Aging

[ysonesse]

(First posted on Runaway Tales:  Pink Lemonade #13, Cheeseburger #12)

(Seven o’clock, Tuesday morning):

Jamie leaned against the bathroom sink. God, that creature in the mirror looks terrible. A three-day shadow of dark brown beardage spread across his face; dark bluish circles perched under his eyes; the skin was pale.

Maybe I need breakfast.

Allyson was headed into work for yet another early start (a big divorce case required all her administrative skills). Sleeping together on a Monday evening had recently become normal…so was getting up near sunrise to spend a few extra minutes with each other before she left his flat. Spending more nights together led to a weird influence in his life; suddenly Jamie realized he wanted breakfast (which generally never happened because mornings and afternoons were sleep time).

Am I getting old?

A regular schedule made him feel...different? Like a relic?; eating regular meals, waking up in the morning and going to bed sometime in the night, paying bills, working a full-time job, plus he was in the first months of a fully realized relationship…

Okay, you’ve had twenty-nine years on the Earth so far…from his youth in England up till university…then came his “missed the gap year” phase after graduation: backpacking through Spain (on the meandering pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela), Morocco (Marrakech, Tangier, and the Merzouga dunes), Italy (Rome had a lot of fountains, but Tuscany had great food and wine), and Greece (his drunken, unclothed beach romp on Mykonos was a memorable high point). There was an extended sojourn in London doing odd jobs in the catering business. In 2007, he wandered across the pond to Chicago (by invitation of Aunt Rebecca), and finally discovered America (in a metaphorical sense) and found a new country to call home (in the literal sense).

Fast forward to now: business was kicking at the Unicorn and Rose, and his unexpected triumphal return into Love (that mysterious fantasy land) was fantastic.

Jamie felt very… grown-up.

He leaned against the sink, searching for any clear signs of the aging process on his face. Slight crinkles around the eyes, and look at those frown lines…a light-speed leap of awareness didn’t equate with glaring evidence of fleeting youth. Getting smarter was nice, but those emerging wrinkles were a “How come I just noticed THESE?” surprise.

Jamie stuck his tongue out, mocking the young/old face in the mirror. It’s way too early for contemplation.