and putting it in the kitchen sink.
“By the way hun” Mel says “Me and Tahlia are going to a old friend of ours in Newcastle, so we are going to be away till Monday night remember?”
“Yeah” I say, “Well, I forgot but now I remember”
“You can come if you want, but you don’t know her, it might be awkward for you” she says.
“Nah its okay, I’ll be fine here,” I say.
I walk into my bedroom and get out some plain black jeans and a shirt and then some underwear. I go and have a shower and get changed then I put on some plain white socks and a pair of converse shoes. I put on a plain black hoodie and grab my keys.
“I’ll see you guys later” I call out to Tahlia and Mel.
“Bye” Tahlia says.
“See ya on Monday” Mel says.
I close the door behind me, go down the stairs and get into my car. I drive in the rain, through the city and go to Andrews'.
Andrews'…
I pull up out the front of Andrews'. I quickly walk to his letterbox and get out the mail that obviously hadn’t been collected for a couple of days. I make a dash up to the door as the rain begins to pour down.
I knock on the door, no reply.
“Andrew” I call out.
I turn the door handle and go inside. Unlocked, but I’m guessing he doesn’t particularly care at this moment in time.
The lights were all off making the house really dark and eerie. I turn on the hallway lights and place the mail on the table beside the door. I take my hoodie off and put it on the coat stand also beside the door. I walk through the hallway looking at the pictures on the wall of Andrew and Anna and also of them with friends and family, one catches my eyes and it is of Andrew, Mel, Tahlia, Jared and Me. I smile when I see it as I remember when it was taken. It was a New Years Party a couple of years ago, it had been a great party too. I look at the one next to it taken the same day of Mel and Andrew. The next one was of Jared and Andrew, I continue looking and see one of Anna and Andrew in Paris I smile at their smiling faces. I enter the living room and see the living room is a mess with bottles of beer and bottles of spirits scattered around. Tissues were discarded everywhere and on the couch a picture of Anna and Andrew on their wedding day. It was a beautiful picture too. I’m guessing I would have to clean this all up for Andrew. I walk into the kitchen and only two dirty plates and an empty pizza box. I’m guessing he hasn’t been that hungry Next, I walk through to the bedrooms. Andrew and Anna’s bedroom was closed. I knock on it and hear the bed move slightly.
“Can I come in?” I ask.
“Yes” came a weak reply.
I open the door and see Andrew sitting on the bed. He smiles weakly, obviously somewhat grateful I had come. He was shirtless, only wearing his boxers, He had a bad case of bed hair and his eyes were red and puffy. I walk over to him and sit on the bed next to him.
I look at him and he bites his lip and his eyes begin to well up with tears. I hug him tightly as he begins to cry. He sobs into my shoulder, he was obviously trying not to.
“It’s okay,” I say rubbing his back “Let it out”
and with that he began to cry louder, I squeezed him tighter.
His skin was cold.
“Have you had any sleep yet?” I ask.
He shakes his head against my shoulder.
“You don’t want to sleep do you?” I ask.
He shakes his head again.
“Believe me you need it” I say “You will feel better after it, not completely better, but you will relax a bit because you're really tense”
“I don’t want to sleep” he says quietly.
“But you need to” I say.
He nods.
“I can’t sleep here though” he says “Not on this bed”
I help him up.
“Where do you want to sleep?” I ask.
“I don’t want to be in this house” he says.
“Do you want to come back to my place?” I ask.
“Sure” he says with a feeble smile “I’ll just get some clothes”.
“Okay” I reply.
I leave the room and close the door. I grab the small white bin from the kitchen and begin putting the bottles and tissues in I put the bin back in the kitchen and put the empty pizza box in it too. I go back into the living room and put the picture back on the table, I sigh looking at the picture.
“From that to this” I say quietly.
I hear quiet crying.
I walk back to the bedroom and knock on the door.
The crying gets a little louder I open the door and see Andrew on the ground holding a women’s shirt, it was obviously Anna’s.
I sit next to him and hug him.
I should have realised they shared a closet.
“Do you want me to get you some clothes?” I ask.
He pulls out the hug and nods.
I get up and so does he and sits on the bed.
I offer my hand to him and he passes me the shirt.
I put it on a coat hanger and put it in the closet.
I pull out a plain black shirt and a pair of dark blue jeans and show them to him.
He nods and takes them from me.
I close the closet then leave the room closing the door after me letting him get changed.
I go sit on the couch in the living room and wait for him.
It takes him about five minutes and he is out. He had brushed his hair, put his clothes on and put shoes on. He grabs his keys off the kitchen bench and puts them in his back pocket of his jeans then he looks around and sees that I have tidied up a bit.
“Thanks” he says coming over to me.
“No problem” I say.
We walk through the hallway, I watch him as he avoids gazing at the pictures before his happiness was crushed by a small but deadly fall. I grab my hoodie and pass him a jacket from the coat stand. We leave the house and he locks the door It’s still raining, and we walk to my car quickly, and promptly I start the engine.
“Seriously Jacquie, Thank you” he says.
“It’s alright, hey what are friends for?” I say.
He smiles and we drive off.
Andrew looks out of the passenger window. Sighing every so often. I turn on the radio and It’s halfway through the song English Summer Rain by Placebo.
My place…
I park my car, and we get out and walk up the stairs. I get out my keys and open the door, I let Andrew go through first and I follow him closing the door behind myself.
“Mel and Tahlia not here?” he asks.
“Yeah, they have gone to Newcastle, they will be back Monday night” I say.
“Oh Okay, good” he replies.
“Why good?” I ask.
“Mel would probably bring … stuff up” he says.
“Maybe” I say “Would you like a cup of tea?”
“Can I have a coffee?” he asks.
“We are trying to get you to fall asleep, not keep you up” I say.
“True” he says with a small smile “But I like coffee more”
“Okay two teas it is” I say “Go sit on the couch, I’ll bring it over to you”
He goes and walks to the couch and sits on it.
“Feel free to watch TV” I say.
I put the kettle on and get out two cups placing a tea bag in each of them, I then put a sugar in both them. I wait till the water boils and pour it into the cups then I go and get the milk from the fridge. I take out the tea bags and dispose of them in the bin and then place some milk in both cups. I stir them with a teaspoon and take both cups out into the living room. I pass one to Andrew and keep the other for myself. We sit there in silence sipping our tea.
“You don’t mind if I look out the window do you?” I ask.
“It’s your place” he says.
I smile and get up and sit on the floor by the window looking out over the city. Andrew gets up and sits next to me.
“Is this how you pass time?” he asks.
“Kind of” I say, “It calms me down”
“The city… calming?” he asks.
“Well … no, just … look isn’t it pretty though?” I say.
“Yeah” he says, “I guess”
I roll my eyes.
“I remember when Jared and I used to do that and you got angry at us” he says.
“Yeah, but that was because you did it constantly” I say.
“True” he says and rolls his eyes.
I giggle.
“Man, I haven’t heard you giggle in yonks” he says.
“And I haven’t heard you say yonks in forever” I say.
He smiles and I smile back.
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