Chapter 6

“Every time I try to break up with her, we end up having sex. I think it’s becoming a problem.” Harold took a sip of his coffee, cringing at the taste of it. It was too bitter for him. He would usually put loads of sugar and cream, but this morning he was running on only two hours of sleep. He figured drinking it black would make it stronger, but he really hated the taste.

Harold looks over up from his cup over to Simon who appeared to not be listening. He was starting listlessly out the window towards the parking lot, watching customers park badly.

“Simon? Are you there, man?” Harold snaps his fingers in front of Simon’s face.

Simon turns his head over to him slowly and blinks a few times. “What? Oh. Sorry. I mean, is it really a problem?”

“Of course it’s a problem.”

“You’re such a pansy. Just take the sex. You should be thanking your stars for it.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Harold leans back in the seat, slightly offended. He crosses his arms in defense.

Simon grins, he always got some strange satisfaction knowing he could so easily get under his friend’s skin.

“Calm down, Harold. I’m just saying, enjoy what you got…”

“But I don’t ‘got’ anything. We don’t have anything. It’s just mindless sex, like I go there and I tell her, ‘we need to break up. I can’t keep doing this.’ You know she abuses me, she never returns my calls, she only calls me when she has a couple of hours of free time. We only eat where she wants to eat, which is always some vegan shit place, even though she isn’t vegan. And then we go back to her place, fuck, and she tells me I can’t stay overnight. So, like I said, I tell her we need to break up. And then…”

“Fucked.”

“Yeah.”

Harold sips his coffee again, cringing. Simon resumes staring out the window.

“What’s with you this morning?” Harold asks Simon finally.

“Kai kicked me out of her place this morning, again. And normally I wouldn’t mind, but listening to you complain all this morning is making me realize I might want something more with her. I might even be falling…wait, no. I’m not going to say that.” Simon shakes his head and laughs. “I think you’re rubbing off on me.”

“They’re called feelings, Simon. Embrace them.” Harold grins, a strange satisfaction flowing through him to be able to affect his friend.

“Girls, man.” Simon declares.

“Yeah. Fucked.” Harold follows up and continues to sip his bitter coffee.