Crackship Friday

previously

Noah called in sick. He might as well have been in bed, all day. He was dressed for it. He was in his flannel pants and his favorite shirt to eat chocolate in. And...he had been eating chocolate.

Not that he'd want to discuss this with anyone. His habits of getting over..someone. But Sheila had left him. That was last night. He told her it wasn't going to bother him. It did. He hadn't slept a wink since her flee.

It was over. She wanted to get married, and even when she asked him, he told her he'd have to think about it. That was well over a year ago. Time was up. Evidently. And minute by minute he was making a mess of their tiny apartment.

First it started with a chocolate smoothie. But he forgot to put the lid on the blender. Now splashes of milk chocolate were on the ceiling and the wall of the back splash, in the kitchen. He just stared at it for the longest time and finally opened a Hershey bar and ate it for breakfast. Of course, that might have been lunch. It was a blur. He'd stood there in thought, possibly, way too long.

Where had it all gone wrong? It couldn't possibly be his fault.

So he put on some RUSH hoping to change his mood. After awhile, all that played on his iPod was Black Sabbath's CHANGES. He sighed through most of it. All he could picture was how her thick black hair touched the small of her back. He'd never met anyone quite like Sheila.

And maybe she did put up with a lot. He never ate his vegetables and usually, he brought home a six pack of beer everyday after work, even if she frowned upon it. Well, he wasn't drinking now. Just eating chocolate and thinking of her. She was like chocolate to him. And now she was gone.

The door bell rang. He froze. Maybe he didn't have to get the door. He tossed some candy wrappers in the trash and finally took a look out of the peep hole. There his brothers were. Noah was in shock. Naturally, he tore the shirt off over his head and wiped his mouth. They couldn't know what an idiot he was.

"What are you two doing here?" He looked at them as if this was too strange to be happening.

"Are you OK?" Izzy said and Chet gave him the look over as if something had to be wrong. Chet went right away to the bedroom to see if something was up.

"Where's Sheila?" Chet wanted to know.

"She left me." He shrugged.

"You look like shit, man." Chet shook his head.

"I was afraid of this." Izzy looked around the place.

"How?" Noah nursed his bottom lip, thinking maybe Izzy had talked to Sheila.

"I had a dream ...about this..." Izzy hugged himself then.

"What? Trying to say you're psychic, now?" Noah just glared at him.

"I'm just an out of work actor." Izzy gave Noah a slap on the shoulder and went to take a look at the kitchen. He and Chet began to clean up. "Look, go take a shower. We'll take you out."

"I dunno. I don't feel like it." Noah touched his bare stomach as if he might have a tummy ache from all the chocolate.

"We'll clean this. You clean up. You need to be out of here, for a little while." Chet told him.

Noah nodded. Maybe he was glad to see his brothers, after all.