So Lonely

This was the time Stevo hated the most. He was off duty, had no reason to go visit Tom, Tori and Boomer, and had no place to go. There wasn’t even any DIY projects to do in his new home, his mum had anticipated all his needs and had it all fitted out the way she knew he would want.

He didn’t want to go into the centre and drink alone at Millie’s bar, in fact, if the truth be known, he wasn’t much of a drinker anyway. He sighed, getting up to turn on his sound system. Selecting a pile of cd’s, he started loading them into the player. He loved the one his mum had chosen for him, it held up to 25 discs and he enjoyed watching the buttons as the internal ‘elevator’ mechanism picked his chosen disc.

"How fucking sad am I?" he asked himself. He chose the ‘random’ setting and walked around the house. Nothing needed doing, he laundry was dry and folded, the bathroom had already been cleaned, and he had loaded up the dishwasher, wondering just how many meals he needed to eat before he managed to fill the enormous monster of a machine.

He looked at the back garden through the kitchen window and had an idea. Walking out and looking around, he decided on a spot, then walked to the shed to get what he needed.

Five hours later, dirty and bathed in sweat, he stopped. Looking up at the sky he realised it was getting late, so decided to put the tools away and do some more on his veggie plot his next day off.

When he got back in the house he realised just how tired he was. He didn’t fancy the idea of falling asleep in the tub, so opted for a hot shower.

Feeling clean again, he threw on a pair of shorts and headed back to the kitchen. He opened the freezer door and looked inside. His mum had stocked it up with everything he needed and loved. He pulled out a foil wrapped package and opened it up. Why did she always make each package enough for two? He wasn’t that hungry and didn’t often want to eat the same thing two days running. He set it out on the defrosting tray and went back into the lounge room. He turned the music off and sat down.

He was deep in thought when the clock chimed 8:00. He looked around the darkening room and sighed. "Shit I’m lonely," he said out loud. Walking slowly back into the kitchen he saw that the food was ready to heat up. He didn’t want to eat alone…didn’t want to be alone.

He picked up his phone and began to dial. He listened to the ring tone on the other end of the line and hoped that it would be picked up. Suddenly a voice said, "Hello."

Steve took a deep breath and replied, "Jeff…?"