by J. M. Lamp
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Epilogue
Effortless
J.M. LAMP
Copyright © 2017 by Joseph Lamp
All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Book and Cover design by Joseph Lamp
ISBN: 9781521921623
First Edition: July 2017
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Chapters
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Epilogue
Books by J.M. Lamp
Less Is More Series:
Breathless (Book One)
Fearless (Book Two)
Effortless (Book Three)
"If I know what love
is, it is because of you."
— Herman Hesse
Chapter One
Sam
M Y BACK IS KILLING ME, and I’m on the verge punching Ethan in the face, as I lift box after box of hoarder-bullshit out of Hadley’s storage stall and put them each into the truck. Ethan helped me when I changed apartments, so the least that I could do was help him move everything into his new house.
I just didn’t realize how much stuff he actually had.
“That’s the last of it,” Ethan says, shutting the tailgate on the truck.
“Thank, God,” I say, wiping some sweat off my forehead.
“Come on,” he says. “It wasn’t that bad.”
“Ethan,” I say, laughing, “a lot of the stuff in these boxes are things that you would find at an old woman’s yard sale.”
“I like old things.”
“This shit is worthless, though,” I say.
“You don’t know that, Samuel,” he says, making his way to the door of the storage stall. He yanks on the rope and the door comes sliding down. “Besides, the house is a tad bigger then I realized when we got it, so we need stuff to make it more home-like.”
“Please,” I say, “tell me you’re kidding.”
“Cody doesn’t like any of this shit, either,” he says. “So yes, I’m kidding. It will just stay in the boxes.”
“Then why even take it out of storage?”
“Because we have a garage now,” he says. “I think that’s all of it.”
We make our way back to their house, and I attempt to crack my back as Ethan opens the tailgate on the truck.
“Can we take a break?” I say, leaning against the side of the truck. “I’m tired.”
“I want to get all of this stuff in the garage before Cody gets off work,” he says.
“Why?’
“Because,” he says.
“Because why, Ethan?”
“I sort of told him that I was going to get rid of it all before we even moved,” he says. “He didn’t exactly get wind of my hoarding-habits until the beach when I brought home all of those seashells.”
“You do realize that he’s going to see the boxes in the garage, right?”
“Yes,” he says, “but that’s why we’re going to mark every box as something that will throw him off.” He takes a marker out of his pocket and scoots one of the smaller boxes over to him. “Like this one now has old books in it.”
“You’re ridiculous,” I say, rolling my eyes.
“You don’t get it, Samuel,” he says. “I may need whatever is actually inside of these one day.
“The fact that you don’t even know what is in it is the part that is the saddest.”
***
“There are no more boxes on the truck,” he says, bringing the last box into the garage and stacking it in the corner with the rest of them.
“Old records, huh?” I say, looking down at the box.
“That’s what Cody is going to think.”
I laugh and make my way over to the steps that lead into the house. I sit down and let out a deep breath as I try not to focus on the huge pain running up my back.
“Here,” Ethan says, handing me a beer. “So, how’s Kelsey doing?”
“Good,” I say, taking a swig of my beer. “She starts spring break this week.”
“Is she liking school?”
“I guess,” I shrug. “She just isn’t sure what she wants to do. She gets bored a lot while in class and she can’t focus.”
“Most freshman are like that,” he says.
“I know,” I nod. “I just get the feeling that she’s going to come home one day and tell me that she’s dropped out.”
Cody’s car pulls up onto the driveway, and Ethan raises his eyebrows at me.
“Remember,” he whispers, “none of these boxes have old antiques in them.”
“Hey,” Cody says, making his way into the garage. He looks from us to the boxes stacked against the wall.
“We just got done,” Ethan says.
“I see,” he says. “That box right there looks a little small for old records.”
“They’re miniature,” I say. Ethan looks over at me and smiles. “There are some goods ones in there, too. They should be worth a lot one day.”
“Thanks for helping him,” Cody says to me. “I got called into work, or I would’ve helped you guys out.”
“Of course,” I say, nodding.
“Do you want to stay for dinner?” Ethan asks me.
“No,” I say, getting up off the steps. “I’m having dinner with Kelsey later, so I should get going. I need to shower and take a few aspirin for my back.”
“I’m going to go shower, too,” Cody says. He makes his way over to Ethan and kisses him on the cheek. “Thank you again, Sam.” He pats me on the shoulder and makes his way into the house.
“You’re boyfriend is so nice,” I say. “I don’t understand why he’s with you.”
“I’m nice too, dick,” he laughs. “I’m just a lot nicer to Cody than I am to anyone else. Speaking of boyfriends, I—“
“No,” I say instantly.
“Samuel,” he says, “just listen to me. There’s a guy at the office who—“
“No.” I make my way over to my car.
“But he’s—“
“No,” I yell over my shoulder as I get to the car.
“Fine,” he yells back from the garage. “Don’t blame me when your dick falls off from a lack of
pleasure.”
I laugh as I open the car door and start the car up. I know Ethan means well with trying to hook me up, but I don’t want anyone. I have enough going on with work, and a relationship just causes more stress that I don’t need at the moment.
***
I walk into the restaurant and spot Kelsey sitting at a bar-table close to the entrance doors. She waves at me when she sees me, and I make my way over to her.
“Finally,” she says. “I’m starving.”
“I’m sorry,” I say, getting up on the chair. “I got home and had a phone call from work. It took way longer than I thought it would.”
“It’s OK,” she says. “How is your hot-hot-hottie of a friend?”
I pick up the menu, glare at her over it, and I say, “Ethan is fine. So, what are you planning to do over spring break?”
“I don’t know,” she says. She twirls her straw around with her finger and rests her chin on her hand. “Eliza and Tina are going down to Miami, but I’m not really into all that.”
“Well,” I say, “there’s plenty to do in Chicago, too. I know there’s a lot that you haven’t seen since you got here still.”
“Yeah,” she says, “and it would be nice if my older brother would take a day off work and take me on a tour.”
“What can I get you guys to drink?” the waitress asks us.
“Just water,” I say.
“Same,” Kelsey tells her. “With lemon, please.”
“Do you guys need a couple minutes?”
I look at Kelsey, and I say, “I’m good.”
“Same,” Kelsey says. “I’ll just have the grill-house burger and steak fries.”
The waitress turns her eyes towards me. “That will be fine for me, too.”
“You seem annoyed or something,” Kelsey says as the waitress walks back towards another table.
“I’m fine.” I reach my hand back behind me and scratch the back of my neck. “I’m just wore out and sore. He had so much stuff to move, and I just wasn’t expecting it.”
“Okay.” She looks out the window beside our table and focuses in on the cars going past the restaurant.
Kelsey is ten years younger than me, but in a lot of ways, she’s more mature than me. While I have let my problems with my parents bother me throughout the years, Kelsey has always shrugged everything off and continued living her life. Since she was sixteen, she has focused on the things that make her happy; rather than the things that society has deemed fit for her to live a successful life. She goes through life everyday with an effortless sense of purpose, and I envy that.
My whole life, I’ve been searching for a way to be happier. I never fit in with my parents and their rich lifestyle. I never fit in with the people from my small town, so I moved to the city as soon as I was able to out of high school. I thought love would solve the empty feeling that I had in my gut, but once I found it, it ended up making me feel worse in the end.
Being cheated on is never good for anyone, but when you give your whole heart to someone and let that person in in ways that you would never allow others to, being cheated on is like being stabbed over and over again or drowning underwater, only to wake up after the drowning and having to drown again and again until your feelings for that person pass.
“Sam, are you even listening to me?” I look over to her, and she raises her eyebrows at me.
“I’m sorry,” I say. “What were you saying?”
She crosses her arms, and she says, “I think I may major in elementary education.”
“That would be good.”
“I love kids,” she says. “Other people’s kids, I mean. The thought of having my own right now freaks me out.”
I laugh. “Good.”
“By the way, there’s a professor of mine who is really cute and—“
“Jesus,” I say, shaking my head back and forth, “not you, too.”
“What?”
“I’m sick of everyone trying to match me up with someone.”
She rolls her eyes and mouths the word ‘okay’ to me.
“I’m sorry,” I say. “Ethan had mentioned it before I left, and I’m perfectly fine with being alone.”
“I wasn’t saying you had to date the guy or something. He’s just really cute and I thought that maybe you could use a new friend.”
“I have plenty of friends, Kels.”
“A different kind of friend,” she says.
“Please,” I say, putting my hand out.
I make a sour face, and she laughs.
“I’ll stop trying to play matchmaker,” she says. “I promise.”
“So,” I say as the waitress brings over our food, “you must be liking school then if you’re thinking about a major already.”
“I am,” she nods. “I thought it would be a lot harder, but it’s actually pretty easy so far. I’m not stressing about anything like the rest of my friends are.”
“I never really did, either. I knew what I wanted to do before I even walked into my first class, though.”
“I’m having a lot of fun,” she says. “I’m glad I decided to come to the city. Mostly because of you, but I also really like school.”
“I’m glad you’re here, too, Kels.”
“I’m going to try and do some volunteer work somewhere that involves kids,” she says. “Like, I want to be a teacher I think, but I haven’t been around kids for an extended period of time. It might all be just a thought in my head.”
“Elliot’s husband, Will, works for a youth organization. They’re always looking for people to help out; especially volunteers. It focuses on LGBTQ youths, though, so it will be a little different than what you’re looking to do.”
“Do you think they’d be able to work around my classes?”
“I’ll talk to Will about it.”
“He’s probably just as beautiful as your other friends, isn’t he?” she laughs.
“I’m so glad none of my friends are straight.”
***
“How was your weekend?” Braxton asks as I sit my satchel down on the desk.
Since I started working here last year, Braxton has made everything a lot easier for me. I’d always wanted the opportunity to work for a big video game company. Sin & Civil makes some of the best role-playing games in the business, and without Braxton’s help, I never would have learned the ins and outs of the company or how to incorporate my designs into all of the programming.
“Long,” I say, scratching the back of my neck. I lean my head back and let out an obnoxious sigh. “I had to help a friend move, and I’m still trying to recover from it.”
He laughs. “You need to workout more, man; maybe walk a few times a week.”
“How about you?”
“It was good.” He balls up a piece of paper and throws it against the wall. It sinks down into the trashcan, and he twirls around in his chair. “Kind of boring, though. I just binged-watched some Netflix and drank a little. By the way, Kenny approved your designs for the new company logo.”
“No shit?” I sit down and put my arms behind my head.
Last month, the company announced a contest for a new design for the company’s logo. The people who actual work at Sin & Civil would be the first ones who would get the opportunity to be chosen. If none of the designs were good enough, then they would branch out and hire a freelance designer.
“You were actually the last design submission that they looked at that day. Kenny said that it was loved instantly.”
“That’s awesome,” I say, laughing. “I didn’t think I had a chance. Elizabeth is a lot more talented than me.”
“Fuck her,” he says. “She’s been here longer than you, but she isn’t that talented. She copies most of her stuff from things that she finds on Google. She’s also burned a few too many bridges here, and the fact that she works here still amazes me.” He gets out of his chair and leans against the doorway. “Anyway, he’d like to see you whenever you get a chance, bud.”
I knock on the door, and Kenny smiles as I walk into the room.
“Just who I wanted to see,” he says. “I take it your desk-mate did what I asked him to?”
I nod and sit down in the chair in front of his desk. “I’m still surprised if I’m being completely honest.”
“Why?” he says. “You’re an amazing designer, Sam. When I hired you it was because of your talent.”
“I know. I just also know that a lot of people in my position don’t get opportunities like this one.”
“Speaking of your position.” He scrunches his face and looks up to the ceiling in thought. “As you know, Elizabeth is one of our head designers here as far as ads and marketing. We are going to be letting her go soon; it’s as simple as that. If you want it, we want to offer you her job. It would mean you moving up quickly and you’d have a lot to take on in a short amount of time.”
“Of course I’ll do it.”
“I’m telling you now,” he says, resting his elbows on the table, “some of the people here are going to be a tad pissed. Some of them have been here for years and they would kill for this job. They, however, don’t have your talent, and that’s why we want you to start help running things around here.”
“When do I start?” I say, smiling.
“In a few weeks,” he nods. “It’s going to be a battle with her. She’s lost the company a lot of money here lately, though, and she’s pissed a lot of people off, so we shouldn’t have anything to worry about. We will be much better off without her.”
I’m not afraid to make enemies here, but I hope Braxton isn’t too pissed. Even so, I’m not going to refuse an opportunity to help my career. I was happy with my entry position, but I’ll be even happier with this one.
“She is the one I figured would win,” I say.
“We didn’t even look at her submission.” He lets out a sigh and shakes his head back and forth. “We’ve had this plan in place for awhile to get rid of her, but they’ve delayed it so much because she was having sex with one of the board members. He’s gone now, so soon… she will be, too.”