He stopped and got of his bike at one of the places he delivered milk to. It was his usual stop as he liked the dog there. It was a golden retriever – at least he thought it was as he could only see parts of the dog under the wooden fence. He sat on the ground for a while and patted the dog fondly. Then he started talking to it.

“I’m feeling really bad lately. I feel better because of you. Thank you!”

“Where is your owned anyway? He should come and play with you! Now, I got to go. Bye!” he said and got up, sat on his bike and continued delivering milk. He didn’t see the door opening behind him. The owner of the dog did come out to play with his dog as he had been sitting in the garden reading a newspaper and he had been inspired because of Kurt’s voice.

Artie was a bit out of it. Every little thing still reminded him of Brit and the song which they were recording was not really enough to distract his thoughts. Then, one of his assistants came in the room stating that someone was waiting for him. He got up, telling the guys that he’d be back in a couple of minutes and that they should carry on. He went out to see Brit standing there. She still took his breath away but he didn’t have any idea of what to do with her. How do you face your first love that broke your heart?

They ended up in a small caf� nearby. It was awkward and Artie didn’t do anything to lessen the tension. It felt like a little bit of revenge. She had left him, so this was his way of punishing her.

“How have you been?” she asked finally but Artie didn’t reply. He couldn’t. He felt it would be too pathetic to admit that he was still pining after her. It was even more pathetic that now Brit was sad because of him and he hated feeling this way. So he didn’t say anything and drank his coffee instead.

“What a warm weather, we have. Do you think we’ll have a rainfall?” Brit was still trying to find how to communicate with him but as it turned out, Artie didn’t want to talk about the weather either.

“I’ve been here for a month.” she admitted finally. “I’m sorry.” Brittney’s apology was the first thing that made Artie look at her directly but now she was staring at the table. “I missed you.”

Slowly, she looked at him. “Just say something. Anything.”

It felt really suffocating. “Leave. You left suddenly and now you return suddenly and I … I changed.” That was a big fat lie and Artie’s hand was really shaking, no matter how hard he was holding on to his cup. He gave up the pretence, put down his cup and left suddenly. He wasn’t ready to deal with this.

Kurt was hanging out at the Java Jive, trying to find a new job. It really sucked that he had been fired from delivering pizzas. He was distressed so he even considered selling one of his kidneys – you don’t really need two of them, anyways, right? – or any part of his body if that would get out him of this situation. But Mr. Figgins was there and he wouldn’t have any of it. He even suggested that Kurt should find the guy who gave him his card before. The gorgeous but somewhat exhibitionist guy with the blonde girlfriend – he remembered them well.

No, he couldn’t just go there and demand money. He couldn’t even ask for it. Begging and asking for charity was not his style.

Luckily, he didn’t need to. One of his friends was calling him, telling about a possible job. He had to work as a waitress in a bar and it was only a temporary part-time job, but still, it was something.

He got dressed in the toilet of the bar. It was a way too fancy uniform for his taste – well, to be honest, the real problem was that he found the style and the material disgusting – but he gritted his teeth, straightened his tie and started working.

One of the waitresses told he to call a taxi as one of the guests had passed out on a table. He did so, than pulled the man in vertical position. He was so drunk that he couldn’t even walk no matter how he tried to help him support his weight so he ended up giving a piggy back ride to the guy out of the bar. He just hoped that he wouldn’t throw up on him.

Artie was having a drink with Blaine. They were both a bit tired so the conversation was slower than usual.

“Grandma can’t stand seeing me like this anymore. Why don’t you inherit the company?” Blaine asked.

“I love music.” Artie was not going to take over the company and sacrifice his job, his dreams – he needed these to keep him sane. “Your movies aren’t doing too well, right? So isn’t it good for you to inherit the company?”

“I’m unable to do anything well, no matter what I do. I’m different from you.” Blaine answered slowly, after taking a sip of the wine.

“You’re really smart. You could do anything if you set your mind at something.”

“I met Brit yesterday.” Changing the subject, Blaine? Really? “She gave up studying in Spain for you and came back.”

“Don’t talk about it any more.” Artie finally said after a long pause.

“Then, what shall we talk about?”

“You still like her?” Artie didn’t know why he wanted the answer for that question.

“Don’t mind me.” Blaine stated with a shrug but for Artie, it was really obvious that he still liked her. “She has already told me that I should stop so there’s no need for you to repeat that.”

“Have you finished?” Blaine asked him. It turned out that he still had an appointment so they left the place not much later than that. Arte followed Blaine outside, and watched him.

He was calling a cab for him when he heard someone approaching. There was a young, slim male taking out the garbage and singing to himself.

“You are Terry’s owner, right?” Artie was looking at the guy in disbelief. He could easily match his voice with the one who had been talking to Bailey.

“Terry?”

“The golden retriever in the neighbourhood I’m delivering milk in”

“No, her name is Bailey.” he answered finally, smiling at the guy in front of him. He looked very pleased that Artie could answer his question.

“Bailey? So he is a she, after all.” he giggled a bit. Then he looked down to the ground and when he looked back at Artie again, his blue eyes were serious.

“Is money or pride more important to you?”

“What?”

“It’s just… Never mind.” he shook his head. One of the other waiters came out calling for him so he had to get back. “I’ve got to go. Bye.” he waved to Artie and then ran back to the bar and Artie was smiling. He made him feel better.