DAY 5 (Part 1)

I moved over to the side and felt this hard rock lying next to me. The thought of him made me smile. I fluttered my eye lids, adjusting to the light and found myself gazing at his calm posture. He looked liked a little kid who'd spent a whole day at Disneyland and was dreaming of all the things he'd done. I moved my head closer to his loop brush of hair and inhaled deeply and I kissed his forehead savouring the taste of him. Cinnamon. Oh, how I loved it. He started to stir and I heard him whisper my name but I decided to get up as it was a beautiful morning again. I moved towards the window and saw Mrs. Benson taking her poodle for a walk and the young boy Aled who delivers our paper; suburban living. As much as I was grateful for how I lived, I'd always wanted to move away and start a life somewhere fresh, with Patrick of course. As I turned away from the window and I bumped into something solid and slowly felt arms move around my waist line.

"Morning sleepyhead" he whispered and his head slowly reached eye level with me and he lightly kissed me on the cheek. It felt like someone has sprinkled fairy dust on it; magic.

"Morning Mr. I toss and turn at night" I chuckled as he smiled back at me in mock shock.

"Am I really that bad?" he asked.

"Well, not usually but last night it was like something was playing on your mind. Do you wanna' talk about it?"

"I think all the talking was done last night. I think I was just thinking about all the things that I wish I could say to you and do for you, but I know I just can't."

He lowered his head and I felt his eyes droop and his grip around me loosened and his hair came crashing into my face.

"Hey, don't be sad. We still have plenty of time left which can't be spent moping around about all the things you can't do. We should be celebrating and exercising all the things we can do; starting with you making me breakfast".

The smell of eggs and bacon filled the room as Patrick was busy stirring around the kitchen searching through vast amounts of cupboards and constantly looking in the refrigerator as if food was magically about to appear. Still wearing the same clothes as he did last night, he began to stain it with sauces and smells as the steams and aromas began to take over. I couldn't help smile at him. He turned and caught me stifling laughter.

"Hey. This isn't funny! Why can't it be a duck, I mean those things are so easy to catch and eat. Seriously, you just walk up to it and…"

"Wait! You mean the duck rumour was true!"

"Hahahah. No! I gotcha'. Now stop critiquing my cooking skills".

He shook his head at me and walked over to the fridge and stood at the door letting a cold draft into the room.

"Patrick!"

"Not now, I'm looking for something". He waved his hand at me to tell me to stop nagging him.

"No, seriously, Pat, you need to come over here…"

"I said not now!"

"But Patr…" and with that the flames began to arise as the cloudy and choking smoke rose and set off the fire alarm. As the flames grew, so did my wheezing. It was like someone was filling my lungs with water. My vision became blurred and I felt my knees buckle as I grabbed my chest to try and calm myself down.

"Oh shit!" Was the last thing I heard and I saw a mane of hair flap across my eyes until everything went black.

"What the hell was that for?" I yelled as the cold water slapped across my hair and face awakening me from my blackout.

"Hmm, I don't know. Maybe it's the fact that I nearly set your house on fire or maybe it's because you just blacked out or is it number three, I just felt like splashing cold water on your face."

"There's no need for the sarcasm. But thank you."

I proceeded to stand up and looked at myself, in pyjamas and soaking wet. I did actually look quite funny.

"So", as Patrick interrupted my train of thought.

"So, what?" I said trying to fill the void of awkward silences.

"So, I almost set your house on fire, I'm not a very good cook, you look like you're about to be sectioned in a mental hospital, which can only me one thing. We're going out to eat".

His teeth flashed pearls across my face as he just stated the evident and took a look at how ridiculous we both looked, including the mess we made.

"Well, Captain Obvious, before we head out, I think we should at least clean this place up before my dad gets home and also I think we should at least look decent and not as you so put it 'about to be sectioned in a mental hospital'."

I walked over to the storage cupboard to find the mop, broom and other cleaning agents but Patrick interceded me and decided as he almost started this arsine attack, that he would clean the kitchen himself. I couldn't disagree with that.

I made my way upstairs and stripped off my clothes and practically leaped into the shower. It felt good to be comforted again. As the warm water pellets flicked my skin I couldn't help but think of why I had even argued with Patrick in the first place. It also reminded me why I was so miserable when he was away. This 'love' stuff again. It reminded me of Bianca and her relationship with Cameron. My father and I thought it would be a 'summer love' relationship but you live and you learn. They're off in Paris hopefully having the time of their life.

Mandela however is single yet she's swanning off in England enjoying the sites, the life, the people and she's perfectly happy. Why was I never happy either way? When I was with Patrick I felt safe and secure but I've always felt that I was never good enough for him. But when I'm alone, I need him more than ever. I can never win. I was so absorbed in my thoughts that I didn't hear Patrick knocking uncontrollably on the bathroom door. I switched the shower off, suddenly shivering at the lack of heat. I grabbed the nearest towel and headed straight into my room where Patrick was laying casually on my bed.

"Hey what took you so long?" He asked smirking as he said it.

"Nothing, I was just thinking about things."

"Were you thinking about me?", as I heard the arrogance start to build up in his voice.

"As a matter of fact I was and the several ways I could cast my revenge for nearly putting me into a premature death state!", as I stormed over to my wardrobe and shut the door behind me.

Thank goodness for walk in wardrobes.

I dropped my towel into the hamper and ransacked every draw and every shelf for underwear and for a pair of jeans and a ragged T-shirt. I eventually found these items and put them on looking at myself in the mirror thinking, what on earth does Patrick see in me? I walked about my wardrobe and saw him in the same position as I had found him when I first entered the room. I'd noticed that he'd managed to change his shirt into one of my own. In a strange way, it looked like it belonged to him. It was one of my many Sarah Lawrence T-shirts that I bought whilst away.

"Hey, nice T-shirt, where'd you get it?" I said mocking him.

"Oh, it was just lying around. But it in fact belongs to my girlfriend. She's pretty awesome. But she left me for a year and this is what she brought back for me. It's ok but she could have given me something a little more, intriguing".

"And what might that be?" I said inching closer towards him.

He leapt of the bed like a released spring and kissed me slowly moving his body towards mine as if he couldn't get any closer.

I must admit it felt good being close to him again. As much as I wanted to be in this position all day, I was beginning to feel extremely hungry and so I slowly but firmly pushed him away.

"Yeah, maybe I should have given you this as a present. In fact, you can keep that T-shirt if you want".

"Maybe I will", he whispered leaning in to kiss me again.

"No! Don't. I mean I want you to, but I'm really hungry. We can continue later if you want …" I stuttered my words as if I was hurting his feelings by not co-operating with his hormonal demands.

"Hey, don't fret. I'm pretty hungry myself. So where should we go?"

"How about we go town to Bens Diner? It's about 20 minutes away in the car."

"Sure. Let's go"

We headed down stairs and walked towards his car and upon entering I smelt that noticeable smell of beer and cinnamon. Smiling at this, I knew that everything was going to be alright.

"Well I'm stuffed", I said as I placed the last mouthful of a pancake into my mouth. The clang of my fork against my plate drew my attention to it. The plate was practically sparkling. I really had built up an appetite.

"How about you, you done?", I asked as Patrick looked at me with a hint of laughter in his expression.

"Well you should know."

"I don't understand you"

"You practically ate all of mine and you ordered two extra helpings. Boy, you weren't kidding when you said you were hungry." His smile begin to turn into a chuckle.

"Well, I'll pay you back at some point. But I just didn't feel the need to eat before. And for some strange reason, I crave food."

"I can see that".

"Hey, my bladder is trying to share a message with me and I think the reception would be best received in the bathroom. So would you excuse me please?".

"No, be my guest. Let me know how the phone call is", and he winked at me as I left to go to the toilet.

He always came out with the worst excuse for a joke, but they did make me smile. I walked into the nearest and cleanest available cubicle. You can never bet too careful in places like these. You really had to mind where you relieved yourself otherwise you're heading for a one way lucky street to the hospital or really quick projectile reflexes.

Once done and washing my hands I overheard these two young girls enter the room. They couldn't have been more than thirteen years old and the extent of their makeup on their faces made them look rather like a man in drag; the youth of today, so disappointing.

They walked in with oversized bags and undersized skirts revealing way too much f0r any eye to handle. They walked straight past me to the other side in order to "fix" their appearance. When I think "fix" I mean completely removing the crap of their faces and actually finding a skirt to wear rather than a leather belt disguised as one.

The shorter of the two dropped her bag to the floor and opened up her bag pulling about what I assumed to be a large make up set. For goodness sake, the amount of oil she had on her face already was enough to supply BP for a life time.

"Like, did you see him? He was so totally checking me out", she said this whilst applying a deep shade of red lipstick on her cracked lips.

"Of course I saw him, how could you not. He was so totally hot. I mean that hair and those eyes. You should so totally get in there."

"Honey, I'm already in there. Did you see how I like so walked past him and winked and he like looked at me for like ages."

"Duh, he so wanted to talk to you. I mean did you see his T-shirt. I think he's from New York and he's a college boy. Wait till the girls hear about how you got with a college guy. They are so totally gonna' flip".

College boy? New York? Oh no, they were talking about Patrick.

Did he really look at them? I mean for goodness sake, they have barely come out of their diapers yet and they're already trying to flirt with guys.

"Do you think I should give him my number?" She said as she pulled out a hair brush, tugging at what seemed to be unwashed greasy hair.

"Yeah, totally, I mean there's like no competition right. You are amazing, he's hot. The perfect couple of the century."

That was it. I couldn't take it anymore.

"Excuse me!" I said as coolly yet aggressive as I possible could.

"Yah, old lady", the taller one said as they giggled as if it was worthy of even being classified as a joke.

"I believe that's my boyfriend you were gossiping about". The rage was beginning to build up.

"Boyfriend? Hah, on what planet", seriously, that was the best that they could come up with.

"On this one, earth", I said mimicking her voice pattern.

"Like I said Court, no competition", as she flicked her ghastly hair extensions.

"Yeah, you're right. She looks like something my mom would like trash talk like in the sixties. She's like ancient". I couldn't take it anymore.

"Hey! Listen up Court before you start to speak again I suggest you learn a few things. First, looking like a man covered in oil stains is not very appealing to the eye. Unless you want to attract dung beetles or crack heads. Second, you might want to try shampoo as dandruff and head lice seem to be the only decent thing about you. And Court's mini me, kissing up to her is the only lip action you're going to receive if you can't find better people to enthral your company with. I don't know where you buy your clothes from but trash cans aren't exactly working for you. The word "like" is not the only word in the English language so would you kindly find a dictionary and learn a few more.

Lastly, my boyfriend and I are very happy together and his interest in you is a merely a fragment of your over active imagination. I shall leave you to look even more like desperate whores and for the record this top is from the nineties, your mother must be so proud, or in this case delusional as she obviously didn't come across the act of abandoning or sex after marriage. May I also offer a suggestion of a toothbrush; it's a bit like one for your hair except you use it for your teeth. Tooth paste also helps this matter. There's only one sun, I'm pretty sure it doesn't need any competition from young miscreants like you. Oh, and have a good day", and with that I stormed out with my head held high.

"Yah, well… you suck!" she yelled.

"Again, a dictionary would be helpful in the case of your lack of knowledge of verbs. Those are moving words", I yelled back.

I stomped towards my table and frightened Patrick as he seemed to day dreaming.

"Hey, that must have been some phone call", he started to smile at himself for trying to be witty.

"Now is not the time Patrick Verona!" I only ever called him by his full name when I was truly angry.

"Okay, calm down. Who tuned your guitar the wrong way?"

"Nobody, just these two stupid infantile for lack of better words, teenage girls talking about you in the bathroom".

"Well what did they say?", obviously starting to take an interest as he did like to talk about himself often.

"Nothing of importance. Just how much they thought you were hot and how you looked at her when she winked at you and that she was totally gonna' get in there".

"If I didn't know any better, I would think that you were jealous".

"Please, I love you but come on, because of two teenage hormonal girls I all of a sudden become jealous", I say starting to feel insecure.

"Yeah, I was just saying. I mean how you could not be when there are other people interested. You gotta' step up your game Kat".

"Excuse me! You mean to say that you would choose two remarkably fraught young girls who probably have more infections than a lab rat trapped inside a terminal hospital".

"Kat, I was joking. I have no interest for them what so ever. I mean did you see them, it was like there was an explosion in a make up factory and they were the unfortunate victims of the attack. Plus their hair looked like it was molested by a horse's tail. And for the clothes, I've seen more on a Playboy magazine over".

I shot him an evil look.

"Well, excuse the last remark, but you know what I mean. I only have eyes for you. How could you not see that after all this time".

My eyes started to blur as I held his hand across the table.

At this precise moment, the two bimbos entered the room, clacking away in heels obviously too big for them, twisting their ankles as they headed towards our table.

"Speak of the devil and he shall appear", I whispered to Patrick who was bracing himself for the attack of the air heads.

"Hey there cutie", said Courtney, and she flicked her hair and tried to flutter her eyes but ended up looking like a fly had just landed in her eye.

"I noticed you were looking at me and I was wondering if you ever wanted to do anything some time". Unbelievable; could she not see I was sitting right here. Her friend was looking very uncomfortable as she shifted from side to side not knowing what to do.

"So how about it?".

Patrick finally spoke up, "Err. No thanks. I have a girlfriend and funnily enough she genuinely looks like a girl unlike whatever you're supposed to be", Courtney was taken aback and started to plead.

"But I mean come on. I'm like perfect for you and she's like not. Look here's my number and you can call me as soon as this old hick isn't brainwashing you anymore", she pleaded as she placed a dirty piece of toilet paper onto the table covered in a scrawled red lipstick.

"You know what Court, let's just forget this. He's obviously not interested. C'mon", her friend started to tug at her t-shirt obviously guessing where this was heading.

"Yeah, Court! Listen to your friend. She obviously has more brain cells than you. I'm not interested in you. I'd rather lick the floor. When are you going to get it through that Paris Hilton brain of yours, I have a girlfriend who is incredibly more amazing than you'll ever be. Now run along, if you can", and with that Patrick leaned over the table and kissed me firmly, long enough for us to hear the clomping of her shoes fading away.

My heart started to race at the thought that he would actually stick up for me, even if it was against people that didn't deserve our time.

He took my hand as we both proceeded to leave the building but he stopped and turned towards the table and picked up the piece of toilet paper and headed towards their table.

What was he going to do now?

"Oh, and by the way. I think you need this. You have a little something on your face, and it ain't pretty" and with that he wrapped his arm around my shoulder and we trudged out of the diner smiling to ourselves.

"Wow!" I said as he was driving in the car to a place I wasn't yet aware of.

"Wow, what?", he responded.

"Wow, as in I can't believe you actually did that to those girls".

"Oh, that! That was nothing. They're just kids. They'll soon grow up and understand that you don't need to look like you robbed a cosmetics store for people to be attracted to you."

"Well, thank you".

"No problem".

Awkward silence again and so the cringing began.

"So where are we going?", suddenly curious as to where he was taking me.

"I don't know. I didn't exactly plan this day out so we can go wherever you want to go".

Review?
Candice