josh woke up the next morning to the sun peeking through curtains, and it took him a second to realize he wasn't in his own home. no, he wasn't in a home at all.
josh slowly opened his eyes, letting his hazy vision correct itself before looking around the place. the memories of the previous night replayed in his head as he gained consciousness. he looked down and noticed that his arm was no longer around a girl. he sighed and stood up, stretching out his arms. surprisingly, the couch was really comfortable.
he began to search the apartment for rosemary, but she was nowhere. he even checked the paper scattered room, which he assumed was her office. he heard the elevator ding from the first floor, and he assumed it was her. he skipped down the stairs, having to catch himself on the railing a few times. for some reason, there was a smile on his face.
"hello." josh greeted the girl, expecting nothing in return. her silence was growing on him, he was starting to like it actually. josh noticed she was practically glistening in sweat, her back soaked and her hair in a ponytail. what the hell did she do that was that intense. the water bottle in her hand was full to the brim, leading josh to believe she didn't take a sip while she was doing... whatever she was doing.
"one intense workout you did there. what did you even do?" josh questioned, walking across the room to grab a scrap piece of paper and a pen. he held it out to her as she unpacked the backpack that was on her back. she hesitantly took the paper and pen, jotting down a list of what she had done. josh's eyes widened and he couldn't help but chuckle as the activities piled up. she handed josh the list, and as he read over it, he began to question who exactly rosemary was. she had done two hours of crossfit and ran a marathon. she must've left really early, and it was only eight thirty last time josh checked.
"damn." josh laughed a bit, placing the note back where he found the paper on the coffee table. josh's phone dinged in his pocket, it was a text from tyler asking him- well, more like telling him to come to the studio. josh sighed and jogged back to the elevator, his phone on and still in his hand as he replied.
"sorry, i gotta go. i'll see you later though." josh pushed the button for the elevator as rosemary nodded and walked away. it came up, and josh stepped in. he looked down at his phone, which wasn't in his hand. he looked up and saw rosemary doing something, the elevator doors closing. "hey!" josh said, too shocked to put his arm through and grab the phone. rosemary nodded to josh and tossed his phone through the metal doors, him catching it just before the doors closed.
josh stood there in the descending elevator, shocked. he looked down at his undamaged phone and saw it was open on a new contact. rosemary's contact. josh smiled a bit. he sent her a quick text so she had his number, a slight skip in his step when he walked out of the elevator.
josh got a text back and noticed she didn't capitalize. he always wondered why some people didn't use capitalization when texting. so, he thought he'd just ask. he got a text back a few minutes later saying;
rosemary: i'm not important enough for that privilege.
this made josh laugh a bit, but he also wondered if she was serious or not. no matter, she probably didn't mean anything by it either way.
for the next few days, josh didn't see or talk to rosemary. he did, though, get some more insight on her past. he, of course, didn't bring her into every conversation, he just asked jenna about her once when jenna brought rosemary into the conversation.
"how are you and rosemary?" jenna asked josh one day, totally catching josh by surprise.
"what do you mean me and rosemary?" josh answered with a question. "we're just friends." he added, already knowing what she meant.
"that's fine. relationships take time, i get it." jenna teased, seeing the annoyed expression on josh's face. "kidding, kidding." jenna said, putting her hands up in an 'i surrender' way.
"how did you meet her, anyway? she's so secluded, i wouldn't think she meets anyone, like, ever." josh crossed his legs on the couch the same way he'd get made fun of for in many instagram posts and interviews.
"i knew her in high school, she was a really good listener. she helped me through a lot, actually. she may seem distant and cold, but she's probably the closest friend i had in high school." jenna explained, a pondering look on her face. rosemary? helping people? he wouldn't ask how rosemary helped, but he could only assume.
later that week, josh got in touch with rosemary. it had been two weeks since they last were together, but who's counting?
josh found himself the most stressed out he had been in a while. rosemary was apparently a good listener, according to jenna, so why not see for himself.
josh: are you busy?
rosemary: when am i ever
josh: can i come over?
rosemary: yep
the lack of punctuation gave a slightly sad tone to her texts, it rubbed off on josh. was it just not wanting to try to add punctuation, or was it intentional? josh figured he'd ask eventually. he felt like he could ask her a lot and get an honest answer, which was kind of strange.
he was already at her apartment building by the time she texted back, only having to look at the receptionist to let her know who he was there for. she looked surprised, just as surprised as the last time he had come. despite this, she pressed a few buttons and the elevator was waiting for him when he got there. he stepped in and bounced on the heels of his feet, letting the doors close and encase him in the inescapable metal trap. he was too busy letting his anxiety take him over to notice he had reached his destination, only when he heard the doors closing did he reach out and stop them, thankfully the gates to hell had sensors and detected his hand there.
the pristine state of all the furniture and hard wood floors gave him a familiar feeling opposite of hospitality. it baffled him how anyone could live there and not be miserable. he added 'how do you live here happily' to the list of questions he'd ask rosemary one day.
-
a/n: is it obvious i'm trying not to describe what rosemary looks like so the reader can form their own physical description to make more of a connection whoops.
except the more updates tonight than in just a month. i'm bored and the night is slow so guess what, 2+ updates y'all ( that is if i'm still bored after this is published )
