Starting Over (Unexpected Encounters part 3)

Chapter 18

I was glad that I ended up telling Liz more about what had happened between Whitney and I. She hadn't been judgmental about it at all, and it seemed like she was willing to give me advice if I ever asked.

I was coming into work a few days later, and I was making my way towards the lounge. I nearly jumped across the hallway when Whitney stepped out and grabbed on to my wrist.

"I need to talk to you," she said hurriedly, "come here."

"What are you - " I started.

She cut me off by pulling me into a closet in the hallway and shutting the door behind us.

"Whit, what the fuck are you doing?" I asked, "why are we in a closet?"

I could see the panic in her eyes through the darkness of the small room, and I began to worry.

"I said I needed to talk to you," she said again.

"Yeah but...in a closet?" I questioned.

"I - I didn't want any chance of anyone else hearing us," she said.

"Okay..." I said hesitantly, "you're worrying me now, what's going on?"

Her hands fidgeted in front of her as I waited for her to explain. After the surprise had worn off, I very quickly realized how close we were standing.

The whole situation was uncomfortable, and it wasn't good.

"Whitney," I said again.

"Right, um," she started, "you remember how I told you a long time ago that I'm not really out to anyone in my family?"

"Yes..." I said.

"Well they - my mom heard me talking about how I was seeing someone, and she invited me over for dinner," she said.

"I hate to tell you this Whit, but I also happen to be a female," I told her, "how am I supposed to help you?"

"Not you...necessarily," she said, "Austin."

"Austin?" I laughed, "I don't think so."

"Bailey come on," she pleaded, "I just need him to act like we're dating for like an hour or two."

"Why don't you just tell them?" I asked her, "seems like it might be a good time to do that."

"No," she shook her head, "I - I can't, I can't do it. And you're the only person I've told about this so you're kind of my only hope."

I saw the desperation in her eyes as she looked at me expectantly, and I couldn't help but fold.

"Yeah um, I'll try," I said, "but I have to ask Austin still...and Kaia."

"Wait, why Kaia?" She asked.

"Because her and Austin are dating," I told her, "I'm not going to ask him to pretend to be someone else's boyfriend without asking her first."

"No that's - that's fine," she said, "I just didn't know."

"Are you sure you want me to ask Austin to do this?" I asked her.

"It's my only option," she said in a defeated tone.

I knew that it wasn't, but it didn't seem like a good time to bring that up.

"Alright," I sighed, "but they both have to agree to it first."

Whitney nodded at me as she looked down at the floor.

"And um, you'll come too?" She hesitantly asked.

"Me?" I questioned, "why would I come?"

"Because I need someone there who knows what's going on," she said, "I'll just tell them that you're my boyfriend's sister, and that we're friends."

"Whit this sounds like a terrible idea," I said.

"Please Bailey," she said, "I need Austin there for the boyfriend part, but I also need someone there that I trust."

My eyes quickly looked up to meet her gaze, and I saw the sincerity in them. All I'd wanted since I had come back was to regain Whitney's trust, I couldn't fuck this up now.

"Yeah okay," I finally said, "but I'm going on record saying that you shouldn't do this."

"I appreciate your concern," she said, "but I kind of feel like I have to."

I nodded and accepted the fact that I wasn't going to change her mind.

"When is this dinner?" I asked.

"Friday," she mumbled.

"Friday as in two days from now??" I asked.

"Uhh...yeah," she responded.

"Fuck Whitney," I said as I rubbed my hand over my eyes.

"I know, they just threw this all at me last minute," she said.

"Okay let me talk to Austin and Kaia tonight," I told her, "I'll let you know."

"Thank you," she said as she let out a deep exhale, "and I'm sorry for even asking."

"You don't need to be sorry," I shook my head, "I'm pretty sure that I owe you hundreds of favors at this point."

"No you don't," Whitney said.

"Come on Whit," I said, "you're being too nice, I know that I put you through absolute hell and back."

She opened her mouth like she was going to say something, but then looked like she thought better of it.

Her gaze locked on mine again, and it seemed like we were both frozen in place, neither of us knowing what to say.

"I should probably um - I better go to my office," Whitney finally said.

"Right, yeah," I nodded, "me too."

We both took a step forward at the same time as we tried to move towards the door. I had to stop abruptly to keep myself from running into Whitney.

"Oh - sorry," I stammered, "you can - just go ahead."

She lingered there for a brief moment, just inches away from where I was standing. God damn it I needed to get out of here before I did something stupid.

"Whitney," I said, trying to pull both of us out of our trance.

"Huh?" She asked.

"Right, right," she continued, "I'm going now."

She opened the door and stepped out into the hallway, and almost ran right into Liz.

"Whitney! Sorry about that, what are you do - " Liz stopped herself mid sentence when she caught a glimpse of me still standing in the closet behind Whitney.

"This isn't what it looks like," she said to Liz, "I swear."

"Hey, I didn't see anything," Liz said as she held her hands up innocently.

"Liz no, it's not - that's not what happened," I said as I stepped out from behind Whitney.

"It's fine," she laughed, "I promise, no matter what the hell that was."

"I'm going to my office before I make a complete ass out of myself any more than I already have today," Whitney said.

She glanced over at me and I gave her a quick nod before she walked off.

"Um yeah," I said, "me too."

"You do realize that you can't get away from me that easily, right?" Liz teased, "your office is literally right next to mine."

"Fuck," I said as I tilted my head back, "yeah I know."

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