I Thought We Were More Ch. 08

Both of their eyes shot to the front door to see Rose standing there like a statue. Her eyes were glued on them. All at once she burst into tears and ran out the front door without closing it. Alex jumped up and ran for the front door. "Rose wait!!" she cried.

Jacob sat straight up in the bed. For some reason he suddenly felt as though he should be the one that was running after Rose. Alex dashed back into the living room and threw some clothes on. Then back out the front door she ran leaving Jacob naked and alone in the apartment. He got up out of bed and began to put his own clothes back on. Hundreds of thoughts were blowing through his mind at the same time.

"What just happened?" He said out loud.

Once he had his clothes on he rushed outside and looked down both hallways of the apartments. He couldn't see Alex or Rose. He had an idea of which way Rose would have went and he took off running in that direction.

Halfway across the parking lot leading in the direction of the school he found Alex walking back towards the apartments alone.

"Where did she go?" he asked.

"She is going back to her apartment. She told me to go fuck myself, or you again, whichever I preferred."

"Who is she more upset with?"

"Well...I don't really know right now. When we were together she acted very attached and clingy towards me, but when you were around she always seemed to forget about me and seemed eager to get your attention."

"So the two of us are probably the worst people in the world she could have found naked and in bed together."

"Yeah pretty much." Alex said with a little bit of sadness in her voice.

"Um... what should we do now?"

"I'm going home." She said it in a way that didn't seem to invite Jacob to go with her. He nodded in approval and they both walked back towards their apartments.

Though they were headed in the same direction and they walked next to each other they just didn't seem to be as one. They were like two people that had said goodbye and then discovered they were going to the same place. They didn't want to acknowledge each other. When they passed Alex's apartment she turned and stepped inside. Jacob kept walking and then disappeared into his own apartment.

Several weeks went by before he heard from either Alex or Rose. He wasn't quite sure what the distance meant. He understood why Rose would not be talking to him but Alex's lack of contact was strange to him.

Later on a Friday night he finished his homework and decided he would go over to Alex's apartment and find out what was going on.

He knocked on the door and she threw it open after three knocks and jerked him inside.

"Hey." He said when she had closed the door behind him.

"Hey." She said back looking up into his eyes.

"I...uh...was just wondering why I hadn't heard from you in a while."

"You're just now coming over here to ask me that. Where have you been?"

"Well, after you went running after Rose I thought maybe you needed some space. I didn't want to get in the middle of things."

"Get in the middle of things!!" she shouted. "What do you mean you didn't want to get in the middle of things?"

Jacob didn't know what to say for a second or two. He stared straight into her angry eyes and tried to think of his next step. "Alex, you never actually said if you had feelings for me or not. Some of the things you do suggest that you have feelings for me but when you went running after Rose it made me feel like you were more upset you got caught by her than anything else. Everything that happened between us seemed like an experiment for you. I still don't know how you feel."

Alex took a step back from him. She knew he was partially correct. "I don't know what I am feeling right now." She said looking up at him. "Rose has stopped talking to me. She stopped coming over. But you stopped talking to me too and I will be honest. I don't know which hurts worse. Losing her or losing you. I never truly came to terms about how I felt about us sleeping together. I am still sorting out if it was just fun or if it was deeper than that. I like cuddling with you. I really like the way you hold me while I sleep. But what I can't be sure about is whether or not I am in love with you. When I am with Rose I feel something completely different."

Jacob walked over and sat down on the couch. The last two weeks had been a nightmare. He had never felt as good as he had when he had Alex in his arms. Not knowing whether or not he would ever be able to hold her like that again was killing him. And now she stood in front of him confessing that there was a chance she didn't return his feelings of love back to him.

"If you are only into girls there is nothing I can do to change that." Jacob said looking down at the ground.

He didn't want to look at her right now. It would hurt him too badly. "I guess part of me knew from the day we slept together that there was a chance this would happen. I guess I'm just too optimistic."

She came over and sat next to him. She started to put her arm around him but he shrugged her away.

"Your right about not being able to change me, Jacob. To be honest, part of me really wants to be in love with you. But I just don't have the right feelings for men to fall in love with you. I can't really explain it but I do promise that I gave it my best shot. I never thought I would sleep with a man, never. But there was something about you that told me to try. I do love you Jacob, but not in a way that would be healthy for two people to spend the rest of their lives together."

Jacob looked at her and now tears were dripping down his cheeks. She tried to hug him but he got up and walked out of the apartment. He trudged down the hall to his own apartment and locked the door behind him.

His bed was the place where he collapsed and cried some more.

His phone vibrated in his pocket and he pulled it out and looked at the screen. It was Derek sending him a text that read nothing more than the words "Beer?"

He texted back. "Not now, my life is over."

30 minutes later there was a knock on his door. Derek stood there with his "going out to get laid" clothes on.

"What's wrong bro?" he asked looking at Jacob.

"Alex decided she can't love men, or me, or both. I don't even know anymore" Jacob said trying not to cry in front of another man. Somehow he thought doing so would emasculate himself in front of his buddy.

"You really loved her, didn't you bro?" Derek said.

Jacob nodded.

Derek stepped inside the apartment and closed the door behind him. He opened his arms in the classic hug position. Jacob looked at him with a questioning look.

"I'm serious." Derek said keeping his arms opened wide.

Jacob stepped into his embrace and Derek held his friend close.

After a while Derek released him and Jacob stepped back and looked at him. Tears were dripping down his cheeks.

"You know, Jake, that's why all the girls want you, because you're a sweetheart. Girls want a strait guy with feelings and you got quite a few of them."

"Fred would just tell me to be glad I got laid. But I really am not that kind of guy. I give into my desires every once and awhile but I really would prefer to just have a girl that loved me and wanted to be with me for a long time."

"You will find that girl Jake. You just have to be patient. Now tell me what happened."

20 minutes later Jacob had described the whole situation to Derek.

"And so, what are you thinking? I hope you are not thinking that you are a hopeless case?" Derek said.

Jacob looked down at his feet. "That seems to be the case. The first girl I thought I was in love with used me. The second one started to love me but then decided she still liked girls and the third one caught me and the second one together so that pretty much seals that fate."

"Dude, you are taking things way too fast. Most of that stuff happened in your first week of school. We have only been six weeks into the semester. There is a lot that is going to happen to you as far as love goes. You know what we need to do?"

"What?" Jacob asked still seeming not very cheerful.

"We need to go out to the clubs."

Nightlife in the city where Central University was located actually was pretty strong. Besides the club he had gone to three weeks ago there were several other great dance halls. The night started off fairly calm. But as the two boys got more and more drinks in them things began to get a little wilder and the world became a blur.

Jacob suddenly reached a moment of clarity and realized he was two stepping with a girl he had never met before. The two of them spun around the floor and then came back into step as the song settled back into the chorus. Then the world once again blurred together. The next thing Jacob knew they were in a cab headed to another city.

When they reached the much larger metropolis that their little college town was outside of Jacob was immediately aware of the much brighter lights and the larger expanse of buildings. The tiny college town he was used to, was nothing compared to the big city. It was 2am and most of the bars were shutting down.

The only option now was either after-hours clubs or strip clubs. Much to Jacob's relief they chose the after-hours club.

While you could no longer buy alcohol after 2am people were welcome to bring their own beer or other drinks. Jacob and Derek found themselves in a large round booth with a well-to-do business owner that just happened to invite them to his table.

He insisted they call him Richie Gunnar. Now they sat there drinking Champagne and doing everything they could to keep their buzz going.

"You know why I invited you boys to join me?" Gunnar asked.

"I couldn't tell you sir. But I am glad you did." Derek said. Despite being drunk neither he nor Jacob were loud or belligerent.

"I invited you boys to sit with me because you looked like two kids that know where you are going in life. You're both good looking and frankly you just look like winners. That is just the kind of people I like to surround myself with."

Jacob smiled and spoke up. "Well in that case I am glad we happened across you Mr. Gunnar. We were not sure whether things were dying down for the evening but it looks like we found a party after all."

"Jacob," Gunnar said sternly. "I told you to call me Richie. And I can also tell you it is no coincidence we ran across each other tonight. Winners attract other winners. Losers attract other losers. That is why it is so difficult for losers to pull themselves up to where the winners are. I think you boys found your way to me because you are both winners."

"I hope you are right." Jacob said pouring another flute of Champagne.

"Well, how about an example then?" Gunnar said raising his own flute so Jacob could top it off. "What are you majoring in at your school?"

Jacob poured Gunnar some champagne and paused for a moment to think. "I am studying Business with a minor in Music Theory."

"And what do you want to do when you get out of college?"

"I want to own a record studio. I love music and I hope to start off in a recording studio and work my way up while saving my money. One day I will have the money and the knowledge to own my own label."

"HA! You see there!" Gunnar exclaimed. "You know that you are an alpha. That you can recognize talent and that one day you are going to put that ability to use. Successful labels make millions. I believe in you son."

Jacob smiled proudly. He was never one to be cocky or self-riotous but the alcohol was making him a little ballsier this evening. When they had walked into the club the length of the cab ride had taken the edge off of both Jacob and Derek's buzz but now the potency of the champagne had caused them to surge back into drunkenness and all they cared about was having a good time.

"What about you Richie? How did you become successful?" Jacob asked looking the older man in the face.

He tilted his champagne flute back and returned Jacob's stare. "By recognizing talent for the field I am in. When I see a winner, I pounce. My business is very dependent on picking out winners. If I can't deliver the best then I don't make any money. Judging by my success, I haven't missed yet."

"What kind of talent are you looking for? Are you a scout?" Derek asked.

"You could say that."

"For, sports, acting, what?" Jacob pressed on.

"Mostly actors and actresses. I only deal in minor rolls though. I've represented some comedians, a few B and C level actors, stuff like that." Gunnar said.

The evening poured on until 6am hit and even Gunnar was starting to get sleepy.

"Well I think I have had all I can take boys." He said standing up out of the booth. "If you boys are staying at the college are you planning on heading back this morning?"

Jacob and Derek looked at each other. They both shrugged and Jacob turned to Gunnar.

"We don't really have a plan sir. But don't worry about us. We will find our way to wherever it is we are trying to go."

"I believe it." He said with a smile. He shook both their hands and then he was gone.

Before they left Jacob looked at Derek with a confused expression.

"For a guy that is all about finding winners, you would think he would have found some actors and actresses we have heard of."

Derek shrugged. "Guy looked like he worked in porn. Greasy old dirt bag."

Jacob and Derek walked arm in arm out of the bar. The first thing they got as they walked out the front door was a blast of the morning sun that was just peeking out over the horizon. They both squinted as their intoxicated eyes adjusted to the light and the first thing Jacob noticed as his vision began to return was a police cruiser casually rolling down the road straight towards them.

"OH FUCK!" he said out loud.

"Wha- what is it?" Derek said leaning hard on Jacob's arm.

"It's a public intoxication charge waiting to happen." Jacob said.

The cop hadn't spotted them yet and Jacob knew the only thing they had time to do at this point was stand up straight and try to appear sober.

He elbowed Derek hard in the ribs and the two of them suddenly stood up rigid and tried to look as though they were waiting for the bus.

The police cruiser passed by them without so much as a pause and Jacob was pretty sure they were home free.

But then Derek lost his balance and fell to the ground. The officer must have seen it happen in his rear view mirror because the cruiser suddenly halted and the driver side door swung open.

Jacob had enough time to pick Derek up off the ground and then they were both moving.

Derek recovered quickly, much to Jacob's relief. At first he was shoving Derek along in front of him as they both went into a full run. But as they progressed he noticed that both of their buzzes seemed to disappear for the moment and now Derek was running under his own power for a change.

They had both bolted down an alleyway and Jacob only looked back long enough to see that the cop was really too overweight to pursue them on foot. The alley they were running down was a dead end but already Jacob noticed a fire escape that zig zagged up the side of the building that formed the right side wall of the alley.

Jacob jumped onto a dumpster that was underneath the fire escape and hauled himself up onto the stairs of the flimsy metal structure. Beneath Derek was climbing up onto the dumpster.

Derek was in good shape but he was not as athletic as Jacob. He leapt for the fire escape and was able to grab the ladder that formed the bottom part of the structure. But the problem was, he couldn't pull himself up like Jacob had.

Jacob climbed halfway down the ladder and reached down for Derek to grab his hand. Derek reached up and they grasped each other by the wrist. Jacob pulled with all his might and lifted Derek up to the point he could get his feet onto the ladder.

Then they were climbing the stairs. They went all the way to the roof before Jacob looked back and saw that the officer was just now making his way down the alley. What caused Jacob's stomach to sink was the officer was on his radio. They had to disappear and fast.

Once they were on the roof of the building they ran to the other side and looked down. For the moment back up had not arrived for the police officer. And they had broken his line of sight. If they were going to escape they had to do it now.

Down on the street below them cars and trucks were driving up and down the street. It was then that Jacob spotted a possible escape. They were only about 5 stories up. On the side of the building they currently were on there was a roof access ladder with a circular cage around it. Jacob climbed onto the ladder and Derek followed.

They quickly climbed back down to the street level where crowds of weekend shoppers were beginning to fill the sidewalks.

The part of town they were in was very close to the big city's Mega Mall. Jacob grabbed Derek by the front of the shirt and pulled him along as they fell in with the crowd. They allowed themselves to flow along with the crowd and soon they disappeared inside the Mall.

It was far too early for any of the stores in the mall to be open but the mall itself was open to "Mall Joggers" and baby walkers. Jacob waved down the first pair of men he could see.

"Um, this may sound weird but I was wondering if my buddy and I could buy the exercise clothing off of your backs."

The two guys he had flagged down looked at each other in confusion and one of them spoke up.

"Are you kidding?"

"I will give you each 40 dollars." Jacob said pulling the cash out of his pockets. "And we will give you our clothes so you won't have to be naked."

"I don't understand why you want our clothes."

"Does it really matter?" Derek said trying to make himself look taller.

The two joggers backed up and then decided it would be best not to ask any more questions.

All four of them went to the nearest bathroom where they all took up stalls. They handed clothing back and forth to each other over the walls of the stalls.

15 minutes later Jacob and Derek emerged from the mall wearing short jogging shorts and sleeveless A shirts. Two police cars drove by the entrance to the mall and it was at that point that Jacob and Derek took off jogging down the sidewalk. The police didn't even seem to look in their direction.

They only jogged for a few blocks before they both came to a stop, out of breath. For the moment they were out of trouble.

"Ok, let's just get a cab back to Central and call it a day."

"What!" Derek said turning Jacob so he could look him in the face. "We made it to the big city and all we got to do was an after-hours club. We need to stay here for the day so we can hit the major clubs during their peak hours. Come on, let's go get a hotel."

Jacob really didn't want to press his luck, but at the same time he was in a "what have we got to lose" sort of mood. He looked back into Derek's eyes and rolled his own eyes towards the sky.

"Ok, let's go get some sleep."