I got back to my house later than I’d intended. LA traffic could be really bad and I wasn’t banking on it.
Both my housemates were sitting in the living room waiting for me.
“There she is!” said Molly getting up off the couch. “We’ve been waiting! Have to hit the store to get the food and drinks!”
“Give me five minutes,” I said turning towards the stairs. “Want to get out of my swimsuit.”
“Hurry!” shouted my other housemate, Kristen, after me.
Quickly I ran upstairs and changed into some comfortable jeans and a t-shirt. Nothing fancy. I threw my hair up in a messy bun and then grabbed my bag, rejoining my housemates back downstairs. We piled into Kristen’s car and headed off towards the store.
“So Jess…” said Molly turning in her seat to look at me in the back. “You didn’t come home last night…” I sat and stared at her, my eyes wide. “Might this have to do with a certain guy that showed up at Mosley yesterday afternoon?”
“I haven’t the faintest idea what you are referring to… I did come home last night.”
“You weren’t there when I got up to go running at like 5:30…” she retorted.
“Ok, so I might have got in at like 6:30 or so, but I wasn’t doing what you are hinting at.”
“And what might that be?” she smirked.
“You know…” I said, exasperated.
“But you did see him?”
“Who are you talking about?” asked Kristen, “I’m feeling left out!”
“Oh Kristen, you have to hear this. This guy showed up at Mosley yesterday asking for our Jessica. Said he was an old friend and stuff, was very insistent on leaving his number with me so that I could pass it on to her. But work rules you know, couldn’t take it. So then when I was chatting to you on the phone yesterday about Jess’ gig last night I sort of beckoned him over so he could overhear. Was really sneaky if I do say so myself!”
“Yeah, he said it was a bit weird…”
“So who is he?” asked Kristen, pulling up at the shop.
“Just a friend from back home.”
“Name?”
I shook my head at her and grabbed a trolley, going into the store. I started looking at vegetables. I really didn’t want to talk about this! It wasn’t the juicy gossip they were trying to make it out to be.
“Aww come on babe,” said Molly coming up to me. “We’re only having fun! Don’t think you’ve ever really had a guy after you like this! Except for that creep Charlie…”
“Don’t talk about that,” I whined, putting some tomatoes into the cart. “Tacos tonight?”
“Sounds yum!” said Kristen.
We wandered around the store getting all of the ingredients we needed for a taco feast and some other snacks, also grabbing some drinks for later in the evening. We paid and then loaded up the car and headed home. The entire time I sat in silence, really hoping we were done with the Aston conversation. There really wasn’t much to say.
I managed to evade the conversation for the next two hours as the girls ragged on me about finding a new job. After we’d eaten we settled down to a film with a glass of wine each and some snacks. About thirty minutes into the film Molly went to the kitchen to top up her glass when we heard a little shriek.
“Ohhh!!!” she said giggling and coming into the room.
“What?” I said.
“Text from Lover Boy!” she winked.
“What? He’s not…” I started as she passed me my phone. I just put it on the side, grabbing my glass and trying to refocus on the film.
“Aren’t you going to open it?”
“Molls! Stop!!” I whined.
“If he isn’t your Lover Boy then open it up and read it out,” she smirked.
“Fine!” I said, snatching my phone up and opening the text. “It says: ‘Hey Babe. Send me your address, I’ll come round and pick you up at 11 tomorrow, if that isn’t too early.’” I didn’t read out the two x’s he’s placed at the end. Would have just caused more shrieking.
“Ohhh… You’re hanging out with him tomorrow?” said Molly with her eyebrows slightly raised.
“Just taking him shopping, he doesn’t know where things are here.”
“Okk…” she said. I rolled my eyes at her before responding to the text, giving Aston my address and agreeing to the time.
“I’m going to go top up,” I said as I drained my glass. I wandered off to the kitchen with my phone, leaving it on the counter as I got more wine.
“You want me to ask her to stop?” said Kristen, who had followed me into the kitchen.
“It’s fine,” I sighed.
“You like him,” she smiled.
“What?” I said.
“You just get this glint in your eye when he gets mentioned. Haven’t seen it with you before. You like him!”
“It’s not like that,” I said.
“Then what is it?”
“Complicated,” I replied.
“Molly told me he is really cute, is he?”
I just shrugged my shoulders and then grabbed my phone, opening up the picture that Aston and I had taken at the pier earlier in the day.
“Wow,” she said quietly. “You two look perfect together.” I just shrugged again and put my phone back on the counter.
“What’s taking you guys so long?” shouted Molly from the living room.
“Just looking at pictures!” said Kristen.
“Not you too…” I mumbled.
“Let me see!!” said Molly running into the kitchen.
I showed her the same picture that I’d showed Kristen. Listening as the pair of them nattered away at how amazing of a couple we’d be.
“Just stop guys,” I said after awhile, annoyed.
“Sorry,” said Kristen quietly, “Just think you should give it a shot!”
“I can’t…”
“Why not?” asked Molly.
“Because I already did once, ok?!” I shouted all of a sudden. “I did and I got my heart broken a little bit, and I don’t want that to happen again.”
“Oh, Jess, I’m sorry…” said Kristen, pulling me to the couch where she sat me down and I told the pair of them everything. From meeting Aston on the train, to becoming flatmates, to how our relationship had been and how I’d fallen in love with him but then moved to LA. The whole time they listened and didn’t give me any trouble about anything. They could drive me crazy, but at the end of the day they were my best friends here in LA.
