A Perfect Disaster

“Flynn! I’m home!” I yelled as I walked into our apartment, kicking the door shut behind me. My hands were full with groceries.
“Did you go shopping?” He echoed, walking out of our room to meet me. I held up the bags as soon as he saw me to signal that I had done so. He ran over to me, grabbing bags before I toppled over. I set down what I had left in my hands on the counter with a huff.
“Thanks.” I breathed out as I leaned back on the counter, eventually sliding on top of it.
“No problem.” He then turned around, unpacking the bags as I sat there watching him. Flynn Cadwell was my boyfriend of about two years now. I met him in a tattoo shop, he’s a tattoo artist. When I went with my best friend Tiffany to get my first tattoo, which was a half sleeve with orange roses and a blue background, he was the artist that did it. I had to go back for three sessions to get it completely done. He did a great job on it. But since it was my first tattoo, I was a bit of a pussy. He comforted me, and he was really sweet about it. We hit it off. We’ve been through a lot since then, but he’s always there for me and I’m always there for him. We moved in with each other about seven months into our relationship. It’s been smooth sailing ever since. I heard his voice, which shook me out of my thoughts.
“So how was work babe?” He asked, very concentrated in a game of fridge tetris to fit all of the groceries in along with leftovers, and old things that needed to be tossed.
“Uh it was alright I guess,” I replied, rubbing the back of my neck.
“Joel was being kinda weird today.” Joel was the lead singer for the band I worked as a manager for, Oceanic Distress. Flynn turned around immediately, the fridge still open. The smell of rotten salmon wafted out, making me scrunch my nose.
“Baby you never ate that salmon, did you?” I asked with a look of slight annoyance on my face. He ignored my question.
“What do you mean by ‘being weird’, Erin?” He questioned, his eyes narrowed.
“I mean exactly what I said.” Just then, I caught on to what he meant.
“Oh! No I don’t mean like he was hitting on me, or anything like that, if that’s what you were thinking.” I reassured him, putting my hands up in defense. He relaxed.
“Oh okay then. Well how was he acting then?” He was back in the fridge, still messing with things.
“Don’t put any of the new stuff in there, it has to be cleaned. I’ll do it later.” I said as I tapped my nails on the black granite countertops.
“But what about the milk and eggs? Babe they’re gonna spoil.” He turned around again, looking at me.
“Ah shit you’re right… well move then I’ll do it now.” He moved out the way, and I slid off the smooth countertop. He walked to the doorway of the kitchen, leaning against the wall as I took old things out of our very nasty fridge. How did we let it get this dirty?
“So you never finished telling me about your day…” He trailed off, tapping his foot on the floor.
“Oh yeah. Well uh I don’t know I mean he just seemed a bit off, ya know? He’s always been like a brother to me, but today he seemed very… distant.” I stated as I tossed an old to-go box of enchiladas from almost a week ago in the trash. Christ, when was the last time someone actually opened this fridge and took a damn look in it? This was disgusting.
“Yeah I understand, well maybe he was just having a bad day?” He questioned, walking closer to me.
“Yeah probably. Anyway, how was your day at work?” I asked, standing up straight to meet his gaze.
“It was alright. This girl came in, and she wanted ‘dedication takes a lifetime, but dreams only last for a night’ on her ribcage. It was her first tatt.” I knew those words from somewhere, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it… And that’s when it hit me. Those were lyrics from All Time Low’s song, ‘Stay Awake’. Also known as my ex boyfriend’s band. I immediately began to think of him, remembering all of the memories of us. The bad ones out numbering the good ones, though. It had been a while since I had thought of him, I wonder how’s he’s doing. I shook myself out of my thoughts, looking into Flynn’s dark eyes. A small smile was stretched across his lips.
“Really? That’s cool. Those are song lyrics, from some band I think.” I said, knowing exactly what band they were from.
“Ohh, that makes sense. But yeah, it was her first tattoo, and I don’t think she expected it to hurt as bad as it did. She reminded me of you.” He laughed a bit, his smile turning up to the right side of his face.
“Shut up!” I hit his shoulder, scrunching my face at him.
“Well, I comforted you. And if you never got it, we wouldn’t be together.” He pulled me into him, and I wrapped my arms around his neck.
“I love you Erin.” He whispered softly into my hair.
“I love you too, Flynn.” I giggled into his chest. He kissed my hair before he let me go.
“So, what are our plans for tonight?” He asked, smiling widely.
“Did you plan something? Cause I didn’t. I kinda just wanted to chill out, maybe if something rolls along I’ll go with it.” I replied as I walked back to our disaster of a fridge.
“Ah I see. Well alright then, I’ll be in the living room if you need me.” He walked off to our small living room, plopping himself on the couch and turning on the TV. After I finally organized our disgusting fridge, I went into Flynn and I’s room to change from what I wore to work today. I looked at myself in the mirror, and put my dark hair into a bun so it would stay out of my face. Right as I was about to change into something comfortable, my phone rang. I took it out of my pocket to see that it was Joel.
“Joey! What’s up?” I chirped into the phone with a smile. I always called him Joey and he hated it. I was glad he called though, maybe he was feeling better now.
“Hey Erin, uh can you come to the studio?” He sounded nervous.
“Um, sure.” I replied emptily. Why did he sound so nervous? It was making me nervous.
“Thanks. See you in a few.” He said into the phone, hanging up quickly. This was quite peculiar, Joel was never like this. Ever. I Took my hair out of the bun it was in, shaking it messily around until it fell in its natural state. I never really did much to it, I either wore it down and messy, or up in a bun or ponytail. I wasn’t fond of spending unnecessary time on things such as getting ready. I walked into the living room to meet Flynn half asleep with the television on.
“Hey Flynn, Joel just called me. I’m going to the studio, okay?” He shook himself a bit, only to end up adjusting his position on the couch.
“Uh yeah okay I’ll see you.” He mumbled, sticking his hands down his pants as he fell back into his slumber. Why do guys always sleep with their hands in their pants? I’ll never understand.
I drove to the studio pretty quick, and now I was sitting with the entire band. They looked pretty glum, which scared me. I was called here, now here I am sitting in front of a very sad looking group of people. Anything could be happening, or could have happened. I gulped.
“So I was summoned?” I asked in a whisper, looking down at my fingers. I heard a loud sigh, and I could tell it was from Brian, the drummer.
“Okay can someone tell me what’s wrong? You guys have been acting weird all day, and its kinda freaking me out. I’m expecting this to be some kind of joke. Like, at any second Sam is gonna jump up and scream ‘we’re going on our first headliner tour!’ and everyone is gonna be happy and normal again.” I pathetically laughed out, looking to Sam, the guitarist with some false hope. He put his head down to avoid my gaze. I sighed.
“We’re really sorry Erin, but…” David, the bassist, trailed off as he rubbed the back of his neck and looked down to the floor.
“Sorry for what?! Somebody better start fucking talk-” Brian cut me off.
“Erin we have to let you go.” He said, spitting his words out so fast that it sounded like one huge word in itself. Those words hit me so hard I’m pretty sure I almost fell off the stool I was sitting on.
“W-what?” I stuttered out in shock, looking up at the band. None of them were looking up at me.
“Erin you’re no longer our manager. I’m so sorry, I really am. If it was up to us, none of us would be sitting here right now. But as you know, we just got signed to a new, bigger label. And they want to give us a manager from their company. We tried and tried to persuade them so they would let you stay, but it was pointless. They said if we don’t change our manager that they’ll drop us from the label.” Joel said, his face flushed with disappointment.
“We’re sorry Erin.” Sam added, looking up at me for a quick second.
“I just, wow. That’s an asshole move. From your label, not you. ” I said quietly, picking at a loose thread on my jeans.
“Well maybe we could help you find a new job? We know a few bands that would be lucky to have you.” David said wearily, still rubbing the back of his neck. He always did that when he was nervous, or upset.
“No no, that’s okay. I’ll figure something out… thanks though. I’m not mad at you guys. I understand completely, you have to do what you have to do. But I’m glad you got on a bigger label, and I hope everything goes well for you guys.” I said weakly, biting my lip as my voice quivered. I was about to cry, I could feel it. I hated crying. Ever since that night with Jack, I’ve tried to avoid crying at all costs. It made me think too much. They all stood up and walked towards me, engulfing me in a huge group hug.
“Thanks Erin, that means a lot. We love you.” Joel said, his eyes watery. Fuck. We were all about to cry.
“Its just I’ve known you guys for so long, you know? Sorry if I’m being an emotional little bitch right now.” I laughed out in between sniffles, smiling pathetically.
“No no, its okay! I think we all are.” Sam replied with a small smile.
“And just because all of this is happening, doesn’t mean we lose touch. We still love you Erin, we always will.” It was Brian who was speaking now, looking down at me with a heartfelt face.
“I love you idiots so much, come here.” I sniffled, pulling them in for another group hug.
“Well I hope everything goes well for you guys from here on out. I’ll come to every show that I can, okay? And when you get your first headliner tour, which should be very soon at this rate, I’ll be right in the front row.” They all looked at me with smiles, trying their best not to cry. I smiled back as I did the same.
I was on my way back home, and since we all talked about it, losing my job really wasn’t that hard. I mean I would keep in touch with the boys, and they were moving on to bigger and better things. I was happy for them. But what about me? I’d have to find something to do… I was home now, and I got out of my car. I walked in to my apartment to meet Flynn still sleeping. He was always sleeping. I sat next to him, and gave him a small kiss on his forehead. He shook a bit, and shifted the way he was lying down.
“Flynn.” I said very softly, pushing his hair back. A smile spread across his sleepy face, his eyes still closed.
“Hey darling, what did Joel need?” His voice was still sleepy sounding. He stretched, opening his eyes as he blinked repeatedly to adjust them to the light.
“Um, to fire me.” I said blankly, picking at a hangnail on my finger. That woke him up.
“What?!” He was sitting straight up now, looking me in the eyes.
“Its not that big of a deal, everything’s fine.” I tried to reassure him, but he didn’t listen.
“Erin that’s not fine! You lost your job!” He said a bit worried, but more angrily.
“Flynn, calm down. Listen.” I then explained the entire situation to him. He sat back, looking at me.
“Ohh, I get it now. I’m really sorry babe.” He pulled me into a hug.
“Its okay. I mean we live in Baltimore right? How hard can it be to get a job in music?” I asked, rhetorically, and yet still actually wondering. Easy, hopefully. If there’s one thing that I do know, its that change can be a bitch.

Notes

This turned out shorter than I expected. I think the first few chapters of a story will always be short and or boring, because its basically an introduction to everything... Well now we've met Flynn!... and Erin lost her job. Hopefully things heat up soon. Let me know what you're thinkin :)