Colton & Jackson

Colton
I dragged my feet down the corridor. I was home from a long, gruelling of poring over files for a stupid case that we’d just gotten. Chelsea hadn’t been feeling well so she headed home early. Figuring I’d let her sleep a little while longer, I made a beeline for Preston’s apartment. I let myself in as usual. Cameron was sleeping on his blanket in the corner. Frowning at him, I spoke to Preston.

“He’s still here?”

“Yeah. We decided not to send him away, after all.” He replied. He sitting at the kitchen table, squinting at a sketch book.

“How did Jackson take it?” Preston sighed and looked mournfully at Jackson’s door.

“He took nine hundred dollars.”

“You BRIBED him?”

“No. I bought him a lock set for his room.”

“I see. Any chance of us playing today?”

“Jackson unplugged the PlayStation and locked himself in his room with it.” He muttered,
angrily.

“Damn it.” I grumbled. “Sometimes, I hate him.”

“Tell me about it. I have to live with him.”

“Well, if we can’t play, there’s no sense of me staying here.”

“Gee, thanks, Colt. Glad to see you love my company.” I ignored him and walked out. I was extra quiet when I opened the door because I figured Chelsea would be sleeping. The sight that beheld my confused eyes caused me to drop my briefcase and stand there in shocked silence. Right there, in the living room, before my very eyes stood Chelsea and Carson, wrapped in each other’s arms, kissing passionately.

Jackson
I glanced at the luminous clock face. The digits 3:45 glared, menacingly back at me. Cameron tried the door again but of course, with no avail since I had locked it. He had tried to open the door every fifteen minutes throughout the night. I desperately wanted to get to sleep and possibly (hopefully) dream about curly haired fans. Maxie had been after me to move on. Adriana and I had dated for almost a year before she broke up with me. Apparently, I was too quiet and undemonstrative. She needed bushels of love but any regular person would have figured that out two weeks into the relationship as opposed to days before our eleventh month anniversary. I sighed. That was six months ago and while she had a steady stream of men, I had gone on one date who left halfway through the dinner. Until Phoebe. She struck me as the sort of person who didn’t throw unnecessary tantrums or require constant displays of nauseating affection. She also seemed like a person who would stick around for an entire dinner even if I did keep making constant references to my ex-girlfriend. And she liked my novels. Adriana hated all my novels. Well....she hated all the ones she knew I wrote. She had a soft spot for a series of super sappy romance novels by a writer named Jacqueline Hennessy.

“Jackson.” I heard Cameron whispering. “Let me in.”

“CAMERON!” Preston hollered. “Get your ass back to sleep and stop bothering Jackson. Or else.” The ‘or else’ implied Cameron being thrown out of the house. I was tempted to let Cameron into the room, then accuse him of breaking in but I couldn’t be that mean. However, thinking of Adriana gave me an idea for another novel. Not the kind I was ‘famous’ for. The more I thought about the plot, the more convinced I became that ‘Jacqueline Hennessy’ should publish a new book.