Page 4 of Atlas
Lauren
It’s been an irritating week or so. Hell, this last year can kiss my fucking ass really, but this last week has been the rotten cherry on the top of this shit sundae I really didn’t need.
I’m sick.
Well, that’s kind of a vague statement. I am a Type One Diabetic, so technically, I amalways sick.But what I mean is, I have the flu, a severe case of it. So bad that my body shut down, and I had to be admitted to the hospital. The hospital itself isn’t so bad. My mom is the chief of surgery here, so I get the royal treatment, which is nice, for the most part. Though I get checked four or five times more than necessary, and being as I prefer to be on my own, it’s grating on my nerves.
But besides being sick, the hospital stay, the constant invasion of privacy and the fact that my job, where everyone already has been brainwashed into hating me, is trying to tell me I’m out of sick days; my irritation is not because of any of those things. It’s due to the fact that I woke up from my nap to a gift shop explosion in my room. I stopped counting the vases of flowers after seventeen. There are at least twelve balloons, including a pink one that says “it’s a girl”, and at the foot of my bed sits a cow. Not just any cow, it’s a brown highland cowstuffed animal. Those really soft, round marshmallow stuffed animals.
I’m irritated because it’s a highland cow. Cows are my favorite animal. The highland cow is my all-time favorite animal. I don’t care if people find it weird; they are entitled to their wrong opinion. Atlas has something, or everything, to do with the gift shop relocating to my room, but this cow…how did he know that is my favorite animal?
Or did he?
I think back to the limited conversations he and I have had over the past couple of years, but after about a minute, I give up. My head hurts too much. I’m tired and really just want to go home. Grabbing my phone off the bedside tray, I go to my text messages and open up a group chat I am in with my best friends – Janie, Sunday, and Stevie. I snap a pic of the cow and send it to them.
Janie: Holy cow… he’s so fucking cute
Stevie: SO FLUFFY
Sunday: Your obsession with cows is becoming creepy. How did you even get him?
Me: I think Atlas Hart got him for me. Along with this
I take a panoramic photo of the massive collection of balloons and flowers and send it to them.
Stevie: How have you not married that man?
Sunday: At least fucked him. It’s obvious he is into you.
Janie: Ohhhhh….makes sense now lol
Me: What makes sense??
Janie: At sent me a text earlier asking what your favorite flower and color is. I was…busy so I ignored the message *angel face emoji*
Stevie: JANIE!? You have been at WORK all day! Stop being a slut at the tattoo shop!
Janie: *crying emoji* I CAN’T HELP IT! So you know how we are working on expanding the building? Well, Fox was in there and lifting these bags of concrete-shirtless-I am not ashamed to say he dominated EVERY part of me.
Me: As someone with NO sex life… I hate you.
Sunday: Sammme
Stevie: Okay but Ren, seriously, did you talk to Atlas about the stuff?
Me: No. I just woke up and it was all here. I know he’s been trying to get a hold of me and I’ve been ignoring him since he was arrested.
Janie: You really should text him. He is going through something mentally and it’s killing him that you two aren’t cool
Me: It’s not like we’ve ever been close…
Stevie: But we all know you COMPLETELY avoid him now. You two used to goof with each other and now there is nothing from your side. He’s not an idiot, he can feel it. At least he’s trying to make an effort.
I sigh as I look up from the screen, eyes falling on the cow again. Why won’t he leave me alone? Can’t I just live in my humiliation without having to look at him again?
No one besides the guys at Hel’s Ink and my girls know why Atlas nearly killed my ex-boyfriend at the bar. When asked, I would shrug and say I didn’t know. Atlas never said why, not even when there was a bargain offered. I’m not sure why he hadn’t, it would’ve definitely helped his case. Though a colleague at the court emailed me to say Frank had gotten his sentence reduced to a slap on the wrist.
I think back to the night at the bar. That night, my ex, Andrew and I were going out, not something that I was too excited about. Mainly because I was still sporting a bruise and when we went out to drink, Andrew usually ended up getting angry. That night, Atlas had seen me and I was terrified that he would say something smart to Andrew, as was customary every time they crossed paths. Atlas did not like Andrew and was very vocal about it. That day, Andrew had had a bad day in court and I knew if Atlas started teasing him like normal, I would get in trouble for it later. So I went over to say hi to him and tried hard to ignore the jealousy churning in my stomach as I saw his pretty date. When I walked up to Atlas, his eyes zeroed in on my face. The bruise was several days old and I have no idea how in the dimly lit bar he had seen it as quickly as he did, but when he looked from my cheek to my eyes, I was terrified by what I saw.
