The Good Life

*Jack*

I woke up in a cold sweat because of a nightmare I was having. I told Alex I didn’t want to watch that stupid saw movie before bed, but he kept insisting that it wasn’t that scary and that he “could protect me from anything.” I looked over at him to see him lying on his back snoring with his mouth wide open. It wasn’t fair! He looked like he didn’t have a care in the world while I was sitting here panicking. His alarm clock read three thirty-seven am and I knew he had to wake up by five am to get ready for work, but I was too afraid to go back to sleep.

“Alex.” I whispered and shook him trying to wake him up. He didn’t say anything or move so I tried again.

“Alex.” I said a little bit louder.

“Huh?” He answered. He wasn’t awake though, he was just talking in his sleep.

“Lex! Wake up I’m scared.” I whined still shaking him so he could fully wake up.

“What Jack?” He groaned as he woke up.

“I’m scared, baby.” I whined again.

“Scared of what?” Even with the room being pitch black I could see the irritated look he was giving me.

“Jigsaw.” I mumbled.

“You woke me up at almost four am to tell me you are afraid of a fictional character.” He said making me feel stupid.

“No I woke you up at almost four am because I had a nightmare about that ‘fictional character.’” I said back matter-of-factly. “And I wouldn’t have had that nightmare had you not made me watch that freaking saw movie.”

“I didn’t hold a gun to your head and force you to watch it.” He said sounding like a smart ass.

“You begged me to watch it with you.” I complained.

“And you agreed to it so it’s not my fault.”

“I di- Whatever! Will you just stay up with me until I fall asleep again?” I begged.

“Jay, I have to get up in an hour.” He told me.

“Pleeeease!” I moved over and laid on his stomach starting to kiss down his neck.

“Mmmm nooooo I need sleep.” He whined. He rolled over facing away from me and tried to go back to sleep.

“Alex.” I called out, but he didn’t answer.

I sighed and grabbed my phone off my night stand. I opened up Facebook to see what was going on in everybody else’s lives. I saw that Alan had posted ten minutes ago saying “Can anyone recommend a good marriage counselor.” I hated when people talked about their relationship problems on any social media site. Asking for a marriage counselor was letting everyone know he and Austin were having marital problems, which I found ridiculous anyways because they loved each other as much as Alex and I love each other. Did that mean that Alex and I could have marital problems too? What if Alex woke up one day and decided he didn’t love me? Maybe I was having these thoughts because it was four and the morning and I was so tired, but I had to be sure Alex wasn’t falling out of love with me.

“Alex!” I started shaking him again. This time it was easier to wake him up since he wasn’t fully asleep.

“Jack. Go. To. Sleep. Jigsaw isn’t real. I’m so so sorry I made you watch that movie.” He said.

“No it’s not that anymore! Do you still love me?” I asked worriedly.

“. . . What?” He mumbled into his pillow.

“Do you still love me? Like you’re not unhappy in our marriage are you?” I questioned.

“Where is this coming from?” He laughed. I’m sure it wasn’t a serious laugh, it was one that said if I didn’t let him go to sleep soon he would murder me.

“Well I was just thinking about Austin and Alan and how they’re having problems and I don’t want us to end up like that.” I told him.

“Jack.” He sighed and turned to face me. “Austin and Alan are having problems because Austin is barely home and they’re lacking communication. Last time I checked you work like once a month and I work Monday through Friday; we spend hours upon hours together every day and we defiantly don’t lack in communication. We’re fine.” He was exaggerating. Now that I opened up more stores all over I had to go into my office at least twice a week, but I went from morning to afternoon and I still beat him and Izzy home most days so to them it seemed like I never left. I would really only go on Tuesdays and Thursday but occasionally I would go in on a Wednesday.

“But how do you know for sure?”

“Look at your left hand.” He said. I didn’t get it until I looked down at my hand and saw my wedding ring. “We said ‘for as long as we shall live’ and I meant it.” He pulled me down to lay down onto his chest. “Now can we be done with this conversation?”

“Yeah. I’m sorry I just got a little bit worried and overreacted I guess.” I chuckled a bit.

“I’m used to it.” He grinned. “Can I go back to sleep now?”

“Yes” I giggled.

“And you promise not to wake me up again?” He asked.

“Yes I promise.” I said.

I fell asleep wrapped safely in Alex’s arms, but woke up cuddling a pillow. I slept longer than I usually would because now it was almost noon. I got up from bed and went to go make myself breakfast, well I guess lunch now.

As soon as I sat down ready to eat my grilled turkey wrap the doorbell rang. I had no idea who this could be I wasn’t expecting any guess. I went to the door and opened it to find a FedEx man standing there holding a package.

“Hi sir! I have a package for Isabella.” He told me and handed me the package. “I just need you to sign right here.” I signed the paper and told him to have a nice day.

I looked down to see what Izzy ordered this time. Every month Alex would get her credit card statement and yell at her for spending so much money and she would promise not to do it again, but of course she would. You would think she would use the credit card I gave her since I most likely wouldn’t pay attention to what she was spending but I think she just likes to annoy Alex with this, it did get amusing after a while.

I was about to turn around and go back inside but as the FedEx truck drove away, a moving truck pulled up. It was in front of the Fuentes old house. Now that I think about it, the ‘for sale’ sign that was usually in their yard had been missing for about a few days. Somebody must have bought the house and now they were moving in. I looked at the people who got out of the moving truck to see who they were, but they were just workers for the moving company. I guess I would have to meet our new neighbors when they actually go here. I just hoped they were as sweet as the Fuentes’.

I finally stopped being nosy and went back to the living room to eat. I picked up my turkey wrap and picked up my phone that said I had one text message from Alex.

To Jack:
I had to force myself out of bed this morning. If you ever wake me up at four am again I’ll make it where you won’t be able to sit down for a week straight!!

To Alex:
Is that supposed to be a threat because it sounds more like a challenge to me ;)

To Jack:
I’ll let you figure that out the hard way.

Notes

I realized that I'm Jack lol
Next chapter is one of my top three favorite chapters!