Nick awoke the morning after feeling terrible. His mouth felt furry from not brushing his teeth and his eyes were puffy from crying himself to sleep. He groaned and closed his eyes again. He just wanted to stay in bed forever.
As memories from the previous day came flooding back, his heart sank. He looked across the room at the shattered china on the carpet from the cup he had thrown. It just reminded him of Sarah. Her bathrobe hang on the back of the door. Another reminder.
Nick rolled out of bed and stumbled across the room. He grabbed the bathrobe and tossed it to the back of the wardrobe. He trod on a piece of broken cup which cut his foot.
"Damn!" Nick yelled, jumping onto the bed and rubbing his foot. What a start to the day! he thought.
After sitting doing nothing for what seemed like forever, Nick got up and went into the bathroom to shower and brush his teeth. He felt a little better then but still his heart ached.
After dressing in an old T shirt and some baggy pants, Nick opened the bathroom cabinet. Inside was Sarah's make up. Nick stared at them angrily, then grabbed handfuls of the cosmetics and threw them out of the window in anger. Hot tears threatened to spill from his eyes.
After calming down, Nick ventured downstairs to fix something to eat. He didn't feel like eating, but his stomach growled. After all, he hadn't eaten since lunchtime the day before. He looked in the fridge for something to eat.
Inside he spotted half of a cold pizza. He took it out and put it on a plate. That would do for breakfast.
He sat on the couch and switched on the TV. He started watching highlights of a ball game from the night before. He munched away at his pizza and watched the game, this took his mind off things for a while.
But not for long. Nick gazed out of the window sadly, feeling lonely. He missed having someone to talk to. He didn't like being all alone. Out in the street he spotted a young couple walking, hand in hand. They looked so in love. Nick couldn't help wishing it was him out there on a date with a girl that loved him.
"What a loser I am, I can't even get a girlfriend," Nick said aloud. "No-one will love me, I'm too stupid and pathetic,". He threw his plate across the room and started to cry again.
Nick was disturbed by a knock at the door. A bad taste come to his mouth, thinking it could be Sarah. "No," he said. "I never wanna see her again,".
But luckily it was Brian. He had call round like he had promised, to check up on Nick. "Frack, what's this?" Brian asked when he saw the broken plate on the floor.
Nick wiped his eyes. "I was angry so I threw it," he admitted. "I couldn't help myself,".
Brian shook his head. "Oh Nick. You aren't talking this well...".
"Well if you found out that Leighanne had just been using you and constantly lying all this time you'd be pretty damn upset!" Nick yelled angrily.
Brian sat down. "I'm sorry, I realise this is hard for you...".
Nick sat next to him. "No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't take it out on you,".
"Well I came over to help you get over her. So lets make a start. I know what we should do,".
"What's that?" Nick asked.
"We'll clear out her stuff. At the end of today, nothing of hers will be in this house. Then maybe we'll get all your sentimental little things you shared and burn them!".
Nick thought about it. "Makes sense," he said, shrugging. "OK, let's make a start,".
One room at a time, Nick and Brian packed Sarah's belongings into boxes and piled them by the front door. The last room they cleared was the bedroom.
Nick held up the black silk dress that he had gotten Sarah the previous Christmas. Happy memories came flooding back of how she had modelled it for him that night. He blinked back tears as he tossed it into the box.
On the wall was a framed photo of him and Sarah on the beach, arms around each other, Brian took it off the wall. "What shall I do with this?" he asked. "Put it into the box too?".
Nick took it from him. "No, I'll keep it," he said, shoving it at the bottom of a draw.
The two of them carried the boxes downstairs and piled them into the truck of Brian's car. "I'll take them to her family's house, write down their address for me," Brian said.
Nick found their address and wrote it down. "You're not leaving yet?" he asked Brian, not wanting to be left on his own again.
"I can stay a little longer," Brian offered. He looked into Nick's sad eyes. They were a murky blue color and had lost their sparkle. "Cheer up Nick. I know you're upset but you gotta get over her!".
Nick nodded. "Yeah. Well how about some Nintendo?".
Brian agreed so they played it for a couple of hours.
"You go home to Leigh now," Nick said, switching the Nintendo off. "I really appreciate you coming over, I would still be crying now if you hadn't came!".
Brian went to the door. "OK. I'll call you tomorrow. Maybe us and the guys could go out somewhere,".
"Yeah maybe," Nick said, although he didn't want to go out, he wanted to mope around on his own feeling sorry for himself.
Brian took the boxes of Sarah's things and left. Nick sunk onto the couch and switched the radio on. It was playing one of Sarah's favorite songs.
The pain that had temporarily left came back. But this time he didn't cry. He got up and went into the kitchen. He took a handful of candy bars and ate them all. Food made him feel better.
After though, he felt guilty of eating so much. He remembered Sarah telling him that he was fat. He stared at his reflection. "She was right," he sighed, then headed to the bathroom where he threw up. It wasn't very pleasant but he felt better getting rid of the food again.
Sarah sat in the backyard of her parent's home sipping on a cocktail. She was mad at herself for losing Nick so soon.
Hopefully my career is already in the bag, she thought. He got me the contract which hopefully was enough.
Sarah's mother came outside and sat next to her. "Cheer up darling. Maybe he'll take you back," she said, stroking Sarah's hair.
"Maybe," Sarah said. "But he knows what I did. He'll never speak to me again!".
Sarah's sister appeared at that moment. "Sarah, come to the door," she said.
Sarah went inside and saw Brian standing at the door. She frowned. "What are you here for?" she asked angrily.
Brian pointed to the pile of boxes at his feet. "All your belongings are here," he said, then turned and left.
"He's serious. He won't take me back," Sarah said to her sister. She left the boxes in the hallway and went back outside in the sunshine. I was so stupid to lose him so soon, she thought. Will Jive still be interested in me?
Her question was soon answered. Her cell phone rang and it was Jive.
"When can we schedule you into the studios?" he asked.
Sarah told him anytime so they scheduled her in for later in the month. But she didn't mention her split with Nick.
"I don't need Nick any more, I'm glad we've split cos he was so boring!" Sarah said to her mother with a smile. She couldn't wait to get her album into the shops and become the next big superstar.
Meanwhile, Nick was sitting on his bed stroking one of the pugs. An angry rock song played in the background. Nick opened the draw and pulled out the photo he had saved. A tear fell from his eyes and landed on the picture.
"Why can't things still be as happy as they were then?" he asked, even though no one was there.
"No, it was all fake," he said, tossing the picture away from him. He was confused. Half of him was glad he was rid of Sarah but part of him couldn't help but miss her.
He couldn't take it any more. He ran into the bathroom and looked for the sharpest object he could find. He needed to release the pain...