goodnight, stranger

eleven

"We are not going into 'what if' territory," Winnie interrupted, moving her eyes away from the road for a moment to look at him. "That's only going to destroy you. Just focus on how excited you are to meet this guy."

Olly huffed and turned to look out the window. "You're an awful therapist."

"Gee, thanks."

They sat in silence for the remainder of the ride, Olly staring out the window and trying to control his racing heart. The 'what if's were impossible to avoid. What if Olly didn't add up to everything Ash thought he would? What if Ash really had catfished him? What if the two of them couldn't hold up a conversation for the life of them?

•••

(08:43) Are you on your way?

(08:44) we're picking up my roommate's gf now, and then we'll be there :)

•••

Olly swallowed his fear as Winnie pulled into the parking lot of what must have been Alayna's apartment building. He had bigger fish to fry at the moment. How was he going to give Alayna the "Best Friend Speech ™" if he couldn't control his own beating heart? The message that Alayna would be as good as dead if she broke Winnie's heart wouldn't be as intimidating if he stammered.

He pulled himself together as well as he could as Winnie led him into the building and to the elevator.

They made their way to Alayna's room, and Olly straightened his back when Winnie knocked on the door. He was prepared now. He would make an intimidating-but-still-nice impression and pull Alayna aside later to give her The Talk ™.

Alayna opened the door, revealing herself and the biggest dog Olly had seen in a while. The German Shepherd tried to lunge our to greet its visitors, but Alayna pushed it back. "Stop it, dude," she muttered, nudging him away from the door. When he had finally given her the space to open the door, her face broke into a smile at the sight of Winnie standing there. They greeted each other with a quick kiss, and my stomach twisted nervously again. Olly kept his composure, though, as Alayna turned to him.

"And you must be Olly," she said with a smug smile. "I've heard so much about you."

"Same goes for you." He smiled. "Nice to finally meet you."

"You, too." She smiled again, and he couldn't help but think that Winnie had been right all of those times she had gushed about Alayna; she definitely had a perfect smile. It was kind of unfair.

"You two can come in if you want," she offered. "I have, like, one or two more things to take take of, and then I'll be ready."

So, despite the fact that Olly was literally itching to meet Ash at this point, he followed Alayna and Winnie into the apartment, watching her huge dog as it trailed behind them excitedly.

"So," Alayna said as she sat down on the sofa, looking into the little mirror that was sitting on the coffee table. "Olly, your mom is the bride, right?"

Olly watched as she began touching up her makeup. He couldn't help but smile. "Yeah. That's her."

"Well, congratulations! This must be a huge day for you guys!"

"It has definitely been in the making for a while now." Olly chuckled. "But I think it'll be worth it in the end."

"Oh, I agree." Alayna smiled. "I've been looking forward to this since Winnie invited me. I cant even begin to fathom how you guys have been feeling."

"I think it's been a lot for all of them," Winnie said fondly, "but it'll definitely be worth the effort."

After a slight lull in the conversation, Winnie and Alayna began chatting together, and Olly began to zone out. How long did it take for one girl to touch up her makeup? Somewhere, Ash was waiting to be picked up—