Ever since I can remember, I have had trouble sleeping. I would wonder a lot about the stuff that happened to me throughout the day or even weeks backwards. Occasionally, I would scroll down on my phone, stopping myself from falling asleep as if I was worried about not having any distractions from my thoughts. It was terrible, and I would exhaust myself to the point that I was too tired to sleep. My body wouldn't move as I was too weak- but still, my eyes would open each time I closed them.

After one of those nights, one of my colleagues called sick, which resulted in me spending Wednesday afternoon working. It was the middle of the week, and I usually had my shifts on the weekends and sometimes on Mondays. It gave me time to focus on my education. On Thursday I had to go to sleep much later to finish my assignment on time, but that was okay. Sometimes I felt like one of those selfish people. Maybe that's why I just couldn't say no.

Wiping machines covered in a mess of coffee beans, milk and whatever was left of the additives, I counted the minutes when I could finally go. It was a crazy day, and I felt tired of people, noise and general work.

"Have you finished cleaning those machines? Kitchen is done." Jasper walked through the back door, looking around the room. 

"I hope no one comes at the last minute so we can go earlier." Some people were still sitting, enjoying their drinks, and talking to each other, and I wanted them to leave. It was okay- as long as they didn't order anything that would ruin my job. Which often proved to be just a wish that had nothing in common with reality.

"Yeah, hopefully." I sighed, looking down at the counter and back to wiping off the stains.

"Who knows? We had a busy day, but the last hour was not that bad." He nodded, agreeing with me. "Any plans after work?" 

"My shower and bed," I told Jasper, and he laughed at my expression.

"I guess you don't want to go out with us today?" He smirked, and I responded with a frown.

"I'm sorry, but I'm drained. I got up at eight today and went straight to work from uni. Next time, alright?" 

"Sure. That's fine." Jasper had patted me on my shoulder as he walked out to lock the door behind the leaving customers.

Marissa, who was with us on the shift closing the store, showed her thumbs up halfway down the stairs, which meant no one was upstairs, and we could do a deep clean at the end of the day. Usually, cleaning took up to one hour, but we did it in record time. It wasn't surprising, considering we got a few steps ahead before the closing time, and on top of that, there were no latecomers. 

"All done," Marissa closed the lights and blinds in the window. "See you both tomorrow," she said, and we left the building. 

"See you tomorrow! Have a good night." I waved at her, watching her back as she walked the opposite way to us. We parked our cars close to each other in the nearby parking area. Jasper and I exchanged goodbyes, and after a few minutes, I parked my car near my apartment. The weather is good these days, and I would go for a long walk if it weren't for the low energy level that remained in my body. My back pressed against my car for a few minutes, taking on the fresh air and silent neighbourhood. After a quick shower, I passed out immediately.

"I'm going home for a weekend break. How about you?" Jess asked us during lunch. I didn't have much to say except that I wasn't going anywhere. Work and study weren't the best combinations, and they never will be.

"Sage?" She looked at me, a warm smile on her face. 

"Work? Nothing else to say." I shrugged. She looked at me weirdly, but what else I could do besides brush it off? 

"It would be nice to go if I wasn't drowning in the papers I needed to write." Danny sighed heavily, with deepening exhaustion written all over his face. I would feel bad for him, but he was a notorious procrastinator, so... yeah. His fault.

I looked at my phone to see that there were still a few minutes left before I needed to go to my classes. "You left it again for the last minute?" I heard Jess stating more than guessing. She didn't even look surprised, as after so many years of knowing each other, we just, well... knew each other. 

"Kind of. I was busy with something else," Danny smirked at Jess, and she smiled, amused.

"At least your love life is blooming. I can't say the same about your academics." Jasper chuckled. "I gotta go. I have work to attend to. See you late." He glanced at me as he left.

At times I felt overwhelmed by how many things I had in mind. They circulated and stressed me out. After all, it was my choice to work as much as I did before finishing my master's degree in a few months. In order to have time to find a good job, I saved enough money so that I didn't have to work for a while. So why do I keep doing this to myself? 

"Sage? Sage?" I heard the voice calling me.

"What?" I jumped and stalled when a hand fell on my shoulder. "You kind of flew away from us. Quite far. Are you okay?" Jess questioned, concerned."Yeah. Just thought about something."

"Good, we are going. Don't you have classes now or something?" She looked at me, and I realised that, indeed... I drifted off for a while.

"Shit. I'm going. Later." Grabbing my bag, I ran in a hurry- hoping it wouldn't be too late.

"Hey." I heard a voice behind me when I was about to open my front door. Once I turned, there stood Jasper. Beaming at me. 

"Hi?" I raised an eyebrow at him.

"I know you are going through some existential crisis with how sour you are recently, but I need to have your company for the evening." 

"Cool. In this case, you can decide how to entertain yourself if you are already here, as I have plenty of work to do." I walked through the door with him following me behind. I wasn't annoyed that he came without any head-ups because we did that a lot in the past. However, I had a ton to do, and Jasper tended to bother me a lot while he stayed over.

"No need to be rude. I'm gonna watch something, and you can do what you need to do." He motioned something in the air with his hand. What supposed it meant to be whatever he fell on my sofa, grabbing the remote controller and immediately focusing on the screen. It got my attention. Jasper was never this quiet, so I asked, "Are you like, okay?"

"I got in a fight with Lisa. But serious one this time." I nodded even if he couldn't see. He stared at the TV, choosing a movie to watch. "I don't want to go back. I won't bother you, so you can study and do your stuff. Just let me stay here for now, okay?" This time he looked at me, almost begging silently. 

"Sure." I smiled at him. Letting the tension leave my body. "Let me do the most important things for tomorrow and the second movie we can watch together." In my room, I started the presentation for my business classes that had a deadline right about now. 

I took business management as that was the only appealing course. To be honest, I didn't mind the job as long as it gave me income and didn't involve too much stress. Was it bad to want a simple, comfortable life? Nothing less and nothing more. Once I was done, I found Jake snuggled on the sofa. He looked especially down. Not himself. I would offer the beer that I kept in my fridge, but getting drunk in these situations wasn't my thing, so I settled down with hot tea. 

"Thanks." He got up when I seated myself next to him. Our shoulders touched slightly. "What happened?"

"I don't know, really. I asked Lisa about that guy she was hanging with. The one I told you about." I confirmed, and he continued. "Yeah, so I have a feeling that there is more to it." He paused. "I feel that she is cheating, but I have no proof. She started to yell that I didn't trust her and that I was possessive. God, I'm not, but everything tells me that she is, literally, fooling me."

"Yeah, it does sound shitty. I think that, eventually, you will find out. It's not like she can hide it forever."

"Yeah," He placed his head on my shoulder, focusing again on the screen. "But how much will it cost me until I find out?" 

"You will be good. At least you won't question yourself before breaking things off." I added, "If you want, of course."

"You are right. Unless she dumps me first without an explanation." Jasper almost whispered the last part. I heard him, his voice almost breaking when he said it. It would be great if she had ended that pitiful relationship instead of leading him off.