Chapter 7

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Lauren and I have been to 8 stores in the span of 20 minutes. She is like a speed demon on steroids.

I have tried on sweaters, suits of many colors, floral shirts, skinny jeans, khakis of many colors, and many, many, many shoes.

Most of the clothes have a lot of color... and I don't really like it. Everything I put on brings me so much attention, but when I told Lauren that, she told me it was because I looked good in them.

I was hesitant to believe her. Then I tried on a baby blue and white floral shirt and I noticed that I did kind of look decent. The shirt hugged my shoulders and chest perfectly and the shirt didn't have two top buttons giving it a masculine look.

I told Lauren that if she would look for more simple colored shirts like this. She lit up and agreed that it was more "me".

We got that shirt then headed to another store. The next store we looked for pants to match the shirt.

Lauren grabbed a pair of white skinny jeans and a grey pair as well. I put the grey on first. They were skinny jeans for a reason, but usually they are decently stretchy.

I was wrong to do a test squat in them.

The moment my knees bent I heard a rip. It took me a few minutes to register the sound before turning around and examining the back and my Calvin Klein underwear looked back at me.

Now don't get me wrong, this hole was bigger than you might think. It's almost like a balloon popped. The seam split in two and were on both sides of my butt while the belt part was the only thing stopping the hole from getting bigger.

I gently slipped them off and clipped them on the hanger placing them behind some clothes hung to the side.

"That never happened." I whispered to myself. Then I check the size of the white pants. They are the same size but in small letters the tag told me it was stretchy.

I gave it a shot and slipped them on. I braced myself.... then did a practice squat. No rip. Thank god.

I checked myself in the mirror then grabbed the shirt from the store bag and slipped it on. The white was a perfect match to the white in the shirt. The jeans went to my ankle and gave me generous space around my hips. The shoes I was wearing would have to change but other than that this would be my first outfit that I actually liked.

I opened the door to peak out and call for Lauren but the door hit something... or someone. I heard a squeal and a small bang.

Gasping I open the door to see a woman on the floor. She has clothes everywhere and a hat that was once on her head.

"Oh my gosh!" I yell sliding through the door making sure not to hit her again. "I'm so so so sorry." I kneel down and help her pick up her things. I see out of the corner of my eye her cheeks blush when she sees me.

"Maybe you should open the door a little slower?" She says with some sass. I look at her again and the blush is still there.

I give a little chuckle, "Yes, obviously I wasn't paying attention to the other side of the door."

"Obviously." She says and I notice her voice sounds actually annoyed.

"Look I'm so-" I try to apologize again, but she grabs her stuff from my hands, stands up and walks to the furthest changing room from me.

"Sorry." I finish.

"Dang." I hear behind me.

I turn to see a feminine guy at the counter looking at me. One of his eyebrows is up and a small smirk rests at his lips.

"I know right. Did I not sound sincere?" I ask.

He laughs quietly and places a hand on his hip. "I would've forgiven you... but I guess some people just have bad days." I nod and see Lauren notice me.

"Wow wow wow!" She rushes over with clothes hung over her arm. "This is it! This is your look for sure!"

"Agreed" the feminine guy says nodding. 

"Okay then what else do you have for me?" I ask.

Lauren holds up a brown button up, collard shirt and suspenders.

"Who are you trying to make me?" I ask. "Leonardo Decaprio?" Lauren laughs and hands me the two items.

"I'm still looking for pants, but go ahead and try them on with those grey jeans." She says.

"Ummmm..." I say.

"What?" Lauren looks at me questioning.

"They may have... um..." I whisper.

"Oh my gosh.. did you rip them!" She whispers back.

I shush her a little then open the changing room door for her to see. She steps around me and peers into the changing room.

"Where is-" She starts to say, but then she pulls the stack of clothes away to reveal the busted pants. She turns around slowly with her mouth open. Before I can say anything she starts laughing. Not like a small giggle, but a full hearted, loud laugh.

"Lauren!" I half whisper half yell.

"What it's- it's funny!" Her eyes are glossy with tears from laughing so hard. Then she heads out of the room. "Try those on thick boy. And don't bust them too." She says and I shut the door before I hear anything more embarrassing. I turn and see my face flushed in red in the mirror.

Why do I have get so embarrassed easily!

I take off the floral shirt and button up the brown shirt. I try to put on the suspenders but they are different from the ones I own and I can't figure them out.

"Ryan?" I hear Lauren ask. I open the door holding the suspenders.

"Did they not look good?" She asks.

"No. It's not that. I just can't figure them out." I hold them out to her while holding the door open still.

She grabs the suspenders and turns me around pushing me back into the room towards the mirror. I stand in front of it and watch her clip one side on the back of my pants. Then she half hugs me to get the next two straps to the front. She clips those near my sides then adjusts the length.

"There you go." She says and I look in the mirror. The white pants don't go well at all.

"Hmm... those pants clash too much." Lauren says and opens the door.

"I was thinking the same thing-" I start but she's already down the hall way. I turn back to the mirror and notice how I fill the shirt in perfectly. No, I'm not a body builder but I'm still fit. The collar curves perfectly and the buttons are undone at the top once again. The sleeves pass my shoulder and lay comfortably on my arm. The suspenders guide the shape of the shirt and after moving around I notice it keeps the shirt tucked in better.

I decide some plain blue jeans would work and I open the door to tell Lauren.The door stops suddenly when a hand grabs is roughly and before I can peak out I see the face of the woman I bumped earlier.

"Did you not learn your lesson?" She asks harshly. She has her hand in the door which is what stopped me from opening it.

"Oh- uh- I-.." I stutter and before I can get an apology out she marches away. I change my mind from following her and finding Lauren and shut the door. I lean against the wall and huff.

She's having a bad day 100%.

"Try these." I hear and I jump. Lauren had hung a pair of jeans over the door waiting for me to grab them.

"Oh okay." I take them and slide off the white pants. The jeans are a navy blue with rips on the shins. They are like the white pair and are stretchy. I grab my belt and slip it on noticing it accents the suspenders.

I open the door and Lauren looks up from her phone. "Oo Oo Oo!" She says and she raises her phone and takes a picture.

"Lauren, who's that going to?" I ask walking closer. I look over her shoulder and see she sent it to Cole with a bunch of sunglasses emojis.

Lauren says that if I need another outfit we can come back next week, but these two outfits are perfect for the jobs.

"I saw some shoes over near the window in between the men and women sections." Lauren says leading me in that direction after I change. There are about four lines of shoes each with maybe eight pairs.

"For the suspenders outfit I think tan shoes would go well." Lauren holds up some khaki shoes that are similar to a sperry. We decide on those and some plain black dress shoes for the floral outfit. Then we head to the cashier and then the car.

"Do you have cologne?" She asks when we get in.

"Yeah but I don't use it often." I state.

"Okay so you shouldn't use it on the interview with the coffee shop."

"Wait why shouldn't I?" I question.

"They like natural smells. Trust me my sister in-law works at one and the boss complains about all smells especially her co-workers cologne." She says and she starts the car.

"Note taken." I say.

"Now for the other interview I would add a little bit. Near the collar bone-" Lauren starts to explain.

"I know how to use it." I say cutting her off and before I know it we are at their house and dinner is ready when we walk in. Cole made an easy frozen meal and was in the middle of pouring himself a glass of wine when we walked in.

"Oh gosh pour me one!" I say and hear Lauren laugh behind me when I fall into a kitchen chair tiredly.

"Long day?" Cole asks.

"Oh you know it." Lauren says. "Him and his big butt even ripped some jeans!"

"Lauren!" I yell jokingly. "TMI!"

Cole laughs and hands me a glass. "You should've known Lauren, he's known for that butt." He says. I groan and down half the glass.

"Slow down their speedy." Lauren says. "You should only have one tonight sense you have an interview tomorrow."

"But that's at 4." I say taking another sip.

"Well..." she hesitates. "Okay but seriously don't go to hard on that wine. It's red and strong." I nod and we begin to eat.

After three glasses and long talks Cole breaks out some beer. We head to the back deck and crack open our first ones. After about 4 and a half of those I finally make my way to bed. Things are hazy and I almost made it to the room before my stomach does a flip.

"Oh sh-" I say already on my way to the bathroom.

"Cole!" I hear Lauren yell. She has a hand on my back a second later as I'm at the toilet getting rid of the dinner I just ate.

"Damn." I hear Cole from the doorway. "I didn't think beer would do that to him. He usually holds alcohol well."

Lauren's hand goes up and down on my back and I breath in a shaky breath suddenly feeling alone. I don't know what it is but, even though they are here with me, I sense loneliness. I squeeze my eyes shut praying it would go away.

"Ryan? Let's get you to bed... okay?" Lauren asks quietly in my ear.

I nod and feel a washcloth press to my face. It's Cole. He wipes sweat from my forehead and my mouth before Lauren helps me to my feet. She turns on the bedside lamp and picks up the blankets from the floor.

"I can get it." I say and notice my hoarse voice.

Lauren chuckles, "it's fine just lay down."

I barely heard that sentence before I passed out.

————

I woke up to the ear ringing alarm on my phone. It was plugged into the wall neatly on the bed side table.

I'm on my stomach and I can feel the soft sheets over my legs and on my lower back. A soft breeze hits my face and I see the fan that was in the closet is plugged in and is sweeping over the room. I have one pillow under my head and arms and I can feel two on either side of me keeping me in place.

I groan when I sit up in bed and my head aches when I turn onto my back. I have my undershirt on from yesterday and I find my pants under the covers crumpled all the way to the end of the bed.

My hair feels dirty as I run a hand through them and then I rub my temples. The bedroom door opens and I see Lauren peak in.

"Good morning speedy." She says and I remember her calling me that last night before I drank more wine. She walks in with a wet washcloth and hands it to me.

"Thanks." I say in a tired tone.

"You and Cole don't like to listen. But I guess you both got lucky with me knowing how to help with hangovers."

"How bad was it?" I ask.

Lauren sighs, "You threw up but don't worry you got to the toilet. Cole and I both were surprised since you can hold your alcohol better than any of us."

I press the washcloth to my forehead feeling the cold spread across my face. "I'm surprised too. But I guess I've just been uneasy." I say.

"Why do you think that?"

I don't remember much from last night but I remember the sickening feeling of being horribly alone last night. I remember how it made my breath shaky and my hands unsteady.

"Well... I've been feeling alone recently." I state.

"From the break up with Kylee?"

I think about that. I felt nothing toward Kylee when she left... I don't think I would get this feeling from her since I had never felt it before.

"No." I say quietly. Lauren nods and stands up.

"Well, go and shower then come have my hangover concoction with Cole when you are done." She says.

She pauses at the door and looks back. "We all feel lonely during our lives, but we always find that one thing that can satisfy all those feelings just with a single touch." And with that she leaves.

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