It was dark, and Gus awoke to the sound of soft footsteps in his bedroom. His eyes, not adjusted thanks to his eyesight problems, were blurry and unable to focus, and as he reached for his glasses on his bedside table, he could hear something scraping along the floor. Gus shoved his glasses on his face and hastily turned on the bedside lamp, only to find Melanie standing near his bedroom window, holding a baseball bat.
"So this is how it ends, huh? My valuables in my top left dresser drawer," he said. "I'm not here to kill you, you idiot, there's someone outside," she whispered as Gus stood up and yawned. "Well that's a relief, because I don't actually have any valuables," he said, walking over to the window, scratching his back and looking out. He sighed and shook his head. He then started pulling on some sweats and a windbreaker. "She's been out there every night this week," Melanie said. "Just stay here, I'll handle it," Gus replied, heading out the door and down the stairs. As he exited the front of the apartment complex, he went around to the side where his window was located and saw a teenage girl sitting there in an oversized hoodie, chewing on her nails. She stood up as he approached. "My friend tells me you've been out here every night this week. How long do you stay out here?" Gus asked, and the girl shrugged, her voice meek and awkward. "I...I don't know, until I have to go home, I guess," she said. "You know that if they found out you were here we'd get in a lot of trouble, right?" Gus asked, and she shrugged again. "It's not the same without you around," she said, her voice wavering, like she was about to cry. "You can't keep coming here," Gus said softly, rubbing his forehead. "Well, you don't answer your phone anymore, so-" "You can't keep coming here," Gus reiterated. "Did I do something wrong? I'm sorry if I did," the girl said, sounding desperate, "I'm sorry, I just-" "You didn't do anything wrong and I'm not upset at you," Gus said, "But for the sake of both of us, you can't keep coming here." The girl nodded, then headed past him. She stopped and pulled something out of her hoodie pocket. "I almost forgot, this is for you," she said, putting something into his hand before turning back and leaving. Gus stood there holding the item she'd given him for a brief moment, until he knew she was gone and out of sight. He then smiled to himself and headed back up the apartment, where, upon entrance, Melanie thrust the baseball bat into his stomach and he doubled over in pain. "What the hell?!" he shouted. "It could be a bomb!" "She's a child!" "Children are dangerous these days!" She put the bat down and helped Gus back up, before they both sat down on his couch and he looked at the item. It was a small silver photo frame, and inside was a photo of herself. It looked like a school portrait. The two sat there and looked at it for a moment, Gus smiling widely, Melanie somewhat confused. Eventually she excused herself and, grabbing her bat, went back to her own apartment. Gus stood up and headed back to his bedroom. He climbed into bed, put the framed photo on the nightstand, took off his glasses once again, and drifted off back into slumber. *** The following morning, Gus was sitting at his coffee table in his living room when a knock came to the door. He sighed, set his mug and paper down and stood up, heading to the door to answer it, only to find an asian woman about his age standing there, arms folded. He sighed and shook his head. "Yeah, she came to see me," he said, "Let me get my coat and we can go somewhere to discuss this, I haven't eaten anyway. We'll go get breakfast." "This isn't really a social call, but alright," the woman said. The woman - Chiako - and Gus got ready and headed down to their respective vehicles. From there, she followed him to a nearby diner, where they parked, entered and sat in a booth. After ordering some eggs and hashbrowns and another cup of coffee, seeing as he didn't get to finish his first one, they sat and looked at one another across the table for a few moments before Gus finally scratched the back of his head and exhaled. "You didn't invite her inside, did you?" Chiako asked. "I know the arrangement, I wouldn't violate it," he replied, "She's apparently being doing this every night this past week though." "I'm actually not here to be angry with you, believe it or not," Chiako said, surprising him, as she continued, "I'm here because I think...maybe she's right. Maybe it's time for you to be involved in her life again. She's honestly having a lot of trouble fitting in right now, and I can't seem to help her, and I know she feels more open around you so perhaps it's time to switch things up." "I'm...I'm surprised. You seemed rather adamant that this was how things would always be," Gus said, "I mean, I'm glad to hear that's changed, don't get me wrong, but I just...it's surprising is all." Chiako leaned forward and folded her arms on the table, smiling at him. "I only did what I had to at the time, I hope you understand that," she said, and he nodded. "I do. I wasn't happy about it, but I also sort of brought it on myself. I understand, I really do, I'm just..." "You're not drinking anymore it seems like," Chiako said. "Not as heavily, no," Gus replied, "I still have an occasional beer or glass of wine, but I've been....pretty good about staying sober, honestly. I'm kind of proud of myself for that. It hasn't been easy, lord knows, but I...I have friends, and they help. Having friends around helps." Chiako smiled and took a piece of bacon off his plate as the waitress set it down. She ate it and smiled at him, Gus smiling back as they ate in silence. *** Melanie was going through her clothes, gathering things up and putting a lot of stuff into a box she'd written "donations" on the front of. She smelled an old shirt she'd dug out of her closet and then tossed it into a nearby hamper, before continuing with yet another old shirt. She was dressed in tight jeans and a v-neck t-shirt, irregular attire from her usual getup. As she tossed a third shirt into the hamper, a knock came at the door. Melanie rarely expected anyone other than Gus to visit her, and he usually just let himself in, so she was cautious, if not curious. She slowly stood open, walked to the front door and opened it, to find Emma there. "I hope you're not busy," Emma said, upon entering. "Not particularly, no," Mel replied, "Is everything okay?" "I don't know, Darren and I had a big discussion and it kinda threw me off center." Emma sat on the couch and buried her face in her hands, groaning as Melanie stood in front of the couch, arms folded, looking somewhat irritated. Emma threw her head back against the couch cushions and let out a long, rather exasperated sounding sigh. "It's like," she started, "maybe we moved in together too fast, but we couldn't have, because we'd been together for two years before that, and then if that's the case why didn't we iron out these bigger details before hand, you know? He doesn't know if he wants kids, I think I might, and you'd think that have been a discussion to have before I moved in. Much more before." "Why are you telling me this?" Melanie asked. "Because we're friends, that's what girlfriends do, we complain about stuff to eachother," Emma said. "Frankly, I think you should shut up," Melanie said coldly, surprising Emma, "I mean, you're lucky to even have someone. A lot of us are alone, even though we'd really rather not be. And maybe you won't take me seriously because you think I'm 'crazy' or whatever, but...yeah." "You being 'crazy' sure is a great excuse for not having to take responsibility for your actions, isn't it? Emma asked, surprising Melanie with her snippy comeback, and thus only irritated her further. "How dare you." "I mean what I said. It's kinda convenient in a way, isn't it?" "You don't even know what's wrong with me, so how dare you cast aspersions on a person you don't even know all that well. If this is how you act, maybe he has a reason for being so cold towards you and whatever possible future plans you might want to include him in," Melanie said, her anger growing exponentially with every word. "Fuck you your highness! Everything has been about you! You ruined my ren fair, you ruined my birthday, you attack my career and now you're telling me that my fears about my relationship are my own fault?! Maybe if you'd have sought out a therapist on your own instead of relying on people who don't have any responsibility towards you, I wouldn't be as stressed as I am!" "Why don't you go tell all your little accusations to your precious daddy," Melanie said, turning and beginning to walk away. "At least I can," Emma replied, surprising even herself at the amount of pure vitriol that had spilled from her lips with just those 4 little words. Melanie turned and looked back at her, and before she knew it, she'd clocked Emma right in the nose, sending her stumbling back against the couch, clutching at her face and screaming. This moment, it sort of woke Melanie from whatever haze she'd been in, and she quickly was horrified at her actions and wanted to help. "Stay the fuck away from me!" Emma shouted, as she scrambled for the door and left hastily, leaving Melanie to wonder why she'd done such a thing. *** Lying in his bed, playing with his phone, Gus couldn't help but wonder why things today had gone the way they'd gone. He glanced over at Chiako, who was flipping through a magazine he'd left on the floor by the bed, and she finally looked at him, lowering the magazine, smiling. "Yeah?" she asked. "Why are you doing this?" he asked, "It's not cause you still love me or something, right?" "God no," Chiako said, "I mean, not to be rude or anything but it just seemed like a fun time. I just don't think we're meant to actually BE together, you know what I mean?" "So you can't sleep with me but not love me?" Gus asked, making her snort. "God, what're you, a woman?" she replied, making him laugh; she continued, "it's just...she isn't the only one who missed your presence. You were my best friend. I missed talking to you. I was always excited to tell you about the newest best thing to happen to me. I just don't think we really work as a couple. I should get going, it's getting late." "You look really good," Gus said, and she smiled warmly at him as she climbed out of bed and got dressed. "You do too," she replied. "Oh you don't have to tell me, I know I'm a dreamboat." Together they dressed and then Gus walked her to his front door. She leaned up and kissed him firmly, before opening the door and leaving. Gus leaned there momentarily in his doorframe, arms folded, before he noticed Emma storm out of the apartment across the hall and then he cautiously entered. Melanie was on the couch, her knees pulled up to her chest, her arms wrapped tightly around them. Gus hesitantly sat on the couch beside her and didn't say a word. "...everything okay?" he finally asked after a few moments had passed. "...you're only not supposed to have closure with someone if you didn't say goodbye, right? But I said goodbye, so why don't I have closure?" she asked quietly, "I don't understand it, there's still this...this empty hole inside of me, and there really shouldn't be. I had a good childhood, I was happy, he was a great dad, so if all that's true and I said goodbye...why don't I have closure?" Gus shrugged and sighed. "Maybe because closure isn't really a thing, Mel. It's more like manmade concept," he said, "nobody ever really fully accepts that a person they love is actually gone. They just sort of convince themselves that they do so they can go on with their lives. But they're still sad, ultimately. It's the sort of pain that cuts so deeply that it never really goes away." "...did you know that you're my only friend ever? Outside of my family, I never had any friends. I didn't need friends because I had my dad, and my family, but you...you're the only real outside friend I've ever had," Melanie said, yawning and lying on her side. "It's okay," Gus said, "I never had that many friends either. You're stuck with me your highness." Melanie stopped responding, and Gus could tell she'd quickly fallen asleep. He pulled a blanket from the bedroom and laid it on top of her on the couch, then headed back to his own apartment. Once inside, he stood for a moment before heading to the phone and picking it up, dialing. After a few rings, someone finally picked up. The girl who'd visited him the previous night. "Hello?" she asked. "Hey Leaf, it's me," Gus said, and he could hear her voice brighten. "Hi dad," she said.
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Royally Screwed follows 24 year old Melanie Irres, an average young woman...who legitimately believes she's a princess. Archives
July 2023
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