My Love

Chapter 1

*BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP* “UGHHHH. I don’t want to get up.” I see it 7 am. This is pretty typical for me any morning. I hate waking up. I hate going to work. I’m just not happy.

“Amy! Honey! Grandpa made you breakfast!”

“Be down in a sec Grandma!”

This is also pretty typical. I wake up and he usually has a breakfast sandwich ready to go for me. Venison sausage, farm fresh eggs, cheese, all on a toasted bagel for me.

I’ve lived with my grandparents for about 2 years now. Maybe 3? The time has flown. I’ve moved in and out between ex’s and not getting along with them. It all started though when I got in a really bad physical fight with my mom one night. I took the keys to my car and drove off. I wound up at my grandparents, who I didn’t really get along with. They took me in my senior year of high school. These are my dads parents actually. He’s been in prison for 7 years. I’ve really never known much of him. I was all too young. Now being 20 I’m starting to try and write him letters. He actually will be out of prison soon. F**k.

I decided to get up and shower quick. I threw on some jeans and a tshirt. Pack a bag with extra clothes and head down stairs.

“Hey A1 girl! How did you sleep?”

He’s always called me A1. My cousin is A2, her names Ava. And my little sister is A3, her names Adia.

“Ah not too bad gramps. Just went to bed really late”

“Got a full day ahead of you?”

“Yeah, I’m going to work down in Watkins and then gotta head back up to hector. That reminds me! Gotta go!”

I rush out of the house and open the garage door. If I sit there too long I really will be late. I always have to stop and get Dunkin’. That’s the only way I can make it through my day with all the crazy people. I am a DSP part time. Which basically I go in and do a program with mentally disabled people during the day and it’s so much fun. But some days I get put in the harder room. Last week I got f*****g head butted in the face. So yeah. I have a black eye.

I have about a 20 minute commute. So I just blast some tunes on Sirius xm and take in all the scenery. I live in the heart of the finger lakes. So wine country in New York. I’ve grown up here almost all my life. The scenery is beautiful. Lakes every couple minutes. Just a very small town and a lot of drama goes on. It’s tough. My mom and step dad live 5 minutes up the road and it’s hard to not bump into them.

I’ve always had a hard time with my mother. We are so alike and I got the sassy attitude side of her. And by that I mean bipolar. It’s been tough. I’m not as bad as she is. At least not at the moment. But growing up I didn’t put up with her s**t and she didn’t put up with mine. We have had a lot of physical altercations and lots of cops come to the house. In the end I will always love her. The only reason I stuck around so long is because of my other two siblings I have. My brother Daniel whose 13 and my sister Mary whose 16. They are my whole world. As I mentioned earlier I have another sister, adia. She’s 10 years younger than me and we’ve never been close.

That’s a whole other story though. She lives with her mom and while my dads been away I haven’t seen her much. She was just a baby when I actually knew her. She’s probably all grown up by now. Her mother doesn’t like me because of our father. Which isn’t really fair but I have no choice honestly. She lives only 15 minutes away from me but I never get to run into her anywhere. She also has a younger sister Emma. She’s a beautiful blue eyed girl with darker hair. Where as adia and I are spitting images of each other. We both have bright blonde almost white hair. Big eyes. And our smiles are so similar. Our baby pictures look identical.

Enough of my back story. I text my boyfriend Alex.

Hey handsome, almost to work. Can’t wait to see you later

We’ve been going out for about 2 months now. So not a long period of time. But we met at my other work place. I’m a bartender at a brewery on the wine trail. He used to come in with his friends all the time. And we grew close quickly after I broke up with my ex. We took things kind of fast but there was just something about him. When you know you know.

I finish up my work day downtown and said goodbye to all of my clients and put the last one on the bus. He is definitely one of my favorites. I know we aren’t supposed to have favorites but it’s really hard. We always get extra time because he doesn’t leave until later than everyone else. Funny thing is. His name is Alec. Sometimes I call him Alex on accident and he laughs and yells at me.

I check my phone and still haven’t heard from Alex all day. Sometimes it really irritates me because I know he’s on his phone. But he also doesn’t get it I feel. I try and just keep my mouth shut and lock my phone screen. I head back up the hill and start my waitressing shift. In the winter time there is only one person working. So I tend bar. Waitress tables. And dishwash. My boss Steve is very helpful though. He makes sure he’s there every day. We run this place a lot together.

After my shift is over I check my phone and see I got a text from Alex 20 minutes ago

Text me when you’re on your way

Well he sounds excited? Anyways. I get in my car and head back down the hill and within 30 minutes I’m to his house. Greeted by the goodest of dogs Nyla. She’s always so happy to see me. Alex on the other hand… not so much. That’s okay though. I usually just hang out with Nyla and watch Netflix. He works really long hours. He’s a machinist at a big nationwide plant.

“Why hello there handsome. How was your day?”

“Eh. Not bad.”

And with that he said nothing else… so Nyla and I got in bed and watched Netflix all night until we fell asleep. She’s a really big cuddler.

When we woke up the next morning Alex was already gone. He never even woke me up to say goodbye. Things have been really weird with him. With Valentine’s Day around the corner I’m going to try and surprise him and take him out. So I get my phone out and start texting his friends trying to figure out where they think I should take him and what I should get gift wise. I mean, I know we haven’t been together long but I want to make it perfect.

After I finish up with work for the day I cash my drawer out and do a money drop. Alex usually comes in on Tuesday nights but he never showed. I really really need to plan something nice for him. I think he’s just been tired for working so much and he’s also really shy unless he’s got some liquid courage. That’s the only way he was able to leave his number on his Reciept. That’s actually how we started dating. And it’s working out. Thank goodness.

My last boyfriend was with me for 4 years. High school sweethearts. Got our apartment before I even graduated high school. He was not nice to me. He really broke me. I don’t think I will fully be able to trust anyone again. He cheated on me one too many times. I know one time is enough, but I always kept going back. And since then I haven’t trusted and sometimes I feel like that’s why Alex goes distant.

I climb into bed after I get home and shower. Alex still hasn’t talked to me all day. I’m getting really worried. Although he’s prepping to go up north for the weekend so maybe he’s just busy. All the guys go up and snow mobile and the girls all stay home and drink wine. It’s actually really fun.

I set my alarm for 7 am and rest my head. Trying to prep myself for another long day. And with that I fall asleep just before 1 am and sleep like a rock.