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.

She would be exhausted from a long day of work, and an even longer night at the hospital. Still, when she arrived home, got into bed, she would lie there until the time was right and her mind finally slowed down enough in order for her eyes to shut.

On a particular Tuesday, Emma had to rush to the hospital after work. They had kept her late because of an impromptu meeting. Her services were needed to get dinner and coffee. Emma was not pleased.

“What do you mean visiting hours are over? I have…” Emma pulls up her coat sleeve and looks at her watch. “FOUR minutes left.”

The receptionist glares at Emma. She was pushing over time and already running late to pick up her child from the babysitters, who was more than likely going to charge her double. She was not having a pleasant night either.

“Miss. Again, I’m sorry, but visiting hours are over. You can come back tomorrow.” She smiled through her clenched teeth.

“You’re wasting time. If I could just run in, I just want to replace her flowers…”

“Miss.”

“Please, for fuck sake I just want to replace the fucking flowers!” Emma breathes and pulls back slightly.

The receptionist is taken aback. Emma looks at her, afraid of the response and readies herself for repercussion.

“You have two minutes.” The nurse says coolly. She then turns her attention back to her desk to finish up her paper work.

Emma smiles, thankful. She turns and makes a dash down the hallway. She skids to a stop at a room at the end of the corridor. Her footsteps lighten, and she breathes slower as she enters the room.

On one of the end tables a small vase stands alone, wilting flowers inside. Emma goes over to replace them with a small bundle of daisies. After taking a moment to admire the flowers, her attention shifts to the figure in the bed.

Emma sits on the edge and reaches over, taking Jayden’s hand. Just then, for Emma, the silence of the room is filled with the beeping and buzzing of machines. They monitor Jayden’s condition in ways Emma can’t. She can only take Jayden’s hand and hope that, eventually, she would squeeze back.

But no response tonight.

Miles nudges Aster out of her day dreaming. She shakes her head and looks up towards him. He’s pointing to his foot, moving it around.

“No, I think the swelling has actually gone down since this morning.” She responds after a moment.

“Really? I don’t know…” Miles brings his leg up, trying to get a better view.

They are both in a dreary examination room. X-Rays of Miles’ leg hang, lit up, against the wall. Miles sits on the bed with Aster close by in a chair next to him.

A few night ago Miles got into a drunken brawl which led him to kick a light post. This is how Miles broke his foot. He went days without going to see the doctor, persisting that it was fine. It wasn’t until Aster saw his foot that she immediately brought him to the hospital. He hadn’t yet told her how he broke it. Aster hadn’t yet asked.

The white walls were stark. Aster stares at them long and squints her eyes, trying to determine which category of ‘white’ they belonged. Egg shell, perhaps, she thought.

“You’re not going to ask me?” Miles finally speaks up.

“No. Maybe later.” Aster says casually, continuing to examine the walls.

“Okay…” Miles fidgets on the examination table. “Thanks for taking me to the hospital.”

“Of course. I can’t believe you went so long without going to see the doctor’s. You’re crazy.” Aster reaches over and squeezes Miles’ shoulder.

“That’s why I have an older sister, to keep me sane.” Miles says, keeping an eye on his foot.

“Did you call the folks yet?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because…they’re not going to care?” Miles scoffs.

“Don’t say that.” Aster responds, switching her tone. She never liked when Miles viewed their parents differently than she did.

“What? It’s true. I haven’t spoken to them in almost a year. Calling them now would just seem…out of character.” Miles looks up at Aster who is practically glaring at him.

“Miles, you should really–” She tries to confront him.

“I don’t, Aster. I really don’t. They don’t want a gay son, and I don’t want bigoted parents. It works out, actually.”

Before Aster can respond there is a knock on the door. A nurse peeks her head in.

“Are we decent in here?” She says in a perky tone and giggles slightly.

“As decent as God made me.” Miles responds in an equally perky tone.

The nurse laughs, but is slightly thrown by the answer.

“Um…we’re ready for the doctor, if that’s what you’re asking.” Aster chimes in. The nurse seems relieved and turns back around to get the doctor.

She pulls out an old, worn, burgundy cardigan. It was one of her favorites, but as she begins to put it on she realizes it smells like cigarettes and Daphne, her old roommate turned lover turned enemy. A terrible combination.

She immediately pulls it off and tosses it into the corner of her room where a pile of her other clothes lived.

The next is a vintage light brown, corduroy blazer. This one smelled like Robin, her random hook-up at a random concert for a random band. She didn’t mind this smell, still, she looks in the mirror and notices it doesn’t go with her outfit. She pulls off this jacket as well.

Madeline goes on for a few more jackets, each one smelling like a different girl. She knew this was a quirk about herself. She couldn’t help but hold onto smells, and define each person and each moment by it.

Finally, Madeline settles on her oldest article of clothing, a very faded black hoodie. She throws it on and zips up, examining herself in the mirror. This jacket didn’t smell like anyone, yet.

As Madeline leaves her apartment she pulls out her cell phone and starts to dial. On the other end, Kai answers, groggy sounding.

“Are you still sleeping!?” Madeline almost shouts into the phone.

“No. Yes. Sorry. What time is it?” Kai responds, coughing to clear her throat.

“It’s almost 7. We’re going to be late for the concert. Are you ready? I’m heading over there right now?” Madeline pulls out her keys, searching for her car. She had a terrible memory and never remembered where she parked.

“Okay. I’ll be ready.” Kai says, no urgency in her voice at all.

“What the hell were you doing all day? I can’t believe you were still asl–”

“I had to go to that funeral early this morning.” Kai cuts off Madeline.

“Oh…” Madeline pauses in front of her car, keys in hand, she lets them dangle in front of her door. “Fuck. I forgot. I’m sorry. I’m such a bitch.”

“It’s okay. I’m going to jump in the shower, but I’ll be ready by the time you get here. See you soon.” Kai hangs up.

Madeline curses under her breath, getting into her car. “Stupid insensitive bitch, what the hell is wrong with me?! Damnit.” She starts her car up and peels away, heading towards Kai’s place.

Quickly she remembers who it is. “Simon…” She whispers and the man next to her also stirs. He turns and automatically wraps his warm around her. They are face to face now. He continues to sleep soundly and Kai stares straight ahead at his darkened face. She tries to remember if she found him attractive or not, and how he ended up in her bed tonight.

“Simon.” Kai says again, a little louder this time.

“Hm?” Simon responds without opening his eyes.

“Simon, you have to go.” Kai slowly starts to push herself away from him, and rolls out of bed. She curses herself. She’s not wearing underwear. They must have had sex then. She sighs and begins to rummage in the dark for her clothes.

“What are you talking about? It’s the middle of the night. Let’s just go back to sleep.” Simon groans, rolls over and tries to go back to sleep.

“No, seriously, you have to go. Please, right now.” Kai has managed to quickly throw on her jeans and t-shirt. She leans over to give Simon a good nudge and he rolls off the mattress.

“Fuck! All right, all right.” Simon gets up begrudgingly. He searches for his clothes in the dark also. “What’s wrong with you? What time is it?”

“It’s almost 5. I need to get ready soon.” Kai says from the bathroom. She splashes water on her face and pulls out her toothbrush.

“5 a.m? Fuck me. Where do you need to be this early? It’s Saturday.” Simon stumbles over to the bathroom. He leans on the doorway, watching her brush her teeth. He smiles and tries to kiss Kai’s shoulder. She leans away, quickly spits into the sink, swipes her hand across her mouth and tosses her toothbrush down on the counter.

“A funeral.” Kai starts fussing with her hair and pushes Simon towards the door. “I’ll call you later. Maybe.”

“Maybe?” Simon, confused, lets himself be led to the door. Before he can squeeze any more words in, Kai has already pushed him out the door. She waves and gives him a small smile before closing the door on his face.

Once that task is accomplished, Kai falls back onto her mattress, groaning.

“I need to stop drinking so much…” Kai says into her pillow before drifting back to sleep.

Her footsteps echoed in the hallway as she made her way past the generic art, past the one constant flickering light, past the woman’s restroom she frequented.

She would always pause at the doorway, think quickly of a reason to turn back around, but ultimately pull out her keys to unlock the office and begin her day.

With every click the office illuminates, brighter and brighter, chasing away the dimness; replacing it with eerie incandescent lighting, and that hum.  That familiar, yet unpleasant hum.  Perhaps the root of where humdrum derived.

“Humdrum…” Emma spoke aloud as she drops her tattered shoulder bag to the floor. “What I would give for humdrum.”

She quickly sits at her desk, starts up her computer, and drops her head down onto her desk.  Already she knew it was going to be a long day, especially with only three hours of sleep hanging under her eyes.

She closes them, her eyes, and the smell of french fries and coffee envelop her.

“We have to break up.”

“What?”

Emma stared across the table at Jayden.  Her soon-to-be-ex-girlfriend.  They had met up for a late night dinner since Emma had to work overtime, again.  It was their favorite diner.  The food was sub-par, and the service was less than that.  Still, it was the only place open late and the first place they had gone to together.  It’s tragic how quickly sentimental monuments can change.

“I’m pregnant.” Jayden went on.  She played with the french fries on her plate.

Emma’s face froze.  She stared, her eyes beginning to glaze over from not blinking. “What…does that mean?”

“It means…I’m going to have a baby…” Jayden had stopped looking at Emma. Her eyes focused on the salt and pepper shakers, the extra menu, the grease stains on the table, anything really.

“Oh, fuck you.”

“What?”

“You’re trying to be funny at a time like this?”

“I’m not. I mean, I wasn’t trying to. You know I’m a very literal person.”

“And apparently, also, a slut.”

“That is not fair.” Jayden looked up finally. Some fierce determination in her eyes to not let Emma put her down. It was a reflex.

“Are you going to offer up an explanation now? Or should we just chalk it up to immaculate conception?” Emma spoke quickly as she threw her hand in the air. “MORE COFFEE! PLEASETHANKYOU!”

“I want you to calm down first.” Jayden reached across the table for Emma’s hand, but it was already retracting from the table, situating themselves across her chest.  Jayden knew this was Emma’s defensive stance.

“I’m calm.” Emma said, calmly.

“This isn’t easy for me. You know, I love you…” Jayden started out.

“Please don’t say that.”

“What?”

“That you love me, when you don’t.”

“But, I do, Emma please…”

“Whose is it?”

“What?”

“The baby. Who is the baby’s daddy? Ashton? Lee? Sam? JESUS? Who!?”

“Does it matter?”

“Do you not know? Is that why you won’t answer? Holy fuck, where is my coffee!?” Emma breathed heavily, she was trying to stop herself from hyperventilating.

Jayden reached across the table again, this time snatching away Emma’s hand and clasping onto it, tightly.

“I’m sorry. I never thought something like this would ever happen. You have to believe me.” Jayden spoke as she squeezed Emma’s hand.

Emma leaned in closer to Jayden, her eyes now beginning to water.

“You don’t get it. You were the only thing I loved in this world. And you’ve broken my heart.” Emma pulled her hand away and slid herself out of the booth. She stumbled past the other customers, her vision now blurred.

Emma blinked. Blinked. Blinks again.

She raises her head from her desk and looks at her computer. It is 8:56 a.m. The rest of the staff would be arriving soon, and she would have to go get their coffee orders.

In the four minutes of silence she has left, Emma slides her finger across today’s Daily Memo, giving herself the worst paper cut she has ever gotten.