The Last Thorn

1. Done With Men

“That’s it. I’m sick of it,” Florence growls as she drops in her bed. The mattress is so soft that practically all her body sinks in. All you can see now is a pile of her curly blonde hair. “I’m never, EVER gonna date another guy. Mom was right. Girls suit me better. They’re soft, reliable and smell nice.”

Eugene, her best friend and a flat mate, laughs out loud, “I thought that you were done with girls as well, hon." 

"I don't even know anymore," Florence sighs, "Come to think of it, I've felt better about myself while being with a girl. But I don't know, Eugene. I'm so confused right now," she moans and facepalms herself.

"It's going to be alright, darling. Everything's going to get better someday," Eugene smiles encouragingly, "Anyway, tell me what did the straight guys do to you this time?”

“You remember Chad?" She asks. Eugene is about to say that of course he remembers her chauvinistic bodybuilder boyfriend, but Florence sighs heavily and interrupts, "Yeah, I know, I know. It’s such a cliche- dating some douche named Chad. It turns out that this waste of air has been in a relationship for 8 years! I was like, in an elementary school when they started dating,” Florence rolls on her stomach, takes a pillow and roars in it aggressively.

“Wow, chill out, lioness,” Eugene says and takes the pillow away from her face, “Maybe it’s better this way. Think about it. You’ve got a new job. You can use extra time you wasted on that guy to focus on your job. Maybe earn a promotion, get more money, you know," Eugene shrugs.

"I don't know, hon," Florence says sadly, "The job isn't that stimulating to give my whole attention to."

"Didn’t you tell me that your boss is a complete b***h? Isn't she, like, angry that you constantly put off the tasks you're given? I've heard that Alex Benson isn't tolerant towards that kind of attitude.”

“I told you it's Amanda that has been a b***h. She’s my boss’ secretary who does the job for now, because the boss is absent. I told you I haven’t even met Alex Benson before and probably- never will. It's only Marcus who's got the privilege to go to their important business meetings as the main programmer.”

“Tomayto- tomahto,” Eugene says, dismissively, “People who work harder, usually get more money. That’s what matters.”

Florence sits up, her slim eyebrows furrowed thoughtfully, “Well, it's not like they'll ever pay me much more. I'm not as good to be promoted as the project manager."

Eugene chuckles, "You were working as a librarian less than six months ago, earning bare minimum, and now the money you get as a programmer is not enough?"

"It's just enough to supply myself and go out with you, hon. I want to live comfortably, not to worry when the next paycheck will come. I'm not even sure that I want to keep working as a programmer for the rest of my life. There's always deadlines and so much work. And for what? I'm still living from the paycheck to the paycheck, even though I split all the expenses with you. So what is the point? All that effort, so I could live in a sad little flat I split with you, so I get a tiny little room. Seems pretty pathetic to me. Better to just not do anything.”

“Wow, so you think my place is pathetic,” Eugene says and grabs his chest with both arms, pretending to be offended. Florence rolls her eyes and smiles. She loves that she can say whatever's on her chest with Eugene freely. 

“Hon, you know I love you and your place. Thank you for letting me stay here, but you know what I mean. I want more. I feel like I'm not moving forward at all. I'm still single and earning pennies after all this effort.”

“Yeah, yeah. But, hon, it's not that easy to get someone worthy of your love, nor to earn huge amount of money," he looks at Florence's face and his heart softens. "Don't worry," he says, "You're going to be just fine. Meantime, you can live here, in this tiny and sad flat, as long as you need. Please, don't rush with your decisions."

Florence stands up to go and hug him. "Thank you for being this awesome," she whispers softly.

Eugene smiles and breaks the hug. "Anyway, how is that book coming, Miss I’m-Gonna-Be-The-Next J.K. Rowling?”

Florence rolls her eyes. She doesn't want to think about her book. She always puts her work off, so now she's just ashamed that she hasn't written a line in months. “Hon, I just don’t want to think about it right now. I just don't have the energy. All I need right now are some movies,” she sighs.

“And drinks! Don't forget the drinks!" he exclaims enthusiastically. "Girl, you need to take your mind off everything. Let me make a little party. Garrett is on his way as well. Do you want anyone else to join us tonight? We can make an actual party.” 

Florence sighs. The last thing she needs before work is a party. However, Eugene looks so happy that she doesn't have the heart to cancel all his plans. She can let Garrett come over at least.

“Garrett is cool, hon, but nobody else, please. We can hang out for a bit, no worries. The more the merrier.”

“A-ma-zing!” Eugene exclaims excitedly and rushes to the kitchen, “I’ll make some popcorn! And chips! And margaritas!” he shouts the distance. Eugene is really energetic when he hears that there's a party coming up. He does it just to make Florence happy, right? He's a good friend.

“Girl, do you want Ben and Jerry’s? I bought some and put in the freezer in the case of you eventually get another heartache,” he shouts from the kitchen.

“Hon, chill. I’m good,” Florence says with the biggest smile on her face. She gets up and looks in the mirror. She feels good in her skin. Her face is symmetrical, her skin is clean. Overall, averagely beautiful and is proud of it. 

She smiles to herself. “Who needs men if I’ve got my friend who will always be there for me?” she thinks. "Nothing can break us apart."

They spend the evening more or less pleasantly. Garrett comes by shortly after their conversation and brings the tastiest apple pie from the bakery that's a block away from the house. It is still warm by the time they eat it. Eugene has baked potatoes chips and made popcorn and some margaritas as well. He's great at making those. All of this makes Florence's heart soften. She's happy she's got such awesome people around her.

"So, Florence," Garrett says, "Where is that sexy man of yours? He said he'll give me a meal plan for my muscle growth the next time I see him."

"There is no Chad anymore," Eugene says carefully, "He's dead to us and we're not talking about him."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that, Flo," Garrett says falsely and puts his arm on his chest, "But that's okay. You'll meet someone very soon. As always. Who knows maybe this time it'll finally be the charm." 

Something in Garrett's voice makes Florence uncomfortable. "Why'd he emphasize- as always?" Florence wonders, "Did he just implied I'm dating too much?" However, she decides to brush it off. Maybe she didn't understand him correctly.

"No, I think I'll get off the dating scene for a while. I'm done with men," she says optimistically.

"Huh, I thought you said you were done with women as well," Garrett emphasizes.

Florence clears her throat. This conversation starts to irritate her a bit. There's an awkward pause, so Eugene says, "Well, I think it'll be good for you to get out of the dating scene for a bit, hon. Let that heart heal up a bit. It's what a grown up would do, " he smiles encouragingly. "You know what, let's make it a toast- To adult like decisions!" Eugene shouts as he raises the glass. 

It slightly increases the mood. "To adult-like decisions," Florence and Garrett cheer and raise their glasses too. 

They all sit down on the brown couch. They've nicknamed it Betsy. Florence says, "Hon, do you remember the day we bought or old Betsy?"

"Omg, like it was yesterday. The old man asked for it, what, like 200 dollars?" Eugene says.

"Yeah, and it wasn't like that much. However, he gave as 50% off just to make you shut up," she laughs. "Remember- we were so broke that we paid for it in 1 and 5 dollar bills mostly."

Eugene chuckles. "And the moment Marco came with his car to help me move it, he was like- "Seriously? This piece of trash? Why do you need it anyway?", he says, mimicking Marco's voice.

"But it's our trash, " Florence says happily and puts one hand on her friends' shoulder and another one on Betsy. “We were short for the rent that month because of 100 dollars,” Florence thinks as she touches the fabric. It feels like it was decades ago.

So much has changed. They're no longer in the university. She's no longer studying graphic design. She barely finished her course on programming and now Eugene is a chef, while she's just a programmer at an entry level. Even though they're on so different levels, he still lets her live here.

Nobody pays attention to Garrett, so he says grumpily, “So guys, what are our thoughts?” as he scrolls through Netflix. “I guess Florence would like to go with a peaceful, but not a romantic movie, right?" 

"Hey, how about that one? It seems nice," Eugene exclaims and shows with his finger.

"Oh, yeah, babe. “Kill Bill” would probably is a nice, simple movie. However, Flo probably would like to go on a killer spree against some men, wouldn't you?” Garrett laughs and looks at her.

“Very, funny, mister" Flo says mockingly, “But seriously, I’m alright. I think we should watch something cute and romantic.”

"No problem," he says as he finds a movie and clicks play.

So they spend all evening watching romantic comedies movies as always. Eugene is head over heels for Jake Gyllenhall, as expected. Garrett turns fake jealous, so Eugene laughs, turns to Garrett and says, “Babe, nothing personal. A young Jake Gyllenhall is just a perfect God's creation. However, you're perfect for me, no matter how old you are.”

Garrett's face turns bright red, "Babe.. You're so cheesy." Garrett smiles and hugs him from the side and continues, “It's okay, babe. I can share you with Jake.” He turns to Eugene to kiss him and they snuggle up happily afterwards.

In that moment Florence starts to feel uncomfortable. The moment seems so pure and intimate that she feels like an intruder in somebody’s home. She better gives them some privacy before Garrett goes home. It no longer seems weird that he never spends the night.

Florence makes a big yawn and tells them she’s tired. Guys don’t think much of it, tells her goodnight and stay in the living room, laughing about silliness of the plot.

Before she closes her door, she hears Garrett saying annoyingly, "Seriously, babe?" Florence assumes he's talking to Eugene, because she's too far away. For some reason, it catches Florence's attention.

"It's not the right moment yet," Eugene replies. Florence can't hear anything more, but doesn't think much about it anyway. It's probably just between two of them. She closes the door and gets ready for bed. 

She finally turns off the light. The clock shines through the dark. Even though it isn't even 10 pm, she decides to goes to the bed early. There's a long day of work ahead of her. It'll be good to take her mind off her personal life.

She lays down, but, deep down, something seems off. Is the room cold? No, it can't be. It's the middle of the summer outside. Or is it her heart? 

“It’s definitely margaritas. That’s why I feel under the weather,” she tells herself. Florence shivers slightly and tucks herself deeper in the covers.