A Nothing Fight Featuring Berkeley and Olive

Published in The College of The Canyons Literary Magazine

A Nothing Fight Featuring Berkeley and Olive

Berkeley was unable to hear the incessant screams from Olive as she tossed his belongings from their second floor Los Angeles apartment to the ground below.  Clichés and acts of repetition did not interest Berkeley, or “Berk” as his closest friends call him; and the tossing of his personal items from a second floor Los Angeles apartment by Olive, or any woman in that matter, was unquestionably repetitive at this juncture in his life, and this act was unquestionably a romantic cliché.
Berkeley was fervently listening to his favorite music on his jet black ipod (this being the explanation for his lack of attention towards the incessant screams from Olive who was tossing his effects from their second story Los Angeles apartment.) and attempting to collect the various shirts, art tools, and other items that belonged to him.

He however knew that he would eventually have to engage in argument with Olive when she got around to his record collection, a record collection that  over the years of his life, and his father’s before his, grew to a considerable amount(well over one thousand to be more specific). Berk (yes I may call him Berk for yes I am one of his closest friends) knew the inevitable moment was drawing ever to close; he therefore ripped the earphones from his ears and proceeded to quickly rush up the stairs to the second story flat to prevent Olive from eventually tossing the records out towards the insensitive to vinyl concrete surface. At this point it would be fitting to backtrack to the beginning of this turbulent argument between the two affectionate lovers.

The start of this fateful quarrel can be described with one word: tapestry. This disagreement turned heated argument began simply with a difference of opinion of tapestry. Only mere hours ago, the odd looking couple (odd looking because of the fact that he was a rather tall man while Olive was barely five feet tall) was experiencing an enjoyable and entertaining  evening at the Geisha House in Hollywood, a restaurant with the rare combination of high quality Japanese cuisine and posh entertainment at an equitable price. At the Geisha House both Berkeley and Olive consumed the city famous sushi the restaurant offered and drank the night way  consuming everything from bottles of Sangria wine to downing jagr bombs and as a result may have affected their judgment as they began to debate the poorly colored and constructed tapestry(at least that was Berkeley’s opinion) on the taxi ride back to their second story Los Angeles apartment.

Berkeley, a tall man, over six feet to be a little more precise never really did anything to his wavy brown hair and always wore glasses that always hid most of the attractiveness of his hazel eyes. He wore modest clothes; usually a shirt depicting one of his favorite indie bands that no one ever heard of but himself and only a few others, simple looking jeans, and almost always he was wearing  a pair of green, brown, or some other set of earth tone colored vans. Everything about Berkeley projected eclectic, independent, simplicity and eclectic independent simplicity is what he expected to see displayed at his home and more importantly for this story the tapestry. Olive, on the other hand, was very much absorbed in the latest fashion trends, must have beauty products, and what was happening to Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan. She used the best revitalized shampoo to clean her lack as night hair. She used the best contact lenses to showcase her sharp and bottomless blue eyes. She wore only the most in style clothes to cover her mocha-skinned body. She wore only the trendiest slippers or sandals on her small size 5 feet. And naturally, Olive wished to decorate the second story Los Angeles apartment as lavishly and as sheik as possible which of course included the tapestry.(I suppose more than height made this couple rather an odd one.)

Just as naturally as Olives desires to have ornate tapestry was Berkley’s desire to keep the second story Los Angeles apartment as simple and strange as can be.  Therefore it was inevitable that a conflict would arise between the two lovers with the alcohol making the situation more problematic than an average disagreement between the two. Berkeley now entered the second story Los Angeles apartment (that’s right, the brief flashback is over.) ready for the verbal battle that was sure to ensue. Olive did not even hesitate to begin by screaming “The f*****g curtains are staying!” She continued by shouting “I am the one in this relationship with any sense of style so if you want to live here you live with the f*****g curtains!” Berkeley was an innocent and somewhat naive man he rather loathed the curse words that escaped his angry girlfriend’s mouth so he yelled in return(but not nearly as loud as Olive’s piercing screams) “please don’t curse at me”. He continued “show some respect”. Olive retorted with “Show me some respect by accepting the curtains!”  The two continued this argument for nearly half an hour without either of them giving any verbal ground. This battle of verbal wit may have continued through out the night if it were not for the phone that repeatedly rang during the argument until in an act of total frustration Olive finally picked up the phone and before she could even shout an dissatisfied “what!” into the telephone she was interrupted by the person on the other line. She then told Berkeley the phone was for him and it was his mother. Berkeley raced to the phone and after listening to what his mother had to say he quickly turned on the television. Olive still angry at Berk and curious about what might be happening asked Berkeley what was going on. Berkeley replied with “I have to go up to my parents house right now.” He said with a weird combination of tension and calmness., “there is a fire in their area and they are being evacuated.”

All the anger that Olive once harbored and was to be used against Berkeley suddenly fled her frail body and was replaced with concern for her boyfriends family situation. She then asked Berkeley what she can do for him and proceeded to run over to Berkeley and embrace him with a warm and loving hug as if the last several hours of confrontation never took place. Berkeley in turn hugged his girlfriend and told her that everything should be ok and he just needed to help his family right now. Olive replied “Well I want to come with you.” “That would be great” Berkeley said with a serious and certain resolve.  They both quickly ran down the stairs of the second floor Los Angeles apartment and entered Olive’s car with Olive being the driver. Olive quickly backed out of their parking spot and before they knew it they were on the Golden State Freeway heading north towards the blaze that threatened Berkeley’s family among others. For the most part the car ride was dominated with silence save a single comment made by Berkeley soon after they got into the vehicle: “You know what babe, The curtains are actually very nice.”

Author's Note

Please ignore grammar and spelling errors

Reviews

[angelina neves]

Lovely! I completly agree with you and the idea of the story as most of the discussions are kind of futil when a real problem arises...
a lovely Sunday to you
angi