Starting Over

Chapter 2

The three of us arrive at Charlie and Thomas' by six with a chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting that Aria picked out at the store because she has been craving that lately. Knocking on the door, we wait for someone to answer, and this happens about a minute later.

"Hi guys, so glad you could make it!" Thomas greets warmly when he opens the front door with a wide smile.

"Hey T," Jordan and Aria greet him as they step inside the house, and each give him a hug.

Stepping forward, I give him a one arm hug since I am holding the boxed cake; "Hey Thomas, how are you?"

He tightly squeezes my waist for several seconds before letting go as he fondly answers; "I am good, thanks. How are you? It is nice to see you again."

"Same to you, and I am as good as I can be, I think," I mumble in reply with a small smile up at him that he returns instantly.

"Come on. Charlie, Arlington, and Finn are in the kitchen," he grins, leading us into said room where the others are leaning against the island in the middle of the room as the nibble on appetizers, and have drinks in front of them.

"Hayden!" Charlie cheers loudly when she catches sight of me.

"Charlie!" I chuckle with a shake of my head fondly. "How drunk are you already? Do not forget we have work in the morning."

She loudly giggles as she moves toward me to pull me into a tight hug as she continues to giggle in my ear; "I am a little tipsy, I will admit. I will be okay for work, I promise."

"I know you will be okay for work in the morning," I quietly assure her in her ear as I lightly squeeze her waist.

"Hay,  I want to officially introduce you to Arlington Sawyer, and Finn McCoy!" she loudly says inn my ear, making me cringe, and pull away from her to look toward the two men.

"Hello," I greet the men with a small smile as I realize that Thomas has already introduced them to Aria and Jordan. "It is nice to meet both of you."

Arlington warmly smiles at me as he extends his right hand toward me, and I take his hand in my right to shake hands with him for a brief moment; "Nice to meet you, too, Hayden. Charlie and Thomas have spoken very highly of you. I look forward to working for you."

"I look forward to working with you, too," I warmly reply as we drop our arms back to our sides as I focus my attention on Finn.

Now, do not get me wrong, both men are attractive in their appearances, but Finn is hands down sexier than Arlington. Arlington is around 6' with short, curly red hair like the one stand-up comedian that I cannot think of his name. Finn on the other hand is magnificent, and yes, I know beauty is only skin deep, but he has it going for him in appearance for me. He is around 6'1"  with short, dark brown hair, and blue eyes, and lightly tanned skin.

I feel as if his eyes are boring into my very soul as he looks directly into my own blue eyes, and he smirks at me; "It is a pleasure to meet you, too, Hayden."

Oh man, I have to hold myself stiffly to prevent my body from shivering in delight from the way my name rolls off his tongue. His smirk grows in size slightly as he notices my stiff posture.

Smiling at him slightly as I extend my right hand toward him, and he firmly yet gently grasps my hand, and holds it longer than I expected him, too. I am not complaining about this either, and I swear that there is electricity coursing through my body from his warm touch.

"Okay, he is my friend," Charlie grumbles, pulling me into her side, disconnecting Finn and I, and breaking our staring contest.

Nervously chuckling at the stares I am receiving from Aria, Jordan, and Thomas. Thankfully Thomas breaks the forming tension by suggesting we sit down for dinner at the eight-person table, and this is what we do. Thomas and Charlie made chicken parmesan with garlic mashed potatoes and corn.

"This is really good," Aria praises them with the rest of us agreeing since Charlie and Thomas cooked for all of us, and they shyly smile as they thank us.

Gentle chatter between everyone start with Aria and Jordan speaking with Thomas while Charlie speaks with Finn and Arlington, and I silently listen to them while we eat.

"Are you alright?" Finn suddenly asks me, snapping me out of my thoughts as I focus my attention on him from my plate as he is sitting across from me.

"Huh? Yeah, I am fine, thanks," I mumble with pink tinted cheeks as I focus on my half eaten plate again.

"Dad never allowed papa to talk during dinner, or much at all when we lived with him," Aria comments with a deep frown, making my cheeks darken to crimson at her words.

I cannot be upset with her honesty, but it is slightly embarrassing that she stated this in front of two strangers. Charlie and Thomas' mouths drop slightly in surprise at this new information. I have been, and still am, too embarrassed to admit this out loud to anyone, especially them.

"Hayden, you never mentioned that before," Charlie softly says in shock, still with wide eyes.

"Um, it is not a big deal," I mumble with a small shrug f my thin shoulders. "I t was just one of Elliot's rules for me when we were together."

"It is too a big deal," she scoffs, and my shame increases even more, and I duck my head further toward my lap as tears fill my eyes. "He should not have had "rules" for you to follow. That man...."

"Please do not bad mouth in front of Aria," I quickly cut her off, so she does not trash-talk Elliot in front of our daughter.

Aria scoffs; "Papa, she cannot possibly say something bad about him that I already haven't thought or said about him. He has always been cold and demanding with you, and basically ignored me my entire life."

Shame and guilt fill my entire body, and I swear my heart stutters in my chest at the fact that I did not leave Elliot years ago, but I was blind to his red flags.